 Beth Jenkins Times it Right
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“I know I’m lucky,” stated Beth Jenkins, director of operations at Buckley Brown, P.C. “Most people my age aren’t directors. I just had good timing.”
A native of Calhoun, GA, Jenkins, like most people, didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up. After high school graduation, she followed the footsteps of her family by attending Davidson College, a small liberal arts school in North Carolina. After completing her degree in English, she decided to make the leap from small town to big town. She bought a one-way ticket to New York City and fearlessly left behind her family and friends.
“I had always lived in smaller towns and wanted to try out a bigger city,” Jenkins related. “But it was really tough to find a job, so my adventure didn’t last very long.”
After eight months of nanny duty, temp work and odd jobs, Jenkins decided it was time to leave. She had a friend studying in Paris, so she decided to join her for a while. They traveled the wine country and visited Berlin and Prague. After her travels, she moved back to Atlanta to begin her career.
Jenkins began working for Buckley Brown, P.C. as an executive assistant. “It was definitely an entry-level start,” she pointed out. “It was a really good experience for me.”
As often happens in small firms, she began taking on additional responsibilities, such as billing and human resources duties. When the director of operations left, the role naturally fell to Jenkins.
“As director of operations of a nine-attorney, eight-staff firm, I have a wide range of responsibilities. That’s what I really love about this job. When I first started working here four years ago, I entertained the thought of law school. In fact, I’d taken the LSAT in college. But I preferred the administrative role, the variety of tasks. I do anything from budgeting and financial planning to coordinating the holiday party,” she said.
Jenkins joined the Atlanta chapter of the ALA 18 months ago, when she assumed her new role. Since she does not have a background in human resources, the ALA is an excellent resource for challenges such as dealing with staff issues and evaluations. In particular, Jenkins finds the small firm group roundtable discussions informative. She looks forward to taking advantage of training opportunities through the ALA and, perhaps, pursuing a specialty certification.
“I’ve been very fortunate,” Jenkins stated. “I had good timing when my job became available, and I work at a great place. My firm has a very inclusive vibe to it; everyone is part of the team. There is no attorney-staff divide. We all feel that we contribute, no matter what our title is. And that’s a good feeling.”
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