Spotlighting Women in Leadership: A New WWIL Storytelling Series

At the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, we believe that storytelling has the power to inspire, connect, and amplify the voices of those shaping our community. Watauga Women in Leadership (WWIL) was created to foster connection, mentorship, and growth among women in the High Country, and we are excited to introduce a new initiative that will bring to life the stories of women in our community.

This past Wednesday, March 19, WWIL hosted its latest Coffee Connections event, bringing together local women to discuss leadership, personal growth, and the importance of building a strong network of support. The morning was filled with meaningful conversations, shared experiences, and new connections that continue to strengthen the impact of this group.

Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing features that align with the themes of our WWIL Coffee Connections and Gala events, highlighting women who embody leadership, resilience, and impact in our region. A special thank you to Kayla Lasure, a dedicated Watauga Women in Leadership committee member, for volunteering her time to help tell these stories. Through her writing, we’ll shine a light on the experiences and achievements of women who are making a difference in their fields and in our community.

With four WWIL events planned for 2025, there’s more to come—so stay tuned for upcoming event details, social media recaps, and inspiring features right here on our blog. To kick things off, read Kayla’s latest story below!

Setting Professional, Personal Goals as a Business Owner

By Kayla Lasure

Bettina Roden’s goals for the next year isn’t unlike many business women these days – growing her business, wanting to be more present with her kids, and also finding time for herself.

“I don't like the word perfect, but I’m learning how to balance all of those things,” Bettina said.

Bettina received a Bachelors in Appropriate Technology from Appalachian State University in 2015. While in college, she worked part-time cleaning houses to make money. Starting her business — Clean Mountain Escapes — out of necessity to provide for her family, Bettina said she had been struggling to find profitable work to stay in the High Country.

Having had experience managing a farm business, Bettina knew running a service industry business would be very different. Her first goal for her business, established in 2021, was to make ends meet.

After building more cleaning clients and consistently providing quality service, Bettina then aimed to increase her pricing with some market research and start putting money into the business.

“Even though I was kind of still a one person show, I knew that if I was going to build a big company I had to act like one,” she said.

One of Bettina’s priorities while building her business was implementing her values, morals and passions into the business practice. When it came to hiring staff, she was determined to not underpay or overbook her staff. This was a pretty common experience she had had in the cleaning industry previously.

In 2023 she was able to hire enough staff to pull herself out of cleaning and spend her time on administrative tasks and overseeing the day to day operations; she’s now up to eight staff members. Her next goal is to bring her part-time Field Manager to full-time, and no longer oversee the day-to-day and focus more on marketing and growing the service area of Clean Mountain Escapes.

“My goal is pretty much always fluctuating as I learn new things,” Bettina said.

While the goals for the business change over time, Bettina remains steadfast in her intention to provide quality service to clients and a quality workplace for employees.

“The hardest part for me is learning how to value yourself,” Bettina said.

 Bettina found it easier to value her employees and   ensure they were being compensated well than it   was for her to value herself and her time. To help in   this area, Bettina said she has spent a lot of time   self reflecting and adding activities to her life such   as meditation with the help of yoga teacher training   she took while in college. It’s allowed her to work   on her people pleasing tendencies and work on her   goals of being more present with her children and   growing her business.

  Wanting to help give back to the community, she’s    also ventured into creating a second business for leadership coaching. Her plan during the next year is to offer workshops with the hope to help women grow a business, learn to manager others, grow emotional intelligence within a workplace, and setting boundaries.

These are all ideals she tries to incorporate into her cleaning business. She said she’s always wanted to provide opportunities to her employees if they’re interested in learning to manage people or other business aspects.

“I just worked hard my whole life, and I never had a lot of that,” Bettina said. “You could have a good work ethic, and if you don't have a good boss, it's just going to go unnoticed. So I work hard to foster that direction for myself in helping other people. I want to help you learn how to become a leader, if that’s what you want to do.”

For more information on Bettina’s leadership coaching, check out her Instagram account @compassionate_success or contact bettinarodensaylor@gmail.com. To learn more about Clean Mountain Escapes, visit www.cleanmountainescapes.com or contact info@cleanmountainescapes.com.

For more information about Watauga Women in Leadership, visit the webpage or reach out to Lindsay Cook, our Director of Operations and WWIL Chamber liason.