As the recognized “quiet-thinker” of the four KidThrive co-founders, Beth has already created, cultivated and expanded KidThrive’s sister company, OneSeventeen Media, into Houston’s first company to be recognized with the prestigious B Corporation Certification.
Your generous donation goes directly to services and programs that are helping kids survive their growing up years - now. Donate and help a child today!
THIS I KNOW
“If there's something that’s not working, then those of us who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.”
– paraphrased from the
Declaration of Independence
Beth Carls
Me in 4th grade!
Her commitment as a dedicated social venture entrepreneur lead her to pursue the creation of a Hybrid Enterprise - KidThrive.org + OneSeventeen Media. She has a keen mind for turning corporate strategy into profit all while doing social good building our organizations with purpose and including higher standards of accountability, transparency and performance. In short, she is helping create KidThrive + OneSeventeen Media into a powerful social media hybrid enterprise known for its commitment to a triple bottom line.
Beth began her career as a healthcare marketer, and in 1990 she took her first entrepreneurial plunge by co-founding a marketing and design firm, 7 Seventeen Group, with business partner Amy Looper. For the next 8 years Beth was Chief of Operations. When the World Wide Web (remember that one?) became available on the internet, her life took a great and unexpected turn setting the future foundation for OneSeventeen Media’s birth.
In 1996, having leveraged 7 Seventeen Group’s assets, Beth became an equity partner and co-founder in Align Solutions, the first fully integrated internet consulting firm in the country. In 1999, through collaboration as one of ten co-founders and National Marketing Director, Align Solutions was named the Fastest Growing Privately Held Company in Houston with a record-setting 8,164% revenue explosion in three short years. At the end of those three years, Beth and her co-partners positioned Align as the largest, mid-cap IPO in the tech sector (September 1999) with a $158 million valuation. She then took a much-deserved Hawaiian vacation before jumping in again.
Birthday: July 17th
College: Sam Houston State University and Abilene Christian University
Degree: Bachelors in Business Administration and Master’s in Business Administration
Favorite quote: “Never doubt a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” -- Margaret Mead
Follow me:
Random bits:
-
•Hometown has less than 3,000 people
-
•Passionate University of Texas Longhorn fan
-
•In love with her MacBook Pro
-
•Champion barrel racer
-
•Has used the same hair dresser for 20+ years and drives 2 hours to get there
Title:
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
OneSeventeen Media
Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board
KidThrive.org
Ah, celebrating Gilly turning 11 and dancing to High School Musical!
My beautiful sons
Great Day Houston! with Debra Duncan and my partner in crime
Beth came back from the aloha life with a renewed spirit to do something meaningful as social venture entrepreneur, so she and Amy Looper teamed up once agin and in 2000, Beth took the helm and served as CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of MindOH! - the character education company that produced evidence-based, online interactive tools to help almost 400 schools and over 500,000 kids stay in school and hone their character muscles. Now, after successfully serving some of our nation’s most challenged and at-risk school systems, the time is right to bring her talent into a new market segment. OneSeventeen Media, with its next generation social community, PlumbBrain, is poised to reach millions of kids inside their technology-based comfort zone with positive, engaging, life changing content.
Beth will tell you one of her most rewarding experiences was co-authoring a book compiled from essay submissions of 95 teen authors sharing their experiences and advice on bullying. In spite of Hurricane Rita pounding her Houston home in 2005, I Wish I Knew What To Do To Get Bullies To Leave Me Alone, made it to the bookstores in October 2005 as a wonderful resource to help kids deal with the bullying epidemic.
Throughout her working career, Beth has always valued volunteering her time to non-profit organizations like The March of Dimes, FotoFest, Target Hunger, The Women’s Home, The Human Rights Campaign, The United Way, The MindOH! Foundation, Inspired Legacies and The Women’s Foundation of California.
Beth enjoys mentoring young people and with the little spare time she has, she teaches online marketing and public relations for the University of Phoenix.
She’s the proud mom of two awesome sons who graduated from the University of Texas and while they are out of the nest and off the family payroll, they still live close by in Austin, Texas.
About Beth Carls
Random Stuff
