TPS Talks — Kimberli Roth, Director of Marketing
Kimberli Roth first heard about The Paradigm Switch the way she finds out about most organizations she loves — through Instagram. She was attracted by the civilian voice TPS was using in its messaging as well as its unapologetic and bold approach to tackling the military spouse unemployment crisis. She saw military spouses taking their situations into their own hands and publicly rejecting the idea that they had to accept their status quo when it came to building their careers and embracing their military lifestyles.
“I was like ‘yes, absolutely, that’s my people, that’s where I belong,” Kimberli said. “I respected the innovation and the values behind the organization. TPS was very transparent and didn’t follow the prototype of other spouse groups at the time. It was the anti-prototype, and it was like a magnet for me.”
Kimberli brought her diverse background in everything from retail to writing to nonprofit management to The Paradigm Switch during a pivotal point in the organization’s growth. Her unique digital marketing skill set combined with her energy and passion for the movement ignited the brand in the midst of a complete overhaul. At the same time, Kimberli was experiencing her first true remote work experience with a totally distributed team, which had a learning curve of its own. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Kimberli jumped right in.
“I came in ready to cook with gas when everyone was still buying logs,” she said. “I brought a new skill set and a new energy, and I felt like I was set up for success in a way that no one is going to be able to replicate. TPS really facilitated an environment that I could succeed in.”
In her role as Director of Marketing, Kimberli was charged with the care and keeping of the vibrant and dynamic TPS brand. The atmosphere of radical candor in the TPS network combined professional discussions with personal reflection and vulnerability in a way that she had never experienced before. The key to bringing TPS to life digitally, she learned, was to listen authentically and with humility. She read hundreds of posts and testimonials, digested dozens of articles, and worked closely with Founder and President Justine Evirs to learn what resonated with the community.
“The TPS movement induces emotion, and this is not an accident.TPS was the first time that I had to get personal in a professional way — this was a new concept to me and I needed to get it right. You can’t fake it. I’m convinced that to market to military spouses you must be a military spouse. We have our own language, we have our own trust economy, and you only earn these things by experience. It’s my greatest strength in this space — I am also our audience.”
As The Paradigm Switch rebranded in the summer of 2019, Kimberli was right in the thick of it. She was essentially handed a blank slate — a few font styles and logo concepts, a color palette, and some basic assets — and charged with recreating the brand. The goal was to envelop and embolden everything that TPS had done up until that point and everything it would do in the future. Kimberli embraced this challenge through her natural creativity and passion for data.
“I value both deep reporting and social listening, and this enabled me to marry human connection and my love of data through humility,” she said. “There is such a thing as bad data — numbers don’t tell the whole story. Every data point is human, and this is what TPS is ultimately about. I learned how to use metrics and my tools effectively and to listen holistically rather than honing in on one specific data point.”
Asked to reflect on some of the big lessons she is taking away from her time at The Paradigm Switch, Kimberli highlighted a few key points.
“First, military spouse magic is real, straight up,” she said. “Military spouses collaborate like no one else. We are not new to digital communication. We have held entire marriages together for months using nothing but technology, and this has made us not only great communicators but great teammates and collaborators. Our whole lives sometimes feel like one big teleconference! Second, no one is going to reach your goals for you. In the TPS network I’ve watched everyone put in the hard work to make change for themselves, and this is the true strength of our community. The permission to go after your goals is a gift you give yourself, and no one else can give it to you. Finally, there is power in numbers. None of us are alone — we are part of a community of military spouses who collaborate instead of compete, and this kind of radical inclusivity is truly special and unique.”
As her TPS chapter draws to a close, Kimberli isn’t sure what the future holds for her. She is certain, however, that it will involve further leveling up of her digital marketing and remote work skills as she continues to invest in herself and in the military spouse community.
“When I started my TPS journey a year ago I was coming off of a long period of being a “super duper spouse” — I was doing a ton for the community and needed to recharge my own batteries and also think about my future in a more tactical way. Looking back, I would tell early 2019 Kimberli to prepare mentally to always be a student — nothing is static in marketing except human hardwiring, and even that is ethereal. Don’t for a second think that you are going to be able to stop learning — and that’s OK, because you’re going to learn to love it. I have no idea what my next team will look like, but they have huge shoes to fill.”
The Paradigm Switch wishes to thank Kimberli for her tireless hard work, unwavering commitment, and incredible passion for our organization! We will forever be grateful for her energy and guidance and can’t wait to see how she will transform lives in her next role.
She IS The Paradigm Switch.
