Terri Batch - President and CEO of Global LA & Batch Global Strategies | Los Angeles Leaders

Terry Batch's journey from South Georgia to global trade leader will make you rethink what's possible when you embrace every opportunity that comes your way.

What happens when curiosity about different cultures meets the courage to step through unfamiliar doors? Growing up in the American South during the 70s and 80s, Terry's fascination with her Korean and Mexican neighbors sparked a lifelong passion for cross-cultural connection. That curiosity led her to Beijing at age 20, speaking barely a word of Mandarin—a decision that would shape her remarkable career in international trade and diplomacy.

Terry takes us behind the scenes of her nearly 21-year career at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she established the China team and led the Global Diversity Export Initiative, bringing underrepresented businesses to the global marketplace. She candidly shares her entrepreneurial setbacks—including a painful return to government work after her first attempt at launching Batch Global Strategies—and how that "failure" ultimately built the resilience needed to thrive during 2020's unprecedented challenges. Now, as President and CEO of Global LA and with her revitalized consulting practice, Terry works tirelessly to position Los Angeles as a premier destination for international business and investment.

Between navigating cultural nuances in Beijing and finding her tribe in Los Angeles (which she admits was the harder transition!), Terry offers invaluable insights on leadership, parenthood, and creating international opportunities for the next generation. Her philosophy that "you don't know what you'll do in adversity until you're in it" serves as powerful motivation for anyone facing uncertainty in their professional journey.

📌 ABOUT OUR GUEST:
🔹 Name: Terri Batch
🔹 Title: President & CEO
🔹 Organization:  Global LA & Batch Global Strategies
🔹 Guests Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terribatch/

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Terry Batch
• 9:13 Childhood and Cultural Exposure
• 19:10 College and Study Abroad Experience
• 30:11 Finding Her Way in Los Angeles
• 36:05 Career at US Department of Commerce
• 50:52 Leadership Style and Mentorship
• 56:39 Entrepreneurial Journey and Failures
• 1:01:06 Global LA and Batch Global Strategies
• 1:05:31 Final Thoughts on International Relations

Transcript

Narrator 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories of the visionaries shaping the future of our region. Hosted by Christopher Luna, this podcast brings you conversations with the movers and shakers driving innovation, leadership and community impact across Los Angeles. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a community leader or simply someone passionate about making a difference, this podcast is your gateway to the insights and inspiration you need to lead and succeed. Get ready to be inspired by the leaders making waves in Los Angeles and beyond.

Narrator 2: 0:36

In this episode we welcome Terry Batch, president and CEO of Global LA and Batch Global Strategies. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Spelman College and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese and certified as a Global Logistics Specialist and Global Business Professional, she has guided US businesses and government leaders across Asia, europe, africa and Latin America. Mrs Terry Batch is the founder and principal of Batch Global Strategies, a strategic advisory firm dedicated to advancing inclusive international trade, investment promotion and global market expansion. In addition to leading BGS, mrs Batch serves as President and CEO of Global LA, a public-private partnership committed to positioning Los Angeles as a premier global hub for business, innovation and international collaboration. Notably, she led two landmark overseas events with the US Embassy in Paris to promote Los Angeles ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, and at the US Embassy in Tokyo ahead of Major League Baseball's Tokyo Series.

Narrator 2: 1:44

Mrs Batch spent over 20 years at the US Department of Commerce, wrapping up her career as the director of the Global Diversity Export Initiative within the US Commercial Service. She championed the global expansion of minority women, lgbtq+, veteran and disabled-owned businesses. Mrs Batch's leadership has been recognized with numerous accolades, including bronze and silver medal awards from the US Department of Commerce and the prestigious William E Morton Memorial Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion. Please welcome Terry Batch.

Christopher Luna: 2:20

Welcome to another episode of Los Angeles Leaders. I'm your host, christopher Luna. Today we have an incredible guest making incredible waves globally on the international stage Terry Batch. Thank you for being here today. You have an incredible story.

Terri Batch: 2:33

Thank you, thanks for having me.

Christopher Luna: 2:36

You know, before these big stages and before the embassies and all the boardrooms that you're involved in, who is Terry Batch growing up? Tell me a little bit about your background. Wow, you want to know. Who is Terry Batch growing up. Tell me a little bit about your background.

Terri Batch: 2:46

Wow, you want to know who is Terry Batch. People ask me that all the time. You know I am just a regular, just girl who came from Georgia, who arrived in Los Angeles. I want to say, 26 years ago this year I've been living, living in LA and you know I am from very humble beginnings, single mom, first generation college student.

Terri Batch: 3:13

But I've been, I've had incredible opportunities in my life and when opportunities have presented themselves, I have just taken them. And so it started, you know, from high school and applying to Spelman College and deciding to go to an all-female, historically black college and while I was there, having the opportunity to study in China and taking that opportunity and then from there, getting a fellowship with the Commerce Department. So that's how my career in international trade really started. That's how I got my foot in the door was having a Ron Brown fellowship To coming here and studying at USC for a Master's of Public Administration and going to Taiwan to study and just all of those life-changing opportunities that were presented to me and taking them, and I ended up here where I am today, having worked around the world in various different markets helping US companies do business and now helping businesses come to the Los Angeles area.

Christopher Luna: 4:21

Well, you summed it up all in 30 seconds, but I'm not going to let you get away with that. You know I've met you almost, I think a little over a year ago. We were at the LAEDC Select LA Conference.

Terri Batch: 4:38

Is that where we met?

Christopher Luna: 4:39

I think that's where we met. And we're going in the escalator. And it's funny because I've always meet the. You know you go to these large conferences and it's always a person you kind of walk in with or walk out with that, you have a connection right. That's why they say the elevator pitch is very important, and when I met you, I think I'm not sure how long you've already been with Global LA at that point I probably had just started.

Terri Batch: 5:02

It was around the time I just started, okay.

Christopher Luna: 5:04

So you know we briefly spoke, but over the year I've come across and interacted with you quite, quite a bit. I've seen you literally on a global stage and you represent such a vast community and your background is so impressive to me and obviously we heard your background. But what I want to understand is if you're a young lady today going to college or just kind of starting your career, like how did you get to where you're at now, like let's talk about kind of your upbringing, because I think that has a lot to say about who you are as a person.

Christopher Luna: 5:41

So I know you kind of summed it all up real quick but, you know, what I really want to know and be able to have the audience understand is who was Terry Batch growing up Like? How were you, what were these signals that that you had growing up that led you to international Cause? You talked about traveling to China and studying abroad and all that. But I mean, how did that happen? How did that get there?

Terri Batch: 6:04

Well, you know, I think I had a very we were talking, you know, before we started this um session. I had a very interesting childhood and just again um. You know, I grew up in Georgia and usually I'll tell people oh yeah, I'm from Atlanta, but truthfully I'm not from Atlanta, I'm from South, but truthfully I'm not from Atlanta, I'm from South Georgia. That's where my parents are from and just growing up in the South and where things were very black and white, right, very segregated even. You know, I'm a kid of the 70s and the 80s, so when I was introduced or exposed to new cultures it was always very interesting to me because it wasn't something that was like in my immediate everyday life. So when I was younger I lived in South Georgia.

Terri Batch: 6:55

Actually, most people don't know this, but I was born in Michigan. I was born in Flint, michigan. So my parents were a part of that great migration north, coming out of the south to, you know, get a better life. They were married in Chicago and then moved to Flint where my dad worked in the GM plant, which is, you know, obviously no longer there and then we moved back to Georgia when I was one. So I always tell people I'm from Georgia because I don't remember anything about Michigan. But anyway, when my parents were divorced, when I was little and my mom remarried and we moved to Atlanta and that was like moving to the big city and I lived in a part of Atlanta that was very diverse. It was a lot of Latino, a lot of Asian, just a lot of different cultures, and it was like my first time being exposed to that. This was about 10 or 11. I remember we lived in an apartment. Our next door neighbors were Korean, our downstairs neighbors were Mexican. I remember just being fascinated by that the different languages and the cultures, the different foods, the different smells. You know I would smell Korean food and tacos, you know, as a kid.

Terri Batch: 8:10

So when I went to high school we moved again and where I went to high school was kind of north of Atlanta, in Gwinnett County, and the high school I went to was very diverse. It was like the UN at this high school and so I had classmates that were from all over the world and I took German in high school because I wanted to be different, and I had friends that were from China. I had one friend who was Taiwanese, who's still my friend to this day, and another friend that was from China, mainland China and I would go to their house, I would eat their food. I would, you know, just kind of see how they interacted. It was kind of odd to me, they would take their shoes off when they walked in the door or, you know, they had a whole separate kitchen outside where they would cook all their oily foods. So, you know, it was just really fascinating to me and I was also fascinated by just their journey, because my friend, she was first generation American and so, and her parents had, came obviously to the US to to find a better life for them.

Terri Batch: 9:14

And so my freshman year at Spelman, my interest when when they said, oh, we want every Spelmanite to study abroad, my first inkling was, oh, I want to go to China. And so that's how I got there. It was just a steady progression and I will say I think I'll do a disservice if I don't mention this when I grew up I'm a church kid I grew up in the church. You know, every Sunday, sunday morning, sunday night and Wednesday night, I was at church. But our church was very, had a world vision for the church, and so I was always constantly being introduced to different cultures through a spiritual sense. So it was almost this very like mission-driven type of church. And so I remember they were like you need to get a burden for a certain area of the world and you know, you pray for that area of the world. So I used to always pray for China, for whatever reason. It was just an area that that always stuck with me.

Terri Batch: 10:11

And so when I got the chance, when I went to the study abroad coordinator at Spelman and I said I want to study in China, and she looked at me kind of like, really, like you mean Tokyo or you know Japan, because in the 90s that's where a lot of people, if they went to Asia, they went to Japan.

Terri Batch: 10:29

And I was like, no, I want to go to Beijing. And at the time I didn't even know how to say it, because on paper it would say Peking. You know, that was like one of the ways they used to write Beijing. And so I was like, yeah, I want to go to this place, peking. And so because they were so supportive and they were like, okay, well, we'll make it happen, I found a fellowship because obviously I didn't have the money or I didn't, other than my friend from high school. I didn't know anybody, so they found the money a fellowship. This is a fellowship. Up until recently that still existed for undergrad students to study abroad and study languages that are not common, so Chinese falls in that category. So I got that scholarship and was able to go and study in Beijing for six months.

Christopher Luna: 11:17

And how old were you?

Terri Batch: 11:19

I was 20.

Christopher Luna: 11:20

20. And what do your parents or your mom feel about that?

Terri Batch: 11:23

They were scared to death. And I remember my brother was saying why do you want to go over there? They don't treat women well. And I was like I don't know, I just want to go check it out. But yeah, they were super scared, but it was the same.

Christopher Luna: 11:41

Moving to LA they were scared for me to move to LA because I didn't know anybody here. But when you, when you went, did you already study the? Language beforehand. No, we were at an event just recently. It was the China, california forum and you introduced yourself and what was the Mandarin? Or?

Terri Batch: 11:53

Mandarin yeah.

Christopher Luna: 11:54

So, and and it was incredible because you, you earned the respect as well, so you, you studied the language before then I did not as a matter of fact.

Terri Batch: 12:04

Like I said, I studied German in high school and so I got to China. I knew, I think I knew Ni Hao, I think, because I remember my classmate's mom. She kind of prepped me how to say hello, how to say where's the toilet and how to say thank you. Right, those are like three very important things you need to know. So I started learning Chinese in Beijing and I tell people that was probably the best thing ever because I didn't learn it wrong. You know, a lot of times you learn a language and it's like textbook language and you know you don't get.

Terri Batch: 12:40

And Chinese is one of those languages where you really need to get the pronunciation correctly, otherwise you know they won't know what you're saying. So to be able to hear it, to experience it, to see it on a 24-hour basis, when I'm learning the foundation and I had a great professor who was like my first professor, it was wonderful.

Christopher Luna: 13:07

And when you're there, I mean the Coldford. They're so respectful when you respect their traditions as well. So when you're there and it's really truly out of curiosity and you really want to understand their traditions and you respect it. They're very you know, they're open arms. I haven't been to mainland China, but actually I went to Hong Kong right after high school with a friend of mine to visit his grandmother, and the only reason why I went was because my mom pushed me.

Christopher Luna: 13:33

I'm like I didn't want to go. I don't you know right, what are you? Talking about. He invited me. I'm like, what am I gonna do over there? It was such an experience.

Narrator 1: 13:40

You know to this day.

Christopher Luna: 13:41

I have such such great memories of being out there for so long and I wish I would have stayed. I mean, you would learn so much. And actually I was with Stephen Chung just recently and he was telling me about his upbringing in Hong Kong and you know, it's beautiful and, like I said, I love the tradition.

Terri Batch: 13:58

Yeah.

Christopher Luna: 13:58

And sometimes, being here in the United States, we don't have that sense of tradition or that history, especially like Japan. They're so traditional as well. So that's another beautiful country. But tell me about your transition back to the United States. I mean, what? What did you do when you, when you got back?

Terri Batch: 14:17

Yeah, well, I will just say, just in relation to what you said about their culture and the respect said about their culture and the respect you know, and obviously I'm an African-American woman, right, and I've had people ask me well, you're black, how did they treat you? And I didn't have negative experiences. I know that there were some underpinnings because I think, in terms of just, you know, when they see someone, a person, a black person, they don't quite know, they thought I was African and I would have to tell them no, I'm American. But you know, I never had a negative experience. I just wanted to throw that out there.

Terri Batch: 14:57

In terms of, you know, interacting with Chinese and even to this day, you know, especially, I think, because I speak the language, I'm treated in a way that is very respectful and I always say I've never met a Chinese person that's not my friend, you know, because I'm able to talk to them. And then also, going back to Hong Kong, when I went to China the first time, I went to Hong Kong and it is literally one of my favorite cities in the world. It's such a cool place to be and, you know, learning about their history and how it's such a melting pot, is very similar to LA, where you have people from just all over the world that are in Hong Kong, so I'm glad you got that experience.

Christopher Luna: 15:37

I am. I'm looking forward to going back, for sure, yeah totally yeah.

Terri Batch: 15:42

Coming back to the US, it was weird. You know, I went back to Spelman, so this was my junior year when I studied in Beijing, and then I came back and I only studied for six months because I was a computer science major and as as a computer science major, if I would have stayed a whole year I would have graduated late. So I didn't stay the whole time. I used that as a time to take electives and stuff. So I came back and I continued to study Chinese. I studied it actually at Clark Atlanta, which is like the adjacent campus to Spelman. There was only two universities in Atlanta at the time that had Mandarin programs it was Clark Atlanta and it was Emory. You couldn't take Chinese anywhere else. So I did that and I knew I wanted to do something international, but I was on this computer science track already and so I was trying to just figure it out. I wanted to continue to learn Chinese, I wanted to continue to explore this international career path, but I had no idea how to do it. And so, again, that's where you know there's different doors open talking to different people.

Terri Batch: 16:56

Through the fellowship I had from the Commerce Department that I told you about, I got a chance to go to Berkeley, uc Berkeley for the summer after my junior year I did a program called PPIA, which is Public Policy and International Affairs. It's still around today and that program really opened me up to careers in international affairs that I didn't know exist. I didn't know really about the State Department or that you know. I knew when I got the Commerce Department fellowship it was to become a foreign service officer. That was the original intent, but I didn't even know what that meant really.

Terri Batch: 17:34

So being able to just again like walk through these open doors that are presented to me and go in with an open mind, open heart about what I can do or what's possible, that's how I've gotten from one place to the next. So, uc Berkeley, that's where I learned about a master's of public administration, and so when I went back to Spelman for my senior year, I knew my senior year I was going to go and go on to grad school. I wasn't planning to go into the workforce and so I just started applying for master's programs and that's how USC came apart. I actually got accepted to several programs around the country, but because USC had such a strong focus on Asia, I decided to come to USC because I knew I wanted to continue to pursue Asia and Asia studies and build on my China knowledge.

Christopher Luna: 18:30

So when you came to USC, what age were you at that point?

Terri Batch: 18:34

Oh gosh, so I was what 20? 21. Wow I think it was 21.

Christopher Luna: 18:41

So and again. And the reason why I ask again is because think about the person that's studying right now, right, oh, yeah, and that's what I'm trying to like. Visualize right If you're in your early twenties, think of the exposure you've already had at that point Um, and and, and your want to come to Los Angeles to continue studying that at USC. And obviously it's a great college. What was that experience like here in LA?

Terri Batch: 19:04

It was again. It was every trend. When I look back, every transition I had has been difficult. It's been difficult but it's also been life changing. So you know, whenever you know they talk about when you level up, every time you level up in life you got to adjust. And so coming to LA was was I tell people moving to LA from Georgia was harder. It was harder to come to LA than it was to go to Beijing, and I'll tell you why. Beijing was a new country, new culture. You know you expect it different. Moving across country. I didn't expect it to be so different but it was. And LA isA is just like a. It's a big city but there's all these little communities within a big city and so you have to kind of find your tribe in LA, and it took me two, three years to find my tribe.

Christopher Luna: 19:56

Did you come with anyone or were you by yourself? I was by myself.

Terri Batch: 19:59

Did you move in?

Christopher Luna: 20:00

with anyone you already knew I did.

Terri Batch: 20:02

So let me tell you. So this goes back to the whole church thing. So when I moved to LA my church in Atlanta my pastor knew a pastor here in Santa Monica actually, and so he connected me with that pastor in Santa Monica and they were really big into like discipleship living and things like that. And so when I moved here, I moved to Santa Monica and I lived with a family which is like they were amazing. They're an amazing family. I don't see them as much today, but they had three daughters who are all amazing artists. They were Tongva, the Tongva Indians that were the original inhabitants of this land, and they're all amazing Tongva artists today. So I lived with a family and I was a part of a church when I moved here. So that was kind of my tribe.

Terri Batch: 20:52

But even then that was a really rough transition while and I was, you know, commuting, obviously from Santa Monica downtown to USC for my classes, and that was also I have to put a plug in, because if I don't mention him, from Santa Monica downtown to USC for my classes, and that was also I have to put a plug in, because if I don't mention him he's going to be like you didn't talk about me.

Terri Batch: 21:10

I met my husband when I was at USC, so he was a second year when I was a first year and so I think also meeting him and him being from LA, he grew up in Carson, which is where we live today, him being from LA, he grew up in Carson, which is where we live today Having that as an anchoring helped. But I talk to people all the time when they say, oh yeah, la is so cool, I want to move to LA. Sometimes I'm just like, are you sure? Because LA is a big place and you just got to know, kind of where, you got to know yourself yourself too, and I think a lot of people come, can come here and get lost, right, and especially if they get caught up in the, in the glitz and the glamour of of LA and um, so you know, yeah, I think if you're not from LA it's hard to understand.

Christopher Luna: 21:59

I'm sure it takes takes some time, because it definitely is. You have all these different cities that are, you know, whether you're from Mexico or you know talk about Chinatown and Little Tokyo, but not just those areas in downtown LA you have where I'm from. It's definitely large and I think a lot of people when you think internationally or even out of state, you think of Los Angeles and I mentioned this before. You can be and they don't like that I say it but you can be in Orange County or Riverside or San Bernardino or Ventura or name another county, and LA is everything. Southern California, maybe San Diego is a little different, right.

Christopher Luna: 22:41

Because, it's a little further out. When you're here, like I said, if you don't find your place, it's hard to stay positive because you're a small fish in this huge world.

Terri Batch: 22:55

In a big pond. It's so funny from an international perspective, when I talk to international companies that want to come to LA and they think they know LA, but they don't know LA. You know they know Hollywood or they know Beverly Hills, and then or they'll be like, oh yeah, we're coming to LA and, like you said, they're going to be in the Inland Empire, they're in San Bernardino.

Terri Batch: 23:19

I'm like that's not LA. So really, um, this is such a vast place, it really is country, it's a, it's a, it's a whole country right here in just Los Angeles County and you've got all these different, like I said, communities and you really just have to find your. You have to find your people and I, you know, once I did find my people, I'll tell you I can't imagine and I've been to a lot of places around the world but I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Christopher Luna: 23:49

I come across a lot of well-traveled people like you and that's one of my questions. It's like what's keeping you here? I mean, I know people have traveled all over Europe, all over Asia and the Middle East and they always come back to LA and that I mean, I'm that kid that's born and raised here that just wants to leave. I've been wanting to leave my whole life and if it was up to my parents they would be okay with it.

Narrator 1: 24:14

I mean we're a very strong, close family.

Christopher Luna: 24:18

All my siblings live nearby and it would be very hard for us to walk away from our family more than anything. But I think everyone would be so positive about it because we love to experience that. And even when we sold our family business, I told my wife I'm like, pick a place in the world, let's just go, our kids are young. But it's scary because again I come across people like you and I'm like okay, so what's keeping you here scary?

Terri Batch: 24:42

because I, again, I come across people like you and I'm like, okay, so what's keeping you here? Okay, well, let me just say I'm, I'm. I'm you in the sense of growing up in in the Georgia and then Atlanta and going to school and so many people moving to Atlanta. Especially when I moved here, everybody I met was like, oh well, so and so yeah, they just I have a friend or my family or whatever. They were moving to Atlanta when I came here because, you know, cost of living is cheaper. You know, people go to Georgia. It's beautiful in Georgia.

Terri Batch: 25:08

You know, one of the things I miss are the trees, you know. So there's great things about Georgia and Atlanta, but I don't want to live there because that's not here. And I'll tell you here, what makes LA special is it doesn't matter what you're into good, bad or whatever you can find it in LA. It doesn't matter what type of food you like, you can find it in LA. It doesn't matter what type of entertainment. Every community that you can think of it's here in LA and it's also it's not. It's very multicultural, multi-everything here in Los Angeles, and I think that's the secret sauce that makes this place work and having so many different points of view and you know you can never learn everything about LA, because I'll discover new communities and new neighborhoods all the time.

Christopher Luna: 26:10

And it's so open to all these different verticals and industries where you know you go to I don't want to say the state or the city, but you go to these specific areas and they're known for a certain sector, that one industry and that one industry, right yeah.

Terri Batch: 26:24

And when that industry goes away, like a place like Flint Michigan, which was, you know, the car manufacturing where my dad worked. I mean the whole community suffers, and I mean and not to say there's not downturns. Here, I know the aerospace sector took a big hit, I think in the 90s. Here I know the aerospace sector took a big hit, I think in the 90s. Here, you know, the entertainment industry has had its challenges and headwinds currently. So there are challenges, but it doesn't devastate the entire economy.

Christopher Luna: 26:53

It's like a stock portfolio, right, yeah, it's so diverse, right, it's diversified, exactly so it's hard, and that's what makes it so resilient, right, when we have these issues and talk about the fires and everything that we've gone through this year.

Terri Batch: 27:07

There's so many challenges, yeah, yeah, and you know what I would also add? That makes LA special, and I think people from LA take it for granted because you're just used to it Not just the diversity, but just the creativity. You know, people are very like, just creative. They're so creative and just I love the entrepreneurial spirit that's here. I mean, if you want to be an entrepreneur, la is really the place to be for that.

Christopher Luna: 27:43

Yeah, I mean when we had our family business, I would always say it's like look, we don't really have to look outside of LA.

Terri Batch: 27:47

No, you don't.

Christopher Luna: 27:48

If we could just kind of dominate, not even.

Terri Batch: 27:50

LA just a percentage of LA right.

Christopher Luna: 27:53

We'll be fine. There's enough business here for everyone there's enough business.

Terri Batch: 27:56

You know for sure I mean what. What is this? The 20th largest economy in the world, I think, is where LA falls, right now LA County, which is like amazing. I mean, we're bigger than most countries.

Christopher Luna: 28:09

I thought I heard 14.

Terri Batch: 28:11

It might have moved up.

Christopher Luna: 28:12

Maybe it's 14th or 17th.

Narrator 1: 28:15

I know.

Terri Batch: 28:15

Stephen would know Stephen can like roll off all the stats, that's what.

Christopher Luna: 28:21

I love about him, so with I mean, I'm just thinking of my kids and actually that's what I really like about this platform and this show, where I come across leaders like you and actually my son, who's turning 10, he'll listen to it with me in the car, so he's learning a lot to it with me in the car, so he's learning a lot If I was, and maybe you can tell me how your kids are growing up now and how you can give me some advice on that.

Christopher Luna: 28:49

But if we were to give them that opportunity to study abroad?

Christopher Luna: 28:52

I think, with with me. Before I got married, I was able to travel to Europe and Hong Kong and other places. But once you get married, things change and it's it's hard to move and kind of be that free spirit, right, yes, so what are some of those things that you would help our children kind of grow up to and give them that experience to travel the world? And ultimately hopefully they come back, but who knows, maybe they find someone over there and stay, I know.

Terri Batch: 29:19

Well, it's interesting you asked me that question because I do have two daughters, one that just finished her first year of college, so proud of her, and then one that is a high school student going to the 11th grade, and one of the philosophies or things that I've incorporated, and this is, I take full credit because my husband studied abroad too. He studied abroad in London and then he also went to, like, jamaica when he was in college. So, and oh, and when he was a kid growing up in Carson because Carson has a sister city with Japan, a city outside of Tokyo he went to Japan as a high school student. So he's had international experiences. But when I tell you he is LA through and through and through, he is LA through and through. He doesn't want to live anywhere else, and that's part of what's kept me here, because if it was my choice, I would have joined the Foreign Service. I would have been like come on, let's go. You know, let's change countries every three to five years, let's go see the world. But my husband's like um, you go, I'll be here when you get back. So, um, with my girls, though I've been very intentional, um, about taking them with me when I go places. If it's possible for me, for me to take them, you better believe I'm gonna. You know, whatever I'm doing for work, I'm gonna make sure that. Know, whatever I'm doing for work, I'm going to make sure that's there. But I always since when they became teenagers, not when they were little, because when they're little they don't really know what they're doing or where they're going. Your son, that's 10, maybe in another year or two he'll be ready. That's like prime time to really start exposing him to like different parts of the world or taking him with you when you go on a business trip, that sort of thing.

Terri Batch: 31:04

So I, the first international trip I took my girls on, was to Dubai. I was doing a conference and I was like, you know, kind of do the numbers, like do, do, do how much are plane tickets? Oh, I think we could swing that. I got to buy three extra plane tickets, my husband and then and my, my girls, and so and and that, and that was life-changing for them to just go and see Dubai. And they got to play. They went skiing or snowboarding or tubing inside the mall in Dubai because they have a ski lift thing, and then they were on a ropes course that afternoon and we went up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, all these really cool things that they got to do while mommy was working. A ropes course that afternoon. And you know, we went up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, all these like really cool things that they got to do, you know, while mommy was working. You know I didn't get to do it. I did go to the top of the Burj Khalifa, but all the other stuff I didn't get to do.

Terri Batch: 31:52

But then I got an opportunity to go to Africa and I said, oh well, can I bring my kids? Like, sure, do, do, do you know, do the math. Okay, I think I can swing three extra tickets. And my husband was a little bit hesitant about going to Africa and I said, look, bro, me and the girls, we're going to Africa. So if you, if we're going to Uganda and Rwanda, you either get on this train or we'll see you when we get back. And so he was like, oh, I think I can clear my schedule and I will tell you that was life-changing. It was life-changing for us as a family to travel and to go back to the continent, and then also for my girls, because I speak Chinese and one of the stories I always tell people.

Terri Batch: 32:34

When I got to China, what blew me away and this is how I knew I was disadvantaged, because if you would have told me I was disadvantaged when I was in high school, I would have been like no, I ain't disadvantaged. I mean, I don't have as much money as these other people, but I'm doing, we're okay, you know. But when I got to Beijing and I was with other my classmates and they had all either been studying Chinese since high school and had already had international experience, or they grew up overseas because their parents had these corporate jobs or they were foreign service kids, and I was like, oh, I didn't even know you could do that as a kid. So I didn't want to have my kids, when they got to college, have that shock of, wow, you've already, you already, you've had a passport. Like as a kid I didn't know you could do that, you know.

Terri Batch: 33:20

So those are the types of opportunities that, as a parent, for me, because I know better, it's like when you know better, you do better, because I know better I was like you know what you guys are gonna. Well, we gotta get them a passport and they're coming wherever we go, even if it's just a. It doesn't have to be a work thing, it could just be um, a vacation. Let's go to on a vacation somewhere outside of the US so that they could experience it. And I'll just say this one thing I did with my daughter because I had them in Chinese from really small. They were like the one black kid with all these Asian kids in.

Terri Batch: 33:55

Saturday Chinese school. I sent my daughter to Taiwan for the summer. It was when she turned, she was 16. And I found a program. I talked to some folks and they were like, oh, there's this great program and it's mostly Taiwanese. Kids go back to Taiwan and it's like a way for them to stay connected to being, you know, that identity, that Chinese but Taiwanese identity. So it was a month-long program.

Terri Batch: 34:21

I flew over with my daughter daughter, got her situated and left her you flew with her I flew with her and then and she did have a friend I found somebody who was brave enough to let their daughter stay for a whole month in taiwan as well. That's good, and she went and spent a whole month and that was before she graduated high school, you know. So imagine her perspective and then also just her essays that she was able to write for college because, having survived on her own and they flew back on their own, I didn't go back to get them. I had to do something else that I wasn't able to go, but just I wanted them to have that experience because it's so life-changing, it's so it provides a perspective that you cannot get unless you get on a plane and you go outside of the.

Christopher Luna: 35:07

US. It's great that you give that support, because I think a lot of parents I mean probably me I don't know how I would be sending my 16 year old daughter overseas. You know it's scary. Well, it depends on where you send them.

Terri Batch: 35:19

Taiwan is like one of the safest places in the world, I mean, and they don't even China to a certain extent, they don't bother foreigners. You could be out, you know 1 o'clock in the morning People are out eating and shopping and you know. It's just a different culture, a different society. But when I tell you she had a blast, she met new friends, she learned to navigate a public transportation system and you know just little things. You know life skills.

Christopher Luna: 35:51

that she was able to build. I don't know how to navigate the LA metro here which is bad Me either?

Terri Batch: 35:56

No, no me either.

Christopher Luna: 35:56

But if you take me to London. I know how.

Terri Batch: 36:00

Right Any other city in the world, but you know what LA is going to get there. We're going to get there.

Christopher Luna: 36:04

I mean it's growing quite a bit. Obviously, we're preparing for the games, but before we get there, tell me about your career at the US Department of Commerce, because you were there for some time.

Terri Batch: 36:13

I was there for almost 21 years, which is crazy. People look at me and like what? And I'm like, yeah, I guess I've aged well. So I started at the government here in Los Angeles. So when I graduated from grad school at USC, it was a little bit of a hiccup because when I graduated, 9-11 had just happened, so there was a hiring freeze. When George W Bush was president, I think one of the first things he did was did a hiring freeze even, I think, before 9-11. So it was really hard to get into the government at that time. It took me some time to get in. But then when I had to do some maneuvering, I went back to school, did a program at Cal State, long Beach in global logistics, which was great, great information. But I was able to transition as a. At the time they had this program where you were a student and you could be a student and then also kind of intern at the government and then they could transition you in without a non-compete type transition into a career position. Obviously, all that stuff has changed. I don't even give anybody that advice anymore, but that was the way I was able to get my foot in the door and also with my fellowship that I had an obligation to go work for the US government.

Terri Batch: 37:32

So I started here in the West LA office. I worked in that office for all those years with the same boss, same colleagues. I used to always tell people I was the last one hired. Those are the type of jobs nobody leaves. You know you get your foot in the door of the government and you know the pay initially is pretty low. You're not, you're not getting private sector pay. But you know you stay, you move up and then you know after some time you're on par with the private sector in terms of what you make. So I stayed and then I probably had like four jobs while I was at the Commerce Department, so I didn't do the same job for 20 years.

Terri Batch: 38:12

I started their China team, which is something that they recognized that they needed to really be able to support US companies doing business in China. So I established that I also headed up their design and construction team, so helping companies like architects and engineers and building construction-type products, helping those types of companies to sell their products around the world. And then, before I left, I headed up what we call the Global Diversity Export Initiative, which is really looking at underserved and under-resourced communities and bringing the resources of the federal government to businesses from those communities, because we found that a lot of the companies at you know whether it's in a minority businesses or women-owned businesses. They just don't know the resources that were available to support them doing business around the world. So I headed up that outreach so that we would make sure we were reaching various different communities that just didn't know about the services of the government.

Terri Batch: 39:12

And I will say the highlight of heading that up was taking a trade mission. So after I came back from Uganda and Rwanda and had that fabulous trip where I was introduced to the continent and my family was able to come with me, I did a trade mission to South Africa, ghana and Nigeria and took mostly black-owned businesses and a lot of black-led organizations to the continent for the purpose of bridging that gap between the diaspora and the continent. So that was definitely a career highlight and something that I always point to as that was one of my proudest moments.

Christopher Luna: 39:51

That's incredible. You mentioned that you had a direct all those years. Is that the person I know that you introduced me to?

Terri Batch: 39:59

Julianne Hennessy.

Christopher Luna: 40:01

No, okay, are you talking about richard swanson? So, richard swanson was my boss's boss, okay, and he was my boss for most of that time, yeah yeah, when I met him the first time at the china california forum last year and uh, you know it was after the event and we're at the lounge talking and he was telling me about the foreign service position and just kind of giving me some insights on that and you know, it opens up so much opportunity and I'm like man, if I would have known about these things before then, I would have loved to, to experience, yeah, a lot of people just don't know that it's a career opportunity.

Terri Batch: 40:40

I mean, obviously, the current climate and with the federal government is not a place where I would encourage people to say, yeah, look for jobs here, and you know the typical places because there's so much transition. But I mean, the Foreign Service is an incredible career. Service is an incredible career. It is an opportunity to represent the US around the world and to take your family, you know, and or to have a family Most people you know they're, you know you start, you do start young and you could do 20, 30 years in the foreign service and really moving from country to country and you could be in China one year and Zimbabwe the next. There's no rhyme or reason. They really move you where the need is and then they train you. So if you don't speak the language you know say I'm a Mandarin speaker if I need to speak French, or if I need to speak Japanese or Russian, you know you go through language training before they put you in those environments.

Christopher Luna: 41:40

I think what I love about that is all the etiquette of that training, because I remember one time where I currently work, I was asked to receive the council general of Mexico and they said it so lightly, right. But then I'm like, okay, this is a big deal.

Narrator 2: 41:55

Like how am I?

Christopher Luna: 41:56

receiving the council general of Mexico. There's a certain way to approach it. We're sitting down in the conference room. I'm like, okay, which side does he sit on? And there's all these protocols that in every country is different right. So I would love to learn I can't say all of that- but I would love to learn most of that.

Terri Batch: 42:15

Yeah, well, you do learn by doing. There's a really great book. I think I'm probably going to butcher the title. It's like Kiss bow or shake hands and it goes through like every country in the world about, like their culture or their etiquette, for you know what to expect when you're doing business.

Christopher Luna: 42:35

Yeah, I mean, I get sent to these events and there's a proper way to introduce yourself and it's like the two hands when you're giving a business card to someone from Asia. That's what actually got me business cards. It took me three years to get business cards. I'm like okay, guys, I need cards You're going to send me to all these events, Right, right?

Terri Batch: 42:52

And make sure you use both hands. And when you receive their card, you've got to look at it, admire it. You can't just throw it in your thing.

Christopher Luna: 42:59

You know it's so funny though, because I used to do that, not the two hands, but I used to do that previous to it because it was out of respect. It's like you're looking at it and it's not just like you don't care about it. I don't know I think.

Christopher Luna: 43:10

a lot of that I've been kind of, I learned through my parents I mean my parents' business growing up. So you've worked across the government, nonprofit and public sectors, sectors, private sectors. This show taps into leadership, leadership style. Who are some of your mentors of what you kind of captured throughout your years and your positions? And what are some of your leadership styles right now, kind of moving forward in your career?

Terri Batch: 43:37

Well, you know, I was very fortunate going back to the Commerce Department because I was there for so long. I had a great boss and when you asked me about Richard, richard was my boss's boss I had a female boss, julianne Hennessy. She's recently retired from the Commerce Department, but she was my boss, my most immediate boss, the whole time, and I'll tell you, I remember coming in under her and she gave us space. You know she was a good boss in that. You know we knew we had to do our job and she was a great leader in the sense of she showed us how to do the job, but she wasn't like an iron fist, like you got to do it this way and she gave us lead, way to figure out how we could best work and do what we needed to do to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish right or to meet our criteria, Because we're a value. You got your mid-year reviews, you got your end of year review and you got to show results. It's like, if I come to the end of the year and I don't have results, it's like, okay, well, we got to have our conversation and the other thing that I really respected about her is that and we were an office full of women, which was very rare as well.

Terri Batch: 44:57

I was able to be a mom.

Terri Batch: 44:59

She gave me the space that I needed to have to bring two souls into this world and still keep my career, and I've talked to so many women who said that you know, yeah, well, once I had my kid, I had to leave my job or I had to go find and do something else I never had. I was never faced with that challenge. I had a boss who was so supportive. You know, kid you got to pick your kid up from school or your kid is sick. You know, we always had that flexibility to be able to do so and even, like I said, even traveling with my kids. You know, no one ever was like, well, why do you have your kids here? I was able to do that, so I for for me, when I look at young people, I want them to look at young people. I want them to be excellent and execute at a high level, but I also want them to have that leverage to be able to just be who they are, you know, and if it's being able to get married and have kids, great.

Terri Batch: 45:55

If it's not, if you want to be in a rock band you know and or you want to you know, be an entrepreneur too, just having that lead way to be able to do whatever it is you want to do, you know, while obviously still doing your job. Um, I think people are most should be multifaceted. I don't think they should just be laser focused on one thing, because what happens when that one thing goes away you don't have. It's almost like that's how a lot of times people's lives crumble because they put all their eggs in one basket and they don't have anything else to fall back on. So for me, I want to be the type of person who gives people the space and the opportunity to explore many things.

Christopher Luna: 46:40

But at the same time, be firm in the responsibilities. There's got to be a high level of execution.

Terri Batch: 46:46

You've got to execute at the highest levels and with excellence.

Christopher Luna: 46:49

But I think that when you give that person their space and they're able to incorporate their family to what they're doing like you said, bringing your kids internationally and sometimes I do the same I'll bring my son to and I know where is appropriate right, yeah, yeah, everywhere isn't appropriate. Exactly, but it kind of, when you incorporate your family to what you do, it makes your job even more meaningful, right.

Terri Batch: 47:14

Yes, yes.

Christopher Luna: 47:15

And I think that that's what keeps you there longer too, because you're not looking elsewhere to try to help fill that balance.

Terri Batch: 47:22

Get that balance Exactly.

Christopher Luna: 47:23

Now I think that's important when you're kind of retaining in your position at the US Commerce Service.

Terri Batch: 47:36

US Commercial Service.

Christopher Luna: 47:37

US Commercial Service. You mentioned that Commercial Service, us Commercial Service. You mentioned that a lot of people have been there for many years.

Terri Batch: 47:42

Yeah.

Christopher Luna: 47:43

That can be kind of good and bad.

Terri Batch: 47:45

Yes, I agree.

Christopher Luna: 47:46

I'm thinking, if you were to hire me and I were to work with you and you've been there for 20-some-odd years and your boss has been there for 20-some-odd years or 30 years.

Terri Batch: 47:57

I'm like, okay, how do I move up?

Christopher Luna: 47:58

Right, If they're not moving right, they're not going anywhere, so how do you?

Terri Batch: 48:00

balance that. So what I did, that's where I. I said I had about four different jobs, so I wasn't like, oh, I want to be the director one day. Um, I didn't have to. I was able to get um promoted and have increases by because it was such a the commerce department is such a vast organization. I was able to do other things and not be like, okay, well, I'm just waiting for her to retire so that I can be promoted.

Terri Batch: 48:25

I think that can be a and and I will say la was special, la southern california is a is a special place to work for the federal government because you're so far away from Washington, and so it was good and bad. Good in the sense of you could be creative and do some different things and have that support of your management to do those different things. Bad in the sense of you don't necessarily have that direct line with Washington, so they don't know how fabulous you are or the great things that you're doing. And so those promotional opportunities unless you have the eye of somebody in Washington, they don't really know. So, with that being said, going back to your comment about people that are there 20, 30 years, that was part of the reason why I left? Because I was like okay, this is fabulous, I've been doing this for 20 years, but if I stay 20 more I'm going to be so stale and so out of touch. I need to figure out a way to take this knowledge and what I've done and what I've learned at the federal government and see how I can do it in a different context.

Terri Batch: 49:41

And when the Global LA opportunity came up, that's why I was willing to take the jump or take the leap, because I was like I can't keep doing this for 20 more years, whereas there are people there 40 years. They're in the federal government and they're like the brain trust. They are the institutional treasures because they know how things have worked. They've worked through different administrations and you know you want those types of people but you don't want everybody to be like that, because then it could just not be a good thing, not be a good thing. So that was the thing that prompted me to leave, because I was like okay, 20 years.

Terri Batch: 50:20

I left once before I'll just throw that out there After I had done about 12 years, I was like and I had done the design and construction team, I had done the China team, I was like there is nothing else for me to do here. I'm not going to be a director one day. There's no upward mobility. It's time for me to go. And that's when I did my first entrepreneurial, or actually my second or third entrepreneurial effort and then. But then I decided to go back. I went back and worked for another seven, eight years at Commerce.

Christopher Luna: 50:54

So the entrepreneurial spirit has never left you. It has never left you and you're wearing two, two major hats right now right representing global la and, uh, you actually founded batch global strategies, so tell me about those two roles and how they incorporate with one another let me tell you so, batch global strategies.

Terri Batch: 51:10

I founded that nine years ago. So when I first left the us government, I started. I started Batch Global Strategies. That was when I, after I said I'd been done the China team, done the design and construction team, I was like, okay, I've done the team leadership, I've done all these different things. Let me see how I can take that and grow my own consulting business. And I tell you, I left and I had high hopes and and when I tell you, I like fell flat on my face and I was like, oh, this is more than a notion. This is not what I thought it was going to be, it's this is. I'm working like way harder than I need to work.

Terri Batch: 51:48

And fortunately, when I had left the government, at that time it was our national director. He said you know what, terry? You go, go, do that. I'm going to hold your position for you. He said I'm going to hold it. You just take a leave of absence, I'll, I'll hold your position. And this is I don't. I've never really shared this story, so you're getting the exclusive. And I was kind of mad. I was like what? You don't believe in me, you don't believe I can do this, you know, or that's a compliment.

Christopher Luna: 52:17

Well, you know, you're, you're such a you're such an important person in this organization that I'm going to hold your position because I want you back.

Terri Batch: 52:26

It was, it was a compliment and and it was like my what do you call it? You know how you have your, your spare tire or your, your, your backup plan, you know, and they say, well, entrepreneurship, get rid of the backup plan. But I had a bit of a backup plan, like if this doesn't go well, I can always go back. And I knew that I didn't. I don't believe in burning bridges, I don't believe in sometimes you got to cut people off, but for the most part I don't cut people off. I try to maintain good relationships because you never know. You just never know when you're going to need that person, right. So when I left, you know, I started my business, I launched Batch Global. I had contracts, I had clients. I actually had a contract with a chamber at the time and it was going. But it was so uncomfortable for me and I felt like I was like almost like I was drowning, like this is too big, this is is too much, I can't do this. And so I knew I had that that get out of jail free card or that thing that I could go back to the commerce department. And then, as more the more I was exploring you know what I was doing. I was like you know what? I'm working too hard, I can just go back to the government and do this. And so I remember picking up the phone and calling my national director at that time and I said you know what? I want to come back. And I remember telling my colleagues here locally I'm going to come back. They were ecstatic, but I felt like a failure.

Terri Batch: 53:50

I felt like I had started something. And you know, I remember someone told me you know, the ugliest house on the block is the house that's never finished. And I was like I started something. I didn't finish it. You know, I started this business and I, and even my husband was so supportive. He was like you can do it, I believe in you, just just keep going. But inside, like inside, I didn't have like that internal, like strength that I needed to be like okay, well, if this fails, I'm gonna be okay. I was so like um, caught up in trying to make it a success. That failure wasn't an option. So before I failed at it, I said, okay, I'm just gonna go back to the government. And I and I tormented myself literally for years, years. I felt like, oh, I'm nothing, don't ask me, I don't know. You know, I really had to do that inner work. I remember I had a therapist and a coach during that time to just really kind of help me, like that mental piece which is so important.

Christopher Luna: 54:57

Help me like that mental piece which is so important, what always gets me with these entrepreneurs, and you know very famous wealthy people.

Terri Batch: 55:00

They'll say you know you fail more than once fail forward eight times yeah you know, it just takes one thing to really but let me tell you why I felt the way I did. I didn't feel like failure was an option I don't have. I'm not a trust fund baby, I don't. I couldn't go back and run to mommy and daddy and say, oh well, option I don't have, I'm not a trust fund baby, I don't. I couldn't go back and run to mommy and daddy and say, oh well, you know, I don't have a job, can you help me pay my mortgage? Or, you know, I felt the pressure of this has got to work or we're going to be homeless, type of thing, even though that's not true. But that was what was going on in my mind, like, oh no, this has to work. And so I ended up going back to the government and I did a lot of internal work. You know, like I said, I had a coach, I had a therapist, I had, you know, I had people speaking into me to help build me back up. And then during that time, this was like 2017, 2018, 2019 I was like, coming back, I remember doing a big trade mission in China and I was like, yeah, you know, I still got it, I can still do this China thing, you know.

Terri Batch: 56:04

And then 2020 hit, the pandemic hit and when the rest of the world was crumbling right, all that internal work that I had been doing 2027, 2028, 2029, get I had the strength to endure 2020 when there was so much uncertainty there was. You know, I remember my sister's a nurse and she works for the VA here in LA and she had two kids. We were raising our two kids and my sister's two kids and we didn't know what was going to happen to her. You know, it was so much we were talking like the world hasn't been the same since 2020. But that was when I was hitting my stride because I had been done so much internal work and um, and then George Floyd happened and, um, I was the one at the forefront at the commerce department saying, hey, we need to change things. You know, really challenging our leadership at the time, saying, you know, we really don't do much for the black community with this organization, we really don't have many black staff, whole racial reckoning. That happened in the country.

Terri Batch: 57:20

I credit the fact that I was able to get out front and be the leader that I needed to be within the organization at that time, because I had done all that internal work and I knew who I was. You know all the things that you need to know if you're going to be a leader. Just, you got to do that internal work and so I don't regret my path or what I went through. Or now I can like lift my head and be like, yep, I left and I failed, and you know.

Terri Batch: 57:46

But back then I couldn't talk about it. I was like, oh no, this is too devastating. I was ashamed or I felt like I was a failure. But now I know that you need to do that, you need to fail. And then people say, oh, fail fast, get out there, do something, fall on your face, do it. And I'm a proponent for it, because what it builds in you internally for you to be able to stand, especially when things get really hard, you know you cannot build that any other way. You can't read it in a textbook and get it. You can't read a self-help book and be like, yeah, this is what you do in adversity. You don't know what you're going to do in adversity until you're in it.

Christopher Luna: 58:26

You just got to do it.

Terri Batch: 58:27

You got to do it and you got to go through it and you got to build that internal muscle so that you know then, whatever life brings you, you're able to keep standing.

Christopher Luna: 58:39

Yeah, it's. You have to put yourself in those positions. I know when I manage the family business. It's just an incredible amount of stress and people really don't realize that until you're in it, right. And you can't read any book. That's not going to prepare you. You know, I had to write $100,000 paychecks and I'm like, shoot, I need to pay this tomorrow. What do I do? And you know you're constantly trying to put out fires and having your own business right, because you can't rely on other people.

Christopher Luna: 59:15

So, having your own business is not easy, but at the same time it gives you purpose. That's different from working for someone else or working for the government, for example.

Terri Batch: 59:24

Right, because you know that check's going to be there every two weeks. You don't even think about it.

Christopher Luna: 59:29

Definitely. But when you have your own path that you create, and you're able to kind of make quick decisions, um, you're not relying on someone else or for approvals, it just it's a little different right yeah so I think there's a need for it all, but how do you incorporate what you're doing now to global.

Narrator 1: 59:49

La because global la is.

Christopher Luna: 59:51

You know, we didn't really touch into how you got there, but if anyone wants to know her story, um, even further on that, there's a lot. Just you know google you and global la and what it does, but tell me about what you're doing now. Yeah, um, what do you do with your two organizations?

Terri Batch: 1:00:06

so I'm doing two entities. Now I'm doing global la. Global la is a non-profit set up by the city to promote los angeles, to bring foreign direct investment here. Um, I came in about a year and a half ago and I was hired to do this job. I now look at it as that was the thing the carrot that I needed to step out on my own again. I needed something to be that transition. So I've been doing that. And then I recently brought Batch Global Strategies back because, for a number of reasons, out of necessity, because the funding for Global LA is not stable or wasn't stable, and I knew that going in. So I knew that I needed to fundraise, I needed to get companies or foundations or something behind this effort. The city's not able to provide any funding, and so that has kind of stalled a bit and so at the at the same time I got it, I got bills right.

Narrator 1: 1:01:05

I I have to. You have the expertise, though I have to maintain my lifestyle. I know if I'm right.

Terri Batch: 1:01:11

So batch global strategies is about taking it is. It is the reboot, it is the going back to that thing. I started nine years ago and saying you know what I can do this, I can do this. So it's, I'm still maintaining Global LA and Global LA is still a very important entity for this city. And you know, and as long as I keep, you know, getting invited to do stuff for Global LA, I'm gonna keep showing up for Global LA. That's that was what I. I told the city that I would do, but in the meantime I'm also building my consulting practice and so that is four-pronged.

Terri Batch: 1:01:46

It is helping other cities do what Global LA does. So I've talked to other mayors or other cities in California, even across the country. They're like you know what we really need to promote our city on a global stage and bring foreign direct investment to our city. So I'm like I know how to do that. It's also helping companies, foreign companies that want to come to Los Angeles. So, being that, being more hands on consulting with them, it's also helping foreign governments because, if you look at it, every government around the world wants to attract foreign direct investment into their country or into their city other cities around the world. So it's doing that as well. And then I also.

Terri Batch: 1:02:31

The original intent of batch global strategies was to help small and medium-sized businesses to grow internationally. So really bringing that back and that expertise back of what I did for 20 years of helping US companies do business around the world. So helping them navigate, helping them understand look, these are the resources at your fingertip. You don't have to go at it alone. There's all these types of things that are available to you and they don't know about it and a lot of companies they they kind of you know fail, succeed, fail, succeed. And not to say there's not failure along the way, but there's so many things that can help cushion the blow.

Christopher Luna: 1:03:10

So, using all of the expertise and background, that's what Batch Global Strategies is yeah, and you have so much experience? I'm just thinking of my family business, right? I mean we used to import quite a bit from Turkey, germany, china. Just having someone like you I can pick up the call and say, hey, you know I'm having this issue, I mean talk about COVID A lot of our merchandise was literally and you have a supply chain.

Terri Batch: 1:03:27

Was it stuck at the port? Not?

Christopher Luna: 1:03:29

even at the port, just in the ocean, that whole supply chain was disrupted. And then you're talking about supporting businesses here that can also export too, because there's a lot of, there's a there's a big need internationally to to be able to export your product, and and we tapped into that as well. So you, you're, you can help every layer of this international background that you have in relations that you have. So there's definitely a need in your expertise and there's no one like Terry.

Terri Batch: 1:03:54

Oh, thank you, Thank you.

Christopher Luna: 1:03:55

So I'd like to think I'm unique, I'm pretty unique. We're coming up in the hour and I really appreciate your time and your support and being here. You know, is there any other key takeaways you would like our audience to kind of know about you and maybe you know something that can really help motivate people to get involved and support? You're a public servant.

Terri Batch: 1:04:20

Yeah, at heart the way.

Christopher Luna: 1:04:22

I see you. You really care about our community, and you gave your life to public service too. So is there anything motivational that we can kind of leave the audience with before we go?

Terri Batch: 1:04:34

Yeah, well, I will just say this, because people ask me all the time they're like Terry, you're an international trade, how do you feel about all this thing? That these things are happening? And you know I, this is, this is my philosophy and this is what I tell others, especially now there's because we're living in just uncertain times. There's a lot of things happening, you know, whether there's conflict, there's uncertainty in business, so much right, but the bottom line and the only way that we continue to move forward as a people, as a country, just as a world, is people-to-people relationships. So don't stop meeting people that are different from you. So don't stop meeting people that are different from you. Don't stop getting on a plane and going wherever it is in the world to go and meet and talk to the people that are there, because all the rhetoric and all the stuff that's on the airwaves, don't just shut it out. Shut that out and really get to know people in places that are interesting to you, because that's how you do business, that's how you, you know, maintain relationships is. You got to have that connection with people, and so that would be my words of encouragement.

Terri Batch: 1:05:53

I had a colleague at Commerce who used to say you know, we're creating world peace one trade deal at a time. And that's really what it is, because you do not bomb your friends and you do not want to see anything ill happen to the people that you're doing business with, because there's a mutual benefit from me knowing you and you knowing me. I'm providing you with something and you're providing me with something, and I want you to do well, because when you do well, I do well, and so I would just say keep connecting with people, and there's no better place in the world to connect with people from around the world than right here in Los Angeles. So I'll leave it with that.

Christopher Luna: 1:06:33

I agree and thank you again for your support. I mean you definitely want to worry about what you can control.

Terri Batch: 1:06:40

Oh yeah.

Christopher Luna: 1:06:41

And those relationships are key to who? We are so, again, thank you for being here today. And thank you for joining us on Los Angeles Leaders. I'll see you on the next one.

Narrator 1: 1:06:52

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast, hosted by Christopher Luna. We hope you found our conversation as inspiring as we did. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us bring more of the content you love, and be sure to follow us on social media for updates behind the scenes content and to join the conversation Until next time. Keep leading, keep innovating and keep making a difference.