Longtime Monitor rep Tamez celebrates 50 years at newspaper

Working for the same company for 50 years is an exceedingly rare accomplishment, but then again, Betty Tamez is an exceedingly rare person.

Betty celebrated her 50th anniversary as an employee of The Monitor on Tuesday, Oct. 23. How did she do it?

“I love my job from the bottom of my heart,” Betty replied. “Every day I get up and come to work and I love being able to help my clients. At the end of the day it’s an honor for me.”

Betty was born in McAllen. She says her father was a migrant worker, so instead of finishing high school, she opted to get her GED and went to work at the age of 16 to help the family financially.

On October 23, 1974, she took a job at The Monitor selling newspaper subscriptions by telephone. She was so good at it that within a year she was asked to join the marketing team. Tamez remembers the first big account she landed was Hirons and Trower Furniture.

“The owner was Mr. Edwin Trower, and that man loved me,” Betty recalled. “He actually had me write a two-page layout with my own handwriting and that’s how we ran it in the paper. I guess he really loved my handwriting.”

Today, Betty is The Monitor’s top marketing representative, working with an average of 55 to 60 clients a month. She says her favorite part of the job is helping her clients add value and grow their businesses.

“It has never been about the commissions for me,” Betty said. “I actually like helping my clients develop their marketing campaigns from top to bottom. I like everything, from doing a proposal, to designing the advertisement. And I love meeting and talking to new people every day.”

Betty says she could not have lasted 50 years in the same profession without the help of her coworkers and her boss.

“Stephan Wingert has been there for me for many, many years,” Betty said. “He’s always been good to me, and I mean everyone has always been good to me, and I try to do the same thing for them.”

Even after 50 years, Betty is not ready to slow down anytime soon, saying she’ll continue working at The Monitor for the foreseeable future.