Collectors of skills have a new terminology to package their unique abilities: the right hand. An Alfred to an entrepreneur’s Batman, an activator to an entrepreneur’s ideator, a right hand takes an entrepreneur’s ideas and, “They capture them. They organize them and they basically prioritize them into what is actually doable,” says Beth Dekker, founder of recently-launched startup The Right Hands.
Dekker recognizes the role in her own skill set. Earning degrees in theater, “Essentially what that boils down to is directing a group of people towards a common goal,” she says.
Post-Master’s, it earned her a position in event planning, where she picked up on the passion and energy she felt working with small business owners. She headed that direction, working for entrepreneur Paul Robinett who ran a candle company in Short North as well as other business ventures.
Dekker saw a theme: the skills that made her a good event planner and theater director translated into taking entrepreneurs’ ideas and giving them actionable steps.
“I realized that this role that I was fulfilling was a hard one to quantify,” Dekker says.
She wasn’t an assistant or a manager – she was all that and more. She tried out the name superhero manager for a while, as entrepreneurs are often referred to as the superheroes of the business world, continuing to work with other entrepreneurs before landing a spot at Igloo Letterpress about seven years ago.
Dekker says that every time she would explain what she does, entrepreneurs would say, “‘Oh, I need a Beth.’” To which she would respond, you don’t need a Beth, “Actually, what you need is a right hand.”
People started asking questions. How did she get into this? How do they find someone like her? Where can they go to grow those skills?
Dekker realized, “There really aren’t any companies that are trying to train people to do what I do.”
Thus The Right Hands was born.
In addition to being an activator, Dekker says a right hand has a skill set responsive to what their entrepreneur is and needs. They create processes, answer phones, keep the books. They morph into whatever role is needed and the phrase “wears a lot of hats” certainly applies.
Other right hands can get a taste of the life at Dekker’s first class coming up in November. The Right Hands: Superhero Management will be held Sunday, November 19 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at The Wonder Jam.
It’s classes first before Dekker continues to expand her offerings. Ideally teaching several workshops over the next year, she plans to form a right hands support group to talk through ideas and work through issues. Then it will be a match-making service, partnering entrepreneurs with their ideal right hand.
As she’s floated the idea to various groups over the years, people got it. They had someone she should talk to.
“It seemed to be something that people grabbed onto the idea of,” Dekker says.
And, the response from fellow right-handers has been overwhelmingly positive. Dekker has found it’s an innate skill set many folks in the arts seem to posses, and she’s excited to help them put their creative mind to work in a new way.
For more information, visit therighthands.co.
