Turning Mistakes into Opportunities

In 1951 Administrative Professionals were typically known as Secretaries. A time when a "chipper" attitude, a constant smile, a tight pencil or swing skirt, and the perfect bob hairstyle and makeup were an integral part of the role. A time when the click-clack and ding of the typewriter filled the soundscape of highrise office buildings all across the United States.

In her office in Dallas, Texas, Executive Secretary Bette Nesmith Graham would sit at her typewriter and type correspondences for her boss W.W. Overton, Chairman of the Board of the Texas Bank and Trust, on a daily basis.

Graham, a resourceful and driven employee, had worked her way up the ranks in less than ten years to support the Chairman. Like today's computer, at that time, the typewriter was king. Hours were spent on Remington, Smith-Corona, and later, IBM electric typewriters. The invention of the typewriter revolutionized communication and business and was a prime tool that secretaries like Bette used daily. The advantages of the typewriter were vast, but the disadvantages could mean hours of perfect type were wasted with even the smallest typing error. Graham winced at the thought of retyping full pages of text over a single mistake. She was determined to find a more efficient alternative and took it upon herself to create it.

With amazing ingenuity and grit, Graham would go on to invent a product that would catapult her to fame as one of the most renowned women inventors of the 20th century. For those of us who still sit behind a desk to work each day, I guarantee that if you open the top drawer of your desk, you will find this item. Originally called "Mistake Out," now Liquid Paper is a correction fluid that masks mistakes typed or written on documents.

In 1956 she sold out of her first batch of Mistake Out. The high demand from assistants led her to leave her administrative role at the bank to work full-time, producing and bottling her solution out of her North Dallas home. Bette branded her product as a solution to eliminate the pressure for perfection.

By the height of the 1970s, Graham had moved the operations of her patented and trademarked solution to a 35,000-square-foot facility. At the time, the company was selling over a million units a year.

A trailblazer and compassionate leader, Graham ensured that her company and headquarters fostered the cultural, educational, and spiritual development of its employees. An artist at heart, she promoted creativity among her staff. Her office had a library, childcare facility, fish pond with a walking path, and walls where employees could display their own artwork.

With a full heart and an even larger bank account, Graham established foundations that focused on empowering women, providing them with grants and financial support, particularly those in the arts that are still around today.

Graham died in 1980, less than one year after selling her company to the Gillette Corporation for a whopping $47.5 million dollars. The luminary that was Bette Nesmith Graham is the ideal admin to highlight for Women's History Month. Bette didn't settle for "the way it's always been done". She chose to find a solution and taught us that If something you do isn't perfect the first time, just add a little liquid corrector and try again.