Only Human: Beth Hutton
How a lifetime of resilience – and a loss that changed everything – pushed Beth to build a business she loves.
“I carry Theo with me every day. I wouldn’t have this business if it wasn’t for him. He is my why. Making him proud is my driving force.”
When Beth Hutton talks about her social media management business, she doesn’t mention algorithms or brand reach first. She talks about her son Theo.
He is the reason she does what she does. The thought of making him proud is what helped her piece herself back together through the grief of losing a child.
By tapping into a lifetime of resilience, she has managed to turn pain into purpose and build a business that makes a difference to her own life and to others.
Growing up between hospital appointments and rehearsals
Beth’s early years growing up in Washington are a story of two halves. One spent in hospital corridors, the other under stage lights practising performing arts.
Diagnosed with the rare condition cystinosis as a child, she spent years battling fatigue, nausea and the steady decline of her kidney function. But even at her most exhausted, she pushed through the dance classes, rehearsals and performances she loved so much.
“I’d get to the top of the stairs at college and be out of breath,” she says. “But I loved performing. I was so determined to keep going.”
Her mam, who she describes as a “a powerhouse of positivity,” raised her and her sister Amy (who also has the condition) to focus on living their lives – not limiting them.
“She didn’t want it to hold us back,” says Beth. “If you’re unwell, we deal with it. Then we get back up and carry on.”
It’s this glass-half-full attitude that has carried her through the toughest moments of her life.
A transplant, a turning point and a new way of living
At 18, Beth received the kidney transplant she’d expected and hoped for her whole life. Suddenly she had a level of energy she didn’t even realise she’d been living without.
“It was like someone had turned the lights back on,” she says. “I didn’t realise how you’re meant to feel until I felt it.
“It was like receiving a new lease of life. It made me even more grateful. It made me say yes to more things.”
She went back to university and built a career she loved – teaching performing arts in schools and community groups and freelancing as a brand ambassador on the side.
“When you receive a gift like that, it makes you want to grab opportunities with two hands.”
Then Covid hit and everything stopped.
The silence after the storm
Shielding during the pandemic cut her off from the work she loved. But nothing compared to what came next.
In 2022, Beth became pregnant. At 22 weeks, she developed severe preeclampsia and Theo was born severely premature at just 24 weeks. He lived for five weeks with Beth and her husband Jamie by his side.
“Whilst we made special memories with our beautiful boy, it was a very dark, traumatic time,” Beth says. “The things you see in NICU stay with you. For two years, I was just consumed by grief.
“I didn’t do anything. As someone self-employed, I didn’t have a workplace pulling me back. I just stopped. Completely.”
The shift
At the start of 2024, quietly and slowly, her perspective changed.
“I can’t explain it, but something shifted in the new year. I thought: I want to make Theo proud. But it had to be something I was passionate about.”
She didn’t want to go back to her old work. She wanted to create something with new meaning – something that helped people in a tangible way.
So, she looked at what she was naturally good at: creativity, performing, making people feel comfortable and supported, building confidence, storytelling. And that’s when the idea for her new business was born.
Turning heartbreak into helping others
In April 2024, she launched Beth Hutton Social Media Management.
She helps small businesses get visible in a way that feels real, not forced. She breaks things down, removes the overwhelm, and shows people how to share who they really are – not who they think they’re “supposed” to be online.
She helps them to see their own value, often before they see it themselves. “I live for those lightbulb moments when something clicks and it starts to feel natural.”
Finding community and finding her feet
Beth credits the North East BIC with helping her get business off the ground and continuing to grow it.
From formal business advice to simply being around other people trying to build something, Beth found the encouragement and structure she’d been missing.
“It’s like a little community. Everyone is rooting for each other,” she says.
In just 18 months she’s worked on major local projects, delivered workshops, supported start-ups and established businesses, created content across all kinds of sectors and even become a finalist in the North East StartUP Awards.
A message to anyone on the edge of starting something
Beth doesn’t shy away from the truth that her business grew from unimaginable loss.
“Whilst the pain never leaves you, it’s about focusing that into something that makes a difference – to me and to others.
“If you have the passion to start something, don’t doubt yourself. My story is proof that your experiences – even the hard ones – can shape the most positive parts of your life further down the line.”
Want to connect with Beth?
Visit Beth Hutton Social Media Management on Facebook for more information on Beth’s services, connect on LinkedIn, or say hello when you spot her around the BIC.