Central Region VP Beth Goodman-Bluhm Looks Back on More Than Three Decades of Service

In 1986, Beth Goodman-Bluhm’s father brought home a piece of paper that would change her life.

“Dad knew I was looking for a job after college,” Goodman-Bluhm said. “Back in those days, we’d look in the newspapers for jobs or go through friends or even go door to door trying to find work. He saw that the Exchange was hiring and brought home an application.”

This kicked off a journey that would see her travel the world and rise through the ranks to become an Exchange vice president, first in Europe and then in the Real Estate Directorate before settling down in the Exchange’s East Central Region. This week, she will retire from the Exchange after 36 years of service.

“The opportunities that the Exchange has given me have been unbelievable,” Goodman-Bluhm said. “That you can connect with Europe and the Pacific Region and even Southwest Asia and create these lifelong friendships wherever you are assigned is incredible. People stay with the organization, so no matter where your friends end up, you can still connect with them. Seeing associates and managers you work with become future leaders has been so rewarding.”

Goodman-Bluhm began her career at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, as a college trainee before moving to her first assignment as a sales area manager at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Having been raised in an Air Force family, Goodman-Bluhm came to the Exchange with a deep understanding of the customers the organization serves. But that connection grew even stronger after 9/11, when she was working as Main Store Manager at Andrews Air Force Base, just a half-hour from the Pentagon.

Goodman-Bluhm worked with then-head of the Exchange’s Washington Office, Bob Ellis, to set up a mobile field Exchange to support service members and first responders after the attack.

“There are hundreds of associates from the teams across the Beltway that helped,” she said. “It was so sad, but I’ll never forget where I was on 9/11.”

Goodman-Bluhm supported service members on the front lines in 2003, when she deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, for Operation Enduring Freedom. Then, in early 2004, she deployed to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan for six weeks of inventory.

As her career progressed, Goodman-Bluhm cultivated a reputation of being a skilled leader with a deep care for her associates—qualities that prompted then-vice president of the Exchange’s Europe Region, Jason Rosenberg, to make Goodman-Bluhm his first choice when he was asked to pick an area manager in 2014.

“To me, she represented the best of our leaders in the organization,” said Rosenberg, who today serves as the Exchange’s chief operating officer. “We had known each other and had tremendous mutual respect for over 20 years, but we never worked together directly. … She’s a great operator, and she puts people first in whatever she does. That’s always been her secret to success.”

Exchange Director/CEO Tom Shull said Goodman-Bluhm’s influence will continue to resonate with the associates she has touched during her Exchange career.

“Beth is an exceptional leader who has left an indelible mark on the Exchange and its commitment to serving those who serve,” Shull said. “Team Exchange thanks her for her invaluable contributions over more than 3½ decades, without which the Exchange would not be the same place it is today.”

Goodman-Bluhm said she has strived to give direction and mentorship that are respectful and thoughtfully considered—an attribute she said was instilled in her at an early age by her parents.

“I hope that I was considered a good leader—a humble leader, and that maybe some of my characteristics or attributes maybe influenced some of the future leaders that I’ve mentored,” she said. “I’ve had tons of mentors throughout my 35 years, and I hope I’ve been able to do the same for those who have looked to me for leadership over the years.”

What’s next for Goodman-Bluhm? Another deployment, of course.

“After I retire, I will be going downrange as a general manager for a year in Kuwait and Jordan,” she said. “It’s a way to stay connected to the Exchange and our associates. After that, I’m looking forward to spending precious time with my husband Fred, daughter Lexi and her hubby Jacob and their daughter Avery. So being a full-time grandmother is in my future.”