Beverly Copen (ABJ ’58) still uses journalism skills in everyday life

Nearly 68 years after graduating from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree, Beverly Copen still uses skills she learned in school in her everyday life.

“The first thing I learned is how to question and how to listen carefully, then reflect and not always do the talking,” Copen said. “I thought of myself as Barbara Walters, and I would just learn how to be a wonderful interviewer.”

Copen has used those skills to her advantage and has pursued a varied life of communication and service since then. Early in her career, she owned Atlanta Model and Talent agency for 15 years, then served as Georgia’s first film representative under Governor Jimmy Carter in the early 1970s, photographed subjects around the world and wrote six books…and she is still  writing.

Her books include “Your Eyes are the Windows to the World,” a book written for middle school children in Ecuador based on a program she presented while visiting there, and “It’s your Life, Isn’t it?,” a book about managing change and published in Japanese then translated into English. She also wrote “For Better or Worse,” a couples guide to dealing with chronic illness. In 2025, she worked with Teri Leigh Rouse on a biography about Copen called “Why Not? Always Ask for What you Want.”

Copen’s latest writing venture is a children’s book in the voice of a parrot discovering its freedom. She originally wrote a newspaper column for the Rome News-Tribune about the bird and the publisher enjoyed the column so much, he encouraged her to write a book.  

Projects like this have inspired her to stretch her writing muscles.

“I think it’s all about looking at the world and thinking of it differently,” she said.

Copen in very clear in her decision-making process and what she calls ‘outrageous thinking,’ which has led to many of her biggest opportunities.

She faces most decisions by asking two questions: ‘What’s the best thing that can happen if I take this chance,’ and ‘What’s the worst thing that can happen if I take this chance?’

“If I can live with the worst thing, then I’ll go ahead and say, ‘why not,’” she said of the process.

This mindset also means she is not afraid to reach out to someone who has the power to say yes. For example, when she was a film representative for Georgia and found out that a film was scheduled to be produced in North Carolina, she reached out the president of 20^th Century Fox directly and asked for a meeting, which she got. The film ended up going to North Carolina, but she benefitted from the connection.

During that time, she also started the Georgia chapter of Women in Film.

Today, at the spry age of 88-years-old, an age Copen is proud to share, she is still writing and planting seeds — the main goal of her writing and mentoring women.

“It’s about keeping your mind going and being able to think and look around and problem solve,” Copen continued. “And that’s part of what all of the books I have written are about. It’s about always wanting to do something for someone else and making a difference and planting seeds.”

Copen has understood the importance of storytelling all her life, whether she is creating content or being interviewed.  It was during an event near her home in Rome, Georgia, where she met the editor of Female Entrepreneur Magazine, who featured Copen in a recent issue of the magazine.

“Knowing how to write and create stories was my ticket to visibility in the media time and time again,” Copen concluded.

Author: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu