A stroll around the neighborhood: Working women on the South Side

The Brown and White took a stroll around the neighborhood and spoke to female community members about their career experiences in Bethlehem. 

Gia Heaton

Gia Heaton has been a bartender at Molly’s Irish Grille and Sports Pub for seven years and a licensed marriage and family therapist for a year and a half. 

Q: What’s special about working at Molly’s?

GH: All the bartenders have been here for years, and we really take our time and put effort into getting to know the students on a first-name basis. We do a lot of graduate school events here, and I think that the effort that we take to engage with them goes a long way. We cater to them because it creates that environment of community. 

Q: What would you say to someone wanting to become a bartender?

GH: Other than that the money is very good, it gives you an opportunity to meet so many different kinds of people. After doing it for so many years, I’ve become a very well-rounded person because I’ve interacted with people that are paying for a $2 beer with their nickels and people who could probably buy this bar in cash. It’s given me a wide variety of experiences of engaging with people. 

Q: What do you do outside of bartending?

GH: I’m a marriage and family therapist at a private practice by day. (Bartending across different places) for almost 20 years (total) has given me so many skills that I bring into sessions that have made me an awesome therapist. 

Q: How do your different jobs overlap?

GH: (The jobs) are very similar, which was surprising. I have this great ability to be able to read people. The bar is therapeutic for some people. They want to sit, open up, relax and talk. There’s a lot of parallels between being a therapist and being a bartender. It’s like two sides of the same coin. 

Q: What do you love about working in Bethlehem?

GH: I like the community aspect of Bethlehem in relation to the hospitality business, bars and restaurants. I’ve been working in this field for 20 years and I really like how everybody comes together for fundraisers, LeLaf weekend and Chilifest. It’s very spirited and very supportive.

Haley Arnold

Haley Arnold interned at Touchstone Theater as an undergraduate student at Muhlenberg College and has been working full time with the company since graduating in 2023.

Q: What keeps you coming back to Touchstone each year? 

HA: The people keep me coming back. It’s a great group of artists and collaborators. I also just love what Touchstone does and what it stands for. Touchstone is a professional theater, but it’s community-centric, so everything that we do is in service to the people who live here and who love this place. 

Q: What is your favorite memory from working here? 

HA: One of the most notable things for me was when I interned (at Touchstone). One of the first (internships) I did was Touchstone’s Festival Unbound, which is one of the biggest initiatives of our company. It’s this festival where the big goal is to target community-centric events across the entirety of Bethlehem. It was a multi-day festival, which was crazy but amazing, and we hosted a group called Single Shoe. They did a show called “A Wall Between Us.” It’s a show about intersecting narratives and people surrounding immigration in the U.S., particularly. It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. 

Q: What first got you interested in theater? 

HA: I’ve been doing theater since middle school. I had no idea that theater was a thing that people could do until I saw a picture of an actor named Aaron Tveit on somebody’s locker. That was my introduction to Les Misérables, which was my introduction to theater. 

I started acting through all of high school. When I got to college, I tried stage management and that was cool. That also got me into directing because I was working on a project that I was the stage manager of, and I decided I wanted to make some of the creative decisions. I started self-producing in college. 

Q: What piece of advice would you give to someone looking to go down a similar career path? 

HA: My initial thought would be: don’t think too hard about it, just start doing it. It can be really easy to get stuck in the planning phase. At some point, if you just start doing it, you figure it out. I started my own company a year and a half ago, and it was that exact thing.

Maggie Marchese

Maggie Marchese moved to Bethlehem in 1978 and has worked part time as a librarian at Bethlehem Area Public Library for 23 years. 

Q: What have you noticed has changed about Bethlehem since moving here?

MM: There are more people from different areas. I would definitely say that’s a good thing, that it got more populated.

Q: What do you love about your job at the library?

MM: I love the people I work with. I just love interacting with the patrons who come in here for the books. It’s a lot of interesting people and fun.

Q: What would you say is your favorite book?

MM: Oh, that’s a hard one. I really loved The Silent Patient. I enjoyed the ending and how you really couldn’t suspect it.

Q: Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

MM: I like to read, of course. I used to be a tennis player and also played pickleball, which was really fun.

Q: What’s a lesson or any kind of insight that you would like to share with Lehigh students?

MM: Your education is incredibly important. I’d also say, especially to my grandchildren already, to take every day of your life and fill it the best you can. Every day, try and say something kind to somebody, because one small thing can make a big difference and make people feel good.

Eva Pacho

Eva Pacho has worked at Donerds Donuts for three years, selling and baking donuts. 

Q: What do you love about Bethlehem?

EP: There’s a lot of diversity here. I don’t own this business, but I do really appreciate that local people really appreciate local businesses. They’re always supporting each other.

Q: What’s your favorite memory working here, and do you have a favorite customer interaction that comes to mind?

EP: I’ve made friends with the people I work with and with customers. I love that everyone comes to get donuts and coffee in a good mood. It’s been weird when I have a rude interaction with someone, I think all of (the customers) are really polite.

Q: Outside of work, what do you love? 

EP: I have a dog. I’m married. (My husband and I) really enjoy going on walks. We also enjoy morning running; it’s our hobby. I love Bethlehem for that as well because, even when there’s a lot of traffic, you can still use the roads to run.

Q:  Do you have a message that you would like to share with students at Lehigh?

EP: I just feel like we’re living in really hard and sad times, so be good to others.

Q: What do you think is special about the community here compared to being in Mexico?

EP: I really miss Mexico and my family and friends, but I think (my husband and I) found a really good (South Side) community with really good people, so it makes you feel at home. We got to a point where we can finally call Bethlehem home.