In this episode we are introduced to Betty Suarez, an unglamorous woman in her 20s who starts work for a fashion magazine called MODE, and in the process introduced to the harsh treatment she'll have to deal with from her more beautiful co-workers.
In her personal life, Betty has to deal with her sister Hilda, a single mother who thinks that her college-educated sister isn't cut out for work in the fashion world, and wants Betty to join her in selling Herbalux.