Betty is hired by Mode as a personal assistant to Daniel Meade, the editor-in-chief, but plain, un-glamorous Betty is like a fish out of water being surrounded by 'beautiful' people.

Rivalry runs rife at the magazine head-quarters, with Daniel Meade's position constantly threatened by nemesis, Wilhelmina Slater, who is determined to run Mode since Daniel was offered the job by his father (Bradford Meade, owner of Meade Publications which print Mode) despite his lack of experience.

Betty herself has to deal with Wilhelmina's assistant, Marc St. James, and receptionist Amanda, both of whom constantly mock Betty's lack of fashion sense and geeky attitude.

Betty is very close to her family and lives with her father, Ignacio Suarez, beautician sister Hilda, and Hilda's flamboyant son, Justin.

Poor Betty struggles to fit in with the single-minded views of the fashion world, where her thick glasses, braces and simple fashion sense are mocked on a daily basis by her co-workers.

Daniel and Betty's work are both threatened and sabotaged by Wilhelmina, Marc and Amanda (all for different reasons), which in turn brings Betty and Daniel closer.

Betty's closest friends outside her family come in the form of Scottish seamstress, Christina McKinney, and cute but geeky accountant, Henry Grubstick, who both also work at Mode. In the second series, Betty also forms a close friendship with deli shop worker, Giovanni 'Gio' Rossi.

Season One
The first season primarily deals with Betty trying to balance her family, work and romantic life. Betty struggles to stay with her boyfriend, Walter, after he cheats on her with Betty's next-door-neighbour, but quickly falls in love again with co-worker, Henry.

However, their relationship is put under tremendous pressure when Henry's ex-girlfriend shows up, declaring she is pregnant with Henry's child.

Betty also has to deal with her father's health and immigration problems, and finding out a dark secret of his past. Meanwhile Hilda is having problems with door-to-door sales, but finds out her talent lies being a beautician, a career which she starts to pursue.

Meanwhile Daniel is coping with a series of revelations, including that his mother, Claire Meade killed Daniel's predecessor, Fey Sommers, and that his brother Alex is now his sister, Alexis.

As well as dealing with a drug addiction, Daniel is also threatened by Wilhelmina who is determined to get Daniel's job, and tries to use Bradford as a means of eventually running Mode.

Amanda finds out the identity of her mother, whilst Marc struggles with his homosexuality and gaining his family's acceptance.