Jacqueline D. Hill
Managing Partner
Hill & Associates
25 Years in the Consulting Business Industry
OW: What is the best thing that you have ever done, which got you where you are today?
JH: Networking and building relationships. Building relationships is the key to success in any career or business. We are all just six degrees of separation from those we really want to meet.
OW: What is the biggest career mistake you ever made?
JH: I quit a job that had tremendous career potential, which I could not see at the time, because I was impatient and wanted everything NOW! Because of this experience, patience has become one of my best traits.
OW: What would you tell your younger self?
JH: YOU CAN BE WHATEVER YOU DESIRE! Race and gender played a major role in shaping my early career aspirations. At the time, the roles of professional Black women were very limited to secretaries, teachers, and so on. Back then, there were few professional role models. As I got older, I realized that it was faith: believe in oneself and have a plan that would take you anywhere you wanted to go.
OW: What would you do differently in your career?
JH: I would not let my race and gender stop me from achieving my goals, even when others attempted to do so. Along the way, I would be reminded of my race or gender as a reason why some opportunities were not available to me. Sadly, for a period of time, I accepted this notion, denying myself opportunities I could have pursued.
OW: What would you like your legacy to be?
JH: I hope my legacy will be, “people known and unknown, lives were made better because of where I chose to invest my time and energy.”
