We recently connected with Gabrielle Hill and have shared our conversation below.

Gabrielle , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I would say that I’m someone who initially was living life just to check off boxes. I was doing great things, but I wasn’t necessarily fulfilled. So in 2020, when the pandemic hit, it was one of the first times that I evaluated my life from the career perspective. I was “successfully” setting goals and reaching them, getting the credentials, getting the education, moving in the spaces that I thought I wanted, but in that moment I realized I had no control over my professional circumstances.

From that space of reflection I reviewed my goals, and I realized that I was living life according to other people’s expectations or things that just made sense in society, and I was doing great and beautiful work with amazing people, but I was always looking for what was next because I wasn’t fulfilled.

The lessons and the wisdom that I gained during that time led me to go within and dive into some self-awareness. I asked myself a hard question, “Where is the motivation and the intention for my goal setting coming from?”

From there, I was able to make some professional decisions with intention and trust myself to take the leap to be my own boss and to finish some things that have kind of been in the balance. I noticed that when I was in alignment with myself, then everything else began to be in alignment with me as well.

Gabrielle , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am originally from Toledo, Ohio, where I obtained my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from the University of Toledo. I now reside outside of Columbus, Ohio, and have a Masters Degree from the University of Dayton. I am dedicated and passionate about building the Next Generation through skill building, creative expression, and mental health supports. I’m a licensed school counselor, a licensed clinical counselor, certified yoga guide, and the proud Founder & CEO of the independent publishing company, The AntHill Creative. My overall mission is to create spaces for the next generation, especially Women of Color, to freely receive new perspectives through personal storytelling, art, music, and mindful movement. I love how I am able to use yoga and mindfulness to highlight themes in the books I create.
I have always been an entrepreneur. I had businesses in elementary school (until we got shut down because, you know, you can’t skip recess unattended to have your team make friendship bracelets). I’ve always been passionate about helping others, and when I really began to dive into my own yoga practice and gain freedom on the mat, I was able to take those lessons off the mat into my community. Through publishing my first title, “Kaydee the Bumblebee,” I recognized the lack of diversity in the publishing world and decided to take my place in diversifying at the executive level. This is what led me to create The AntHill Creative. Initially, I simply wanted to inspire my goddaughter and my students at the time to know that they had no limits on their dreams. My personal mission is to use my creative wisdom to support others in designing a wellness driven lifestyle through education & inspiration.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Absolutely, I have so many! My Top 5 are listed below (in no particular order). -We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers (Helps me find Inspiration & Practical Steps)

-The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks (Helps me learn how to operate in my “Zone of Genius”)

-Woke Doesn’t Mean Broke by Billy Carson (Helps me with guides for personal and professional success)

-The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy (Helps me build skills in self- awareness and mindfulness)

-Professional Troublemaker (just started reading) by Luvvie Ajayi Jones (Helps me continue to fight my fears)

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn making decisions from a place of self-doubt. I had to learn, and I’m still learning, to trust my own vision and my own voice. The backstory to this is simply that I grew up doing what I thought other people expected of me, and while I have created a life that I love, I didn’t really start paying attention to how I was getting there until about the last five years. I recently had an experience where I needed to make some quick decisions. Because, hey, that’s being a business owner right? Long story short, doubting my own decision making process ended up costing me more overall than necessary. Situations like this remind me to release self-doubt and pause before I make big decisions. I am still in the process of unlearning years of negative self-talk and self-doubt. But the beautiful lesson is, now that I’m aware, I can make the necessary changes. I’ll leave you with the same question I reflected on, “Who were you before the world told you you had to be someone else?” Find that human again.

Contact Info:

• Website:  www.theanthillcreative.com | www.ghillcreates.com is under a rebrand construction
• Instagram: @ghillcreates @theanthillcreative
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ghillcreates
• Other: https://linktr.ee/ghillcreates

Image Credits
Wonderfully Made Images & Media Le Fine Print Media Production The Michael Patrick Studio