Meet Ashley Hill | Educator & Tutor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Hill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
My work/life balance has changed drastically since 2018, when Hilltop Tutors became a business. Initially, it was a hobby that I pursued outside of my corporate job. I was able to follow my purpose of helping children a few hours every other day or once a week during Bible Study at church. However, during the pandemic, I was working remotely full-time and started tutoring virtually, while my son had just entered 1st grade. Word spread fast about Hilltop Tutors, and I began tutoring just as many hours as my corporate full-time job. It seemed like 24 hours was not enough time in the day. The tutoring started to surpass my corporate hours, so by February 2021, I had stopped working my corporate job, and began Hilltop Tutors as a full-time business. I was wearing all the hats: billing, scheduling, tutoring, HR, bookkeeping, etc,, so I had no free time in the day to unwind. I would see my son in the morning, when he woke up for school, each day, but hardly ever for bedtime. Starting a business and launching it full-time, takes great sacrifice, commitment and trust in the Lord. At the time, my number one focus was helping as many children as possible, while still being able to provide for my son. There was no back up plan, it had to work. It was not until 2023, that I was able to start incorporating more personal time and self care for myself. I learned how to set boundaries for myself to relax and unwind, along with spending more family time with my son. The balance is needed in order to be able to pour into others; especially children who are depending on your help.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Did you know a “Cool Nerd” when you were in school? Well, that was the title I was given. Growing up in a society where being smart was not cool, you’d think that I had a hard time in school. However, my friends would always joke with me that I was a “Cool Nerd.” In sixth grade, I was the only student awarded the highly coveted “President’s Award”, which prompted many of my friends to ask me for help with their school work. Soon, other students began to reach out and that is when I first found a sense of purpose helping others see why it was important to be smart. In high school, my teachers noticed the progress some of the students were making and asked them what they were doing differently. They told the teachers that I was helping them with their notetaking skills and providing tips to assist with learning the material. My teachers were so amazed that they referred me to an internship program to become an official tutor.

I have been tutoring for almost 20 years, but it wasn’t until I had my own child that I discovered my proven process. I was working for a law firm at the time my son was born and went on maternity leave for 6 weeks. My production didn’t miss a beat, so the firm allowed me to work from home until I was ready to return to the office. Being able to be at home with my son was such a blessing. I was able to witness all of the common first childhood moments and we did everything together.

When he turned 2 y/o, we began to work on letters, numbers and sight words. It was amazing being able to develop my child’s learning from the beginning stages. This was the first time I had taught anyone something from scratch (learning how to speak and read words) since I had mostly helped my peers when I was in school. TRUST ME, it was difficult to do while still working full-time, but I was up for the challenge and eventually, discovered how to accelerate his learning. When he started kindergarten, he was able to read and write full sentences. Furthermore, in first grade, he was already reading on a second-grade level. The journey of educating my son mixed with all the years of experience, I devised a creative and distinct method to teach children so that they have fun, enjoy learning and most importantly retain the information.

Being able to teach my son and watch him learn, helped me realize this was my God-given purpose: EDUCATING CHILDREN. Therefore, I started tutoring other people’s children, applying the techniques used on my own child to all the different learning styles children possess. Teaching children the alphabet, counting numbers, reading sight words and other concepts, while completing monthly production reports and attending scheduled department meetings began to cross worlds. That is when I decided to tutor full-time and Hilltop Tutors was created in 2018. I experienced how difficult work/life balance had become while working a full-time position in a law firm, maintaining a household with a child, and assisting other families. We, at Hilltop Tutors, understand that sometimes EVEN PARENTS need help, too.

We believe tutoring is not a one-size-fits-all form of education. We tailor our tutoring sessions around the child’s learning style, while meeting the family’s needs by providing flexibility in scheduling and choice of location. Tutoring sessions can be customized by the family, including the type of session, how many children, duration, and frequency.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting for a week long trip to Dallas, we would have tons of fun:

Places we would visit:
The Star
AT&T Stadium – watch a Cowboys Game
American Airlines Center – attend a basketball game or concert
Dallas Museum of Art
Kylde Warren Park : amazing food trucks
Grit Fitness : a great kickboxing workout
Galleria for shopping
Game Show Battle Room : Fun, Friendly competition

Places to Eat/Drink:
Hutchins BBQ
Torchy’s Taco – Hillbilly Queso, Yum
Sushi Axiom – All day Happy Hour
Sidecar Social – Fun with our drinks
Blacktap Dallas – Milkshakes are to die for
Delucca Gaucho Pizza and Wine
TipsyAlchemist – Drinks

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people that I would love to take this opportunity to Shoutout, starting with Janicka Arthur, my line sister and the person who taught me how to use Zoom Meeting. When the pandemic started, I was ready to give up Hilltop Tutors because the main service was mobile tutoring. I had not learned about virtual meetings because working in an office, we held our meetings in conference rooms or over Teams. One day, I made an announcement that I would have a decision about the future of Hilltop Tutors. Janicka called my phone and offered to teach me Zoom Meeting. We spent an hour walking through the functions and capabilities on the app. Janicka owns a dance company, artofviii, and was hosting virtual dance lessons for her classes. I owe the growth and success of Hilltop Tutors to her teaching me virtual meetings and expanding our services beyond mobile in-person tutoring.

Texas Tre, owner of Inspiring Lives, is the other person I would like to Shoutout because he has allowed Hilltop Tutors to partner with his organization on serval community events across the DFW Metroplex and state of Texas, bringing more awareness and attention to our brand. He is the main reason I am completing this interview because he is always thinking of ways to bring others to the front with him.

Website: www.hilltoptutors.com

Instagram: @hilltop_tutors

Facebook: @hilltoptutor

Image Credits
Angela Webb