Meet Hilani Ellis of Exceptional Admins in Cherry Creek North Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hilani Ellis.

Hilani, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
First, thanks for hosting me and giving me an opportunity to share my story with your readers. My timeline includes holding roles as a strategic business partner alongside diverse and influential professionals in the Los Angeles entertainment industry and in Denver as well as entrepreneurial ventures. In 2014, while fulfilling a dynamic executive and personal assistant role, I drew attention to my unique style and approach when assisting my executive and organization. My interactions with external executives offered a fresh and curious outlook to the way they viewed that supportive role. It was these interactions that prompted requests from executives looking for assistance with their admin search. I began offering headhunting services to an elite group of Denver executives. Fast forward to the Summer of 2016, it became clear that formalizing my efforts would be valuable to the professional community, so I decided to create a brand and register the business with the Secretary of State. The making of the business name, Exceptional Admins, occurred during a collaborative discussion with my executive.

Shortly thereafter, Spring 2017, the growing reputation around the refreshing and in-depth approach to the talent acquisition process warranted leaving the corporate world to service the professional community full-time. The company is honored to report over 75 placements to date and still growing.

Since 2018, the company began to develop additional services to further support the professional community. Inquiries from founders, small business owners, and thought leaders promoted the formation of a new vertical under the Exceptional Admins brand, Remote Exceptional Admins (rEA). Its structure lends a healthy disruption to the virtual assistant space. Furthermore, my passion and expertise for the admin profession and executives have drawn requests for training and consulting with executives, their admins, and admin teams. Since the very beginning, the road I’ve traveled has been nothing short of amazing, which includes great opportunities to be challenged and positively evolve.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Right, great question. Piggy backing on my closing thought just now, the firm has encountered challenges resulting in positive evolution. Having served the professional community in supportive roles, I know the world in which executives and admins live. My unique lens of understanding gave the company a strong brand presence out of the gate. However, while the road the firm has traveled has been rewarding it has also provided challenges, which I view as opportunities. A routine challenge, which reinforces my commitment to the firm’s mission, is an absence of understanding on the executive side. There’s an out of date mentality about the administrative profession, the professional world hasn’t witnessed its evolution over the last decade plus. It is my depth of first-hand experience and passion that helps elevate the minds of executives. Each new conversation is a chance to inform leaders about the strategic value add today’s admin provides, which debunks the “basic duty” mentality that still dominates the thinking about this role. It’s this which greatly supports the hiring objective and partnership. My approach that goes above the call of duty from a traditional recruiter warrants my preferred title, Specialized Partner.

Exceptional Admins – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My main intention each day is to be in the business of people first. While the firm was founded on permanent placement services specific to administrative roles, my daily pursuit helps grow awareness around the value of a great executive/admin partnership. The company’s objective and my style of service have invited a large ambassador crowd of thought leaders, resulting in a 95% word-of-mouth referral outcome. It’s an honor to be known for my hustle and passions. Complimenting the lives of admins and executives through enriching content and services fulfills the firm’s overall mission; changing executives lives one exceptional admin at a time while advocating for admins

Along with services, my firm lends a community feel through an admin lifestyle podcast. Listeners are a part of uplifting and thought-provoking conversations. I’m very thoughtful about the guests I invite to the show. The guest list ranges from fellow admins, executives, and unique industry experts. There’s a lot of work to be done, and I’m up for the challenge. One final thought on this, the support from the admin community, being called a fairy career godmother more than once, is a high honor. I know this is a large reason for the firm’s success, knowing admins, still being an admin through-and-through, I’m here for the candidate side equally (if not more) than the client side. That’s not traditional in talent acquisition.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I believe success can be defined in a variety of ways, i.e. revenue growth, brand awareness, repeat business, referrals, and so on. No two businesses are truly alike, so a universal measurement (e.g. revenue) of success doesn’t work. Being in the business of people, I experience a sense of success when clients engage for a partnership because they’ve heard of my work. Furthermore, when candidates connect because they’ve heard of my compassion towards other admins. It’s the people part of my business that dictates the company’s success, and with that, revenue follows. Lastly, when you recognize the gap your company fills and you can ignite your passions to fill that gap, success is a result. There’s a large call for infinite passion when you run your own business, and knowing how to achieve healthy, sustainable success promotes a sense of success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.exceptionaladmins.com
• Email: hilani@exceptionaladmins.com
• Instagram: @exceptionaladmins
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/exceptionaladminshilaniellis

Image Credit:
Michele Blake: Michele with one L Photography
michelewithonelphotography@gmail.com

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