Kelly Hill just keeps moving forward.
Sometimes, doing so implies a single, effortless step. Others, especially in the wake of tragedy, such movement bears the weight of the world. On Aug. 27, 2005, the day before Hurricane Katrina would ravage her beloved hometown of New Orleans, Kelly found herself in a slowly moving car surrounded by thousands of other evacuees, sandwiched in between her present anxiousness and a future that seemed uncertain.
The freeway was packed with cars as residents tried desperately to get out of the city before Katrina reached shore. Their return to New Orleans remained a question mark. But the family pushed ahead northward, regardless.
Kelly remembers feeling two things that day, as they stood idle in IH-10 traffic, the life that she’d known for so long hanging in the vehicle’s rear view mirror:
- Hoping it’s not as bad as they predict it will be,
- Wishing she could go back to her house, and lay with her child in his bed.
Unfortunately, the storm was even worse than predicted. Hill, pregnant with her second child at the time, her husband and son escaped the city and made their way to Texas to stay with a relative, still unsure of what would remain behind.
“My husband convinced me at the last minute we had to go,” Kelly said. “I was thinking, ‘eventually we’ll go back to life as we knew it. My son will still have his friends. I’ll have my job. We’ll pick up the pieces. But when there’s nothing to go back to, even your jobs are destroyed by flooding and winds, it was very difficult.”
Hill had no control over the devastating hurricane, its destructive path, or the impact it had on her family. But through her ability to move forward, she's responded with authority, with skill and with unyielding determination.
She not only survived Hurricane Katrina. She’s thrived in spite of it.
“The friends and family left behind in Louisiana are missed, but I have gained so much more throughout my years with Datamax,” Kelly said. “I’ve been through many things that should have made me an angry, embarrassed, shut down individual; but I do not let my past failures predict my future success!”
Moving Forward in Texas
Kelly’s sister-in-law lived in Coppell, where Hill and her family sought refuge in the days and weeks following the hurricane. They tried in vain to reach Louisiana family members who had evacuated in separate directions. They wondered what their next step was.
“I didn’t go back (to New Orleans). My husband went back to get what we could to have our son start school (in Texas), like his birth certificate,” Kelly said. “We had left the city with a few days’ worth of clothes as if we were going back.”
Her husband traveled back to their home to find three to four feet of water in the house, nothing salvageable left. The two made the decision that, now in Texas, she would stay at home the first year in their new apartment. A family from a local church donated furniture and clothes so the Hill family could have necessary items to start anew.
Her husband found a job locally, but eventually took a job back in Louisiana because of better pay. Kelly eventually began looking for work herself.
“In Louisiana, I had worked at a Porsche and Audi dealership as a title clerk,” Kelly said. “With a new baby, and all the stress we had endured, I wanted a low key job to start with, somewhere in the area (of Coppell),” she said.
Datamax was close in proximity and looking for a receptionist. Since Kelly didn’t have a car yet, she could take a local bus route to work. Working under Jene Hennigar, she recalls her supervisor being extremely understanding and kind as she began a new career. The more weeks she stayed, the more she began to see that this company was different – this company cared.
“The people I interacted with, everyone was very understanding of my situation,” she said. “Initially, it was a job I needed because of my circumstances. But I soon realized, you were more than just an employee.”
Moving Forward at Datamax
Kelly moved upward at Datamax with a vengeance. After less than a year as a receptionist, she was promoted to a meter collector. She also worked as a Contract Billing Specialist and eventually, Lead Administrative Specialist.
Her climb up the professional ladder was steady, consistent and unwavering.
In 2012, Kelly became the Administrative Manager overseeing a team of seven. Currently, Kelly is Datamax's ClientCONNECT Manager overseeing all aspects of administration with a support staff of 13 team members.
In this role, she is on the front lines of client care, guiding and directing the Datamax Customer experience in Texas.
“Every day, you have to think about what we are doing and how that impacts the customer,” Kelly said. “We want more than customer service, we want a customer experience. That relationship we develop is what brings them back. It’s what makes them Raving Fans.”
Kelly certainly speaks to her own Raving Fan experience over the past 12 years here, though she doesn’t spend too much time looking back. While she was impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, those events do not define her. Her next step forward: That's what defines her.
“Every time an opportunity comes along, I want it,” Kelly said. “I don’t want to say ‘what if.’ If I’ve got an opportunity to move forward, I don’t really think about it much. I just go for it.”