Katy Hill — Full Interview Transcript
Thriving Through Podcast | Episode 100
What Thriving Means
AJ: Katy Hill, welcome to the Thriving Through Podcast. I'm delighted to have you here today.
Katy: Thank you, and I'm delighted to be here.
AJ: The podcast name is Thriving Through. What does thriving mean to you?
Katy: That's a great question, because thriving means something different to all of us, and that's the beautiful thing about it. For me, I draw on two things when I'm thinking and creating my vision of what thriving is.
Parents will feel this one. When we have infants or little ones, doctors and medical staff talk about thriving — and what does thriving mean for an infant? It means hitting milestones, growing, taking things in, experimenting. But not on a particular timetable. There's a range of what that growth looks like, but you can absolutely tell when children are thriving. It all happens differently, but it looks and feels the same.
The other thing I draw on is where I live in Colorado. Out my back windows is open space. When the conditions are right, what thrives out there are the native plants and grasses — because it's their home. They belong there. When they're in the right environment and the conditions are right, they thrive because they're meant to be there. That's what I use to construct my vision of thriving. It's me, in my right environment, doing what I need to do on a timetable that fits me — and it looks and feels great.
AJ: I love that. It's not forced. Children don't walk at a precise moment in their life — there's a range.
Katy: And sometimes they go back to crawling when they need to. It's not like you walk, and that's what you do from there on. We go back into our comfort zone when we need it and when it feels stable.
The Path to Self-Employment
AJ: What was your path to becoming a self-employed consultant?
Katy: Like most of us, it wasn't straight. I spent 20 years in higher education operations. I had some other work in small business consulting roles and firms before that, but always for an organization. I did not go out on my own until I found myself out of higher ed at the end of 2022.
I thought, do I want to go back in? What do I want my next move to be? I was in my early forties — not an uncommon time to ask, what do I want to do? I've always had a hard time deciding what I want to be when I grow up, because I don't see it as anything fixed. So I took a pause, took a moment to figure out what I wanted to do next. I did a little bit of fractional COO work, found out I don't really like that. It was an experimentation — figuring out what I don't like, what I do want, what I want my days to look like, how I want to help people, how I'm best at helping them. I ended up founding my consulting business in 2023, and experimenting until I found just that right spot. I love it, and I will not go back.
AJ: And what is just that right spot?
Katy: Working with multi-office architectural and engineering firms. I love and thrive on complexity. Most of my time in higher education was spent at multi-campus systems — probably ten to twelve years at 20-campus systems. I understand the complexity, the challenges of communication, the competing priorities. There are priorities at the top, priorities in each location, priorities for each office and department within that, and amazing leaders emerging from all over the place. How do you harness all of that in the right direction — without stifling anything, but without chaos either?
Being here in Colorado, architectural and engineering firms have a great mark to make on this state and neighboring states. How do we live in harmony in our built environment, shaping it in a way that is responsible, sustainable, and beautiful?
Finding the Right Niche
AJ: You spent the first couple of years working with solopreneurs and small business owners, and then shifted to A&E firms. What was the defining moment when you said this is what I really want to do?
Katy: For some of us, it doesn't happen in a single moment. There's not a morning where you wake up and the rest of your life goes in one direction. I started reflecting toward the end of the year, as one does. I run an in-person networking group, and my business partner and I were running reflection sessions in October and November — reflecting on what had gone right, what had gone wrong, what opportunities came and went, and what opportunities we wanted to create the following year.
I started doing a lot of that reflection myself. Am I happy? Am I doing what I do best? Am I doing what nobody else is better situated to do? Then I got smart and hired a coach.
My coach asked me a question — and being the contrarian I am, I rejected it and changed it slightly. He asked: 'If you could only do one thing, what would it be?' And I thought, what is the one thing — if I could reject everything else, if I could say no to everything — that is the only thing I want to say yes to? That was the question that led me to what I'm doing.
AJ: That is such a great question. And it goes back to something important: you were uniquely positioned with expertise, knowledge, and insight to serve that niche better than other people. That's the other critical consideration — who can you serve like no one else can? Because then you're a category of one. No competition.
Katy: Yes. And when you're in that right spot, it doesn't feel like there's competition. It feels like there's just endless opportunity. You may not serve all small businesses anymore, but it doesn't feel like a narrowing or a limiting. When you know it, it feels boundless.
Mission Alignment and Client Selection
AJ: You've said you're a sucker for a good mission. How much does mission alignment with your clients matter to the quality of your work?
Katy: I spent real, intentional time thinking about where there's values alignment — and also who I don't want to work with, and being okay with that. Just because I can solve something, should I? I'm a networker and a connector, so it doesn't mean those clients won't get help. It just doesn't have to come from me.
When there's values alignment, communication gets easier. There aren't conflicts in the way. I'm people-first, optimistic about the future, and I see collaboration rather than competition. The opportunities are boundless — you just need to know where to look for them and go after them with unbridled passion and enthusiasm. I want to work with firms that match that. Firms that think their people are their best asset, that see the future as opportunistic, that are excited and ready to move. Not the ones standing on the edge, leaning back. I want the ones leaning forward, ready to leap, saying, hold my hand and let's go.
Managing Multiple Ventures and Energy
AJ: You have a lot in the air — running KT Hill Consulting, co-founding and co-leading Feedback Academy AI, co-running a networking group, and now writing a book. How do you manage focus and energy across all of this?
Katy: Honestly, that's been tough — not gonna lie. It's been occupying my mind a lot. On the business side, there's also the reality that I'm a mom, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a sister. So it's not just how do I balance the focus and energy for the business, but how do I balance for my family and all my other roles. I don't get it right all the time.
What I've worked out with my coach is understanding how I like to work. I don't avoid things because I don't have a large chunk of time to dedicate to them. I'm okay with picking things up and putting them down. In operations and higher ed, you're working across lots of different projects and people simultaneously — that doesn't bother me. But when I suddenly have a free 20 minutes, I don't know what to do with myself, because most of my projects feel like they need deeper time.
So I'm experimenting with when I do my deep work best, when my energy is at its highest, and when I'm in the right headspace for outreach and connections. I do my best deep work early in the morning. I'm up at 4am — not necessarily by choice, my husband works commercial construction and that's just our cadence for two and a half decades. I work early, usually two to three hours before I come up for air, and that works for me.
The key insight is this: if you work on something for two hours across three days, you've put in six hours. Six hours is a lot of progress on any single chunk of work. Find the rhythm that fits naturally into your life. If you try to force something, you'll resent it — and you'll resent yourself.
Building a Business Partnership
AJ: You're co-founding Feedback Academy AI with a business partner. Tell me about forming that partnership — what makes it work, and what are some of the pitfalls?
Katy: Billy Sammons and I had known each other for almost a year before we decided to build something together. We had been working on various projects for almost a year. Then he pitched an idea — and as a nurturer and action-taker, the moment I heard we could help people and get started right away, I was sold.
The partnership works because we did a few really important things from the start. First, we were honest with each other about where this business fits in both of our lives. For both of us, Feedback Academy AI is not our primary business yet — and we're both okay with that, both forgiving about that. Second, we have a contract in place, and we've agreed on how to split revenue and responsibilities. Our split is equitable rather than equal — and I use those words intentionally. Equitable means it ebbs and flows. We ask for help when we need it. That was one of the hardest things for me to learn: ask for help.
We also started with mission, vision, and values — not terribly formally, but making sure we both see the same destination. We've agreed on what we want the exit to look like. Because if I wanted a legacy business to pass down for generations and he wanted to sell in three years, that wouldn't work. Having that clarity matters.
As for pitfalls — the biggest one comes from the fact that it's not our primary business, so we're building in the margins. Sometimes there are too many ideas going in too many directions. Sometimes when I'm hitting and firing and ready to go, he isn't — and the energy imbalance can feel a little off, but it's usually temporary and it corrects itself.
The thing that overrides all of it? Communication. Talk, talk, talk, talk to each other. Making assumptions leads nowhere good. Honest communication — both with yourself and with your partners — is really what it all comes down to.
Communication Practices for Partnership Success
AJ: What are some practical tips for making that communication intentional?
Katy: During critical build phases, schedule regular check-ins. The idea of stand-ups — no more than ten minutes, check in on priorities, urgent messages, and what's coming up for the phase ahead. Billy and I schedule weekly check-ins during critical phases. My networking partner and I do bi-weekly.
In those check-ins, we cover: What's ready, what isn't? What do I need to get done, and do you have bandwidth to cover anything I'm struggling with? And then — how are you feeling? It doesn't have to be a deep, long session. Just: are you feeling positive about this? Do you have concerns? Do you think we're ready to go? Those are the questions that often don't get voiced when one person is going full speed ahead and the other has reservations they're not sure how to raise.
The Role of Coaching and Mentorship
AJ: You mentioned that you had the wisdom to hire a coach. Where did that openness to coaching come from?
Katy: It goes back to before my higher ed days, working at the Colorado Department of Transportation. I had some really fantastic colleagues there — one in particular who was great at demystifying how things work. He'd gotten his doctorate at 45 and was in his early 60s when I came in wide-eyed in my early 20s, not quite sure what I was doing. He called out the things I was naturally doing that would serve me well later, took on a mentorship role, and made it clear — we don't do this alone. We get mentorship, we get coaching, we accept and take feedback. I was really fortunate early in my career to have great example leaders who modeled that.
When I went looking for a coach, I took what I call a super secret squirrel shortcut — I chose someone I already knew and trusted from my higher ed days, someone I'd actually worked for. The hesitation was the vulnerability piece. With a former supervisor, you've had one style of relationship. Moving to a coaching relationship requires being genuinely vulnerable in a way I'd never been willing to be inside an organization. It took me a while to get there. If you are not willing to be vulnerable, don't hire a coach. But once I was ready, the trust was already there. That made all the difference.
The Three-to-Five Year Vision
AJ: Where do you see your businesses in the next three to five years?
Katy: I have the vision, and it is big. I don't have time for small plans. As an operations person, I'm not interested in just hustling harder to get where I want to go — that's not the way.
The picture looks like this: I've retired my husband from physical labor. We're taking my son on the trips we've always wanted to take. I'm helping architectural and engineering firms truly explode their capacity to take on change and growth. I'm the type of consultant who doesn't leave you dependent — I want to make it so you know how to activate your own change leaders throughout the organization, so that energy and direction aren't always coming from the top.
I'm the go-to person in Colorado for architectural and engineering firms that are ready to grow. And for Feedback Academy AI, we're nearing our exit — we've built up the value so that leaders are confident, comfortable on camera, communicating in ways that resonate, whether they're solopreneurs on social media, executives in boardrooms, or emerging leaders inside corporations. Leadership isn't about power and position — it's about communication. And a big part of communication is listening. We're mentoring the next set of leaders who know how to communicate because they know how to listen.
Becoming the Preeminent Expert
AJ: How did you get to being that preeminent, go-to expert in your niche?
Katy: If my future self is talking back to me — I got there by being good. Really, genuinely good. By delivering value, by listening deeply, by offering bespoke solutions. I don't come in with a ten-step process that promises success. I come in and ask: What is the process for your firm? Where are you starting from? Let's meet you where you are. Let's wrap it in your values so that you're not pushing against your culture, you're not pushing against your people.
One of the things I've come to deeply believe is that expertise is your best data. Your gut instinct is not something to ignore — it is actually your expertise trying to tell you something important. It's data you can't always articulate. By teaching firms to tap into that instinct as a form of expertise, they begin to trust their own intelligence. And working with me just feels right in the gut. It instinctually feels comfortable.
Writing a Book as a Business Strategy
AJ: Tell me about the book you're writing. Is it designed as a lead generator for your target audience?
Katy: It is. This first book is the lead gen book — the conversation starter. Coming from academia, writing is comfortable for me, and I always knew it was a matter of when, not if. The bigger question was what. I didn't want to just write a book to write a book.
The book is rooted in the framework you can use within architectural and engineering firms to truly align the organization and activate every part of it, so that it is poised and ready for change. It's about 80% done — and the last 20%, the refinement, is where the devil is in the details. I'm publicly declaring it's coming out in Q2 2026. It'll be out before the end of June.
But it's more than just lead gen. I want this to generate conversations. I want other experts to engage with it, I want multi-office firms to talk about it, and I want to spark a broader discussion: How do we build strategic communication as an enduring firm strength, generation after generation? These firms are around for generations — they pass down and develop their next set of leaders. If we get the right conversations going, the right people become attracted to it, and that's how new knowledge is created and real change happens.
How to Connect with Katy
AJ: How can listeners connect with you if they want to learn more about your work?
Katy: LinkedIn is my largest presence — find me as Katy Hill on LinkedIn. You can also email me at [email protected]. I'm also building out my web presence — website coming soon. And for those who prefer, feel free to reach out by phone at 720-289-3655.
AJ: Wonderful. And for all of you listening or watching, all those links will be in the show notes. Katy, thank you so much — this was a fabulous conversation. And for all of you out there, until next time, keep thriving through.