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As an attorney and founder of Phoenix-based New Frontier Immigration Law, Hillary Walsh knows a good bit about female leadership. She’s found that while the metaphorical glass ceiling isn’t as powerful as it once was, many women still face barriers in the legal field and beyond.
Hillary notes that some of those barriers stem from misconceptions about female leadership. “I would love to see more women speaking about leadership topics,” she says. “Often, it’s just men who write these books and talk about these things. When women speak and write about leadership, people see it as ‘self-help’ advice.”
Building a successful career as a female attorney has its challenges, but Hillary has found that two key things have helped her stand out. “I think that using core values and making immediate decisions are the easiest ways to do hard things,” she says.
It takes incredible determination and drive to build a career, and Hillary has found that choosing a career that aligns with who you are as a person is essential. “I think our individual core values are the foundation we have to use to build everything off of,” she says.
In her case, she was drawn to represent victims of domestic violence because she suffered childhood abuse herself — as have many of her family members. Hillary’s desire to help vulnerable people also drew her to the realm of immigration law.
Early in her career, Hillary also discovered firsthand the difference that making quick decisions could have. “I think that making decisions pretty quickly is a good quality,” she says. “I wouldn’t advise being recklessly quick, but I would say make them quickly. We know what the answer is, but we will delay in making the decision, and that’s always to our detriment.”
She’s also found that indecisiveness can show up in the form of people-pleasing, which pulls women away from their goals if they aren’t careful. “So many people will over-commit to all sorts of different things because they don’t want to say no,” she says. “In reality, we should be asking ourselves, ‘Why would you say yes?’”
Hillary has also found that creating healthy boundaries is key to professional success, particularly in a field as emotionally fraught as immigration law.
“The stress of immigration law is immense,” she says. “I find myself thinking, ‘If I mess this person’s case up, they might get deported, sometimes to a place where they believe they will be killed by their government.’ We’re fortunate in that we’re very methodical and very good at what we do at my firm, because we serve people going through some tough stuff.”
“In the end, I have to recognize what’s my responsibility and what’s theirs,” she continued. “And my responsibility is not to get wrapped up in the client’s trauma and take it on as my own. If I do, I become ineffective. So I ask myself: ‘What am I here to do?’ The answer is always: ‘I’m here to win this case.’”
Ultimately, during her time at New Frontier Immigration Law, Hillary has found that strong leadership is often about balance. Sometimes, that means a balance between careful thought and efficient decision-making. And other times, it looks like the balance between commitments and much-needed time off.
Sometimes, it’s an especially difficult balance. A successful immigration lawyer can understand the trauma a client has been through without losing sight of the ultimate goal — helping them achieve citizenship and a more secure future.
