Hillary Zhang is a junior double majoring in the Canfield Business Honors Program and finance. Hillary was born in New York City and moved to Corsicana, a small town of about 25,000 people. Soon after, she went to live with her grandma in China for a few years. When she came back to the US, she missed the only home she remembered, her grandma’s. However, she soon adapted to Corsicana.
Right before she moved to China, her parents opened a Chinese buffet in town. Hillary would spend her days at the restaurant in a baby carrier while her parents worked. To this day, customers still come up to say they remember her sitting there as a baby. After coming back from China, Hillary grew up going to the restaurant every day after school. Sitting in the back, she would do homework, draw, and talk to the workers and her parents.By high school, she was fully running the restaurant from open to close.
When the pandemic came, the restaurant entered a rough patch, and her family had to shut it down temporarily. Because of this, she got to spend a lot of uninterrupted time at home with her family, which was rare. Coming out of the pandemic, she helped her parents file for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to keep employees on payroll. This sparked her interest in business.
Hillary realized the restaurant would have to open soon or it would run out of cash. Her family cautiously reopened the restaurant while trying to follow pandemic restrictions. The restaurant originally had a self-serve style, but that wasn’t allowed. This period was incredibly difficult. Workers had to serve every customer for months. Sometimes, people would come in, see that self-serve was not an option, and leave.
As she had seen firsthand how hard it was to run a business, Hillary realized how hard her parents were working and became even more grateful. Before the pandemic, she used to be embarrassed that her parents ran a restaurant. When her friends came, she would hide in the back. After almost losing it, she realized how crucial it was and that she should not be embarrassed at all. As a result, she took on more responsibility. She learned to juggle many different tasks and would often bring her laptop to the cash register. She laughs at a memory during the pandemic of serving food in the middle of an English quiz and almost running out of time.
Hillary’s experience led her to apply to the McCombs School of Business. She initially was interested in business operations since that’s what she was exposed to, but she wanted to explore. Hillary joined Longhorn Investment Team (LIT) and became interested in finance. To ensure she would enjoy this path, Hillary talked to people currently in the field. She decided that investment banking is a good starting ground since it would provide flexibility while introducing her to high finance.
To get more exposure, Hillary joined a search fund where she learned about valuing companies and how to think about businesses. She really enjoyed the steep learning curve and fast-paced environment–it reminded her of the restaurant. This led her to apply to Wall Street for McCombs, a program that helps Longhorns recruit for high finance roles in New York. By this point, she solidified her interest in investment banking.
To further submerge herself in finance, Hillary joined Girls Who Invest (GWI), which marketed its programs as everything investing, not just investment banking. She did not want to silo herself, so this was a good way to explore what her eventual career path could be. After applying, she was accepted into the Summer Intensive Program and spent a month learning core investment concepts at Wharton and meeting like-minded people.
For the GWI internship component, Hillary was placed on the Strategic Capital Group at Oaktree Capital Management in the Los Angeles office. Here, she put in a lot of work, doing things to the best of her ability rather than just to complete tasks. She always tried to give off the best version of herself. This summer opened her eyes to what finance actually looks like. It’s so much more than just being analytical–it’s relationship-building. Since private credit is such a small industry, everyone is connected. The experience also confirmed her interest in high finance, and she hopes to eventually go into credit investing after banking.
This year, Hillary is the Co-President of Longhorn Investment Team, which has been a full-circle experience. She has created an environment where everyone can freely ask for help, and where the executive team are friends with the underclassmen. She made this one of her main goals since she used to be scared asking for help. Now, her efforts have brought people out of their shell. Many sophomores have reached out for anything from mock interviews to resume reviews to career advice, and she is proud that people feel comfortable doing so.
Hillary’s favorite memory at UT Austin was the UT v. Georgia football game. Both teams were highly ranked, and it was a high tension atmosphere where the entire crowd was invested in our team’s success. It made Hillary realize how much pride UT students have. This year, she is excited for the A&M game.
Hillary’s final word of advice is that hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. From her family’s restaurant, to Longhorn Investment Team, to Oaktree, and ultimately to JP Morgan next summer, Hillary has lived by this principle.