In Your Element

When a jazz group has been playing together for years, it shows. There is an expert knowledge not only of the building blocks and rhythmic laws of the genre, but also of one another—the signature grooves, identifying improvisational lilts, and musical personas of the other musicians. It’s the deep knowledge base and ease of excellence that comes from operating within one’s element.

Growing up with his father’s concert piano playing lighting up the house, commingled with his own practicing on the trumpet, Richard Hill loved music and thought he might one day make a career of it. Years later, when he decided to put his instrument away to pursue a path that promised more stability and security, he thought he might also be setting aside a life of fulfillment and fascination when he chose to study accounting. But less than two years out of college, he landed at Grossberg Company, LLP—a company that was such a good fit that he never left. “The nature of the job and the culture of the firm allow me to cultivate close relationships with the clients I serve,” he explains today. “I’m in a position to help them solve their problems and give direction when they’re unsure of what course to take in life, from business to financial planning. When I’m helping people solve their problems and find peace in their decisions, I’m in my element.”

Grossberg was launched in 1924 by Louis C. Grossberg, an impressive man who continued practicing even when old age rendered him legally blind. While primarily serving real estate clients today, it still dabbles in a bit of everything, including audits and consulting across various industries and sectors. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the firm’s team has around 55 partners, professionals, and administrative staff servicing clients concentrated in the DC metropolitan area, though some live out-of-state or even out-of-country. “We haven’t grown much in terms of employee count since I started,” Richard points out. “But we’ve quadrupled our business—growth we’ve been able to absorb thanks to technologically-enabled efficiencies.”

Today, Richard enjoys helping clients understand the nuance and climate of difficult situations they might find themselves in, including business and family disputes. He is a confidant, support system, sage, and weed whacker, cutting through thick underbrush of dense paperwork and complex dynamics to clear a path for his clients. “I was recently telling a client about how much I love this work, and she marveled that her troubles were my diversions,” Richard laughs. “I don’t like that my clients have troubles. What I do like is helping them resolve those troubles. You never know what a client will need, and it’s nice to be able to step in and ease their concerns, whatever the situation.”

Richard became partner in 2008, and while there were times through the past decades that he considered trying something new, the culture and opportunity at Grossberg always proved too special to give up. “I really appreciate the climate of respect that permeates the firm, and I have a lot of freedom here,” he affirms. “You have direct contact with clients and partners alike. They know you, and you know them, so it’s kind of like a big family.”

Even today, when he hears certain piano sonatas or remembers certain passages of Scripture, he’s taken back in his memory to another big family—the one he spent his earliest formative years with. Born and raised in Rexburg, Idaho, Richard grew up the second youngest of eight children, with two brothers and five sisters. His father had gone to Julliard but decided that a career in performance would not be conducive to family life, prompting him to switch over to Columbia’s teaching college. While finishing his graduate degree, he had a whirlwind romance with Richard’s mother, who was also musically gifted. After earning his doctorate in music, he took a teaching job at Rick’s College, a two-year institution in Rexburg. The Hill family became prominent figures in the community, and Richard’s father went on to serve as head of the Humanities Department. His mother stayed home to raise the children, working hard to ensure everyone had what they needed and always playing the piano accompaniment when the family put on musical programs together.

As a kid, Richard remembers potato harvest time, when schools shut down for a week while junior high and high school students helped the local farmers harvest their crop. “Aside from the college, the other big employer in the area was agriculture, and I grew up enjoying the benefits of both,” Richard recounts. “Working on the farms, moving irrigation pipe and feeling connected with the land, I made good money. I also had free reign of the campus facilities and extracurricular events.” As he got older, he delivered papers by bike, working as many as three routes at a time. “My mother came from a family of only daughters, so she grew up doing hard farm work that would have otherwise been a son’s responsibility,” Richard recalls. “And my father spent long hours practicing piano, devising his own teaching programs and writing his own music books. They modeled an incredibly hard work ethic, while also making time for family. Those are the most important things I inherited from them, I think. I work hard, but my family also knows that they come first.”

Richard’s father’s teaching salary was minimal, and Richard remembers going to the grocery store with his mother and watching her buy 1 percent milk because whole milk was more expensive. “She would save pennies here and there because we lived on a very tight budget,” he says. “That was defining for me, and I decided I wanted a future where I had more financial freedom.”

Despite the family’s limited monetary means, his father’s position at the college opened many doors. The kids could go bowling at the college for reduced rates, and they could use the swimming and athletic facilities on campus for next to nothing. The family attended sporting events, musical events, plays, and lectures, which helped to develop and shape Richard’s character. And when his father was invited to attend seminars all over the nation, he often brought his wife and children along. “It didn’t matter where we went—it seemed like there was always someone who knew my father,” Richard remembers. “My family was very well respected, and I knew I had a lot to live up to. I also remember a particularly special time when I was ten and my father was granted a sabbatical to spend six weeks in Europe. Instead of going alone and living well off his stipend, he brought all of us and rented a van. We lived in campgrounds and traveled all over Europe for those six weeks, and we had a blast.”

Richard played sports outside of school but never joined an organized team, opting instead to pursue his love of music by committing to the trumpet. He was also particularly drawn to U.S. history, and the more he learned about America’s national narrative, the more he believed it was a country blessed and protected by God. In a way, Richard’s own path felt a bit like that. By age fifteen, he finally seemed to be overcoming the growing pains of coming of age in a cliquey school. With his driver’s license obtained and a new friend to hang out with, life was good—until his father retired and his parents announced that the family was moving to Orem, Utah.

It was the summer before his freshman year of high school, and Richard felt as though the rug had been ripped out from under him. He had to say goodbye to his friends and to his driver’s license since the age in Utah was sixteen, not fifteen. “I was upset at first because I had worked so hard to establish my place in Rexburg and I felt like I had finally arrived,” he reflects. “But I went on to make some great new friends, and I ultimately had a very good experience in high school. It was a much bigger school, where people were more friendly and open. An important lesson learned was that the world is different in different places, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I learned that change can be good even if it’s difficult.”

Starting from scratch in Orem, Richard got plenty of practice in coming out of his shell and proactively developing relationships with others, an important growth experience for him. He joined stage band, a pivotal decision in that it allowed him to make lasting friendships with other talented musicians who are still close friends to this day. “All in all, Orem was a very good period of personal development for me, forcing me to come out of my shell and stretch past my comfort zone,” he says. “I needed that for my life.”

Thanks to the tuition discounts afforded through his father’s teaching position, most of Richard’s siblings attended college, and it was always expected that he would do the same. Upon graduating, he enrolled at Brigham Young University, which was close enough that he could live at home while taking classes. “I decided I wanted to have my own business at some point, so I wanted to pursue a business track,” he says. “Based on what I had seen of the world, I felt that accounting was the language of business, so I decided that was the place to start.”

The summer after his freshman year of college, he served a two-year mission in Argentina for his church—an experience that played a large role in developing his interpersonal skills while also affirming his spiritual journey. Raised in the Mormon faith, Richard has a deep spiritual side that is deeply interconnected with all aspects of his life, including business. “My faith teaches that none of us can qualify ourselves for salvation,” he says. “We’re dependent on Christ, but at the same time, we need to do everything we can to be worthy of the blessings that are offered to us. It’s not enough to just say you believe.”

Through his college experience, this philosophy led him to the decision that he wanted his success in life to be defined not by the astuteness of his political skills, but by the quality of his performance. After completing his accounting degree, he went on to a dual master’s program in accounting and business management—the program he believed would round his education out most fully. Then, as he finished that program and saw his peers flocking to the big CPA firms, he instead opted to take a job at Marriott Corporation, where his brother-in-law worked. The decision meant a move to the DC metropolitan area, a region he had visited and enjoyed in the past. “I didn’t want to stay in Utah,” he reflects. “And I didn’t like the other opportunities that were coming my way.”

After a year and a half at Marriott, Richard shifted over to public accounting and took a job with Grossberg in 1989, a small local firm of around 40 employees at the time. “I was drawn to Grossberg because it was the kind of culture where everyone knew everyone else, and where the quality of your work spoke for itself,” he reflects. “I wanted a change of culture and compensation better aligned with the caliber of the work being done. Grossberg proved to be the perfect spot for me.”

Around that same time, Richard struck up a relationship with Yvonne Santa Anna, a young woman who had come to DC to intern for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Aging. She had been a registered nurse but decided to make a career change, pursuing a masters in gerontology with a focus in health policy that made her an asset on Capitol Hill. Richard and Yvonne married, and as his career progressed at Grossberg, hers evolved from government to lobbying. “She has such an extraordinary ability to look at people and see what’s important to them in making a connection,” Richard remarks. “I’ve watched her succeed against great odds, shining wherever she is. She’s been both an inspiration and a support to me throughout my career.”

Over time, Richard gravitated away from audit work and focused more on consulting and income tax, where he felt he could make more tangible contributions to the success of his clients. Early in his career, he distinctly remembers being assigned to a client who had $12 million in municipal bonds, all held as paper certificates in safety deposit boxes. “One of the very first things I did was travel with that client to all the banks and catalogue their securities,” he says. “I then did annual statements on their municipal bonds, and over time, I began to develop a relationship with him. Through getting to know him, I was able to find ways I could service his needs—simple ways that made a big difference in his life, like making sure his bills and tax estimates were paid on time. I realized that developing relationships like that was the key to garnering the kind of insight that would make me most effective in serving others.”

Growing up, Richard had always wanted to be a business owner, but over time, he’s learned that being a partner at a firm affords the fulfillment of entrepreneurship without the headache of dealing with day-to-day administrative grinds. “Becoming a partner satisfied the ownership drive I have, while also providing me an environment where I can really focus on the things I like to do,” he says. As a leader, he employs an open door policy and empowers others to be proactive self-starters, and makes a point to mentor staff along the way. “I care deeply about the firm’s health, and that includes taking a genuine interest in our staff members,” he says. “I want them to have a great experience so it’s important to help them find their optimal career path and peace of mind too.”

Today, Richard and Yvonne support the International Performing Arts Foundation, a new organization launched by the legendary Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta. Recently retired from a career as the principle ballet dancer for the Royal Ballet in London, he’s working to rebuild a dilapidated ballet school in Cuba to provide opportunities for young people to develop their talent. “He wants others to have the opportunities he was fortunate to have in his life,” Richard explains. “With my connection to the arts, and since Yvonne’s mother was born in Cuba, we feel very committed to the foundation’s mission and have made it our big charitable push right now.”

In advising young people entering the working world today, Richard emphasizes the importance of humility and focusing on what one can give, rather than on what one can get. “Instead of asking what others will do for you, ask yourself what you need to do and how you can progress and grow,” he says. “What can you do to earn the things you want to receive—the promotions, the bonuses, the partnerships? Taking ownership of that process and focusing on your own agency will help empower you to undertake the hard work of developing those qualities in yourself, which ultimately lead to success. Where you end up in life will largely depend on what you do, and not on what someone else does to you. Other people can stymie your success at various points along the way, but if you’re doing your part, you’ll eventually overcome those issues and be successful.”

Beyond that, Richard’s success is the inevitable outcome of staying true to his element—his core values and faith—through all walks of life. Just as jazz music drowns out the background noise and allows him to focus during a long day, his faith distills challenges and doubt to fuel an unflagging brand of perseverance. “Most of the principles I’ve learned that have helped make me successful are founded in my faith,” he affirms. “My attitude about life in general and my ability to deal with other people have both developed from my spiritual roots. The idea is that I can’t do everything, but what I can do, I should and must. That striving for excellence and worthiness in the name of faith—it’s at the center of what I do and why I do it. In my career, my work, my studies, and everything else, I’ve always believed that as long as I do my best, things will work out. And they always have.”

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