From DCU to Leadership: My Journey Through Education, Career, and Personal Growth

Hi everyone,

My name is Jeannine Hillen, I attended DCU Business School where I studied International Marketing and Languages (French & Spanish) as an undergrad.

During my time at DCU I was able to explore many different subjects from Economics and business mathematics to spanish culture and basic chinese. It was a thoroughly robust course and provided a clear, compelling baseline for success in business management.

Although I didn’t realize it at the time, studying a diverse set of modules at a young age provided the pivotal grounding in business which I needed to prepare for many future decisions and conversations in my working life.

Reflecting on my early career moves, I relied heavily on the business fundamentals from DCU. It also taught me how to push my own limits by taking on new opportunities. For example I took up Spanish and signed up to spend a year in the south of Spain on Erasmus. That was a tough inaugural experience to learn a language and study business through that language, ultimately taking exams in Spanish and completing a Spanish thesis, fully written in Spanish language.

Directly after graduating I entered the Public Service, quickly followed by an entry level role in the tech industry which merged into a leadership position at eBay Inc, followed by more senior management opportunities. Currently I’m in an executive role for Stripe Inc, where I’m responsible for Risk Partnerships and Strategy in the EMEA region.

I am forever thankful to DCU for my early grounding in academia.

In my early life I was surrounded by academics, My late Father was a successful quantity surveyor. He studied Construction Management at the Ulster College in Northern Ireland. My mother, an ex-banker, holds a B.A. Honors Degree in Social Sciences from Queen’s University, Belfast.

And my extended family includes many PHd holders and successful academic authors.

In my most important role to date, as a mum of three toddlers, I still strive to self-educate and improve. I believe that’s a really important component of success. To be ever-evolving is to never stand still.

As I reflect on my own journey, I remember, as a teenager, seeing my mum studying at night and at weekends. Even as a mum of four, she carved out time to prioritize her education. She was my greatest inspiration and still is. She has remarkable determination and drive. She is what sparks a light in me to want to be successful. And then later, when I turned 17, I lost my dad to cancer – still the biggest tragedy of my life today. His journey was very short, only half a life, and yet he accomplished so much in that time and left an incredible legacy which lives on for his children and grandchildren. He inspired me to fulfill my potential and was always the greatest ambassador for nurturing your natural talents.

During that difficult time, it was my mum who ensured I continued with my education. In fact it was never in question. It had been established that I and my three sisters would follow the path that she and my late-father had laid out for us. And so with that very practical approach I began my DCU journey the next year and never looked back. So to anyone out there who’s thinking “can I do this?” Or grappling with the question, “is this the right time for me?” The answer is, “there is never a right time…Time will pass anyway.”

Author: Jeannine Hillen, former Head of EMEA Strategy & Risk Partnerships at Stripe and graduate of BA International Marketing & Languages (French & Spanish)