Teresa Hill considers herself a nerd – and she may be right. The traditional definition of nerd referred to someone who was socially awkward and into academics or technology. But the modernized understanding of the term means someone who cares deeply and enthusiastically about something, whether it’s grammar (ahem), motorcycles, or the Real Housewives franchise.
None of which are Teresa Hill’s particular subjects of nerdiness. Hill, a 30-year rent-to-own veteran and current Vice President of Operational Support at Buddy’s Newco, LLC dba Buddy’s Home Furnishings, is a self-confessed nerd for books, cooking, and bubble baths – but she nerds out the hardest on two things: results and relationships.
“My proudest professional moments have been when people I mentored or trained were promoted and became managers themselves,” Hill says. “Over the years, I’ve seen several people who had worked for me climb higher and higher again, and watching these folks who I’ve poured into move on, move up, and do great things is just so fulfilling.”
This makes perfect sense once you get to know Hill. Socially awkward? Not even a little bit. But deeply caring and enthusiastic about her industry, company, colleagues, team, customers, community, and family – and the success of all of the above? Ohhh, definitely. If that’s the definition we’re working with, Teresa Hill may be one of the nerdiest RTO pros around.
Teresa Hill’s story began in the opposite corner of the U.S. from where she has ended up. Born in Seattle, Washington, Hill’s parents divorced when she was young, and she and her two younger siblings moved to Los Angeles, California, with their dad. Hill was a compliant child and, yes, a rather nerdy kid who was a spelling-bee champion and whose happy place was the library.
Concerned about the potentially negative influences of life in LA, Hill’s father decided to return the family to his roots in much smaller, slower, and quieter Texarkana, Texas. Hill joined the pep squad and played the clarinet at Texas High School, and started her higher-ed studies at Texarkana College, and then went on to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Life and love interrupted – though Hill eventually completed her bachelor’s degree in business management via Grantham University. Hill married, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, later divorced, and relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, with her three children for a retail management job – all well before the age of 30.
“Around 1994, the friend who had brought me to that opportunity recommended me for another one, this time at Aaron’s (Sales & Lease Ownership),” recalls Hill. “Dave Bogan, who was a regional manager, hounded me for an interview like I owed him money. He called me every day, trying to persuade me to just come in and talk to him for five minutes. Well, one Saturday he called, and I told him, ‘I’ve got my three kids, and we’re dressed to spend the day at the park.’ He said, ‘I don’t care; just swing by and talk to me.’ So I did – and Monday, I gave notice at my retail job and started 17 years with Aaron’s.”
Hill began at Aaron’s as a manager-in-training, and quickly rose through the ranks to store manager, district manager, corporate trainer, and then divisional trainer over Atlanta, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the West Coast. The travel was extreme.
“Dave Bogan hounded me for an interview like I owed him money. He called me everyday, trying to persuade me to just come in and talk to him for five minutes.”
“I finally decided I needed to get off the road,” Hill asserts. “I went back to Atlanta as a store manager for a while, then began conducting training courses for all of our stores in central operations. Ken Butler, who was COO at the time, came by one day and was like, ‘She’s doing amazing trainings for 150 stores; why isn’t she doing them for all 1,500 stores?’ So I moved to the corporate office, and they built me a corporate training center in Buckhead (Atlanta’s uptown district).”
“Buddy’s and Tampa seemed like a new frontier, a new adventure. I felt like this was where I was supposed to be, what I was supposed to do.”
Hill spent the next few years leading corporate bootcamps for general and regional managers, before being promoted to Director of Operational Support, where she took on meeting planning, legal compliance, and more. Then, in 2013, Hill received another unsolicited weekend call, this time from the new owner of Florida-based Buddy’s.
“He called me out of the blue on a random Sunday, and invited me to come to Tampa to have a conversation with him,” remembers Hill. “I was like the Aaron’s poster child at this point, my name and my picture were on so many things. I really wasn’t thinking of doing something different. But I was planning to do a staycation the following week, and I believe timing is everything. So I said, ‘OK. I’ll come down and have a conversation.’”
Hill returned home knowing she was going to move on from her longtime work-home at Aaron’s. Company founder Charlie Loudermilk had just retired, Ken Butler had just left, and the changes at Aaron’s made the timing feel right.
“The anchor and the captain were gone,” notes Hill. “So it felt like a little bit of a different place. And Buddy’s and Tampa seemed like a new frontier, a new adventure. I felt like this was where I was supposed to be, what I was supposed to do. So I thought, OK, let’s see what happens.”
A dozen years later, what happened is clear. Teresa Hill moved to Tampa and put her all-in attitude and myriad talents to work for Buddy’s, and it has worked out rather well for everyone.
“When I got to Buddy’s, I felt like this was going to be a great opportunity to do something new and be part of something that was special because we’re all building it together,” Hill attests. “I was right.”
Buddy’s has grown in leaps and bounds since Hill originally joined the company, with more than 300 stores nationwide today. Hill oversees several separate departments – audit, customer service, fleet, service (inventory), and training (of course), puts together the company’s annual Leadership Meeting and many other smaller meetings, provides support for Buddy’s corporate stores, and manages franchise compliance, the legal compliance liaison, and non-inventory vendor relationships. All while maintaining an email inbox with fewer than ten messages and answering her phone regardless of when the call comes in.
“I don’t like chaos, I like organization,” states Hill. “I’m extremely detail oriented. And I pick up the phone every time if at all possible. Every time. I feel like someone wouldn’t be calling me if they didn’t need something. I consider it my mission to be supportive, and there’s no job I’m too big for. A title is a title, but we all have to dig in the trenches and help each other, or we won’t be successful.”
Continually considering those proverbial trenches is what Hill deems her professional superpower.
“I never forget the field,” Hill claims. “I never forget the feeling of being a manager and running a store. I’m in a position now to impact change and make things easier for the people who work in our stores, where the rubber meets the road. So I always put the field first, and remember they’re the people who ring the register, bring in the money, and are the most important people we have.”
Make no mistake – all people are important in Hill’s estimation; she’s one of the people-iest people-persons you might ever meet. Which is how she’s stayed in rent-to-own for 30 years (and counting!) without burning out and with a whole lotta love for her industry.
“People say, ‘Oh, RTO is a relationship business,’” begins Hill. “And it is. You get to build relationships with people, because they’re coming back to you for 12, 18, 24 months. And then, you hope, they pay off that item, discover another and come back for another 12, 18, 24 months. And it’s a relationship business not only with our customers, but also with our team members, competitors, and vendors. I think that’s a truly wonderful part of rent-to-own: it’s one family that feels really big and really small at the same time.”
Hill goes on to offer a veritable laundry list of folks who began as colleagues and are now dear friends – many of them for decades. Not the least among these is her current CEO and fellow people-person, Michael Bennett.
“Michael and I actually worked together at Aaron’s, and I don’t think we could have gotten a better leader for Buddy’s,” she effuses. “Michael is excellent at both seeing the big picture and getting others to understand his vision for the company. He’s very transparent, a great listener, and nobody works harder. We’ve had to maneuver through some difficult waters as a company over the years, and had Michael not been at the helm, I’m not sure I’d still be aboard!”
Teresa Hill is, thankfully, still all aboard the Buddy’s boat and the metaphorical S.S. RTO – genuinely geeking out on ways to connect, support, and uplift her career crewmates. At the office, Hill spearheaded a fundraiser for breast cancer research and treatment, and initiated a companywide program to ensure all corporate associates receive tenure recognition. In 2023, the Florida Rental Dealers Association honored Hill’s altruism with its inaugural Kirk Kaye Volunteer Award; the same year, she also was presented with APRO’s Steve Kruse Award of Honor for extraordinary lifelong service and commitment to the rent-to-own industry.
But naturally, Hill’s care-hard approach also reaches much further than the workplace. She volunteers as a guardian ad litem, helping children and families navigate Florida’s foster-care system, serving in the children’s best interests in court, and going above and beyond by visiting weekly, delivering meals occasionally, and even buying birthday gifts. Hill and her fiancé, Dexter Holiday, also created an NFL Flag Football Youth Team within their community, giving hundreds of local kids a safe environment to get active, build confidence, and have fun.
Hill, as you might expect, has a full, rich family life as well. When she and Holiday, a grade-school teacher, originally moved to Tampa, they went on their own. Today, Hill’s mother, sister, all three of her thirty-something-aged children, and her three grandchildren all live within a ten-mile radius of her home. All of Hill’s kids have worked in RTO at some point, and her youngest, Jade, is currently a Buddy’s Store Manager, vying to be a top performer for the company.
“If it happens, then watching her walk the stage may be my new proudest professional moment – and one of my personal ones, too!” muses Hill.
Meanwhile, Hill is more than content to cheerlead her grandkids at their sporting events, cook meals for big family gatherings, and orchestrate over-the-top holiday celebrations.
“Christmas décor goes up November first at my house,” Hill chuckles. “My happy place is wherever my family is. The best part of my life is being a mom and a grandmom, and spending time with them. That’s huge for me.
“Besides that, my happy places are 1) a bubble bath, and 2) the library,” she continues. “I literally take a bubble bath every single day, and every time I step in, I’m like, ‘This is my favorite part of the day.’ It’s the perfect day-ender. And yes, I’m still a voracious reader, I enjoy doing puzzles and adult coloring books, and I like building book nooks (miniature dioramas designed to be placed between books on a bookshelf). I told you, I’m a nerd. I’m just a little nerd.”
If being a nerd means you work, live, and connect with others with great passion, kindness, intentionality, and a sort of joyful rigor, then OK, Hill’s a total nerd. But she’s rent-to-own’s nerd, and for that, the industry should be deeply grateful.
“A title is a title, but we all have to dig in the trenches and help each other, or we won’t be successful.”
“I just want to bring value to my team,” concludes Hill. “I’m always here when anyone needs me, always willing to lend a helping hand and work to make things better. I love this industry; it’s given me 30 great years. I doubt I’ve got 30 more, but there’s still plenty of runway ahead of me.”
Kristen Card has been a contributing writer for RTOHQ: The Magazine for more than 20 years.
