During Career Day in her second-grade classroom, seven-year-old Shelley Hoss scanned a list of future jobs for girls. It was 1970, and the choices were limited – teacher, secretary, nurse.
That night at dinner, her father Norm Westmore asked his daughter what she wanted to do when she grew up. Hoss answered, “Secretary.”
Her father didn’t miss a beat, saying “Secretary is a fine thing to be, but have you ever thought about being the president of the company?”
“It was like someone had just opened a door I didn’t know existed,” she recalled.
She walked through the door and never looked back.
This year, Hoss is celebrating her 25th year of leading the Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF).
Early Years
Hoss says her father, a Pacific Bell excutive, championed women and diverse communities while her mother, Claire, a teacher and “force of nature,” explored early self-help, yoga and meditation.
Her parents encouraged her and her sister to speak up, hosting Sunday evening “family meetings” with agendas and rotating chairs, even for the girls.
“I gained confidence at a young age because I always felt my voice mattered,” she told the Business Journal.
At age 10, the family relocated from Southern California to New Jersey where she fell in love with New York City.
Industrious by nature, she landed small jobs, even serving hors d’oeuvres at neighbors’ parties to save for a horse. “I never did get a horse, but I saved $100, which I thought was pretty great!”
She returned to California in the eighth grade and eventually attended University of California, Riverside. Hoss joined a group of students who gave campus tours, eventually becoming its president.
“I just figured it out on the job,” she said.
The group operated out of the Chancellor’s Office, giving her an early look at high-level leadership. Advisor Ruth Conley reinforced her confidence: “How do you learn to do things except by doing them?”
Planning to earn a Master of Public Administration, Hoss first sought experience. An internship at a hospital led a female executive to advise: “Get your MPA but also your MBA, for credibility as a woman.”
Turning Point
After graduating in 1985, Hoss volunteered at a camp for abused children in foster care. “I saw the transformative power of reflecting a child’s value back to them,” she said.
Back home, she enrolled in UC Irvine’s combined MBA/MPA program (MBPA). A fellow student suggested she research the new Orangewood Children’s Home. Hoss, not fully aware of local government structures, simply cold-called Thomas “General” Riley, the chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. To her surprise, he met with her for over an hour and invited her to the facility’s dedication.
“I tell young people all the time—lean in to not having a clue. It’s unbelievable where it will get you,” she said.