2023
Project Manager
INTERNATIONAL
His grandmother graduated from the school of hard knocks and passed along priceless wisdom
Education: Duke University – BA in Economics; Hofstra University School of Law – JD Company Name: Epiq Global Industry: Legal Services Company CEO: David C. Dobson Company Headquarters Location: New York, NY Number of Employees: 6,000 Words you live by: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” –Maya Angelou Who is your personal hero? My dad What book are you reading? Meditations by Marcus Aurelius What was your first job? Grocery store stocker Favorite charity: Thurgood Marshall College Fund Interests/Hobbies: Sports, music, traveling Family: Wife – Victoria
52
2023 Fourth Quarter
Over the course of my life I have had the great fortune of crossing paths with some amazing individuals who have dispensed to me invaluable advice. From teachers, to colleagues, to friends and family, this advice has included ideas as simple as the Golden Rule, to even more technical credos such as always double down when showing 11 in Blackjack. The words of wisdom that I have received from these various sources have greatly shaped the person that I am today, but the best piece of advice came from my grandmother, Blanche Nichols. This advice was to always remain curious and never stop learning. My grandmother was an incredible woman, born and raised in the small town of Canton, Mississippi. She was a woman that wore many hats—wife, mother, school cafeteria cook, seamstress, neighborhood tutor—and she always stressed the importance of faith, family, and education. Although she only had an 8th grade education, she without a doubt held a PhD from the School of Hard Knocks. When her husband died after 24 years of marriage, she was tasked with having to raise six children, ranging from 6 to 23 years old by herself. She was not one to make excuses, and did not allow her circumstances to impact her children’s future. Despite her own limited formal training, she impressed upon her children the importance of getting an education. Throughout the years my grandmother taught me countless lessons. Having grown up in the Jim Crow South, she was a wealth of knowledge who had seen and lived through so much. One conversation that is still etched in my memory is from early in my childhood. I was in middle school at the time, and she was visiting for a couple of weeks during the summer. I had completed my assigned summer reading list ahead of schedule and looked forward to using my free time to play video games. I gleefully told my grandmother my accomplishment, expecting her to commend my studiousness. Instead she challenged me to read three more books before the school year began. In her words, it was important that I keep a curious mind and never stop learning—to always remain a student of life. She truly embodied that sentiment as she completed her GED at the age of 60. I strive to live by that advice everyday.
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AWARD
Phil Hardy