'Be authentically you': Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve leads mayors to combat mental health
Hillary Schieve is one of Paste BN’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.
Hillary Schieve is not one to run away from big problems. She does it in the best way she knows how: By being her authentic self.
She is Washington, D.C.'s Woman of the Year.
Schieve has spent 10 years serving as mayor of Reno, Nevada. She simultaneously has spent the last year as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan organization that serves as the leading voice for cities and the mayors who represent them.
A registered nonpartisan, Schieve is helping lead the charge to combat mental health in America's cities.
It's personal for her.
Schieve grew up watching her family members suffer from depression and drug use. She lost her sister, her brother and her sister’s fiancé to mental illness all within several months.
Her story underscores the difficulty local leaders face when combating a mental health crisis that is worsening in communities across the country.
Now, as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, she's helping her fellow city leaders seek a seat at the table to discuss the resources needed to address problems that affect all levels of government.
She's trekked from Arizona to Capitol Hill and the White House to meet with President Joe Biden and advocate for mayors' needs − specifically those related to increased funding that would help cities combat the mental health crisis.
Everywhere she goes, she's making sure she's her genuine self.
"I tell everyone I possibly can that wants to get into politics, even if people don't like it, still 'be you' because you have to walk away at the end of the day and put your head on the pillow and be satisfied with what you've accomplished," she said.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Who paved the way for you?
I've been so fortunate. That's such a tough one but I would say there have been many people responsible for my success. Quite honestly − and I don't even equate it ever to success, I'm so bad like that − but there's been a lot of people that have opened doors for me, that have mentored me, that have been just incredibly gracious.
I can't really say that it's one person in particular. I think I've just been able to have people in my life that have been so incredibly supportive, that have opened opportunities for me. I can't really specifically say one person.
I've been so fortunate. People have just been so supportive and I think success looks differently in different realms, right? That could be business success. It could be personal success. It's just different types of success. It's hard to like pin down one person. I think it's the work of many.
What is your proudest moment?
I would say as mayor probably one of my proudest moments is whenever we regionalized fire service. Whenever I took office, they had dismantled our fire service regionally so then it became very siloed.
The closest apparatus would not go to an incident. It was done by jurisdictions and I don't think people care about the color of a truck whenever they need services.
When we regionalized that, and that was something we just did, it's going to save lives and provide much better service for residents.
For me, it was a little personal because I lost my father in a fire. I was just so adamant about regionalizing our fire service whenever it was dismantled. It just was a very, very proud moment because it was so relatable for me personally, though I never talked out loud about why it was so important.
What is your definition of courage?
Just taking on really tough issues and being very committed. I guess just being very deliberate and committed to the outcome, regardless of what anyone thinks.
Especially I think in this job, you have to be incredibly committed. When we had to shut down for COVID, I was the first city in the state to do it. You have to be very convicted and I just knew that if it cost my political career and saved lives, I just didn't care. I just felt like this was the absolute right thing to do. But it was very, very hard.
I just think it's just staying very convicted to what you believe when others may not agree.
Is there a guiding principle or mantra you tell yourself?
There is and I will tell you, this is going to sound very cliche, but I think it's so important in politics. But I am always my best when I'm me.
Just be authentically you. I know it sounds like a cliché, but in politics, everyone's telling you all the time what to say, what not to say, how to look, what not to do.
I think especially for women, we're criticized so much more. If there's any one thing that I can tell myself is that I perform my best when I am genuinely me, when I'm just me and being comfortable with who I am and in my own skin.
Who do you look up to?
I would say my mom, for sure. I mean, she named me after Sir Edmund Hillary and she's always like, 'There is no mountain you can't climb!'
She's very inspirational to me because she's been through a lot in her life. She's tough physically and mentally and I've just been super fortunate to have such a great inspiration of a mother because some people never get that chance.
How do you overcome adversity?
Oh, I'm crazy competitive. I fight hard to overcome any challenge ever. I also just believe if there's a will there's a way. I know again, cliché.
I'm a very optimistic person so I just always believe that you can face adversity and beat the odds.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Live in the moment because you're going to get old fast. As I've gotten older, I just think we take for granted some of the things that happen when we're younger. We just do.
Our bodies don't work the same as we get older. And at 18, you totally take it for granted.
I always say this: When I was 16, I knew everything and now I'm in my 50s and I know nothing.
I think bottom line is just don't take yourself so seriously when you're younger. I think we think it's the end all, be all and we have a whole life ahead of us that is meant to be lived, not a problem to be solved.