Carissa Hill: When You Lead With Faith, Everything Else Follows

At six years old, Carissa Hill sat on the bathroom floor of her childhood home, Bible open in her lap, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't explain what she was thankful for—maybe her Barbie dolls, she jokes now—but she knew she'd encountered something beyond herself. That moment became the foundation for a 30-year entrepreneurial journey that would test her faith, push her to the edge of exhaustion, and ultimately teach her the most important business lesson she'd ever learn: when you lead with faith, everything else follows.

Today, Hill owns a used car dealership in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and runs freight forwarding operations that help businesses move shipments across state lines. But her path to transportation began in a completely different world—the beauty industry, where she spent 25 years as a hair stylist and salon owner. That career came to an abrupt halt when a tornado destroyed her salon after 17 years at the same location. Seven operators worked in the space that day. Not one was harmed.

"It's all just people. If you have a love for persons, if you care about people being taken care of and situations being handled and resolutions—people will come in with their hair shooting straight up and they go, 'I know you're not going to be able to do anything with this.' And I go, 'Yeah I will, come on. If it wasn't for you looking that way, I wouldn't have a job.'"

The Unlikely Pivot: From Hair to Horsepower

When someone first approached Hill about entering the automotive industry, she thought they'd lost their mind. She was a hair stylist—what did she know about selling cars? But as she prayed and listened, the answer became clear: it wasn't about the product. It was about the people.

"Whether someone walks in with a hair disaster or needs reliable transportation to get to work, they're coming to me with a problem that needs solving," Hill explains. "If you care about people and care about how they feel about themselves, the industry doesn't matter. It's all about meeting needs."

That philosophy has served her well across multiple ventures—beauty salons, trucking companies, freight forwarding, and vehicle sales. But it's also tested her in ways she never anticipated.

The Inflation Crisis: When Business Models Break

A few years ago, inflation hit Hill's dealership like a sledgehammer. Cars that used to sell by evening now sat on the lot for weeks. Customers tiptoed around prices they couldn't afford. At auction, Hill was paying two to three times what she'd paid just months earlier—and her customers couldn't keep up.

"I could literally see the community tipping around these car prices going, 'Can't do that, can't do that,'" Hill says. "But we're at the auction paying two and three times more. That's when I realized I had to find another way to help."

Instead of retreating, Hill expanded. She launched a nonprofit initiative focused on helping people gain access to reliable transportation—a barrier that keeps too many from taking jobs or starting businesses. She's still working out the details, but true to form, the answer came as soon as she finished the previous chapter.

"It's like right when the former was done, I can see God saying, 'Okay, you're ready for the next thing that I'm ready for you to do.' Information will just start coming in, but He's always so decent and in order. It's not flooded upon me when I'm dealing with the formal—it's like, upon completion, now next."

The Heart and Hustle Ball: From Seven Women to 250 in Red

Every year, Hill hosts the Heart and Hustle Ball—an awards event, revival, and celebration all rolled into one. The first year, seven women showed up. This year, nearly 250 filled the room, every one of them dressed in red formal wear. The venue was decked out entirely in red—tablecloths, seat covers, decorations hanging from the ceiling. It was a sea of scarlet and strength.

But the first two years almost broke Hill. She tried to control every detail—handling multiple roles, micromanaging execution, taking over tasks when they didn't go her way. By the end of each event, she was so exhausted she didn't speak to anyone for a month. She couldn't even remember enjoying it.

"I was running so many different roles, trying to have control, trying to make sure people were executing things the way I wanted them to. If it didn't look like it was going to go that way, I was taking it back over," Hill admits. "I almost wanted to give it up. I thought, if it has to feel like this on the back end—where everybody else had a good time and I need a psychiatrist—something's wrong."

This year, she let go. She built a team. She delegated. And for the first time, she enjoyed her own event.

"When I let go and gave more control to others, I enjoyed it. I was able to have a good time myself, and I got better feedback about the night. That lets me know it was better—because I wasn't running around stressed. People were able to talk to me."

The 90/10 Rule: Lead With Faith, Not Strategy

Hill used to have it backward. She'd devote 90% of her energy to business strategy and squeeze in five minutes for God at the end of the day—usually falling asleep with the Bible open. She was in constant turmoil, exhausted, and couldn't hear the instructions she needed.

"I would take care of all this business and be so tired and exhausted, and then have five minutes for God," Hill says. "You can't hear what you need to hear—the instructions, the journey, everything you need to know—if you don't keep the faith out front. Keep it first."

Now, she flips the equation. She spends the majority of her time in faith—listening, praying, sitting in silence with Christian jazz playing softly in the background. She comes home after work, enters her quiet space, and waits. Waits for the next opportunity. Waits for the next answer. Waits for clarity.

And it comes. Every time.

Her advice to other business owners is simple: "If you've got 90% of your time to be devoted to something, devote it to your faith. Leave the 10% for the business and the strategy. Run after that, and watch how the faith is going to change things. Keep going, keep going—but keep the faith first."

The Team You Build When You Believe in Yourself

Hill has learned that she doesn't need millions of dollars to build something meaningful. She needs belief—in herself, in her mission, and in the God who's called her to it. When people see that fire burning, they move toward it. The right people step forward. Those who understand the mission show up.

"You may not have millions and trillions of dollars, but guess what? When they see the fire that's burning in your soul and your spirit about what you're trying to do, the right people will move out and those that understand your mission will come in," Hill says. "And that's your faith. Your faith in Him."

She patterns herself after those who've influenced her—mentors whose uprightness with God led her to listen, to follow, to learn. She watches how they treat their employees, how they navigate challenges, how they integrate faith into every decision. And she does the same.

"If they had enough uprightness with the Father that it led me to listen and want to be underneath their umbrella to be governed by them, then of course some of their patterns I need to try to pick up daily. But it is a daily walk."

Staying Calm in the Storm

Hill has learned something powerful over three decades in business: when you stay calm in the storm, people notice. They ask how you did it. And you get to tell them.

"He has brought me through so many hurdles, and He's still here," Hill says. "I was the one scared—He's still here. So if He brought me through those things, what would make me afraid that He won't bring me through the next thing? He's going to bring me through until I make it back to Him."

That faith doesn't eliminate challenges. It doesn't make inflation disappear or customers suddenly able to afford higher prices. But it changes how Hill walks through those challenges—with peace instead of panic, with trust instead of terror, with the confidence that she's not driving the bus.

She's two rows back from the steering wheel. She can see what's coming through the windshield, but she's not the one in control. And that's exactly where she needs to be.

For business owners drowning in strategy, exhausted from trying to control every outcome, Hill's journey offers a different path: Lead with faith. Build a team. Let go of control. Care deeply about people. And trust that when you put God first, the business will follow—not in your timing, but in His. And His timing is always better.