In the latest issue of FAITH Magazine Grand Rapids, our President/CEO Jill Annable shares the profound moments and experiences that have defined her path to leadership. Check out the excerpt below and read the full cover story to learn more about her remarkable journey.

Over on the west side of the city, Jill Annable is settling into her second semester as president and CEO of West Catholic High School. As a West Catholic graduate, and the child of West Catholic grads, she never expected to find herself in this position. In fact, she has a rejection letter from West Catholic hanging on her office wall.

“When I first became a teacher in 2006, the competition for jobs was fierce,” she remembers. “I had applied to West Catholic and was turned down. The public school job I eventually landed had more than 200 applicants. I was grateful to be there and thought I had found my path.

”For the next nine years, that was true. But God has a funny way of turning things upside down.

“I got a call from my former English teacher, Diane Hoodhood. She heard I had gone into teaching and wondered if I would like to interview at West Catholic.” Jill felt she had nothing to lose – after all, she was happy in her current role.

The interview changed everything.“

After just one hour with the team, I wanted the job badly,” she says. “I think it was the first time I really felt the mission and that something bigger than me was happening…”