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S
printing from
the competitive
world of track
and field to the
elite echelons of
private wealth
management
might sound
like an awkward
transition to some, but it was seamless
for Kimberley Hatchett. The Harvard
Business School graduate is 25 years
strong at Morgan Stanley and is every
bit in love with her job today, which
involves helping clients obtain financial
freedom and maintain wealth, as she was
when she first started. Sports, however,
was her first passion.
“Hatchett was heavily influenced by her
late father, William “Bucky” Hatchett, a
four-time All-American athlete and veri-
table “force of nature” who believed that
sports “teaches you discipline, patience
and how to handle disappointments,”
said Hatchett. Disappointments like
pulling a hamstring at the 1984 Olympic
trials. Following in her father’s foot-
steps, Hatchett was also an All-American
athlete while pursuing her undergradu-
ate degree in Rhetoric and Communica-
tions at the University of Virginia, but
in one fell swoop, the hamstring injury
prevented her from pursuing her lifelong
Olympic dream.
But her world did not stop. Hatchett got
up, brushed herself off, and moved on.
That same go-to-it-tiveness aided her
when she began her business, cold call-
ing potential clients who often hung up
on her. “What did I have to do?” Hatchett
asked. “I had to pick the phone back up
again and call the next person, and the
next person, and the next person. And
that’s what the athletic training taught
me in terms of building my business at
Morgan Stanley. You can never give up.”
Another element Kimberley Hatchett
attributes to her success and confidence
to be bold? Her father’s insistence that
she live life with color blind lenses. She
shared the touching moment when her
father, gravely ill at the time, received a
call from his former Rutgers University
basketball teammate. The sole African
American player on his team, Hatchett’s
father was denied room at a hotel the
night before they played a major tourna-
ment. “‘The next day,’ said the friend,
“‘your father came, no questions asked,
and played the game of his life. He had
the most rebounds, the most points, and
he was the MVP of the whole tourna-
ment,’” recalled Hatchett. That friend
apologized to her father for never asking
where he went that night. “My father
answered him and said, ‘No problem.
That’s okay.’” He was clearly driven to
let nothing stop him and after his pass-
ing, Kimberley realized why her father
never volunteered to share that story.
As a successful businesswoman, Hatchett
welcomes opportunities to give back.
She has served on the Board of Direc-
tors of iMentor for over 15 years. The
program aids students from low income
communities in achieving their dreams.
Hatchett considers it her mission to show
them “how education, hard work [and]
dedication can change your life.” That
passion also extends to empowering
women by sharing their inspirational
stories. In the past year, she interviewed
Mary J. Blige, Jane Fonda and Tyra Banks
as part of an initiative to remind Morgan
Stanley clients to embrace challenges
and create lasting legacies.
As she continues to evolve, one thing
remains constant for Kimberley Hatchett:
her commitment to fitness. The happily
married mother of one, a daughter and
rising gymnast who got Kimberley’s
athletic gene, practices meditation and
walks or runs several times a week.
In addition, she attends Physique 57, a
combination yoga-Pilates class. “I truly
believe that health and happiness and
finding peace within yourself is what
brings good health,” said Hatchett. She
continued, “To live is to find peace
within yourself and to live is to be free.
If you’re finding all of this within your-
self, then you’re truly healthy.”
Celebrity Fit
NEVER
GIVE UP
KIMBERLEY
HATCHETT
BY NNEKA SAMUEL
`
Photograph by: Jordan Hollender