THE PRECEDENT / ABOUT
AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON WORK, AMBITION AND WHAT COMES NEXT.
The questions we ask about work change as we do.
01 / THE IDEA
The Precedent began with a simple idea: some of the most valuable career lessons are the ones we don't learn in a classroom or find in a job description.
The unwritten rules. The conversations that happen outside the meeting room. The relationships we build and the decisions that shape our careers, often long before we recognize their significance.
What started as a career strategy platform has evolved into something broader. A place to exchange ideas, share perspectives, build meaningful connections and explore what professional success can look like at different stages of life.
Because the questions we ask about work change as we do.
At 22, it might be how to land your first job. At 30, how to position yourself for the next opportunity. At 40, whether the career you've worked so hard to build is still the one you want.
The one constant at every stage is there is something to be gained from the experiences, perspectives and advice of others.
The Precedent brings those conversations together through personalized advisory services, editorial content and a growing community built around connection, curiosity and the belief that there is no single path to success.
02 / THREE WAYS TO CONNECT
03 / A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER
I’m Hillary
I built The Precedent around the advice I wish I'd had at 22, and the conversations I find myself wanting to have at 40.
I graduated from Cornell University in 2009, at the height of the financial crisis. No one was hiring, there was no clear roadmap and the traditional playbook for starting a career had been turned upside down.
I figured things out along the way. I began my career in hospitality, earned my MBA from Columbia Business School, navigated investment banking recruiting and ultimately found my way into real estate investing. Over the next decade, I built a career in acquisitions, eventually becoming a Managing Director at Greystar, where I led investment teams and transacted on a multi-billion dollar portfolio.
Along the way, I learned an enormous amount about business, leadership, navigating organizations and building a career. I also learned that being good at your job and being intentional about your career aren't necessarily the same thing.
In 2026, after nearly two decades in the corporate world, I decided to make a change of my own. It wasn't because I had stopped enjoying my career or lost my ambition. Quite the opposite. I was proud of what I had built, but increasingly interested in what else I could build. I wanted to create something that brought together the parts of my professional life I had always found most rewarding: sharing what I'd learned, helping others navigate important decisions, writing, exchanging ideas, connecting interesting people and of course real estate.
The Precedent is my way of bringing those interests and conversations together. It's informed by my professional experience, but equally by my curiosity about business, people and the many different ways we define success.
I'm excited to see where it goes, and I'm glad you're here.
Hillary Widlitz, Founder
Formerly at:
04 / STAY CONNECTED
Good conversations start somewhere.
IDEAS, OBSERVATIONS AND ADVICE DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.