Pride in Action: Celebrating Volunteer India Hines

At Dress for Success San Francisco/San Jose, Pride Month is an opportunity to celebrate the many ways people show up for one another, build community, and create pathways to opportunity. This month, we're honored to spotlight India Hines (she/her), a dedicated volunteer whose commitment to empowering women has made a lasting impact on our clients and programs.

Since 2022, India has served as a virtual career coach, supporting clients from her home in Cleveland, Ohio. Despite the distance and time difference, she consistently adjusts her schedule to coach clients during Pacific Time hours, demonstrating a level of dedication that reflects her deep commitment to helping others succeed.

Through virtual coaching sessions, India helps clients navigate career transitions, build confidence, and prepare for the next steps in their professional journeys. Her thoughtful guidance and unwavering encouragement have supported countless women as they pursue economic mobility and new opportunities.

One story captures the heart of India's volunteer service. She worked with Alma, who was returning to the workforce after two years as the primary caregiver for her infant child.

During every coaching session, Alma's baby, Marcus, sat on her lap. Rather than seeing that as a distraction, India created a space where she could focus on her career goals while honoring the realities of motherhood. Through encouragement, practical guidance, and empathy, India helped Alma navigate the transition back to work. 

Volunteer India Hines (left) during a career coaching session with Alma and Marcus.

Volunteer India Hines (left) during a career coaching session with Alma and Marcus.

As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, entrepreneur, mentor, and advocate, India brings empathy, encouragement, and a deep belief in the power of community to everything she does.

In the Q&A below, she reflects on her volunteer experience, the importance of visibility and service during Pride Month, and the role mentorship and community have played throughout her own personal and professional journey.

Dress for Success San Francisco/San Jose: Why did you choose to volunteer with us? I came to Dress for Success San Francisco/San Jose through Glassdoor. They were looking for volunteers to coach women and I signed up (nervously). I was mid-career at the time and genuinely wasn't sure I had anything to offer. But what I discovered was that volunteering gave me as much as I gave. 

Helping women find their voice, advocate for themselves, and step back into their power was one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life. I worked with mentees navigating promotions, workshopping emails to managers, and negotiating their worth. One moment that stayed with me was telling a mentee who was doubting herself — ‘You deserve this. And if they don't see your work, somebody else will.’ Watching her walk into that confidence was everything. 

Both of my mentees were also navigating motherhood and competing priorities and still showing up for themselves. That inspired me deeply. 

Can you share any connection between Pride Month and your volunteer experience? I am a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. I have been married to my wife for seven years and she is my biggest inspiration. She is a non-traditional learner — working full time while going back to school — and watching her pour into herself while still showing up for others reminds me every day why service matters.

Pride Month to me is about visibility and showing up fully — in every room, for every community that isn't always in the forefront. That is exactly what drew me to Dress for Success. Their mission to serve women of all colors and all backgrounds aligns with everything I believe in. Showing up for communities that don't always have someone in their corner is not something I do once a year. It is how I try to live and build. 

Can you share a memorable story or impact you've witnessed as a volunteer? One moment I will never forget is watching one of my mentees negotiate her way into a promotion and a higher wage. She came to me nervous, second guessing herself, almost paralyzed by imposter syndrome. I recognized it immediately because I had felt it too. 

We workshopped her emails together. We talked through how to present her value. We practiced advocating for herself out loud until she believed the words she was saying. And then she went and did it. She got the promotion. She got the raise. 

Seeing her walk into that version of herself — confident, clear, certain of her worth — that is why I show up. That moment reminded me that sometimes all a woman needs is one person in her corner saying ‘you've got this.’ I try to be that person every chance I get. 

Can you share what it was like transitioning from a layoff to studying for a master's degree to building a business? Honestly it comes down to two things: mental health and mentorship. When the layoff happened I had a choice. I could let it define me or I could let it redirect me. I chose to pour into myself first. 

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I went and got support. I prioritized my mental health in a season when everything felt uncertain. And I think that is something we do not talk about enough — especially for women who are used to juggling everything for everyone else. You cannot pour from an empty cup. The energy to build something new has to come from somewhere. 

For me it came from getting still, finding my identity outside of a job title, and doing the things that reminded me who I actually was. 

The second thing was community. I have been poured into by mentors who gave me their time, their honesty, their rooms, and their resources. And mentors do not just come from the workplace. They come from your community, your family, the creative friend who always asks ‘have you thought about this?’ The person who knows your capabilities sometimes better than you do and puts you in rooms where you belong. 

That is what I learned from Dress for Success too. Anybody can be a mentor. Anybody at any stage of life can be a mentee. It is just about learning and helping people connect to what they need. 

I am building Hair On-Call because of every person who poured into me. And I hope Hair On-Call becomes that resource for women who just need someone in their corner.

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Now through June 30 (last day of Pride) India is offering our community 20% off a Stop Guessing Session with code Dress20.

Thank you, India, for your dedication, your empathy, and your commitment to helping women thrive!