I was born in 1974, and I immediately went to work as folklore stories tell. One of the first pictures of me is in a baby cradle in the bottom drawer of my mother’s desk (picture proof can be provided if necessary). I have been answering the telephone, doing random clerical work, filing, and being a nuisance to the office since I could walk and talk. I was doing more involved customer account work and computer data entry by the age 10. By the age of 16, I was in charge of all accounts payable, payroll, and accounts receivable, and there was nothing about this office I did not know or understand how to do. I could fill in for any position or perform any jobs as needed. After high school, I took a brief hiatus from working at Hillside and went to the University of Delaware for a few years. Working at Hillside was more suited for me than college, so I returned to work full-time. 

In July 1999, my father, Jim Sellers Sr., died of a heart attack at 52. It was a shock to the Hillside family. At 23, I was thrust to the helm of Hillside. For my entire life, I was nurtured to be in this position. Sadly, it was much sooner than expected. Several employees had been here for 20+ years, and several more had known me since I was born. I was very fortunate to have them around, and with these amazing people by my side, Hillside moved forward without a problem. I am proud to say that today, 20 years after my father’s passing, Hillside is thriving as a successful 3rd generation family-owned and operated business. Given the dismal statistics on 3rd generation businesses, our success is a testament to our family tradition of treating customers right and being among the few percent that succeed.

Today Hillside employs and helps to feed 30 Americans and their families. 10+ employees have been here for over ten years, and several are 20+ years employees. Even though I am currently the only Sellers working at Hillside, we are still a family business, with several generations of other families working here through the years. We even have a multi-generational team, with at least one father & son pair working on our team.

Customer service is the value I emphasize most at Hillside. There are plenty of other companies that do what we do. Treating people like we want to be treated sets us apart in the industry. Everyone is a customer, too, and knows how we like to be treated when we are customers. This is outlined in our Core Values. The feedback I receive almost daily is a positive reinforcement that we are doing something right.

About 15 years ago, recognizing that the heating oil market was not growing, we decided to expand and update our company’s brand. We began offering our heating and cooling maintenance, repair, and installation services to homeowners outside our loyal heating oil customer base. Home heating oil still constitutes the majority of our business, but the HVAC service department has grown considerably.

Shortly after the rebranding, I started using my best friend, Charlie the Dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog, as our company mascot. Charlie is branded on everything we own, mail, print, and drive. He was a real dog who lived in my house, slept in my bed, and was not some stock photo model dog. Charlie accompanied me everywhere, including coming to our office most days and on the road visiting customers. We lost Charlie in May 2017, but he still is one of the faces of Hillside. After Charlie passed, we adopted new dogs of the same breed – Emmy Lou and Nelson, who were welcomed warmly into the role of company mascot. And although Emmy Lou recently passed away, the Bernese Mountain Dog breed has become an important part of our image, and Nelson is still happy to carry the torch and be the current fuzzy face of the company.
Another part of the rebranding was building our online presence. We stay active online by engaging with our customers on social media, running contests with practical prizes and giveaways, and sharing useful heating and cooling tips and recommendations through our active blog. I’m proud to say that Hillside’s website is the only heating oil delivery company in the area that advertises our current price for everyone right on our front page.

We’re also extremely proud of the reviews we receive online, and to-date we’ve received over 3,000 5-star reviews from our customers. We personally and professionally respond to all reviews, positive or negative. In addition to hundreds of positive reviews on Facebook, Google, and our website, I have a 2-foot stack of customer comment cards regularly mailed in by our customers who took the time to inform us that our technicians went “above and beyond.” I could not be prouder of the impression our employees leave on customers.