"I think if you're 18 and you're sure of what you want to do with your life â€" you don't," the teacher-turned-lawmaker-turned-lobbyist said.
She backs up her statement with experience. As a 1960 Towson graduate, Hoffman spent years teaching English and studying liberal arts before becoming a state senator from Baltimore. Three years ago she transitioned again, from the legislature to a private advocacy firm.
For Hoffman, a Towson education runs in the family. Her mother, daughter, sister and nephew all have Towson degrees.
"It was always a good education. But it's a better education now," she said.
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When Hoffman was a student, TU was known as Towson State College. She took as many liberal arts courses as she could, but she couldn't branch out much because the college emphasized teaching.
"My education was more teaching-oriented than I would have liked. I felt deprived of the liberal arts," she said.
After Hoffman graduated with a B.S. in education in 1960, she taught English at Garrison Junior High School in Baltimore. She returned to college a few years later to earn a master's degree in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University in 1966.
Hoffman tiptoed into politics in the late '70s when she became the coordinator of election campaigns in the 42nd district of Maryland. In 1979, Rosalie Abrams, a longtime state senator from Baltimore City, asked Hoffman to serve as the executive director of the state's Democratic Party.
When Abrams was tapped to join then-governor Harry Hughes' cabinet in 1983, Hoffman had to find a replacement for the senate seat.
"I spent two weeks trying to figure out who should fill the seat. Then I woke up one night and realized it should be me," she said.
Her late-night realization resulted in a 20-year term as a Democratic senator from District 42, representing Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
She served on a number of senate committees before working her way up to the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee. It took her four years to become a member and 12 years to become the chairwoman.
"It took me a while to get there, but I got there," she said.
She said Abrams taught her the importance of earning a position on the budget committee. "The budget is the most important thing you can work on," Hoffman said. "Without money, there's no policy."
As chairwoman, Hoffman worked closely with the executive branch and her fellow legislators to determine spending priorities and the size of the state budget each year. Chairing the committee came with a certain amount of understandable hubris.
"I could cut $100 million from a budget with my eyes closed, truthfully," she recalled.
In her two decades of service, Hoffman believes her most significant accomplishment was leading the passage of the Thornton education reform package.
"As a leader you can actually redress inequities and you can do good," she said.
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Hoffman's life took another major turn in 2002. After a round of redistricting, she was defeated in the primary elections. Looking back now, she said she felt "like the weight of the world was off my shoulders."
A few months later, she became a partner in the Artemis Group, a three-woman "consulting and strategic advocacy firm" in Annapolis and Washington, D.C. She heads up the lobbying arm of the practice.
Many lawmakers become lobbyists later in life, because "they know how the place works," Hoffman said.
As a consultant to various groups looking to influence the legislature, Hoffman said she serves as a facilitator.
"I can't make anything happen, but I can enlighten people and I can encourage people," she said.
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This winter, Artemis moved into a spacious three-story house on Franklin Street in downtown Annapolis.
In her spare office, photos of Hoffman with former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton sit on a bookshelf. A copy of a House bill, a Medicaid briefing book and a hearing schedule rest on a desk. College degrees line the walls.
Hoffman has retained her ties to Towson University over the years. She has been a major booster for the school, frequently speaking at alumni events and lobbying days. She served on the presidential search committee that brought Robert Caret back to Towson in 2003, and she attended commencement at the Towson Center last month.
"We have to be friends with everybody on behalf of this University," Hoffman told alumni employees at a Towson Advocacy Program legislative briefing last month. "Don't make assumptions as to friends or foes, but talk to everyone- you have a phenomenal product to sell."
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