by HJ HOLTZ | Aug 13, 2024 | Employees
Sharon Carroll was in exactly the right place when her family – and the family business – needed her.
In 2014, Carroll’s mom, Geny Holtz – treasurer for H.J. Holtz & Son and wife of second-generation owner Richard Holtz, Sr. – suffered a fall and was abruptly unable to work. Carroll, who had been filling in at the office while the receptionist was away, was called up for service.
“[Mom] was here one day and gone the next,” Carroll says. “We didn’t know if she was coming back. Rick [Holtz, Carroll’s brother] asked me to do the job in the interim. He showed me how as we went.”
Ten years later, Carroll is now the company’s financial manager, overseeing all accounts payable, billing, and payroll for roughly six dozen employees. “This probably should be a two-person job, but the structure is because of the way it all evolved,” Carroll says. “I always have a deadline I’m trying to meet, but it has gotten easier with our new software system that allows people to pay online, which means fewer trips to the bank. I never thought I’d say paperless was better, but it’s so easy… click, click, click.”
While Carroll had grown up watching her grandfather, Herman J. Holtz, and her father run the business, she married in 1985 and moved away with her husband, who was in the Air Force. They lived “in a million different places,” she says – California, Louisiana, southeastern Virginia, England, North Dakota, Germany, and then Alaska. Carroll had a degree from VCU in finance, but wasn’t able to work in her field through the moves and raising of children.
When she and her husband returned to Richmond in 2014, their children didn’t need the same level of attention, and Carroll went to work in the Holtz front office, where her brother, nine years her junior, was in charge. Her sister Carol Hudson was already there, having started at the company in the spring of 2014.
“I missed so much [of the business’ growth] because I wasn’t here for 30 years,” she says. “When I left, Rick was a kid. I come back, and I’m working for him. It was weird at first, but it’s settled down.
“Originally, Carol was going to take over the financial duties, but it wasn’t the best fit,” Carroll adds. “She was a people person; she did much better with customers. I enjoy working with numbers.”
Carroll says there’s no firm agreement not to discuss company matters at family gatherings, but she tries to keep business discussions in the office. She acknowledges that having a working relationship with her brother has its curiosities.
“When is he your brother; when is he your boss?” she muses. “I used to drive him everywhere – to baseball practice or to the store to buy baseball cards. But we manage. He’s more of a risk-taker, and I’m more conservative [in business practices]. He knows I’m that way.”
Congratulations, Sharon Carroll!
by HJ HOLTZ | Jun 10, 2024 | Employees
Mark Woodson celebrated his 20th anniversary with H.J. Holtz & Son in April. But he’s actually been part of the Holtz painting team a little longer than that.
Woodson came to the company in 1999 upon the recommendation of his brother, who had been at the firm for a couple of years. The brothers were experienced painters, having learned the craft from their father, who taught painting at the Beaumont Learning Center in Goochland.
“I came right in and caught on,” Woodson says.
After about 18 months, Woodson decided to go out on his own. He had steady work … but not in the cold months. “In wintertime, it slows down a lot,” he says. “One of the benefits of [H.J. Holtz & Son] is steady work and a family-oriented business. They took me right back. Rick [Holtz]
said he never took me off the books.”
This time, he stayed.
Now a painting foreman, Woodson says he is thankful for all he’s learned at the company over his tenure. He credits the Holtz emphasis on training and a collaborative approach that seeks to ensure every person on the team knows the right way to proceed, no matter what the task is at hand.
“Everybody respects one another,” he says. “If you have a situation where you don’t know what you’re doing, everyone helps you learn how to do it. Nobody is going to tease you; everyone knows there’s nothing wrong with getting help. It’s part of the job. Everybody pitches in.”
Woodson appreciates the emphasis Holtz & Son puts on proper technique. “Prep work is the key to it all, as well as a nice paint job,” he says. “A lot of guys don’t understand the importance of prep work.
“I’m a real detail person,” he adds. “I like trim, all of that. Mostly, I love painting, period. I don’t really consider it a job, because I love doing it. It comes easily to me.”
In 2023, company president Rick Holtz invited Woodson and other longtime employees to a fishing trip originating in Nags Head, North Carolina. The group traveled 30 miles offshore in search of deep-sea denizens. “I had never been out on water like that in my life,” Woodson says.
“It was a trip to remember.”
And one earned, after many years.
by HJ HOLTZ | Nov 14, 2023 | Residential Painting, Employees
Fredy Vigil came to H.J. Holtz & Son 10 years ago at the suggestion of his friend Juan Villanueva. Both are still with the company.
“He told me there was a lot of work here, and everyone was treated well,” Vigil says.
Vigil already had plenty of experience; he had been working as a painter for nearly 10 years when he switched employers. He says the most compelling reason offered by Villanueva was the assurance that at H.J. Holtz & Son, he wouldn’t face random days off without pay because of erratic work load. Instead, he would be guaranteed steady work.
Once he joined the Holtz & Son team, Vigil spent a few years learning the Holtz method, then became a foreman, leading project teams. He enjoys that role, he says, because he can run the job using his approach, which includes plenty of communication.
“At the end of the work day, I let everyone know what we’re going to do the next day,” he says. “That way, they know what to expect.”
Vigil has also enjoyed the chance to develop his painting skills. He is now one of the Holtz painting team members with extensive experience in working with the Fine Paints of Europe (FPE) product line. When painting with FPE coatings, the environment has to be carefully controlled – to prevent dust and other particulates from marring the surface – and the application has to be deliberate and precise.
“I liked the challenge of learning something new,” Vigil says of working with FPE, adding that he enjoys talking with people about that paint line. “We have to educate customers about what’s needed.”
When he’s not in a customer’s home, Vigil can often be found in the spray booth, an enclosed space where furniture and other objects are painted in a climate-controlled environment. “I really like being in the booth, because when I finish, I can see the good quality of the paint job,” he says. “And it’s nice to be on my own sometimes.”
Vigil also appreciates the family atmosphere of the company, noting that he was able to get to know current president Rick Holtz’s parents and sister when they were working with the company. “That makes me want to stay,” he says.
Happy 10th anniversary, Fredy!
by HJ HOLTZ | Aug 1, 2023 | Employees
Painting foreman George Baker is a man of few words and steady demeanor. But a soft smile creases his face when he’s asked what he likes about painting.
“I like to look at my work [when I’ve finished a job] and say, ‘I’ve done that,’” he says. “You can see the results.”
When Baker joined the Holtz team in May 2008, he already had painting experience, including working at the Norfolk shipyard. A friend suggested he apply to H.J. Holtz & Son. When he did, he found a similar ethos.
“At the shipyard, inspectors checked everything,” he says. “They wanted a neat job, a clean job, the right way to do a job. That’s what it’s like here. We want everything to be perfect.”
Roughly a decade ago, Baker was asked to step into a foreman’s role, filling a temporary need.
“At the time, they were short-handed, so I said I’ll go ahead and serve as foreman for a while,” he says. “I’m still doing it,” he adds, smiling wryly.
The foreman role brings added responsibilities: maintaining a project’s schedule, managing unexpected situations, and communicating with the client and office staff. “You have to keep it all running,” he says.
In addition to finding satisfaction in a job well done, Baker enjoys the camaraderie found at H.J. Holtz & Son. “It’s a pretty nice atmosphere … with a variety of people,” he says. “Everybody does different things, and you can learn from everyone.”
Baker fondly remembers working with Dick and Geny Holtz, current company president Rick Holtz’s parents. “I could communicate well with them,” Baker says. “Rick is a pretty good owner; I like the company.”
Congratulations, George, on your 15-year anniversary!
by HJ HOLTZ | May 16, 2023 | Employees
James Draine and Shane Legano haven’t seen it all. But they’ve seen plenty.
The pair, who often work together hanging wallpaper and other coverings for H.J. Holtz & Son, are both celebrating their 20th anniversaries with the firm this spring. Shane joined the company in April 2003 and trained for 18 months before he hung wallpaper on his own. James was hired for occasional carpentry work in 2002 and became a full-time crew member less than a month later, in May.
Do they feel the passage of time?
“Sometimes yes, and sometimes no,” Shane says, adding that he now notices his distance from the ground when he’s atop ladders and scaffolding. “I’d do that when I was younger and not even think about it.”
The expanse of years doesn’t present itself “until you start to reminisce,” James says. “Then you really start thinking, ‘That was 20 years ago.’ The whole company has developed; it was nothing compared to what it is now.”
When James joined H.J. Holtz & Son, the company’s building on West Moore Street in Scott’s Addition was so rudimentary that he started by creating in-house work spaces. “There was one rinky-dink office in the back,” he says. “Because I came from framing houses, my first assignment was to build a secretary’s office.”
From there, James moved into the painting division, beginning with exterior prep work. As his skills developed, he moved on to exterior painting, then interior painting. Once he felt confident in his painting skills, he shifted to wallpaper and faux finishes, training under Shane and Dannon Featherston, another longtime team member.
“I’m always like, ‘Okay, what’s next?’” James says, adding that he has no ambitions to move into management, the only company division where he’s never worked. “I will never, ever, ever go into an office,” he says. “I don’t like dealing with other people’s headaches.”
Following a car accident more than five years ago, Shane worked in the front office as he recovered. When he was able to return to in-home projects, he divided his time between office tasks and in-house projects. “That didn’t work,” he says. “Being in the field is stressful, but the office is different. I’m happy to be out in the field.”
Both appreciate the opportunities they have had to learn their craft through practice and continuing education, which the company encourages and pays for. Shane says that conventions expose them to the latest techniques while comparing notes with other paper hangers who do the same kind of work.
And they appreciate how the company values employees. “There are a lot of paint companies who let their guys go in the winter,” James says. “That doesn’t happen here.”
Shane adds: “I’ve never missed work because of a slow time. Even during COVID, we stayed busy. We did crazy stuff [to stay safe and protect clients], but we kept working.”
Company President Rick Holtz also helps in times of personal crisis, they say. Shane lost his son Skyler to cancer in the fall of 2020. He was given paid personal time, both before and after his son’s death, to be home with family. “Not many people would do that,” he says. “Rick came to see me often; we’d just sit on the front porch.”
James says that employees know that if they need help, all they need to do is go into Holtz’s office. “You could walk in there whether you’ve been here a week or three years,” he says. “We’re extremely blessed to be here.”
by HJ HOLTZ | Oct 18, 2022 | Employees, Wallcoverings
H.J. Holtz & Son paper hangers Shane Legano and James Draine went to the annual Wallcovering Installers Association convention in September knowing they would come away with helpful information.
“I asked questions for jobs I knew were coming up,” James says. “We usually know in advance when we have a big, specialty job coming. That [convention] is a good place to ask questions, because there are a lot of people there who are doing the same kind of work we do.”
Both Shane and James have attended multiple WIA conventions, but this is the first in-person gathering since 2019, due to pandemic disruptions. The two agree that meeting in person adds to the experience.
“You’re getting input from all these different wallcovering hangers from all over, their tips and techniques,” Shane says. “We’re learning from each other. No matter how long you’ve been doing this, you’re always learning. There’s always something new.”
James adds: “When you work in such a small industry, you don’t meet a whole lot of people who know what you do, especially the high-end wallpaper work that we do. There are probably 15,000 plumbers in Richmond, but maybe 10 high-end residential [wallcovering] installers. At the convention, there are 150 people who all do the same thing: hang wallpaper. It’s a wealth of knowledge.”
This year’s convention was slightly different from past gatherings, which typically offered multiple sessions in a single time block. This year, sessions were held one at a time, so participants didn’t have to make decisions about which to attend. Another benefit of the new schedule was flexibility: James and Shane could skip sessions geared to business-owners and instead spend time with their colleagues.
“The secondary chat – just talking with people in the hallways – is really important,” James says. “You can have conversations about something you heard in a class, where someone else says, ‘I did that a different way,’ and you can talk about what you’ve done. You can figure out different ways to handle different situations.”
The first day of the convention was devoted to best practices. In addition to the instruction, each participant was given a three-inch, three-ring binder divided into sections for every aspect of hanging wall coverings, from liners to adhesive to matching patterns to QR codes for future reference. “It’s everything you would ever need,” Shane says. “That binder, hands-down, is my favorite thing I got from the convention,” James says.
Another highlight of the meeting was a video tour of the headquarters of Adelphi Paper Hangings, a New York company that reproduces historic wallcoverings using the same methods and materials as in the 18th and 19th centuries. Because the Holtz & Son team has worked with Adelphi papers in the past, in Colonial Williamsburg and private residences, it was especially meaningful to see the company’s process, James says.
“They take a big roll of paper and cut it down into 3’-by-3’ sheets, which is the size that was used years ago, because they didn’t have big paper rolls,” James says. The tour showed how designs were created, from brushing the background on the paper to making the paints that are then used in the screen printing process. “It was really cool to see how they made those types of historical papers,” Shane adds.
Shane and James agree that their conference attendance makes them better at what they do. “Every year is different, so there’s something new to learn every time,” Shane says. “We’ve picked up so many tips and tricks [over the years]; because of what I see there, I’m willing to try it here. Rick [Holtz, company president] lets us go and takes care of everything, which is great. It has really opened doors for us.”
