by HJ HOLTZ | Oct 13, 2025 | Employees
Estimator Travis Gibson likes to learn. “I thrive for a challenge, in all aspects of life,” he says. “I’ll tackle something head-on until I perfect it.”
That attitude has served Gibson well. This month, he celebrates his 15th year with H.J. Holtz & Son.
Gibson came to the company with painting experience, having worked for his father, also a painter. With that background, he started on a paint team right away and refined his skills. “My dad was always really focused on high quality but not so much speed,” Gibson says. “When I started out [here], I wasn’t as fast as I became.”
Gibson spent roughly six years working as a painter and painting foreman. Then he was a project manager for approximately four years, seeing all types of Holtz jobs. He’s been an estimator for five years; he handles the majority of appointments now.
“I always came forward and said I was interested in the next step,” Gibson says. “The timing worked [to become an estimator] because I was interested in coming into the office, then one estimator left, and the position was available.”.
Gibson now works primarily outside of the office, meeting clients in their homes and businesses to see, first-hand, what the project entails. His experience in the field serves him – and the clients – well. “I’ve done all the work before, so I know how to set expectations and how to explain what’s going to happen, in layman’s terms,” he says. “When you can explain all that, it makes it so much easier to understand the process and pricing.”
Before moving into the estimator’s role fully, Gibson shadowed company president Rick Holtz for several months, watching the process. “Rick was a great teacher, and he’s always there if I have a question,” Gibson says. “I really appreciate his willingness to give us the tools we need to succeed.”
Gibson says he enjoys how the company prioritizes closeness and camaraderie among employees, even as it’s grown larger over the years. “It used to be a small family business, but not any more … the size of the company blows my mind,” he says.
Another constant over the years are the standards the company upholds, he says. “My favorite thing about Holtz is the quality. We’re not going to stop until we know it’s right. We want to do work that we can put our name behind.”
Congratulations, Travis!
by HJ HOLTZ | Dec 2, 2024 | Employees
When Kelly Kutchey joined H.J. Holtz & Son 10 years ago as a painter, he asked several former coworkers who had already joined the Holtz team what they thought of the business.
“They told me it was a very different experience,” Kutchey recalls. “I remember them saying the company actually cares for you.”
Even before Kutchey could register that aspect of company culture, he noticed something else: The Holtz way was to do a job right the first time.
“That was more my speed because a lot of times, my previous employer would say we could come back to touch things up on a job,” Kutchey says. “I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want anyone to find anything wrong, and I didn’t want to have to come back to fix problems.”
Initially, Kutchey planned to remain a painter – “I just wanted to blend in,” he says – but after a while, he was ready for a change. “I thought it would be cool to do more,” he says. “I offered to be a foreman; I did that, then I came into the office.”
Now, Kutchey is production manager, overseeing all departments and monitoring the progress of the many jobs that are underway at all times. “I make sure all facets of production are going well, and everything is getting completed,” he says. “Anything that’s happening that makes money for us, I need to make sure everybody’s happy and doing their jobs.”
Kutchey also manages the schedule, which is often in flux, requiring reassignments to ensure the best possible efficiency. The company currently has 19 two-person teams, with a foreman and painter on each. Additional painters serve as floaters and go where they’re most needed. Every day, Kutchey says, something unexpected arises.
“A customer may say, ‘Hey, while you’re here, can you paint an additional four rooms?’” he says. “Then you have to consider the next customer in line. Can we do that, or do we need to return at a later date?”
In the midst of so much change, the office team is determined to maintain consistency in how the company operates. “It’s up to all of us – Rick, Ricky, Travis, Patrick, and Roxy – to communicate to make sure the culture of the company stays where it should be,” Kutchey says. “Every team can improve and do things better, but I think we do a pretty good job.”
At the end of the week, Kutchey unwinds by spending most Friday evenings at a campground overlooking the Rappahannock River. “I sit with my wife and my dog and watch the sun set,” he says. “It’s nice and calming.”
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, GenyHoltz – 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!
