Wallpaper installer Dannon Featherston cares more about what he has learned – and how he shares those lessons – than the number of years he’s been with H.J. Holtz & Son. “One of the best things I’ve done in my career is getting to a point in my knowledge where I’m masterful enough to pass it on,” he says.
Featherston, who is one of a handful of employees who have been with the company for more than 20 years, credits his mother for impressing upon him, from an early age, the importance of internalizing what you learn.
“Mom would say people who read a book but can’t talk about it after haven’t really read it,” he says. “True understanding means you can expand upon something. If you can’t expand upon something, you can’t understand it.”
Featherston lives that lesson every time he helps coworkers with the intricacies of paper-hanging.
“There’s always going to be stuff I can learn in my trade, and through teaching, I’ve learned even more,” he says. “To teach somebody well, you have to explore how they may be looking at [a situation], and that will take you out of your way of doing it,” he says. “Some people learn by doing, some by explanation, some both. I take it very seriously to look into the perspective of someone else. I have to understand how a person does things. So we have to take time to get to know each other. Once I know [the other person is], it’s easier to teach them.”
Another benefit of longevity, Featherston says, is the ability to develop relationships, with other Holtz team members and with clients. He remembers the birth of company president Rick Holtz’s youngest child and has been around to see colleagues retire after years of service. He’s also returned to client homes over the years, watching children move from toddler to adulthood. He’s even worked in a home owned by the grown son of a longtime client. “It’s definitely like I’m old now,” he laughs.
Outside of work, Featherston stays busy with a variety of home projects and motorcycle repair, both for himself and others. “My wife wants me to slow down, but I’ve become the graybeard everybody calls,” he says. A year ago, he showed several bikes at the Party at the Pen East, a vintage motorcycle show held on the grounds of the Ohio State Reformatory (formerly Shawshank Prison).
“I like to have a project; it’s good for my mind,” he says. “Like wallpaper, working on bikes is like a puzzle: you have to figure out how to put it together. There’s a right way and a wrong way, and you’ll find out real quick if you’ve not done it right.”
Happy anniversary, Dannon!