{"id":34691,"date":"2021-10-18T11:10:49","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T15:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=34691"},"modified":"2021-10-18T11:10:49","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T15:10:49","slug":"kylie-holland-gained-the-needed-experience-as-she-prepares-to-head-the-family-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2021\/10\/kylie-holland-gained-the-needed-experience-as-she-prepares-to-head-the-family-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Kylie Holland Gained The Needed Experience As She Prepares To Head The Family Business"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Kylie (Curtis) Holland will one day be CEO of the family business, Curtis Lumber.
\u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Christine Graf<\/p>\n

While still a student at Galway High School Kylie (Curtis) Holland started working at the front counter at Curtis Lumber in Ballston Spa. Today, the sixth-generation member of the Curtis family is preparing for the day when she will take the helm of the family business.<\/p>\n

Her father, Jay Curtis, currently serves as CEO and president of the 131-year old company that has 23 locations and approximately 700 employees. He took over in 1991, the same year that Holland was born.<\/p>\n

During the four years that Holland attended college at SUNY Cortland, she made a five-hour round trip each weekend in order to continue working at Curtis Lumber. After graduating with a degree in criminal justice in 2012, she considered attending law school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was faced with a choice of either you go to law school or you work (at Curtis Lumber),\u201d she said.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBecause of the intensity of law school, I knew I couldn\u2019t do both. That was kind of my moment where I had to choose. I just couldn\u2019t imagine what it would look like to walk away from Curtis Lumber.\u00a0 <\/span>I loved it, and I loved the people. That\u2019s when I decided this was the path for me after all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although her older brother, Christopher, also works for Curtis Lumber, he is not interested in taking over when their father retires.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>\u201cHe\u2019s worked here his whole life as well doing various things,\u201d she said. \u201cOver time, as we worked in the business side by side, it was a just kind of natural progression that he didn\u2019t necessarily want the responsibility of leadership, and I didn\u2019t mind that idea. We had kind of this unspoken understanding as we both stepped into our own that he was content with what he was doing, and I had a desire to follow in my dad\u2019s footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n

After working her way up to supervisor at the front counter\u2014one of the busiest areas of the store\u2014Holland tried her hand at design.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t naturally have the knack for that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I learned from it and got to understand that aspect of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her next step was to work in the corporate office where she was able to immerse herself in operations side of the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way to learn is to get immersed into the fundamental of how we operate. I did rounds with our different departments to see how they function and how they support the business,\u201d she said. \u201cI got to see a little bit of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holland later assumed her role as part of the executive team. She began by sitting in on executive meetings in order to learn as much as she could about how decisions were made.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver time, it became a natural progression that I was able to participate in those conversations with a lot more confidence and credibility rather than just being an observer,\u201d said Holland.<\/p>\n

After serving in a floating managerial role, she transitioned into a director position. Today, she serves as executive vice president with members of the executive team reporting directly to her.<\/p>\n

Although her father has announced no plans for retirement, Holland believes she will be ready to take the helm of the company when that day comes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a really good team in place,\u201d she said. \u201cIn terms of support and being able to take that next step, I have a lot of confidence there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As CEO, Holland will be faced with the challenges of operating a business in an increasingly digital word.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe digital era is upon us which is something that is super challenging for our industry. We sell lumber. We sell commodity items. Putting that into a digital world is a little bit challenging, but that\u2019s where we need to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When she becomes CEO, Holland said her management style\u2014at least initially–will be more \u201chands on\u201d than that of her father\u2019s. Curtis became more hands off as he progressed in his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of that is because of my newness,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to be able to absorb everything, and that\u2019s how he started as well. When he started, he was definitely more involved in things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holland expects the eventual transition to be relatively seamless but acknowledges that she will have to prove herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve done right by the company and done right by myself by working in different areas and working side by side with a lot of our people. I\u2019m not just stepping in off the streets. I do think there has been a level of credibility established. But the pressure of it from my perspective is still that I have something that I continue to have to prove to people to make sure that they have confidence in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she doesn\u2019t rule out future growth, her priority when she becomes CEO will be to focus on fine tuning current operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to focus on who we are already serving to me is more significant than focusing on accumulating more locations,\u201d said Holland. \u201cI\u2019m always conscious that what we have done under my dad\u2019s leadership has gotten us to the successful point that we are at. We are successful for a reason, so I would never come in and say that we should forget how we\u2019ve done things for the past twenty-five years. But I do acknowledge that there is change that has to happen. It will be about incorporating necessary change while still holding true to the traditions and values that have gotten us to where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christine Graf While still a student at Galway High School Kylie (Curtis) Holland started working at the front counter at Curtis Lumber in Ballston Spa. Today, the sixth-generation member of the Curtis family is preparing for the day when she will take the helm of the family business. Her father, Jay Curtis, currently serves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":34692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nKylie Holland Gained The Needed Experience As She Prepares To Head The Family Business - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2021\/10\/kylie-holland-gained-the-needed-experience-as-she-prepares-to-head-the-family-business\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kylie Holland Gained The Needed Experience As She Prepares To Head The Family Business - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Christine Graf While still a student at Galway High School Kylie (Curtis) Holland started working at the front counter at Curtis Lumber in Ballston Spa. 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