Episode 20 - Director of Human Services

Today we interview Candice Holley, a director of Human Services.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, welcome to the careers4kids podcast for kids learn careers.

(00:07):
This is Maxwell Valencia.
And this is Henry Morrison.
And today we have Candice Holly from the HR department.
Hi, how's everyone?
Good.
Thank you for spending your time to be on careers for kids.
We hope we have a great interview.
Now let's get started.

(00:27):
So tell us what you currently do right now.
So right now I am the director of human resources for a town called Westport, Connecticut.
I am responsible for hiring, training, employee relations, and a myriad of other benefits
and and I would say employees appreciation aspects of the job.

(00:54):
That's cool.
Yeah.
So Henry, I want to the second question.
Yeah.
So tell us more about your career and how you got to this position in the first place.
Of course.
So I actually started at a program out in Tennessee that was for high school kids to

(01:16):
do something a little bit different rather than like the retail type jobs that are plentiful
and food service.
So it was sponsored by the county.
I'm originally from Memphis.
So Shelby County, we sponsored this program and it got me to work in the city of Memphis
as a teenager rather than doing these other types of jobs.
So I learned a lot about human resources because that was a department I was kind of chosen

(01:39):
to work in.
So it really piqued my interest.
I went to school to learn more about it as well and then started as an HR generalist,
which is a very role that touches all the different parts and various parts of human
resources.
I learned a few earlier, but it gets a bit more extensive and a generalist is a person
that kind of touches a lot of things from that side.

(02:01):
And then I grew into a more management position and continued to travel through my career
that way and eventually got into strategic HR, which is just really all about the strategy
and how it aligns with the company or the town strategy in my case now.
And I continued with that, I did some HR consulting because it's such a plug and play kind of

(02:27):
career that you can add it as an HR layer to just about any business.
So I've been able to touch that side as well.
And found a role in Westport, which is very, I lived in a town adjacent to here for many
years and Westport feels great.
So I ended up very luckily being able to work for these folks here in the town of Westport.

(02:50):
It's an amazing job that I have now where I just like I mentioned before, lead the HR
functions for the town.
The Board of Education has a counterpart as well who does it, but I primarily work with
all of our 17 departments.
That's awesome that you were able to start over there in Memphis and bring the talents
that you already had over to Westport.
That's awesome.

(03:10):
Yeah, yeah, it was fun.
It was a nice, the way I look at it, I'll tell you a little fun fact about me.
If you ever meet me, I'm six feet two.
I'm very tall.
And I played basketball for Cincinnati and Ole Miss.
And I ultimately started coaching a little bit before, you know, kind of getting into

(03:31):
HR and I coached a little bit in college too during my grad years at Seton Hall.
So that brought me on the East Coast.
And it's a very, you know, it's a very different place than Memphis out here.
So just being able to, from an exposure standpoint, have an opportunity to be out here and practice

(03:52):
HR and get the challenges that I get a chance to get every day has been awesome.
Not to say there are good jobs out of Memphis.
I don't want folks to think that at all.
But I just was so fortunate to travel here, one of the largest parts of our country, and
really be able to practice this.
Yeah.
So what part of your job do you enjoy the most and not really like the most?

(04:12):
Oh, good question.
I would say that all of the parts have, I'll start with the don't like part.
All the parts have an administrative burden to it, if you will.
All of the parts and the functions of the HR pie or human resources pie, where there
are benefits and payroll can be a part of that.

(04:35):
Very tedious, like compliance portions of that pie.
But then you have more fun stuff like talent acquisition, where you go and wed talent to
roles internally.
And you have other pieces of the pie too.
But all of them have this thing called admin.
You have to pay for it.
You have to be very tedious.

(04:56):
It's important to be a good HR administrator, I think, first, because it's kind of how it
all works and holds it together is that double checking and crossing your T's and dotting
your I's.
So that part is not lovely, always for me, and sometimes can feel a bit heavy.
But if you prioritize your week and kind of have yourself an admin day where you can catch

(05:19):
up on it, and then that part can be managed.
But I would say that's the part that I don't necessarily love.
The part that I do like, I would say, is just employee relations.
And that can cover anything from conflict resolution to appreciation and finding ways
to engage people.

(05:39):
I feel like employee relations trickles across just about every function because you're dealing
with people.
So the employee relations part can be unpredictable and very rewarding at the same time when you're
able to resolve problems.
It's kind of why you get into it, at least for me, to be able to solve problems and be,
like the name says, a resource to humans.
So I would say employee relations is my fun part.

(06:03):
So what's the dream job you imagined yourself doing when you were a kid?
Or not just when you were a kid, but is this a dream job you imagined yourself doing even
later in life?
Oh, you know, I feel like I think it is because I say this to my coworkers a lot too.
I'm just a basketball player that ended up in HR.

(06:24):
But it was serendipitous for me because you get to lead teams.
You get to bring folks together and all the transferable stuff that you get from playing
on a team.
You can see this application in human resources as well.
And you get to be a role player.
You get to be all of the things that really make an aspect of a team up.
So I feel like it was probably destined for me to do something in the people space, be

(06:49):
it people operations or counseling or some sort of people-oriented career.
All right, Maxwell is going to bring up the next question.
Yeah.
So when you were younger, who were your main idols?
Hmm.
Some folks that I really admired in my family, I would say, there were, would probably be

(07:15):
starting with my family.
My mom, who was extremely, I would describe her as fearlessly kind.
She just found a way to be kind in some situations that didn't always require it.
But she taught that to us as well.
You start, kind of start with yes instead of starting with no.

(07:35):
And that's not saying yes to everything, but at least starting with like, yes, I hear you
or yeah, it's just a more positive outcome.
So I've learned how to move that into some of the things that I do in my career, my personal
life and all of those things.
But just to see her navigate really tough situations.
And my mother was a mathematician.
She ended up working with women, infants and children program down in Tennessee.

(08:00):
And I was just a really big fan of her kiddos.
I have two other brothers as well.
And she always pushed us in academics and sports.
So I, and very tough times, you know.
So I would say that she's one of the people that I would look up to.
And another mentor would probably be a coach that from high school, her name was Coach

(08:23):
Parks, Betty Parks.
And I, like I said, I didn't really, I kind of fell into it to HR, but I did basketball
before and I always looked at myself as an athlete.
And I thought I was pretty good coming into basketball in the ninth grade, but she was
my high school coach and she pushed me to be even better and challenged myself.
And those are some of the things that why I say I end up in a team like environment

(08:46):
in this profession that I look for.
I always sort of felt humble when I did that.
So push you to be the best that you can be.
If you think you're great, you can be greater.
And also, you know, she would always say you win or you learn and you're always continuously
learning and growing.
So I look at those two folks in my life a lot and the lessons that they taught me to

(09:09):
still carry through today.
Why did you pick this specific job?
I would say with the town of Westport, this was an opportunity that just kind of fell
out of the sky for me.
I think I had been consulting prior to this for Metta and they are a social media engineering

(09:32):
social engineering company and they deal with some of the bigger social platforms, social
media platforms that we use on a regular basis.
There's a transformation consultant for them really just translating policy into concepts
and working with different departments within that space.
And it was in New York City.
I myself reside in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and wanted to, like I said, I have three kiddos.

(09:58):
I talked to you guys earlier.
I'm a model three.
And I wanted to be closer to home and sort of pull back from some of that type of work.
And I said it kind of felt right at Westport in this opportunity because it was near and
dear to me because of the years I spent right next door to it.

(10:19):
So it felt right.
I love working with the folks over there.
I love the municipality space for me.
It's challenging in a good way because I've always sort of worked in many different other
industries and this is a newer one for me to, again, apply the principles of best practice
and HR and try to find ways to translate policy into actual practice.

(10:42):
Cool.
So what was your career before this and what made you move on from it?
Well I think I sort of I feel like I kind of grew up in HR, especially from the days,
you know, in high school.
But I went to college and changed majors after I sort of found myself more on that side of

(11:04):
it, on the HR side of it.
My initial career that I wanted to do would have been something like physical therapy
or something in that space because I myself had injuries and stuff like that and I was
very curious about it.
And then I switched more into like a social and behavioral science space just to kind

(11:24):
of understand how people think and do things.
And then that sort of naturally took a route to like human services or human resources
kind of road for me, which is much more management and policy and a bunch of other little pieces
that were important to the entire process of that HR journey for me.

(11:47):
So I was like, I really want to learn that.
And that kind of became the thing that I really put my attention into it.
So no physical therapy.
I think I wish I kind of did that too, though, because all these injuries from basketball
keep keeping up with me.
So I see.

(12:08):
So what was the biggest highlight of your entire career?
Oh, that's a big that's a good question.
I would I would say, OK, so a restructuring that didn't require any layoffs where I worked

(12:28):
at a company called CNP Hope Promise.
I was their VP of people and operations.
And it was a career that is a role rather that sort of worked with all of the departments
from the standpoint and of course, HR sort of touches all all employees.
So they were growing pretty rapidly and they were needing to shift different parts.

(12:54):
Well, the longer story of it, the long short of it is folks kept their jobs.
We were able to realize the cost savings and optimize sort of the organizational chart
that they were going for.
There was a lot of design work and thought put in behind compensation and other parts
to really make the employee experience as without disruption as possible.

(13:18):
But also keeping it's a fine line to kind of dance in this space because you have to
also keep the company protected from a compliance standpoint to make sure we're doing things
appropriately and also the interest of growth.
So it's we were able to do that with minimal disruption and folks kept their jobs and it
optimized everything.

(13:41):
So what are the biggest challenges like in the world right now they think can be solved
by Gen Z?
Oh, wow.
That's a great question.
I have a Gen Z daughter and then I have a couple of Gen also kids that run around saying
skibbity this and Riz and viewing and all these new things.
I knew it was viewing, but that was like what?
So what's giving problems?

(14:02):
Can I say let me stop my kids would be so disappointed at me using that language.
I think this is how I feel about Gen Z.
It is in such unique position.
I myself am a millennial or Zenni or a little bit an 81 baby and very old guy.
But I fortunate enough to kind of have the conversations with my kids because millennials

(14:28):
are a bit open to that.
And I think some Gen Xers are too and you know, make it a generational war, but there
are generational differences even in the workplace that we have to acknowledge what motivates
people, what keeps people retention and then how to attract them.
So Gen Z is an evolving generation.
You've always had technology.

(14:48):
You've always had things that were I would say the generation prior saw both sides.
And because of that, it's just a different consciousness happening with you guys.
And I feel that you can really if you put your mind together, you can get if you put
your mind together, if we all put our minds together, I think we can obtain some level

(15:11):
of inclusion if you will.
And that's a big one in HR too with diversity, equity and inclusion.
The acronym CEI.
You'll hear a lot of folks talking about that.
But just being a more inclusive society to all.
I think you'll have the conscientious fortitude to understand that a bit better because we

(15:32):
are in the age of information.
I feel another problem that could be addressed is really looking at unhoused persons and
how to provide paths for these folks to be able to have some independence and growth
and services should there be there's a high awareness around mental health.
So I feel that this is a generation that can really start to galvanize the types of programs

(15:58):
that would help and the types of movements that would make our society better at large.
And we're growing each generation changes and I feel like we just become smarter and
smarter and in the age of information with God like technology and AI, there's hardly
anything that can't be achieved.
So I've seen this evolution with you guys.
The Internet is crazy.

(16:20):
Some people use it for wrong though.
Like watch like waste their time on YouTube.
Sometimes YouTube is okay, but it's better just to be researching about stuff and like
us like creating a podcast to inspire kids.
Absolutely.
I think this is brilliant.

(16:41):
And it's true to your point that it can be used for, you know, use your powers for good
versus evil, if you will.
I feel like with any new thing, there's like the wild wild west years before some types
of, you know, etiquette and regulation is sort of put in place to help steer it in a
place of positive rather than negative.
I still feel like we're kind of out there in that in that world right now.

(17:04):
We're not quite landed.
You know, it's so yeah, exactly because the Internet's still pretty new.
I mean, yeah, it only became mainstream like the 90s ish.
So you know, I really like the 2000s.
So if someone wants to follow new footsteps in your careers, what do you tell him or her?

(17:25):
I would say, you know, try to research it as much as possible.
Anything you want to sort of do in life, you do need to be a bit diligent about what it
is and understanding it and indeed actually see yourself sort of doing that.
What feels right to try, let's say research it.
And if it is something you really like to pursue, you can take coursework in college

(17:49):
as you do that.
Take coursework in college, look at Ted talks about certain concepts in HR.
HR is very, you know, it's evolving as well because we have to keep up with society too
and making sure that we are continuing to protect employees and clients of your consultant
and or your company, in my case, a town, employees in town, the town itself.

(18:14):
So there's a lot that can be learned by watching these speakers really go into a lot of the
concepts that are being now practiced or just worked in theory before.
So researching that, watching videos, going to school and kind of focusing on some of
the different parts that you might want to learn in HR, be it, you know, training and
development or organizational design and or development and stuff like that.

(18:39):
So there's different parts that you could specify or you can just kind of do the broad
brush and see, you know, once you get in the career, kind of which way you want to go.
So I would say those are kind of the steps, you know, understand researching it and taking
the coursework forward, getting into an internship, you know, at places when you as much as you
can to gather information.

(19:00):
That's that's all going to go in your repository of knowledge and and you'll be able to better
make kind of decisions in career choices.
So more you kind of research it.
So what is your main life advice for kids listening to this podcast?
Meme life advice?
Oh, that's that's interesting.

(19:21):
Yeah, you guys.
What meme do I see a lot?
I don't know.
I see you caught me off guard.
There's so many memes that are out there that I don't even draw in a blank right now.
I'm just thinking skivvity toilet and stuff like that's all that's coming to my mind right
now.
So I would not say that.

(19:41):
I don't know.
I would say I can't think of one.
I'm not going to say anything because I think I can think of one right now.
But my regular advice would be just to go for it.
Fearless.
See what's out there and always remember to be kind.
Is there a meme advice that you guys that's a favorite one for you?

(20:03):
That you that you like?
Maybe you could educate me a little bit here.
I gotta say mine is like if there's something that you want to change and you can change
it like why not change it?
Oh, I love that.
I love that.
Very, very deep.
Yeah.
Okay.
I is if you want to pursue something, work hard for it.
Like don't just be like I'm going to do this.

(20:25):
I'm going to do this.
Work hard for it.
Like do stuff you want to do.
Like it'll say you want to start a business.
Practice selling stuff and yeah.
Yeah.
I love that.
Well, you guys are wise.
This is really good.
This is that's great advice.
It goes right with what you know, one would say if they wanted to do this type of career

(20:45):
to go for it, you know, and do something, do something yourself.
So good advice from you guys.
Thank you so much, Miss Holly, for allowing us to interview you.
I'm sure many more kids will be inspired by this interview.
All right, you're welcome.
Thank you for having me guys.
To whoever's listening, thanks for listening to the podcast.

(21:06):
Hope you enjoyed the episode.
We'll see you in the next one.
Bye.
Bye.