Robert Fiveash interviews Chuck Holland from Hit Promo

•       How did you get started in this industry?

My journey into the promo industry started with a phone call to a childhood friend in 2005. It was an uncomfortable call to make - I was sharing my condolences over the passing of her Grandmother. While catching up on news and old friends, she asked me if I was happy with what I was doing, or looking for a new job – I was not happy, and yes I was looking for a new challenge. She was working with a distributor and a supplier rep had recently come to their office for a product presentation. He was looking for a new hire and asked my friend if she knew anyone that might do well as a supplier rep. The rest is history. I knew nothing about the industry, and I fell in love during my first week on the job. I always think about this before I make a difficult phone (or sales) call – you never know where the other end of the call might lead.

•            What is the coolest project you ever worked on and why?

My coolest project, and most endearing to me, was a custom retro toy for my favorite musician, Jack White, and his record company in Nashville. When I traveled on work trips to Nashville, I would try to stop by the record store. Seeing my product in a collection of curios propped up next to a Grammy for The White Stripes brought extreme joy. 

•            What do you love most about our industry?

What I love most about our industry is that we are a large extended family. People that work in “the real world” do not understand when I talk about how during my travels on a given week a competitor of mine and I shared dinner with a few distributors (also competitors with one another) and had an amazing time. Distributors network together and help each other grow sales, and oftentimes, grow in life along the way. Supplier Reps travel like a band of gypsies (sometimes 5 cities in 5 days) and we look out for each other along the way. Innumerable things have happened over my 15 years where someone gives someone else an unexpected helping hand. We celebrate life’s milestones together and grieve together when life throws its curveballs. Sure, everyone has their “secret recipes”, but at the end of the day, I have a very large “extended family” I know I can always count on, and they can count on me.

• Describe a non-profit or a cause you are passionate about and tell us why.

The non-profit I am most passionate about is the Wounded Warrior Project. I lost a very close first cousin of mine in 2007 to a roadside IED in Afghanistan. Had he survived, I know he would have used and needed many of the resources offered to wounded veterans by this organization.

• How do you spend your time when you are not working?

When I am not working, I love spending time with my family – not just my two daughters and my wife. My parents, my sisters and their husbands, my nieces and nephews, and when we ALL get together, enough dogs to race the Iditarod. We get together almost monthly to celebrate something or someone. I love watching my girls grow as humans. My wife Amy and I love chilling on our back porch while listening to music.

• If you were not in the promo industry, what would you be doing?

If I were not in the promo industry, I would probably be… I have no idea. This question is something that hits very close to home, and something I had to ponder greatly during the Summer of Covid. In April I was caught up in a Covid employment reduction. I had to think long and hard about my future. I questioned if this was fate’s way of telling me to find another career – an idea I could not come to terms with. Friends, family, former coworkers and former customers all asked – “What in the world are you going to do?” I did not panic, that is what I did. I enjoyed spending the unexpected free time with family and made up for tons of lost time with Amy, Veda, and Audrey. I knew my “work family” would come through and boy did they! I was hired by Hit at the beginning of August and was reunited with the individual that brought me to this amazing industry and community 15 years ago, thanks to that chance phone call to a friend in 2005. My words of wisdom to share… make that uncomfortable call, work hard, and if you treat others the way YOU want to be treated, you will go far and have “extended families” in every social group you come into contact with.

• BIO

Chuck Holland has been a Supplier Sales Rep in the Promo Industry for over 15 years. He is a Territory Manager for Hit Promotional Products covering the Carolinas and Virginias. Chuck is a graduate of East Carolina University and lives in Raleigh, NC. He is the proud father of two young daughters (Veda 10, Audrey 9). Chuck and his wife Amy love traveling and seeing their favorite bands in small clubs and music venues.