J.J. Hollie: Leadership, Service, and Building Strong Business Communities

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. I’m so excited to introduce you to my guest today, J.J. Hollie, Business Performance advisor with Insperity, past president and CEO of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce. Army National Guard veteran and long time advocate for business and community leadership here in Texas. Raised in a military family, J.J. had the unique experience of living around the world while growing up, including time in Holland and Japan, before beginning a career that would span public service, military service, telecommunications, chamber leadership, and business consulting. Over the years, he’s become known for building strong business communities, developing leaders, and helping organizations grow through people first leadership. Today, through his work with Insperity nonprofit leadership and community engagement efforts, he continues helping businesses improve performance while staying connected to purpose and service. He is also a certified project management professional and an Ironman Texas finisher, and someone deeply passionate about leadership, veterans and creating meaningful connections in the communities he serves. Jj, welcome to the show.

J.J. Hollie: Wow, Trisha, that was a phenomenal introduction. You said you made me sound a lot better than I really am.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you. That’s not true. Not true.

J.J. Hollie: I try to live up to it all.

Trisha Stetzel: So, JJ, tell us. Tell us what else you want us to know about you.

J.J. Hollie: Gosh, uh, a couple of things that came to mind is, uh, I not only were we living in Holland and Japan. And one thing I really love about my parents in the whole military background was wherever we were at, we didn’t just stay on base or stay in the living room. They got out. We were even stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas one time and we thought, oh, there’s nothing there. What were we wrong? I mean, we just drove all over. We saw Custer’s last stand. We saw, you know, Mount Rushmore. We just kind of use it as a base to go all around. And one of the places we went to was Alaska. And I actually went to high school up there and, uh, loved that. Probably the most spectacular place, you know, anybody could ever see with the glaciers and the mountains and neat stuff.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, I love that. So how do you think that experience growing up with that military influence has really led you to where you are today?

J.J. Hollie: I think in a to a large extent. It’s sort of molded my personality where I’m more extroverted. You know, I had somebody define introvert versus extrovert to me. And, uh, they said introverts get their batteries recharged by being alone and kind of relaxing and just being solitary. To me, I will fall asleep if I do that. You know, I’m so glad we’re meeting here at, you know, 245 on a Monday afternoon because you’re you’re charging me up. And that’s what it does to extroverts is when they’re talking to people and engaging with people, that’s when they get their batteries charged. So you’re having that Monday afternoon just go a lot better. So thank you.

Trisha Stetzel: We’re recharging. We’re recharging your batteries right now. If only we had 3 or 4 more people in the room, it would be.

J.J. Hollie: Yeah, yeah, that probably is lightning out of my ears or something.

Trisha Stetzel: So taking that experience and thinking about that extroversion and how you recharge your batteries, um, how do you how does that all play into the way you think about leadership and community and adaptability?

J.J. Hollie: I think I’ve been really fortunate with the leaders that have been both good and bad examples for me, if that makes sense. Uh, I think sometimes when you, you don’t have the best experience with leaders and you’re like, I don’t ever want to be that way when I’m in that position. And I think, uh, one of my, well, I’ve got my first professional experience was working for a guy named Charlie Wilson, who was a US congressman in East Texas. And, and they wrote a book about him called Charlie Wilson’s War. And he’s kind of, I don’t know if I’d say famous, but definitely infamous for, uh, you know, his nickname was good time Charlie and Charlie’s. Uh, I think his being a congressman, I think we’re all sort of, you know, negative about politicians and stuff. And, uh, one thing about Charlie that struck me was how genuine and authentic he was and how much he cared about us as the staff, and then also how much he cared about, uh, my constituents in the Second Congressional District and beyond. I remember, you know, I graduated college and I was 21 years old. This is my first job. Of course, I thought I was the best thing since sliced bread. And, you know, I had to learn some humility, which I still struggle to learn, I think. But, um, it was just Charlie and I, it was my job to kind of drive him around the district in, in this for travel motorhome. And, uh, and he was given a speech and, uh, you know, anybody from Texas? No, it’s not, it’s not Woodville, it’s Woodville.

J.J. Hollie: And he said this what I thought was just a line. And he said, you know, before Social Security and senior centers, uh, people just sat on their front porches and waited to die because they had no activity. And they, they were. It wasn’t a healthy way to be, you know. So they they were just not nothing to do board, you know, unless they had some family members come visit them. You know, how are they getting regular meals, different things like that. And, and we and I thought when you said that that’s a great line that’s really going to, you know, be emotional, emotionally impactful. And we got on the bus and I had only worked with this guy for maybe, I don’t know, 3 or 4 weeks and just him and I in the bus. And I said, Charlie, that was a great line about people sitting on their front porch waiting to die. And he looked at me. He was mad. I mean, I remember this like it was yesterday. And he was like fire coming out of his eyes. And he said, JJ, that is true. They really didn’t have, uh, they didn’t have food, they didn’t have services, they didn’t have any engagement. And I thought, oh, wait a second. This is a different ball game. And that was just a great leadership lesson. I think you gotta, you know, care about your people. I think the one you know, when we’re military experience, the ones that have the, you know, you got the best leaders when they really care about you.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So let’s dive a little bit into that human interaction connection. I know the last conversation that you and I had had a lot to do with that. And, um, I value that as well as you do. So I would love to hear from you. How important is this intentional relationship building for leaders today?

J.J. Hollie: You know, one of the things that, uh, I’ve always enjoyed about any stage of my political or not political professional career is I get to always talk to people, uh, and whether it’s people that I’m working with in the same company or organization or office or, uh, whether they be voters or Are vendors or prospects or clients is. I love this line in Ted Lasso about you should always be curious and believe, you know. And. And I think if you have a genuine curiosity and I love sitting down with businesses or anybody really, and I, I love hearing about their stories and where they come from and what they did. And, you know, where they went on vacation and what they liked about vacation and, you know, what kind of food they ate and you know, how many kids they have and all that. People have such interesting, um, interesting lives and it’s really kind of cool to get and listen, sit and listen to people and kind of get that background on what the, what they’ve done.

Trisha Stetzel: What would you say to those that are listening today that don’t fit the extroverted personality? They like to recharge their batteries Alone. What would you say to them about networking and being curious and always be curious.

J.J. Hollie: Uh, you know, I think you’ve got to know yourself, right? And I know that, uh, when it’s 3:00 on Monday afternoon and I’m a little, you know, droopy eyed or something, because maybe I haven’t talked to anybody. Uh, I pick up the phone and call somebody or I get on a podcast, you know, something like that. And, um, I think if you know yourself, you know, hey, that I’m, I’m not outgoing. I feel uncomfortable, uh, you know, being in a business reception setting and go, you know what? I’m just going to have to be uncomfortable and it’s going to be okay. And hopefully you find somebody who may even be like you and you go and, you know, stand next to them and go, hey, do you hate being here as much as I do? You know, and if they say yes, then you’ve already you’ve already made a friend and you guys can be your own little support group, you know? And Another thing I like about business is I think the more people you know in business, the easier business is. Um, it’s so relationship oriented, getting to know somebody who they are, what they do, who are the people in their network? Who are the people in your network? How can you get them together? And, and just, uh, it’s just nice when you are doing business with people that you know and you trust and you like, and especially if it’s a win win win situation, then, you know, everybody makes money. Everybody gets to serve their customers and customers the best way and everybody’s happy.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And if a room full of people is not for you, then go to a smaller room, right? And just get started.

J.J. Hollie: Yeah. There are so many. And of course, I’ve, I’ve spent ten years at a chamber of commerce. And one thing we tried to do was create different avenues for different Businesses, types of businesses, types of people. Sometimes we even have, you know, Zoom calls or something or smaller committee meetings. So you’re not in a room with 100 other people at, you know, 530 in the afternoon and try to make it a little bit easier for everybody to find a way to get involved where they can be. I’m not going to say comfortable because sometimes you got to I’m still trying to work on that. How do I kind of get out of my comfort zone and not be in a rut and do things better and different? And, you know, just being curious, but help them to, you know, get comfortable being uncomfortable, I guess.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I’ve heard that a time or two and there is something for everyone. And what I heard you say that I think is so important is we have to be part of a community. We can’t sit as a business owner or business leader on an island all on our own, and expect to be as good as we want to be. We’ve got to get out and we have to build that community.

J.J. Hollie: Um, I had an older friend of mine, I think he, by the time I met him, he was already in his 80s. And, uh, he said, JJ, if you want to be successful and live a long, productive life and be healthy, he says, you’ve got to. What is it that he said? He said, you’ve got to socialize, you’ve got to exercise, and you got to have a purpose. And if you get out there and do that, you know, are you going to be all right.

Trisha Stetzel: Socialize, exercise and have a purpose? I love that so much. Um, tell me, tell me more about being the business performance advisor at Insperity.

J.J. Hollie: Well, this is just another continuation of something that I love to do, which is go and meet businesses and sit and talk to them about especially smaller businesses, you know, if they’ve got 20 employees, 30 employees, um, they started this business, maybe they just started it or it’s 5 or 10 years old and it’s like you’re talking to them about their baby. I mean, they started this because they had a passion for, um, doing something that they were really good at. And then how did they, it takes a lot of guts not to just, you know, work for another organization, but go out on your own and do your own deal and kind of build your own universe. And I love hearing, hearing people say, uh, you know, how they got the idea, how they started it? What are some of the peaks and valleys that, that they go through? Uh, I’ve got one great friend. His name is Josh Sherry. He’s a serial entrepreneur and he has this psychological timeline that is just hilarious because you waffle between, wow, we’re making so much money, we’re going to take over the world to, oh, no, we can’t pay our bills on Friday, you know, and there’s just all this up and down. It’s such a, uh, psychological game ish. And if you’re not prepared going in that a, you’re going to have it happen to you, and B, that happens to everybody else.

J.J. Hollie: Everybody I’ve talked to that started a business. And, you know, I’ve had that in my professional career that there are these. Success is not a linear. Nice straight line where it just goes up. There are these huge swings and there’s so many different reasons for those. And, um, as what they tell me the other day that you have to be resilient, uh, in the position that, I mean, you have to be resilient. You know, if you’re talking to people and you’re trying to, you know, get them to sign a contract with you, you’re going to have to get some no’s. And then you’re like, why are you telling me no? You just described every reason why you needed this. And at the end of the day, if you really are, you know, look, I want to help you. I want to find a way to where we can take some of the stuff off your plate so you can focus on the things that you got into business for in the first place, You don’t want to spend your time doing timesheets. You don’t want to spend your time, you know, managing HR policies and handbooks and things. You want to do your business.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Do you do what you got into business for and let someone else do the rest? Okay, so I know people already want to connect with you. Jj what is the best way for folks who are listening today to connect with you or learn more?

J.J. Hollie: Probably the best way is my email address and it is J period j period Hollie hollie@insperity.com.

Trisha Stetzel: And of course, you guys, I’ll put that in the show notes. If you happen to be sitting at your computer, you can just point and click and send that email over to JJ. I am sure he would love to have that conversation with you.

J.J. Hollie: Mhm.

Trisha Stetzel: I was, as you were talking about, the support that you give to small businesses and the work that you’re doing with Insperity. I was reflecting on all of the, um, the journey that you’ve been on and how you’ve been in public service, military service, corporate leadership, nonprofit work, and now business performance advising with Insperity. What are some of the lessons that you’ve learned around leadership as you’ve moved through your journey?

J.J. Hollie: Um, wow. There are so many mistakes I’ve made. Okay, so I’m not going to try to cover them all because we’d go into tomorrow. Uh, I think one of the things that I learned is that I think I’m communicating clearly, but this is all for us. This is personal and professional, right? I think I’ve said the most clearest thing in the world to my significant other. And then something completely happens differently. And I thought, well, wait a second, that’s not what I said. And somebody taught me one time, I think it was I think it was actually a leadership seminar. And they said, I want everybody in this room to take out a piece of paper, take out your pen or pencil and draw a bow. And so we all did that and drew a bow. Some of us drew a bow like a bow and arrow. Mhm. Some of us drew a bow. Like on a Christmas present. Mhm. And he said, look, I very clearly communicated to you, right. Obviously to draw a bow, but look at what all you did. And so you’ve got to have kind of that feedback loop. And I think that’s another kind of lesson in leadership is that you’ve got to make it okay for your people to come talk to you and go, I think I understand what you said, but I want to make sure. And you want it to happen naturally and in an authentic way to where people feel like they can come talk to you. But when I was CEO of the chamber, one of the things that they knew they could really, you know, annoy me with, um, and we picked on each other all the time.

J.J. Hollie: So they would do this and they’d be like, well, you know, you’re the CEO, so we’ll do it your way. And I said, oh my God, if you’re relying on me to do that. No, no, no no no. Uh, if I’m the smartest guy in the room, then we are all in the wrong room. Mhm. And, you know, sometimes you have a new employee and they’re going through those rough patches early on as they figure you out, you figure them out, they start to, you know, the honeymoon period is over. They start to face some real challenges. And I would always say, look, we we picked you, we picked you, uh, to come in here and bring your history, your intellect, your, uh, your, your creativity, all the stuff that we liked about you in the interview process and came, you know, gave you an office, Gave you a computer? Gave you a phone? Everything. We did that because we picked to you. And by the way, you’ll make a mistake. And that’s okay too. I’d rather you make an effort mistake than not do something. And that was, um. You know, I was told that before and it just gave me confidence to go out and give things a shot. You know, I remember one thing from my army days we were up for, for this, uh, uh, this, uh, OCS candidate class. And, uh, you know, some of these guys, they have identity infantry training or stuff. And we were, we set up this ambush for them and they just, uh, we started to, you know, shoot at them with blanks and, uh, they just froze.

J.J. Hollie: And just every one of them, you know, we let all of them up, all the laser tag things go off, all the beeps. You know, you’ve all heard that if you’re been in basic training and, uh, it was, it was bad. That. And, uh, and we had the, uh, the, ah, you know, the after action report afterwards and we’re meeting there and our platoon sergeant said, you guys don’t say a thing. You know, he’s a little stronger language than that. If I hear somebody giggle, you know, you’re all going to get smoked. And, uh, I remember one of the things that the instructor said to these guys is said, the worst possible thing you can do in an ambush is stay where you’re at. Mhm. In fact, the safest place to be is to charge into the ambush and get on the other side. And maybe doctrine has changed since then because that was 25, 30 years ago. But one lesson I took away from that is you. When you’re faced with something, you can’t just freeze. You’ve got to figure out, okay, what am I going to do differently? Maybe I’ve not been successful right now. What can I do different? Who can I talk to? I don’t care if they’re younger or older, more experienced, less experienced. Who can I talk to and learn something new and go, okay, you know, I’m going to give that a shot. And maybe it makes me uncomfortable, but you gotta try it.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Okay. I see this theme coming through everything that we’re talking about today, being in the right room, finding the right people, asking the right questions, and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable sometimes and learning lessons. Right. Sometimes we are going to make mistakes and we’re going to learn from those things. Um, I, you and I talked about this in our last conversation as well about supporting veterans in business leadership. What strengths do you think, um, veterans bring to organizations that business owners are sometimes overlooking?

J.J. Hollie: I think it’s discipline. Yeah, that’s the big thing. I mean, if you’ve gone through basic training and you’ve made it through and you’ve gone through it and all that and you’ve done, you know, getting up at 430 every morning, um, and you’ve done this and you just understand that, uh, sometimes you gotta do things that you know, you don’t want to do, uh, to make things happen. And I think you can just always count on a veteran.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. We know how to get up, get dressed, and go to work.

J.J. Hollie: Mhm.

Trisha Stetzel: We may not know what to wear unless you tell us.

J.J. Hollie: No, it’s funny you say that. I remember, and I was in the National Guard. I didn’t do active duty. I wasn’t in, you know, in in, you know, the regular army. Uh, but I remember getting out of basic training after eight weeks of basic and then five weeks of eight for infantry school at Fort Benning. And I remember getting home and I remember looking at my closet and going, wow, look at all those colors in there. It’s not green or brown or black. There’s there’s reds and blue.

Speaker 6: Like, what do I wear? Uh, I had no idea.

J.J. Hollie: What to wear. Yeah, I was, I didn’t know, I had no idea what I was like, I’ve done the same thing for, you know, four and a half months. I don’t know what to do.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s right. Well, you did serve in the military, so thank you for your service. And it’s not it’s not thank you. Not not the real army anyway. Okay. Um, we I’d like to, if it’s okay, maybe just take a little turn here because, uh, another thing that came up when, when we had our conversation before is this idea of work life separation or integration and intentional living. I’d love to hear your take on what does that look like for you and what would you tell everyone else when thinking about living intentionally?

J.J. Hollie: Uh, I think that’s the key word is you’ve got to be intentional about it. Um, I think, you know, when, when we have jobs, like, you know, what we do, there’s, there’s always a, um, an element of it’s always there, you know, it doesn’t matter if it’s nights or weekends or whatever. And it’s not like, you know, I was whining one time to my dad, who’s going to be 88 this year. He grew up sharecropping in Mississippi, you know, and that’s a part he went into the army so he could have an easier life, you know? And then I was complaining to him one day about, uh, you know, how difficult, quote, unquote, my life was because I had a dinner one night and a breakfast, and the next morning I was tired and being whiny. And he said, he said, that sounds really tough, you know, and and, uh, where’d you go to dinner at again? And I said, well, you know, I had to meet some people at True Love, which is, you know, this five star steak restaurant. And then breakfast was somewhere else nice. And he said, well, that sounds really, really difficult. This is what’s great about parents is, you know, perspective. He said, let me know how many bags of cotton did you pick today? Yep. That’s what I did. I thought, okay. And to a certain extent, yeah. I mean, that’s a physically demanding job, right? I mean, you’re out there in the heat and you’re picking cotton.

J.J. Hollie: Uh, And these are more mentally demanding positions. I think that that you know what I’ve got now. So you’ve got to give yourself, you know, my commute is 20, 30 minutes home. And I try to use that to kind of okay, package everything up, make sure I’ve got a plan for tomorrow so that I am not sitting at home and at dinner thinking about what I’m supposed to be doing so he can be present where you’re at, and talking to people and talking to your family and your significant other and going, okay, you know, how was your day and how was school? Um, another one, my, one of my buddies that I work with, um, last year, he was very, very busy and he neglected to take a vacation. And this year he fortunately had a good talk with his wife, and she made it very clear that he was not going to, you know, skip vacations. And they were going to do vacations even on their own And you have someone you know, grandparents come and take care of the small kids. So he’s already had, you know, three kind of mini vacations, uh, this year and, you know, just long weekend type stuff. But he said it is so refreshing and so much more connection because you can look up, you know, and we’ve all had relationship issues. And sometimes that happens whenever you look up and you forgot to maintain a connection.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And for those of you who are listening, who are thinking to yourself, gosh, I really need a vacation, this is where an organization like Insperity can come in and help give you some time back. So as we wrap up, JJ and I know our time has gone by so fast, I would love for you to tell us who, if somebody is listening and they don’t, they’re not sure if they’re a good client for Insperity or if they’re a good in a, in a a position to have a conversation with you. How would you describe your clients?

J.J. Hollie: And thank you for that, Trisha. I would tell people that are in a business with, uh, you know, an employee size is important, but it’s not important. Um, that’s what I was going to start, but I think I’m going to start instead with saying it’s really more about a mindset and a culture than it even is a type of business or a size of business. But if you, if you really make your, your employees your priority, um, if you really are, have a growth mindset, if you really, uh, want to improve, if you really see the value and going, you know what? I’m not, I’m not the best at that. I’m going to, I’m going to give that piece of our business to an expert that is going to be supportive and going to help us grow, and is going to deal with issues that they deal with every day, not once or twice a year, but they’ve, you know, dealt with it every day. Yeah. And the nice thing is, is now you can take that vacation and instead of getting a, a call on Saturday morning, that call can go to Insperity and that call, you know, that employee can talk to the, the person that’s assigned to them, that knows them, that knows their business and goes, oh, yeah, yeah. Here’s, here’s the answer to that in, you know, ten minutes, 15 minutes, they’re done. And you don’t even know about it because you’re on vacation and enjoying yourself and recharging and reconnecting. So then you would get back. You’re ready to work.

Speaker 6: Yes.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. All right, so for those of you who are listening and you, you are ready to take your vacation, you should reach out to JJ and have a conversation. I promise it won’t hurt. He is a lot of fun to talk to. So tell.

Speaker 6: Give.

Trisha Stetzel: Us your email. Give us your email address one more time.

Speaker 6: Jj it’s j.

J.J. Hollie: Period J period Hollie hollie@insperity.com.

Speaker 6: Perfect.

Trisha Stetzel: This has been so much fun. Thank you for joining me today.

Speaker 6: Yeah, we.

J.J. Hollie: Always have fun conversations. This is really nice. Thank you for giving me the opportunity, I appreciate it.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. All right you guys. That’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in this conversation, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, veteran or Houston business leader ready to grow. Be sure to follow, rate and review the show. Of course, it helps us reach more bold business minds just like yours and your business, your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.