Charlotte Holden: Learning Abilities

Charlotte Holden was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, but she has never let the learning disability hold her back. Rather, she has developed and capitalized on numerous learning abilities to achieve personal fulfillment and professional success.

“I have always been afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do something because of my dyslexia, so I overcompensate,” acknowledges Holden, now senior manager of Administrative Services for the Houston Independent School District, the largest school district in Texas. The in-plant serves the district and outside clients.

Born in Pasadena, Texas, Holden was raised in the Houston area and in California. Her family moved around—a lot.

“I went to 23 schools from elementary to high school, including three different high schools,” she recalls. “I think of myself as someone who can survive anything.”

In high school, Holden set a career goal that would leverage her strengths. “I’ve always been artistic and very visual, so I decided to go to the Art Institute of Houston and become a graphic designer,” she explains.

In her second semester at the Institute, Holden—nicknamed Charlie—met Willie.

“He threw his Frisbee into my Frisbee, that sly dog,” she chuckles. Charlie and Willie have now been married for more than 30 years.

Holden put herself through art school by interning at printing companies.

“I did whatever was needed and got a really good education in printing,” she notes.

She found film stripping particularly enjoyable.

“It was very therapeutic to follow lines with Amberlith,” Holden reminisces. “The fluidity of that seemed very Zen to me.”

Her printing experience came in handy when, after graduation, Holden began working as a graphic designer for a hospital. “They liked that I knew how to make sure that files were press-ready,” she relates. She also handled multimedia production and then worked in the printing department there and at other hospitals.

In 1992, Holden heard that the Houston Independent School District (HISD) was looking for a manager for its printing facility, then one of the largest in the area. During her interview, she was asked, “If something happened to one of your employees, would you be able to man the press?”

“Man the press?” repeated the five-foot-tall Holden, questioning the old-boy assumption while underscoring her own competency. They had their answer and gave this woman the job.

A Hands-on Approach

Holden relished the challenge of a large facility, and took great pride in overseeing numerous improvements. “I was and still am a very hands-on manager,” she declares.

After she started, Holden realized HISD’s in-plant “had no data at all,” she recalls. “They couldn’t even tell you how many impressions they ran the previous month.” She also felt that quality was lacking.

Holden implemented data collection and printing management systems, instituted staff training and environmentally friendly operations, and improved overall efficiency and quality.

“Soon, we were winning printing awards,” she reports proudly. Under her direction, the in-plant became a fee-per-service operation and was running in the black.

Meanwhile, Holden was spending her nights back at school, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Business from the University of Houston-Downtown.

“I was also busy popping out two kids,” she laughs.

After five years at HISD, Holden moved to the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE), starting in the printing and copying facility, and then going to its procurement and records management cooperatives. HCDE offered these services to school districts.

“The director liked my business acumen and asked me to do the same business magic for the other two cooperatives. One of the biggest issues was letting everyone know about the services offered, so my director sent me out to sell,” Holden relates. “When I started, the printing facility was only recovering 50 percent of its costs and our goal was to raise that to 70 percent, but within two years we were at 98 percent ($1.2 million in sales).”

In 2001, Holden took a sabbatical due to illness and later returned to work as director of procurement for a community college. While there, she was re-recruited by HISD’s then senior manager, who planned to retire in a couple of years.

The manager began grooming Holden to take over his position. The in-plant had begun insourcing fee-for-service work and counted on Holden to bring in new clients.

“He called me the rainmaker,” she attests.

Lots of Insourcing

Now in her third year as senior manager, responsible for nearly 70 employees, Holden has grown insourcing to about 100 clients, and those jobs account for about 50 percent of the shop’s workload. She has even convinced several clients to let HISD run their onsite copying and mailing centers, which were formerly operated by a high-profile facilities management (FM) operation.

“When they [the FM] began encroaching on our printing work, I decided it was time to fight back, and I beat them at their own game!” Holden exclaims.

She appreciates every one of her customers—those within HISD and insourcing clients.

“A production employee sends personal thank-you notes several times a year to clients,” she stresses.

To keep up with technology, Holden reads trade magazines and uses conferences and vendors as resources.

“I don’t need to know about every little knob and button,” she notes. “What I do need to know is how the equipment can better serve us.”

On her own time, Holden likes to “play with fire,” literally, as an accomplished glass blower to create designer beads, necklaces and other jewelry. She has further flouted dyslexia stereotypes by writing a book, “The Management of Oz.”

“In my life, I’m most proud of overcoming the dyslexia tag,” she summarizes, “not because a light turned on suddenly, but because I learned that no one was going to give me anything, that there are a lot of different ways to learn and do things, and that hard work pays off.”