Continuous Learning Coast-to-Coast

Holly, welcome to NetCentrics! Please tell us a little about your background and what brings you to here.

I am a native Virginian, born and raised in Winchester (just over the Blue Ridge from NoVA).  After graduating from University of Virginia with my degree in Accounting, I started my career as an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers.  For my first two years after college I worked in Tysons Corner, and then I acted on my dream to move to the ‘big city’ – I was originally targeting New York, but I ended up moving to San Francisco, California.  It was an amazing journey to move across the country, and I will never forget the awe-inspiring beauty of the West Coast.  For a little over 10 years, I soaked up the California sunshine – first in San Francisco and then in Sacramento – but eventually my career with PwC took me back to Washington, DC. 

I happily moved back to the East Coast to be closer to my family, and as it turns out, to meet my (now) husband Mark.  We got married in New York City and after living in both Reston and Herndon, we have recently settled in Vienna with our two daughters (Jasmine and Sydney).  For the last 7 years I have worked for Govplace, a reseller of IT products and services to the Federal government, first as their Corporate Controller and for the last three years as CFO. 

What are you excited to do here in your new role as Chief Financial Officer?

As I look back on my career, there is an important thread throughout – my relentless pursuit of learning and continuous improvement.  That’s why I’m so excited to join NetCentrics – IT companies by their nature (the good ones anyway) are at the forefront of ‘new’, for the purpose of ‘better’.  I’m looking forward to bringing my passion and energy as a catalyst for positive change, and helping to make NetCentrics’ path to growth a reality!

What would you like to see more of/do at NetCentrics?

Given my newness to the company, I am first just looking forward to meeting the people and getting to understand our programs!  But once I get my footing, I’m looking forward to partnering with the rest of the leadership team to structure and position our company for success, and all the things that come with that journey – including working with cross-departmental groups to coordinate effective financial and operational strategies, developing relationships with our customers and partners, coaching and mentoring team members to achieve professional growth, winning bids and ultimately growing the business.

What trends do you see picking up momentum in the next five years, as it relates to enterprise IT or cybersecurity? How do you think NetCentrics should respond?

I believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning will continue to drive major enterprise IT initiatives as our corporate and government agency customers look to develop lower-cost, smarter, and faster ways to deliver value to their organizations – especially as it pertains to analyzing ‘big data’.  I’m also excited about what AI could do internally for the NetCentrics finance team, possibly reducing the time needed to perform routine tasks like coding invoices or applying cash receipts, which would allow more time for team members to perform complex tasks that lead to career growth and development.

I also believe that providing an excellent customer experience is critical to our success in the crowded IT services space.  This includes assuring transparency in communication, ease of interaction, and availability of top-notch technical resources, for our customers.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

My family and I are huge Washington Capitals fans – so any chance we get to see them play (at home or away), we are there!  I also love to walk with my husband, especially in the early morning or sunset hours; since moving to Vienna in summer 2019, we have traversed practically every square inch of the Town.  And I couldn’t leave out our love of cruising – it is our family’s favorite way to vacation, and I can’t wait for us to return to it once the pandemic is behind us. 

What might surprise people about you?

Mostly due to my husband’s positive influence on me, I am an early riser (and thus early to bed too!) … pre-COVID, you would find me at the gym right when it opened at 4am; these days I’m up by about 5/5:30am since I’ve replaced the gym with home workouts via YouTube.  If anyone wants recommendations on great YouTube fitness sites, my personal favorites are Sydney Cummings and MadFit!

Anything else?

I love visual arts, and was recently appointed to the Town of Vienna’s Public Art Commission.  Once I’ve settled in to my new space at the NetCentrics HQ, I will hang some of my personal artistic creations for people to enjoy.