The Middle Market Transformative CEO Features Hollman Inc.'s Travis Hollman

CHICAGO – (January 3, 2019) – RSM US LLP (“RSM”) – the nation’s leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market – and The CEO Forum Group are pleased to announce the seventh episode of “The Middle Market Transformative CEO,” featuring guest Travis Hollman, president and CEO of Hollman Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of sports, fitness and office lockers.

The episode was recorded during the ninth annual RSM Classic, a PGA TOUR tournament hosted by the Davis Love Foundation. It aired via 25 nationally-syndicated AM radio stations Sun., Dec. 30, and is now also available as a podcast.

Co-hosts Robert Reiss, founder and CEO of The CEO Forum Group, and RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas, speak with Hollman about shifting the company’s focus and business strategy, expanding the business internationally, and creating Hollman Inc.’s Higher Education & Learning Programs (HELPs), which offers tuition to full-time employees, their spouses and eligible dependents through North Lake College.

Some of the key topics discussed during this episode are: demonstrating the value proposition of a product to prospective clients; focusing on a niche market and how that can create opportunities for acceleration; determining what the most important factors are when deciding where to expand geographically; and the role that HELPs plays at Hollman.

“When I took over the company in 2011, we looked at what we were doing and we were doing everything badly,” said Hollman, while explaining his approach to changing the company’s business model. “We were trying to do everything for everybody. So one day, I was talking with some people, and I came back the next day and said, ‘We are closing down these divisions.’ We shut them down within a few weeks. At that point in time, we were the third largest U.S. locker manufacturer for non-metal. And since then, we’ve hit tremendous growth. We’ve totally dominated our industry – it’s a complete focus on one product.”

“Now we’ve got to focus on making the best product we can make,” continued Hollman. “If it’s designing new locks, we have a design team and we go out to work with our suppliers to design the new product. We’re always trying to make the best product possible. Because of our buying power now, we’re able to really enhance what we can deliver to the customer.”

Regarding the impact of the company’s HELPs program, Hollman explained: “I know that we’re going to change our community and people. We can send hundreds of people per semester to college just based on the numbers of our 250 employees. There’s no stipulation on how long they can go to school. As long as they are becoming better people, they’re learning and they’re actively becoming a better part of society, we don’t care how long they go to school; we’re going to pay for it and push it forward. And what that’s done is united everyone.”

For more insights from this month’s Middle Market Transformative CEO, listen to the full episode.