Fred Holladay.

The concept of being in the right place at the right time sure applies to Fred Holladay's rise to his current role. Having worked as an independent consultant (with NFIB as his client), he jumped at the opportunity to become CFO of the $100 million organization that represents 600,000 privately held independent businesses in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals.

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Title: Senior Vice President/CFO

Company: National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a 501(c)(6), not-for-profit organization.

Born: Huntingdon, Tenn., Aug. 4, 1940

Spouse: Gayle, for 40 years

Children: Brett, 38; Nikki, 36 and her husband Guy Brooks; Kolin, 32 and his wife Misty Holladay

Grandchildren: Grace Anne, 6; Bradford, 5; Bryden, 3; Brantley, 1 (Holladay); Morgan Brooks, 2

Education: BA, Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tenn., 1958-62, Accounting major; Certifications: CPA, CFP, CSA 

Career Summary: KPMG, Senior Accountant, 1963-65, Nashville; Holladay Furniture Co. Inc., President, 1965-85, Huntingdon, Tenn.; Holladay and Associates Inc., President, 1986-92, Nashville; NFIB, SVP/CFO, 1992-Present, Nashville, and Washington, D.C.

FEI Chapter: Nashville

Leisure: Photography (family and still life), family events--"big bashes" and spending time on the beach at my condo on the Gulf Coast of Alabama.

Time Management: I utilize Microsoft Outlook in all of my business and personal activities. And, since time is a precious commodity, I believe it smart to allow a margin between appointments. Also, I employ what I call "Fred" time, meaning I expect people to arrive five minutes early so that meetings start on time, regardless of who is--or is not--there!

Stress Management: Work out regularly, do not over-promise and take time to breathe deeply.

Favorite Book/s: Business: Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. It helped order my life with nuggets such as "first things first" and "begin with the end in mind." Personal: The Company of the Committed, by Elton Trueblood. When I read it in the late 1960s, it helped shape my personal future.

My hero is: Dietrich Bonhoffer, who was hanged in a Nazi prison camp in 1945 because he would not recant his personal belief and commitment.

What's the best advice you've ever received? "If you had not wanted to work you should not have hired out." I heard this from a manager of a drug store in which I worked at age 14.

Favorite Job/s: My current job is my favorite, for three reasons: 1) representing small business owners is right; 2) the people with whom I work are the greatest; and 3) the work is a challenge. Those we represent generate 80-85 percent of net new jobs in the U.S. and 52 percent of nonfarm gross domestic product (GDP). Most see themselves as just a "grain of sand on the beach," not realizing how much value they add to the U.S. economy.

Worst Job: Working briefly between jobs as a telemarketer for a financial planning company.

Favorite Deals: Developing the wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of NFIB, providing mass-purchasing capabilities for small business owners and selling my privately held business to an NYSE-listed company. Also, I enjoy investing in real estate at the beach in Alabama, which involves buying and selling appropriate properties.

As a child, I expected I'd grow up to be: Having come from a strong religious background, I envisioned myself growing up to be a missionary. A high school physics teacher encouraged me to think about my future differently. It seems that each piece of my life connects to the next in a natural progression from one stage to another, and there is not one part that I would not want to have done another way.

Memorable Moments: Serving on the AICPA Private Company Financial Reporting Task Force was a professional highlight because the Task Force thoroughly and independently explored the issue and recommended different reporting standards for private companies. Also, representing the U.S. at the International Small Business Congress in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1994. And, working with the NFIB board of directors audit and finance committees to implement best practices from Sarbanes-Oxley, although the act does not apply to nonprofit entities.

Email: [e-mail]

edited by Ellen M. Heffes