Halifax County natives Steve Holeman Jr. and Corey Holeman talked about the keys to financial and business success as they keynoted the Halifax County Community Federal Credit Union annual banquet, held Thursday night at the TJM Center in South Boston. The banquet also served as occasion for the credit union’s election of officers.

Both Holeman brothers found their way into the financial industry after graduating from college. Introducing the two speakers, their brother Sharmane Holeman said, “Both [my brothers] were born with early signs of a rare characteristic of go-getter attributes. Those are the attributes that combine the intellect, determination and energy that it sometimes takes to be successful. Over the years, I’ve had to learn a lot from these gentlemen. I’m very proud and honored to call these guys my big brothers.”

Corey and Steve opened with a Q&A discussion amongst themselves. One topic that came up was Steve’s journey towards becoming a professor at VSU.

After achieving success in the financial world as an account representative for Wheat First Butcher Singer, Steve Holeman Jr. joined the faculty of Virginia State University as a professor in the Accounting and Finance Department where he has taught for the past 15 years.

Finance and education — and visits to the Halifax County Community Federal Credit Union — were part of his life from an early age. “There was something about going to the credit union on weekends and working with my mother doing little things here and there. I enjoyed that. I went onto Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and I’m still in Richmond today. I focused on class, but when I got out, you would be surprised. Even with those degrees, you don’t get the job that you want right away.

“I worked five or six years in the brokerage business” before his employer merged with another company, First Union Securities. ”A lot of times banks are much different than credit unions — they’re much more cutthroat with moving back and forth, not just with clients but with being an employee. I got laid off a couple years after working in corporate America, which I enjoyed,” he continued.

Upon being laid off, Holeman Jr. found his way to teaching, acting on a suggestion by his wife, Tanya. Throughout his time as a professor, he has taught various finance courses such as Personal Finance, Corporate Finance, Investments and Principles of Finance.

Corey Holeman commented on his brother’s turning what could’ve been a major setback into a new opportunity. “A lot of times folks ask us what’s important for success, and one thing is the resilience. He got laid off and turned it into an opportunity. Sometimes things happen. I tell folks [about] the importance of being an opportunist.”

At the event, Steve explained what he said are the three keys to financial success: savings, credit, and investment.

“As far as savings is concerned, I always tell my students, ‘I don’t care where you’re at, you have to start off with a financial goal,’” he said. “Once you start off with that financial goal, the main thing that you need to do is save for that goal. You need to make sure you have automatic savings [and] let money move over as you get paid into that [savings] account. What happens is this becomes a habit, and you want savings to be one of the major habits you do throughout the rest of your life.”

He advised members of the audience at the TJM Center to think of savings as another bill to be owed, calling it “the bill for you.” Sacrificing habits that cost money is another reliable way to build savings, Steve Holeman said.

Setting credit limits is another piece of advice he emphasized. Paying off credit cards within 30 days or less helps build a record that can lower borrowing costs and save money throughout a person’s life. “Credit is important. When you pull that credit report, you want to make sure there’s no errors. If you receive a credit card for a certain amount of money like $2,000, it doesn’t mean to use it up to $2,000.”

Before investing money, Steve encouraged people to do a background check on financial representatives before getting deep into the process. Timing also plays an important part in financial success. “From the standpoint of investing, time is a major resource. If you want to start investing, start investing as soon as you can,” he stated.

Speaking from an entreprenerial perspective, Corey Holeman gave a presentation emphasizing the importance of planning in achieving one’s financial goals.

Among his many achievements, Corey began his corporate investment career at UBS Private Banking in New York and worked his way up to becoming the first Black equities portfolio manager for The Vanguard Group, the world’s largest mutual fund. He and his wife Courtney moved to Northern Virginia in 2006 where they went into business for themselves, becoming McDonald’s franchisees and starting up a number of successful businesses from scratch.

His local and statewide leadership positions include serving as a board member of Richmond Ronald McDonald House of Charities, committee member of Operator National Advertising Committee, McDonalds USA, and Immediate-Past Board Chairman of the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce.

He showcased three pieces of advice for anyone looking to start a business: create a operating plan, ask yourself what you want to do with your business, and seek counsel from other business owners.

“I had no intentions of being an entrepreneur when I got out of college; I wanted to go the corporate track and work on Wall Street which I did for a few years,” Corey said. “I always felt like I wanted to either be something high-level position or do my own business. My wife’s family was already in a business, so I ended up working with my wife’s family.”

In 2006 he became the CFO of Welburn Management Co, a restaurant franchisee with 25 McDonalds restaurants. After four years he and his wife Courtney purchased their own first McDonalds restaurant and branched out on their own, creating Holeman Enterprises. They currently own nine McDonalds restaurant franchises throughout Fredericksburg and Richmond.

“Buying and selling a business is almost similar to real estate. It’s the same in the restaurant business as most other businesses. Once you have that equity, you can sell, then of course you take on more debt and you buy more businesses by doing leverage buyouts. In our business, we’re in constant debt, so credit is important,” he added.

Corey emphasized the importance of education, both in and out of the classroom. “Education is important. For those who are headed to college, think about what you’re going to major in. If you want to be a business you have to have a plan to scale that business, a plan to make money. When you become the smartest person in the room, change the room. You always want to be learning from folks around you.”

The sons of Steve and Cornell Holeman of Virgilina, Steve Jr. and Corey graduated from Halifax County High School in the 1990s. Steve went onto Virginia Commonwealth University while Corey attended James Madison University.

Both brothers agreed that time management plays an essential role in success. “Time management is everything. It’s one of the keys to being successful in anything that you do,” Steve said.

During their discussion, he brought up the role Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays in today’s business world. Corey encouraged people to learn more about the technologies behind it.

“If I were in my twenties or teens, I would be studying something in the computer science [field] now. There’s always going to be a need for folks who know how to operate the equipment,” Corey said.

Afterwards, they held a brief audience Q&A discussion. When asked about how people should go about saving for a business after financial setbacks, Corey responded, “It’s never too late. It doesn’t take as long as you think to turn around your credit. There’s no time limit on success.”

In other business, Mattie Cowan announced the annual election of officers. Fred Betts and Denise Taylor-Forrest were elected to the credit union’s Board of Directors for a three-year term. Rita Best was elected as a member of the Credit Committee for a two-year term.