Beyond the Boardroom: Champaign accountant/attorney Chas Holder | Entrepreneurs

Just 57 more days until CHAS HOLDER‘s favorite time of the year is finally here.

”How about every year when tax season ends?” he says. “It’s like I have a new lease on life.”

A Champaign accountant and attorney — just like his dad, Dan — Holder holds the triple titles of president of Holder Wealth Management, partner at Holder Law Group and associate CPA with Daniel E. Holder & Associates, Inc.

The 2004 Centennial High grad earned his bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting from the University of Virginia and his law degree from Washington and Lee.

Holder took time out to answer questions from Editor Jeff D’Alessio in the 116th installment of our weekly speed read spotlighting leaders of organizations big and small.

My business role model is … my father. He is proof positive that respect, integrity and a hard work ethic are keys to success, that life is not won in a sprint; instead, it is a long-distance race.

The hardest thing about being a leader is … having to zig when others want to zag.

My philosophy on meetings is … listen completely and try not to interrupt. Efficient meetings are nice, too.

I can’t live without … my boat. It’s my happy place.

But winters are long.

I’m frugal in that … I usually try to fix things before replacing them.

My one unbreakable rule of the workplace is … you must have respect for yourself and each other.

The biggest business risk I ever took was … starting my own legal practice. It paid off.

The last luxury in which I indulged was … last year for my birthday, when I bought a watch. A Grand Seiko GMT.

Three adjectives I hope my employees would use to describe me are … diligent, intelligent and fair.

The most beneficial college class I took was … Business Law, at the University of Virginia, undergrad business school. It was taught by an older, veteran professor/lawyer and the class was mostly practical knowledge-based.

I find myself still relying on that class’ teachings in my own practice today.

I’m up and at ’em every day by … 5:30 or earlier. Young kids.

My exercise routine involves … trying to hit three 45-minute Peloton rides per week. Matt Wilpers and Emma Lovewell are my favorite instructors.

The worst job I ever had was … picking range balls out of the shrubs and trees as a kid. It was meant as a punishment for bad behavior. It only lasted a few days.

On a 1-to-10 scale, the impact of the pandemic has been a … 5, primarily because of the strain COVID has placed on friend and family relationships.

COVID is a politicized issue, and the pandemic has brought people’s political divides to the surface — and then magnified those divides.

As a consequence, relationships have frayed to various degrees.

To me, this has been the hardest part. With very young kids — our youngest is a “pandemic baby” — we were already somewhat socially reclusive, so the waves of quarantining have not been too disruptive.