In her 16 years with resin distributor M. Holland Co., Lindy Holland Resnick has held several different positions, including manager of international business development, where she helped double business, and inaugural sustainability leader.
She joined the company in 2006 as a bilingual English and Spanish speaker in the international customer service team. "It was a fantastic learning experience and a great launching pad for my career," she said.
Holland Resnick is now the market manager for packaging and a member at large on the Plastics Industry Association's Executive Recycling Committee. She is also a member of the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the Association of Plastic Recyclers and EcoVadis.
She oversees the consumer, industrial, flexible and rigid packaging categories and is responsible for creating packaging systems designed for Industry 4.0.
"It's not always easy when you represent the third generation of a family business," she said. "I had to break the mold to learn who I am as an individual first. I have been working toward this my whole life and the last couple years have allowed me to fly."
She previously served as a co-chair of the inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council in 2019 and 2020.
Holland Resnick graduated from the University of Texas with concentrations in Spanish and biology and is certified in corporate sustainability from New York University.
"My greatest goal, regardless of role," she said, "has been to be the kind of leader who inspires more leaders, and I consider that my most significant achievement."
Q: If you were CEO of a company, what would you do first?
Holland Resnick: If I were CEO, I would first watch and learn. I would see how players interact, how the board and executive leadership function, identify what the DNA of the culture represents, and then work to steer the ship in a direction representative of our stakeholders.
Q: What has been the biggest impact or challenge on your career from the coronavirus pandemic?
Holland Resnick: The greatest impact I have experienced is becoming a COVID-19 long-hauler. When my family tested positive for COVID in the pandemic's first wave, I had to balance the uncertainty of my personal well-being with the responsibilities of being a wife, mother, employee, daughter, co-worker and friend. It is probably the greatest challenge I've had to personally overcome in my lifetime. Having to respect and find honor and courage in any given day, even when my body and mind would betray me, is a personal obstacle I continue to face two years later.
Q: What is the most unexpected thing you learned from the pandemic?
Holland Resnick: I am stronger than I ever knew was possible.