I'm Derek Holden.
Thanks for visiting.
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A little about myself: I value compassion and intelligence in others. I read a lot of fiction. I expect competence of myself and from others, but am always ready to lend a helping hand to those who need it. I’m married to the best partner and mother in the world, and we own a home together in Bedford, TX. I have a son who was born in 2021. My likes include dark chocolate, red wine, documentaries, dogs, games, movies, books, and power tools. My dislikes include speed bumps, sinus infections, gummy candies, “reality” television, and sitcoms that have laugh tracks.
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My close friend, Clayton Scott, and I before graduating from Texas State University in 2012.
In 2012, I earned a B.A. in English as well as a secondary teacher’s certification from Texas State University, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Afterward, I decided to apply for graduate school, and was accepted into the Technical Communication M.A. program. Throughout my course load, I worked on campus in the Information Technology Assistance Center, the school of Communication Design, and the Office of Distance and Extended Learning. In these positions, and in my studies, I developed many useful skills in editing, documentation, grant writing, technical writing, communications, project management, web design, and video production. Ultimately, I earned my M.A. in Technical Communication in December of 2015 – again graduating with honors – and was fortunate to be hired as a content administrator on the Store Operations team at GameStop, Inc.
My colleague, Robert Owens, and I at the GameStop Store Leader Conference in Las Vegas circa 2017.
At GameStop, I came on board to manage the existing store intranet website, internally referred to as GSO (GameStop Online). At the time, the site was primarily used to inform associates of company initiatives, announce sales contests, and share product information. In 2017, I facilitated the platform migration of GSO from Microsoft Sharepoint to Ops-Center, a retailer-focused suite of digital workplace tools which granted all field and store level associates a unique login and profile which they were able to customize to their preferences. Additionally, it provided a communication platform by which messages and tasking could be sent and shared between the corporate, store, and field management levels. The migration was a major success, and was eagerly adopted at all levels. The new platform still allowed the Store Operations team to share rich content, provided new multi-directional communication capabilities to all levels of associates, and saved the company over $800,000/year in licensing fees. After the platform migration was completed, I transitioned into a new role as Store Communications Administrator, which allowed me the opportunity to collaborate with multiple departments to draft and deploy official communications daily across the entire company structure. I occupied this role and was eventually promoted to Sr. Administrator around the time that I and the rest of my Store Operations team members began to contend with the reality of operating and supporting a chain of retail stores in the midst of a global pandemic.
The GameStop Store Operations team.
In October of 2021, I joined the Ulta Beauty Store & Services Operations team where I currently serve as the Store Support Manager. This position has afforded me many opportunities for growth from the first day, and has been my first experience as a people manager. I also provide back-end support to our Ulta Beauty store and corporate partners that relate to our digital workplace and tasking tools provided through our partners at WorkJam, but I've been the most pleased in the times when this position affords me the chance to lead a team of contributors, identify areas where operations can be improved, and manage projects as we pursue new intiatives and enhance our operating standards - all in a fully remote capacity.
I am always seeking new opportunities and the next step in my career path. If you’ve read this far, I want to thank you again for visiting my site. If, after viewing my resumé and Work Samples, you think that I would be an asset to your next project, or a good fit for your team, please feel free to contact me.
