Candice Holley: Westport’s Multi-Talented HR Director

Some very impressive people work in Town Hall.

And not just at their day jobs, in departments like conservation, finance and human services.

For example, one is a former Division I basketball coach. One does voiceovers for national clients. And one is a barbecue chef.

Actually, they’re all the same person.

Candice Holley is our multi-talented director of human resources. Her office touches every resident, in some way.

But few Westporters know the woman at the helm.

Candice Holley

Holley earned high school All-America honors in her native Memphis. She was a a Conference USA All-Freshman at the University of Cincinnati. But after 2 cartilage injuries she transferred to the University of Mississippi, to be closer to home.

Her Memphis ties are strong. Her grandmother was arrested during civil rights sit-ins, and her aunt marched.

Holley  headed to Seton Hall University as a grad assistant coach, then stayed in the East to work in human resources.

She lived in Fairfield Greenfield Hill, and worked with non-profit and for-profit organizations.

A consulting gig in the Dominican Republic was intriguing. She appreciated the chance to explore her Caribbean roots. But Holley missed her kids — they range in age from 15 to 7 — so when the Westport job opened up, it was a great opportunity.

She’s helped modernize a department that had been largely paper-driven.

In Westport Holley manages 17 departments, and 3 ancillary ones (Wakeman Town Farm, registrars of voters and the Library). Each is like its own small business, she says.

Her job is to make town employees’ lives easier. If there are disagreements, she helps determine the cause. Was there a poor process? Weak communications?

Whatever the reason, she provides tools for solutions.

There is a tendency, Holley says, for employees to say “we’ve always done it this way.” She gently tries to get buy-in from all, for new ways of doing things.

“HR is a service department,” Holley notes.  “It’s so rewarding to see a system work well.”

Candice Holley, at her Town Hall desk … (Photo/Dan Woog)

She calls Westport “a special place. We want excellence, with world-class training, development and talent.”

Holley is involved in the hiring process too.  She points to the recent selection of Erik Barbieri as Parks & Recreation Department director.

“He has the right temperament, and the synergy is great. Our job is to screen and find the best peopole, then help them succeed.”

The departure of longtime information technology director Eileen Zhang offers an opportunity for another important hire.

… and with Town Clerk Jeff Dunkerton, honoring longtime employee Ruth Cavayero …

Holley finds it rewarding to coach leaders through difficult conversations. But that’s not the only coaching she does.

This past winter, Holley got involved with Westport PAL’s 4th grade girls basketball team. “Ir’a important to make space in your life for the things you love,” she says. “These kids are so cool!

“Coaching is much more than basketball. It’s a chance to teach life lessons.”

She cherishes her players almost as much as her own children, with whom she now lives in Newtown. She survived cervical cancer at 25, but was told she could not have kids.

Like any good coach, Holley sat with doctors and developed a game plan.

… and on the runway, at this year’s Fashionably Westport show. (Photo/Dan Woog)

As for that voiceover work: Holley does it in her free time, in her home studio. She’s taught herself breathwork, cadence, and whatever else is needed for a wide array of clients. Holley has been heard urging everyone to “wear a mask for New York” — that was with Governor Cuomo — and to eat McDonald’s Chicken McGriddles.

She was also featured in several episodes of the NPR “Seizing Freedom” podcast. Holley read the letters of formerly enslaved people, who shared their experiences through Reconstruction.

They’re available now on platforms like Spotify and Apple. Click here to listen. Holley is featured in this “Character Spotlight” on Cynthia Nickols.

In what free time she has, Holley brings the barbecue lessons she learned in Memphis to the kitchen. She smokes meats, grills, and makes her own dry rub and BBQ sauce.

Candice Holley thrives in Town Hall. And on the sidelines of the basketball court, and in her voiceover studio and kitchen.

Still — after life in Cincinnati, Mississippi, the Dominican Republic and New Jersey — she is never far from her Memphis roots.

“I’m the hopes and dreams of what my aunt and grandmother fought for,” she says. “I really believe that America is character over color.”

(Westport is filled with interesting people — and “06880” regularly shines a light on them. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)