What was only found in Fresno

By MARISA MATA, Student Writer

After living in London and Atlanta, and visiting places like Paris, Rome, Miami and New York, Justin and Corinne Holland (2006) decided to move back to Fresno to start their family. The Valley had something that they couldn’t find anywhere else.
 
When Justin and Corinne first met they were freshmen in the Smittcamp Honors College, living a floor apart from each other in the dorms.

“What did I first think of [her]? I thought she was very pretty. I thought she was very chatty. She seemed way too cool for me,” said Justin Holland.

“My first impression was that he was cute too, but he was a lot more fun than me — I was kind of a nerd and he was really fun. But because we were dating other people we were just friends for the first year and a half…and then sophomore year, we were next door neighbors, we had a ton of classes together, we had the same friends and then we started dating. We used to always take walks on campus; we were poor college students so we went to the dining hall together,” said Corinne Holland.

“Actually, our first date was in the dining hall.”

“We did the dining hall a lot…and we graduated in May 2006 and got married in August 2006. Then, we moved to the Bay Area for eight years.”

Justin worked for Ernst & Young, an international company, as a certified public accountant while Corinne worked for Visa as a director in corporate strategy. Busy work schedules still allowed the couple time to travel together, with trips along the coast. Then, Justin was transferred to London. Corinne was able to continue her work remotely, in London, making the move easy.

“It was kind of like the experience of a lifetime…and we had weekends free and we just tried to travel and live it up,” said Justin.

“We [visited] Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Ireland, Rome,” said Corinne.

“It was a good experience.”

After a few months in London, work carried Justin to Atlanta for a national project.

“We tried to travel on weekends: Miami, Nashville, Chicago, New York,” said Corinne.

“And then I joined Square, when Square was pretty small–not a lot of people had heard of Square at that point, and I was there. I got to see the company grow from a really small company to the kind of company that it is today,” said Justin.

Corinne was pregnant with her and Justin’s first child, and in her final stages of pregnancy they decided to move back to Fresno to start their family.

“We really enjoyed our time in the Bay Area, but we didn’t feel a great sense of community,” said Justin.

“We moved to a ton of places in the Bay Area trying to find where we fit in and connected with people, and we never felt it,” said Corinne.

“We do feel that in Fresno–Corinne grew up here, I had the opportunity to come here and go through Smittcamp and feel more connected to the community, and we felt it was a place we could build a family, careers and also be integrated into the community.”

After moving to Fresno, Justin began working with a CPA firm, Baker, Peterson & Franklin, and Corinne stayed home with their son while also beginning to apply to start a nonprofit called Dress for Success.

“It’s a closet that provides clothes for women who can’t afford it, that are going on interviews and don’t have clothes to wear. They can be referred to us and we provide an interview suit so they have something to wear. We’re still applying, it’s been a long process,” said Corinne.

“I’d say we both definitely have a sense of [responsibility]. I feel that the community has given me a lot, like my education at Fresno State, going through the Smittcamp program — those were things that changed my life, changed the course of my life. I met my wife at Fresno State! So I do feel this sense of wanting to give back to the community that has given us so much, and that was a big driving force of moving back,” said Justin.

Since their return to the Valley, Justin and Corinne have been able to find where they fit in. They stay busy with work but also have time to focus on getting involved in the community and family life. They are expecting their second child to join them any day now.

Corinne Holland said, “We had a dinner a couple of nights ago, so our car wasn’t out, and [our neighbors] texted me ‘Are you having the baby,’ they know what’s going on, and everyone’s friendly…and people are so supportive and helpful. It’s just a good community.”