Get to Know Dan Pond, Market Analyst

Dan Pond has been with HLC for a couple months, and I decided it was high time we all got to know him a little better! So we found a moment to get out of the office for a bit and grab a Starbucks and chat. Here’s what I discovered…

Dan grew up in Carrollton, Texas where he attended Trinity Christian Academy, elementary through high school. He went on to college at Texas A&M University and received his BBA in Business Management. Dan’s parents still live in Carrollton, and he has an older sister who is a nurse at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.

What brought you to HLC?
I grew up knowing Holden from attending Trinity and we were also in the same fraternity at Texas A&M. I was ready to make a career change and Holden was ready to expand his team so here I am!

What about your role at HLC most excites or interests you?
I really enjoy the group of people I get to work with – they are peers and friends, and I even like to hang out with them outside of work. I also like the fact that in my role at HLC I get to be social and active – out and about, meeting with clients, giving tours – not just sitting at a desk all day.

What three words would you use to describe HLC’s culture?
Integrity-based. Motivating. And fun, which is one of our values, so that’s cool.

What has been your biggest adjustment to working at HLC?
Shaving every day!

What are three interesting things about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume?
1. I’m a HUGE Rangers fan, I attend at least 20 games a year and I watch all the games on TV.
2. I love to hunt – we have a place in south Texas where I go to hunt deer and dove.
3. I volunteer at a clinic in a village in Honduras that provides medical services and outreach.

What’s your secret talent that no one at work knows about?
I’m good with horses. I’ve worked with them a lot, I’ve spent a lot of time training and breaking them, and I’m a pretty good rider. I also like to cook and can hold my own at the grill.

Everyone has a good app idea, what is yours?
“Speaker Battle” Here’s the scenario: you’re with your buddies playing golf, you have a couple golf carts and each one has a bluetooth speaker hooked up to a phone playing music. All good until the golf carts are parked beside each other at a hole and there are multiple playlists battling it out. The Speaker Battle app would eliminate this problem by syncing the phones up so that when they came within a certain range of each other, the “master” phone would take over and that playlist would play through both speakers. In stereo. Problem solved and I make a million dollars off the app sales.

What super power would you like to have?
Time travel.

If you could be any animal in the world, what animal would you be and why?
My parent’s wiener dog, Toby. He has a better life than I do.

Welcome to HLC Dan, we are glad you are here!