30 Years at Brennan & Clark: Kim Roland on People, Progress and a Career Built Around Service

Thirty years can sound like a long time. For Kim, however, her career at Brennan & Clark feels both like it began yesterday and like it has been part of her life for as long as she can remember.

When she first walked through the doors of Brennan & Clark, a 30-year commercial collection career was certainly not part of the plan.

Coming from the hospitality industry, Kim enjoyed working with people but was ready for a change from the weekends and holidays that came with restaurant management. A friend working at Brennan & Clark suggested she come in and meet the team.

“I remember thinking, collections, really?”

What changed her mind wasn’t necessarily the industry. It was the people.

Kim vividly remembers meeting Brennan & Clark CEO Meg Scotty and company founder Mike Brennan and being struck by their passion for the business, their clients and, importantly, their team.

“It was more a leap of faith about the people, the team I’d be working with. I certainly never would have imagined I’d be here 30 years later.”

Building a Collection Career Around Service

As Kim learned more about commercial collections, she quickly discovered that many of the qualities she enjoyed about hospitality translated naturally into her new career.

Understanding customers. Identifying what they need. Solving problems. Building relationships.

“At the end of the day, my sweet spot is wanting to provide a service to others.”

That service mindset has continued to shape Kim’s collection career, influencing the way she approaches sales, client relationships and problem-solving today.

For her, successful selling isn’t about chasing the next sale. It starts with being inquisitive, asking questions and understanding what is really creating a challenge for the customer.

“It’s about finding a need that a customer or client has and being able to provide a product or service that answers that need.”

Authenticity matters too. Kim believes clients can recognize when someone genuinely believes in the solution they are offering, and after 30 years at Brennan & Clark, that confidence remains central to how she works with customers.

Watch Kim’s Spotlight Video:

The People Behind Brennan & Clark

Ask Kim what she enjoys most about Brennan & Clark and her answer comes quickly: the people.

That includes colleagues, clients and customers, many of whom she has developed relationships with over decades.

Kim points to the longevity of the Brennan & Clark team as one of the qualities that makes the organization different. Experienced negotiators, management, technology and support teams work together toward the same objective: delivering the strongest possible service and recovery outcomes for clients.

That experience is reinforced by an emphasis on continual development.

“There is never an end to training. There’s never an end to improving what you’ve been doing.”

Kim also credits Meg Scotty as an important mentor throughout her career, someone who continually encouraged her to look beyond her own definition of success and consider what else might be possible.

“I’ve not only felt fulfilled, but also pushed to go beyond where I thought I could be.”

For Kim, that opportunity to keep learning is one of the reasons 30 years has never felt stagnant.

Learning to Listen

One of Kim’s biggest lessons as a manager has also been one of the simplest: talk less and listen more.

A natural communicator, Kim admits that earlier in her management career she believed that if she explained something thoroughly enough, understanding and buy-in would naturally follow.

Experience taught her otherwise.

“I feel that a good leader goes back to that 80-20 rule, that you should listen 80% of the time and talk 20% of the time.”

Today, her approach is centered on understanding the challenges people are experiencing, asking questions and helping them reach conclusions themselves.

Listening builds trust. Asking the right questions helps people take ownership of solutions. And for Kim, a successful manager should always want the people around them to succeed, even if that means they eventually surpass their own accomplishments.

Interestingly, those same principles are increasingly important in modern collections.

A Changing Collections Industry

Over three decades, Kim has seen commercial collections evolve significantly.

One of the biggest current developments is artificial intelligence.

Kim sees AI’s ability to process large quantities of information, identify historical trends and generate insights as particularly exciting. Having spent years working with data, forecasting and client reporting, she sees considerable potential for AI to accelerate this work and provide clients with increasingly valuable intelligence.

“The utilization of AI in our industry is already transformative.”

But innovation needs to be balanced with responsibility.

For Brennan & Clark, adopting new technology also means remembering that the company represents its clients every time it engages with a customer. Moving forward therefore requires what Kim describes as progress with restraint: embracing innovation while protecting clients, relationships and reputations.

Technology isn’t the only change.

The tone of collections conversations has also shifted. Where traditional approaches could be more focused on consequences and telling customers what they needed to do, Kim sees today’s successful collector as more empathetic and collaborative.

The objective remains recovery, but the conversation is different.

“Collecting with empathy now is all about talking less and listening more.”

Rather than simply dictating a resolution, collectors increasingly need to ask questions, understand what is preventing payment and work collaboratively toward a solution.

For more on changes in the industry read our blog: ‘How Commercial Debt Collection Has Evolved’.

Beyond Brennan & Clark

Away from work, Kim’s interests reveal much of the same curiosity that characterizes her professional life.

A lifelong reader, she averages around 50 books a year and enjoys everything from autobiographies and mysteries to historical fiction.

She is also an enthusiastic gardener, with what began as a few tomato and pepper plants having expanded considerably over the years.

Another long-running project is shared with her husband: visiting every Major League Baseball ballpark. For Kim, it is as much about the journey as the games themselves, giving them a reason to travel, explore new cities, meet people and experience what makes each ballpark unique. If their beloved Cubs happen to be playing, even better, although one tradition is non-negotiable: a hot dog and a beer at every park.

And one book in particular has left a lasting impression: The Year of Yes. Its central idea of saying yes to opportunities that might otherwise be declined has encouraged Kim to step outside her comfort zone more often.

“I have practiced saying yes more often… it has pushed me beyond my comfort zone at times, and through that I’ve had these enjoyable experiences that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.”

Perhaps that philosophy connects neatly back to the decision Kim made three decades ago when she said yes to an unexpected opportunity in commercial collections.

Looking Forward

Thirty years into her commercial collection career, Kim remains enthusiastic about Brennan & Clark, the people she works alongside and an industry that continues to change.

She has seen colleagues grow, clients become friends, and technology transform what is possible. Through it all, the fundamentals she values most have remained consistent: people, relationships, curiosity, service and the willingness to keep learning.

“I am so grateful, so happy about the 30 years I’ve been able to spend at Brennan & Clark.”

And while 30 years is certainly a milestone worth celebrating, Kim is far from treating it as a conclusion.

“I just look with excitement at what’s next. I can’t wait to continue the ride.”

Could a collection career at Brennan & Clark be the right fit for you? Explore current opportunities and discover more on our Careers page.