Kathryn van der Pol
Born: Kathryn was born in Eureka, California.
Grew up in: Kathryn grew up in the Navy as a daughter of a naval officer. She spent four years as a teenager in Japan.
College: Kathryn graduated from Rice University with a degree in Latin. She was a summer Fellow at the American Academy in Rome in 1984.
1st Job: Kathryn’s first job was delivering newspapers, the Pacific Stars & Stripes in Yokosuka, Japan.
Other Jobs: Kathryn taught Latin and history for 24 years. Seventeen of those years were at St. John’s School in Houston. She also taught for 7 years at St. Thomas Episcopal.
Came to Houston: Kathryn moved to Houston in 1978 to attend Rice University.
Current Career: Kathryn is an entrepreneur and is the President of Liberty Hoepfl Garage.
Offices, Awards, Affiliations:
Current
Kathryn is an ASE Certified Service Advisor and an Automotive Master in Automotive Management.
She is currently President-Elect on the state ASA Texas board, a trade association for independent auto repair shops in the state of Texas.
Kathryn is the founder and President of the N. Shepherd Community Alliance, an organization dedicated to the responsible development and improvement of the N. Shepherd Dr. area.
She serves on the Founders Board of Heritage Classical Academy, a proposed charter school in Houston.
Past
Kathryn received the National ASA Legislative Award from the Automotive Service Association.
Kathryn is alumna of Cohort 5 in the Goldman Sachs 10000 Small Business program.
Kathryn has been recognized as the Most Valuable Member of the Year in the State of Texas for ASA.
Kathryn is a former board member of the Greater Heights Chamber of Commerce and past chair of the Nomination Committee.
She has served as President of the ASA Houston Chapter.
She has served as President of the Professional Women’s Exchange Group, a private women’s business organization.
Company Achievements and Awards: In 2019, Adolf Hoepfl & Son Garage renamed itself Liberty Hoepfl Garage. Preceding the name change was the completion of the construction of the new 7,700 sq. ft. service center outfitted with new, state of the art equipment. It replaced the building constructed in the 1950s, but the historic 1946 office space remains preserved.
Liberty Hoepfl Garage is a member of the Better Business Bureau and has an A+ rating. The company has been honored to receive the Awards for Excellence program five times, each time they applied. Liberty Hoepfl Garage was especially honored to receive the BBB’s Pinnacle Award, the highest recognition bestowed by the BBB.
Since 2006, AAA of Texas has recognized Adolf Hoepfl & Son Garage, renamed Liberty Hoepfl Garage in 2019 with a greater than 95% Customer Satisfaction rating.
The Houston Press recognized Adolf Hoepfl Garage as the Best Mechanic Shop in Houston.
Between 2013-2019 Liberty Hoepfl Garage has received first place in the Automotive Repair category in The Leader Newspaper in their Reader’s Choice Awards.
Hobbies: Kathryn enjoys bike riding with Sybren across Texas roads. Both serve as Ride Marshalls for the MS-150. She also loves studying history, especially ancient and American history. She also enjoys teaching, public speaking, writing and editing and has an ongoing blog on her website. She has edited books for Isaac Asimov and other authors. She has published numerous articles, a Carpe Diem! Calendar, and a special password book available for purchase at her shop.
Family: Kathryn & Sybren have three daughters. Laura is a doctoral student at Colorado State University. Elizabeth is a Montessori teacher at Garden Oaks Montessori School. Virginia has her Masters in Accounting and works for Schlumberger.