ABOUT WORK◆FLOW FOR HUMANS

We’re not consultants.
We’re producers who’ve lived your chaos.

Fifteen years running creative ventures.
Fifteen years learning what works, and what burns you out.

Meet Michael

I’m Michael Holt, and I built Work◆Flow for Humans because I needed it.

In 2017, I co-founded NAVEL—a DIY arts space in Los Angeles. We grew from house shows to a $400K annual budget with hundreds of events annually. It was exhilarating. It was also chaos.

Spreadsheets everywhere. Email threads 50 messages deep. Grant reports cobbled together at midnight. We were making it work, but barely. And the cost was brutal: burnout, turnover, relationships strained by operational dysfunction.

When I left NAVEL, I knew two things:

First, the problem wasn't unique. Every creative venture I knew was drowning in the same chaos. Artist residencies tracking applications in Excel. Studios managing 50 clients across email threads. Nonprofits with data scattered across five tools.

Second, corporate SAAS tools weren't the answer. They're built for enterprises with IT departments. For quarterly planning cycles and rigid hierarchies. They suffocate the very thing that makes creative work valuable: humanity.

So I started developing something different. Not a template, but a methodology.

I helped LA Commons with their operational independence during a complex fiscal sponsor separation. I designed LINT’s entire venue management system—enabling 3x booking capacity without hiring new staff. I built LinkIT Media Group's operating system for 180 digital advertising screens nationwide.

Each project taught me the same lesson: infrastructure doesn't have to be soulless. The best systems feel alive. They evolve. They honor how humans actually work. They support creativity instead of crushing it.

That's what Work◆Flow for Humans does.

We design workflows with empathy.
We facilitate change with patience.
We integrate AI and automation without replacing humans.
We build capacity without creating dependency.

Because after 15 years in the trenches, we know what works to make things happen—and what doesn't.

“Structure doesn’t have to be soulless. The best workflows honor how you actually work, not how some tech overlords think you should.”
— Michael Holt

What We Believe

→ Burnout isn’t a badge of honor. It’s a systems failure.

→ The best infrastructure is invisible. It supports work without demanding attention.

→ Change management matters more than technical perfection. A "good enough” system people use beats a “perfect” system they abandon.

→ Facilitation > Dictation. Co-creation > prescription. Partnership > vendor relationship.

→ Tools should serve humans, not the other way around. We’re tool-agnostic and values-first.

→ Pricing should be transparent. Value your work, and we’ll value ours.

→ AI holds potential, but isn’t a replacement. We aim to augment humans with automation, never replace.

Want to Work Together? Let's Talk

↳ Free 15-min intro call to see if we're a fit

Our Approach

Every engagement starts with listening. We don’t prescribe solutions before understanding your context. Here’s our process:

  • We start most collaborations with a Chaos to Clarity diagnostic. 90 minutes to understand your workflows, pain points, and what's actually breaking.

  • We design solutions together—workshops, prototypes, iterations. Your team's input shapes the system.

  • Implementation happens in partnership with trusted builders (we lead strategy + QC, specialized dev team handles execution). We integrate AI and automation only where it amplifies capacity.

  • The system only works if your team uses it. We facilitate adoption through training, documentation, and ongoing support—until you own it completely.

See Services & Pricing

Experience & Credentials

Organizations We’ve Built or Supported

  • NAVEL (Co-founder, Executive Director, 2017-2024)

  • LinkIT Media Group (Systems Architect, 2022-ongoing)

  • LINT (Venue Systems Designer, 2024-ongoing)

  • LA Commons (Operations Consultant, 2024)

  • The Nest Creatives (Project Management Systems, 2024-2025)

  • Angels Gate Cultural Center (Organizational Therapy, 2025)

  • Denniston Hill (Residency Management Systems Consultant, 2022)

  • Residency at Captiva Island, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (Residency Management Systems Consultant, 2022-2023)

  • LAVA Coalition (Systems Circle Lead, 2023-2024)

What We Do

  • Organizational diagnostics & audits

  • Workflow design & systems architecture

  • Strategic communication and messaging

  • No-code automation (Airtable, Make, Softr)

  • AI integration and ethics (Airtable AI, Claude, ChatGPT)

  • Change management & facilitation

  • Team training & capacity building

  • Fractional COO / operations leadership

Let's Work Together