WORKFLOW FOR HUMANS

You don't need to work harder. You need to see what's actually happening.

If you're exhausted by fires, unclear ownership, and decisions that keep getting unmade, but you still believe in what you're building, you're in the right place.

 

If This Sounds Familiar

The work keeps growing. The systems keep breaking. And you're the one holding it together.

You know something's broken, but everyone has a different explanation. Some say it's communication. Some say it's tools. Some say it's people. Nobody agrees on where to start.

You've tried solutions. Project management software. Strategic planning retreats. New hires. Some things helped for a minute. Most just added to the pile of "things we should be using but aren't."

The real problem isn't effort or discipline. It's that no one can see the whole picture. So every decision is a guess, every change creates new chaos, and you're the one translating between everyone's different realities.

You don't need another tool. You need to understand what's actually broken before you try to fix it.

 

The Work

I help creative entrepreneurs and mission-driven organizations see clearly, decide wisely, and execute without breaking themselves.

The diamond (◆) represents decision points—moments where structure meets human action.

01

Clarity Sessions

See what's broken

02

Phase Planning

Understand the cost

03

Implementation

Build it right

You believe in what you're building.

We design the infrastructure to sustain it without burning out your team or breaking your vision.

Book a Clarity Call

 

Services

Three core services. A clear progression.

Most relationships start with a diagnostic session, then move to planning or implementation based on what we discover. You can't build the right thing until you see what's actually happening.

View complete rate card (PDF) →
01

Clarity Sessions

Diagnostic work to see what's broken

Individual/Small Team: $1,500

Multi-Stakeholder: $7,500

What you get: Written analysis that names specific tensions, prioritizes next steps, explicitly states what NOT to do yet.

Why this matters: Prevents 3-6 months of spinning on wrong solutions.

Book Now
02

Phase Planning

Architecture before you build

Investment: $8,000+

What you get: Labor model by role, cost estimates, wave-based implementation plan, scope boundaries. Use it yourself or hand it to a dev team.

Why this matters: Prevents $50K+ of wasted implementation.

Learn More
03

Implementation

Building the systems with you

Investment: $15-30K+ (custom scoped)

What you get: Co-created systems (Airtable, Make.com, AI agents), phased delivery, training, documentation, 30-60 days support.

Note: Requires Phase Planning first (included in scope or done separately).

Discuss Project

Not sure where to start? Book a 30-minute clarity call (free).

Book Your Call

 

About

I built and survived operational chaos at multiple scales. Now I help you avoid repeating those mistakes.

Michael R. (Holt) Speciàle
Michael R. (Holt) Speciàle
Connect on LinkedIn →
2013-2015
Lincoln Center — Assistant Director of Loyalty Marketing

Database strategy, membership operations, direct marketing at institutional scale. I learned how systems work when thousands of people depend on them.

2017-2023
NAVEL — Co-Founder & Executive Director

Scaled a DIY arts space in downtown LA to $400K in annual revenue. I was the glue person who kept it together when systems broke, when people left, and when nothing made sense. I learned what it's like to build from scratch under pressure.

2020-Present
Independent Consulting — Organizational Design Practice

Five years designing workflow systems and automation for creative entrepreneurs and mission-driven organizations. Airtable, Make.com, strategic planning. Systematizing what I learned from both institutional rigor and entrepreneurial chaos.

Operational chaos isn't about tools. It's about translation.

Translating creative chaos into shared maps. Translating strategy into labor requirements. Translating urgency into survivable phases.

Email me: hi@familyaffairs.studio
Proof

What this looks like in practice

These organizations didn't need more hustle. They needed to see clearly in order to build systems that reflected their reality.

Collaborative Partners Since 2020
LinkIt Media Group
LINT Studios
The Nest Creatives
LA Commons
Denniston Hill
Rauschenberg Residency
NAVEL
Visions 2030
Case Study

LinkIT Media Group — Phase Planning Prevented $50K+ Waste

The Situation

60+ unresolved "support requests." Overlapping systems. Zero visibility into what work actually required. Leadership exhausted by firefighting.

What I Did

Translated vague requests into 33 scoped change requests. Built throughput model showing labor by role. Designed wave-based implementation plan with cost ranges ($12.5K-27.8K one-time + $5.2K-9.5K/month ongoing).

The Result

Clear roadmap they could execute. Prevented premature implementation. Identified engineering throughput as real bottleneck (not "the system is broken").

Key Insight

They were about to hire a dev team to build everything at once. The Phase Plan showed what actually needed to happen first, what could wait, and what would break if they moved too fast.

Case Study

LA Commons — Preparing for Operational Independence

The Challenge

Community arts organization transitioning from fiscal sponsorship to independent 501(c)(3) status faced complex operational challenges across multiple South LA sites while maintaining expansive programming.

What I Did

Provided fractional leadership through organizational therapy and digital workspace audit. Researched and analyzed potential vendors with cost-benefit analysis. Prepared complete transition roadmap through 2026.

The Result

Equipped leadership with extensive final readiness report and custom Airtable project tracker with key milestones. Provided clear cost projections for the transition, enabling informed budgeting and cash flow management.

Key Insight

Separation from fiscal sponsor isn't just legal paperwork—it's a complete operational redesign. The Phase Planning showed the true timeline (18-24 months), financial requirements, and workflow implications before they committed.

Case Study

The Nest Creatives — When the Right Answer Is "Build Something Else"

The Challenge

Full-service creative agency managing multiple concurrent client projects with distributed team. Growing pains from manual project tracking, unclear client communication, file chaos. Needed centralized visibility across team and clients.

What We Built (And Then Didn't Use)

Designed and prototyped custom client portal (Softr + Airtable) with task visibility, file management, payment tracking. Trained team, documented workflows, ran live tests. Through the process, discovered the team needed more flexibility than a custom build could provide.

The Pivot

Recommended Asana for day-to-day execution after prototype revealed misalignment between custom system rigidity and team's need for rapid experimentation. Transitioned Airtable to CRM role. Archived portal without operational dependency. The "failed" system taught us what the real system needed to do.

Key Insight

The prototype wasn't wasted—it was diagnostic work disguised as implementation. Building revealed what interviews couldn't: this team needed speed over custom control. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can say is "don't use what we built."

Ready to see what's actually happening in your organization?

Most relationships start with a 30-minute clarity call to figure out fit and next steps.

Book a Call

Let's talk.

Start with a 30-minute call or share context through the intake form. We'll figure out if there's a fit and what makes sense next.

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