Hi.

This is where I’m supposed to explain who I am and why you should care.

I’m Holli Downs. I’m a philosopher probably but the mantle doesn’t fit right, a researcher, a systems thinker, and a person who’s been a lot of things… soldier, professor, retail worker, strategist, writer, try hard, fan. I started working at 15 putting up plastic siding, and they still owe me $70.

I’ve worked in Army intelligence. I’ve taught English composition. I’ve helped build SaaS products. I’ve spent years trying to make sense of what I see: power, language, systems, labor, belief.

I made this site. It’s part of a larger body of work that includes:

• Phosphor, where I work on human-centered innovation and systems strategy

• How Things End, a podcast about things falling apart

• Praxis, where I try to speak publicly without pretending to have it all figured out

This page is not a sales pitch. It’s not optimized (I feel like that one is obvious). I’m not going to list my accolades here to convince you I’m real. I’ve done the work. You can decide for yourself.

If something here resonates… cool. If not, I’m still going to keep making things. Hopefully sense. There’s room here for people who are figuring it out.

Thanks for reading.