Austin Holmes

Managing Partner, Companies

Austin Holmes grew up in Jacksonville, FL as part of a family that instilled within him the importance of service to something greater, a characteristic that shaped his life and professional pursuits in the years to come. 

His hard work in high school afforded him an opportunity to walk-on and earn a football scholarship at Furman University, where he earned a B.A. in History and Religion and was a multi-year all-conference cornerback as well as team captain. His educational journey continued in southern Florida, where he earned a Masters in International Business Administration and Management on nights and weekends at Nova Southeastern University while his wife, Chelsey, attended medical school. 

Austin’s desire to serve and make a difference in the lives of others led to an opportunity to work with the United Nations after completing his education, where he was driven to serve more at a grassroots level in the field to drive greater and more transformative ministry. He then joined Fondation Mission de l’Espoire in 2011 as a Business Operations Liaison, developing and implementing program metrics, policies, and processes for Haiti operations, creating budgets, mapping resources, and overseeing hiring and training for effective program delivery. During this time, he also established a technical training facility in collaboration with Governor Bill Lee, training over 500 Haitians annually in job skills for foreign businesses.

In 2014, he joined Mission of Hope as the Business Development Director, Securing $30M in annual revenue, achieving 5% year-over-year growth through partnerships with USAID, foundations, and private donors over the next four years. 

He led a turnaround of a 75-year-old institution in Haiti with 280 staff members as COO of Mission Baptiste Conservatrice d’Haiti, managing programs across 350 schools, a hospital, clinics, and community health initiatives, ensuring effective program delivery and operational efficiency between 2018-2020. 

Following his work with Mission Baptiste Conservatrice d’Haiti Austin became the Vice President of Programs and Government Relations for Mission of Hope where he served from 2020-2022, expanding the nutrition program to serve over 100,000 children daily and reducing staff by nearly 50% for increased efficiency, developing metrics and standards for program delivery to align with U.S. and Haitian government agencies and enhance response capabilities, and partnering to bring a state-of-the-art sports facility to Haiti. 

Since that time he has served as Managing Partner for Holmes Equity and CEO of RallyX, directing strategy, operations, and growth for a $112M portfolio across 18 businesses. He specializes in acquisitions, turnarounds, and building generational companies with a focus on community impact and faith-based values. He oversees businesses in the security solutions, healthcare, fleet repair, custom and production construction, and non-profit sectors, with concentrated direct leadership in the fleet and international, high-stakes securities sectors. 

Austin is passionate about building generational companies distinguished by the quality and integrity of their work — to build companies that work with such excellence that they beg the question, “Why?” from others watching from the outside.He is driving the systems and processes and equipping the leaders that continue to fuel Holmes Equity’s reputation for excellence in order to help build generational companies that impact the people and communities around them. 

Austin’s passion is not relegated only to business. As a husband and father of six, he loves to spend time with his family, working, playing, learning, and serving their community. He also enjoys keeping up his competitive edge working out, exercising his jiu jitsu skills on unsuspecting buddies, and getting out on the water to catch a few fish. Always a learner, Austin is also currently pursuing a Doctor of Education (EdD) at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

Excellence is the goal in every pursuit, because, for Austin, a vibrant faith in Christ is the motivation to work for something bigger than himself. As a business leader, that drive enables him to serve others with abandon, to empower other leaders, and to create an environment for businesses to grow and thrive for generations to come.