Increase revenues. Cut costs.
Improve profitability.
Operator-led strategy and execution for growth-stage companies doing $2M–$20M in revenue. Built by a working CEO — not a career consultant.
Four ways to put an operator
in your corner
No 12-month commitments to find out if we're useful. Start free, see the thinking, and scale the engagement when the work earns it.
Advisory Insights
Operator-grade perspectives on strategy, capital, and operations — the same thinking clients pay for, in newsletter form. Subscribers get launch pricing on the Operator's Toolkit.
Subscribe FreeQuick Business Review
Grant us temporary access to your books. Within 2 business days you get a written report on where the profit is leaking and a consultation to walk through it. Straight talk, no upsell theater.
Get Your ReviewFixed-Scope Projects
Expense audits, KPI and reporting buildouts, job costing reality checks, QBO cleanup, CRM implementation, AI roadmaps. One problem, one price, one deliverable.
Browse Fixed-Scope OffersFractional COO / CFO
Embedded executive leadership for companies not ready for a full-time hire. Scope narrows on day one to the 2–3 problems costing you the most sleep — then we fix them.
See Retainer TiersIndustry fluency, not generic frameworks
Advice grounded in businesses we've actually run — from the trades to healthcare to real estate to the balance sheet itself. Pick the door that matches your problem; the operator behind each one is the same.
Construction & Roofing
Job costing, insurance supplement capture, crew scaling, multi-state licensing. We run a licensed contractor — this is firsthand.
Learn MoreHealthcare Operations
System buildouts, consult volume growth, revenue cycle work. Built a practice serving 8 healthcare platforms and 1,000+ monthly consults.
Learn MoreReal Estate
Deal analysis, development advisory, acquisition strategy across hospitality, commercial, raw land, and conservation easements.
Learn MoreAI Implementation
Practical AI for mid-market operators — intake, dispatch, reporting, and analysis. Measurable ROI, not demos. Any industry.
Learn MoreFinancial & Capital Advisory
Fractional CFO work for SMBs — cash flow, profitability, expense bloat, bank-ready books, capital sourcing, and M&A lite.
Learn MoreOutcomes, not deliverables
Faster Project Delivery
Construction client cut project delivery timelines 30% in 90 days.
Overhead Reduction
Healthcare operation cut overhead 35% while scaling from 50 to 200 employees.
Pipeline Velocity
Real estate firm increased deal pipeline velocity 2.4x.
Client Onboarding
Design services firm cut client onboarding from 3 weeks to 4 days.
“The gap between $3M and $30M isn’t a strategy problem. It’s an execution problem with a capital structure on top.”— Carey Grainger, X Holdings
Operator experience.
Not consulting theory.
X Holdings was founded in 2013 to formalize a practice built over two decades: helping mid-market companies navigate inflection points that require both financial acumen and operational discipline.
Our principal, Carey Grainger, brings 30+ years spanning Wall Street (Lehman Brothers, Salomon Smith Barney, Citigroup), healthcare operations, real estate, construction, and strategic advisory — and still runs an operating company today. The result is advice grounded in real P&L experience, not frameworks from a textbook.
Meet the PrincipalFrom the operator's desk
Where AI Actually Pays Off in a Trades Business (And Where It Doesn't)
We run our own construction company on an AI-forward stack. Here's the honest scorecard: the workflows where AI already earns its keep, and the vendor pitches you can safely ignore.
ReadThe 13-Week Cash Flow: The One Report Every $2M–$20M Operator Should Run
Your P&L tells you whether the business worked last month. The 13-week cash flow tells you whether you can make payroll in week nine. One of those questions gets companies killed.
ReadHow Roofing Contractors Leave 8–15% on the Table in Uncaptured Supplements
On insurance restoration work, the difference between a 28% gross margin and a 38% one usually isn't pricing or production. It's whether anyone in the company owns the supplement workflow.
ReadWhat people ask before reaching out
What does X Holdings LLC do?
X Holdings LLC provides operator-led strategy and execution for growth-stage companies doing $2M–$20M in revenue. Engagements include fractional COO/CFO retainers, fixed-scope projects, a $495 Quick Business Review, AI implementation, and construction expert-witness support. The work is done by the principal, Carey Grainger — not junior associates.
Who founded X Holdings?
X Holdings was founded in 2013 by Carey Grainger, who brings 30+ years of operator experience across Wall Street (Lehman Brothers, Salomon Smith Barney, Citigroup), healthcare operations, real estate, and construction — and still runs operating companies today. He has managed and advised on $1B+ in career assets and $300M+ in distressed assets.
What size company is X Holdings best suited for?
Founder-led or family-led companies doing $2M–$20M in annual revenue, especially those at an inflection point where execution and capital structure are the bottleneck rather than strategy.
What does X Holdings charge?
Fractional COO/CFO retainers run $3,500–$7,500/month, advisory hours are $275, project work is $250/hour or a fixed fee, the AI Operations Partner is $1,500–$3,000/month, and expert-witness work is $450/hour. The $495 Quick Business Review is credited toward future work.
What industries does X Holdings specialize in?
Construction and roofing (firsthand — X Holdings runs a licensed contractor), healthcare operations, real estate, financial and capital advisory, and practical AI implementation for mid-market operators.
Where is X Holdings located?
X Holdings is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, at 3133 Maple Dr. Ste 240 PMB2402, Atlanta, GA 30305, and serves clients across Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, plus remote engagements nationwide.
How do I engage X Holdings?
Book a free 30-minute discovery call at https://xholdingsllc.com/book — a working conversation, not a pitch. Or start with the $495 Quick Business Review at https://xholdingsllc.com/review.
Ready to work with an operator,
not a consultant?
30-minute intro call. No pitch deck, no pressure. Let's talk about where your business is and where you want it to go.