I build the systems that let businesses scale — or sell.
I'm Chris Nichols. I turn the messy operational backbone of a business into something that runs without me in the room — and ship the software to run it. I use AI to do what a traditional ops consultant does, faster and for less.
Selected work
MilesOS
Built · runs my weekThe operator system I run my own businesses on. One plain-text source of truth, a private dashboard over it, and scheduled agents that write the morning brief, triage mail, prep me for meetings, and flag what's slipping.
RuckHQ
Founder · liveAn operating system for rugby clubs — membership, waivers, dues, schedule and RSVPs, comms. Running a Seattle club of roughly 280 members; built to go multi-club.
griffin.realtor
Built for a brokerA real-estate site and the automation stack behind it: public site, admin CRM, an AI concierge that captures and routes leads, speed-to-lead instrumentation, and a weekly report on response time and follow-through. Anything client-facing gets a human read before it goes out.
ApartonHomes
Built · in useA property-management platform for a small rental portfolio: properties and units, leases and tenancy history, transaction sorting with receipts attached, and per-property totals where every number traces back to a source document.
AFManager
Built · in daily useA coach-and-client platform running inside an Anytime Fitness location: consultation pipeline, payroll, scheduling, calendar — plus a standing arithmetic check that catches pay errors before payroll runs.
Where I come in
I work as an operator, not a vendor. I build the system, make sure it runs without me, and leave you owning it.
Operations setup
I come into a small professional operation, find where the work actually lives, and build the smallest system that makes it hold — the file structure, the playbooks, the weekly review, the handoffs. You own it when I'm done.
Internal software that ships
CRMs, member and client systems, scheduling, payroll, records and document handling, admin dashboards. Built on Next.js and Supabase, deployed, and in daily use — not prototypes.
AI wired into real work
Assistants and agents that read your actual data: drafting, triage, lead response, research. Anything that reaches a client passes a human first — that gate is part of the design, not an afterthought.
Records and reconciliation
Imports, migrations, and the unglamorous work of making the numbers tie back to source documents when they don't agree.
Board and governance
Nonprofit board operations — sponsorship, membership, meeting discipline. I've served on four boards, currently chair sponsorship for a rugby club, and once helped build an organization from three people to a chartered chapter.
- Next.js
- React
- TypeScript
- Supabase / Postgres
- Vercel
- Stripe
- Resend
- Claude
- Otter.ai
Background
Before the software, I ran the operations — a restaurant I founded, a regional food business through its sale, and a run of boards.
Operating
Anytime FitnessPersonal trainer · Seattle
The floor I still work, and where AFManager runs. Clients who moved gyms with me are still on my books.
Pacific Northwest FitnessTrainer · Seattle
An independent gym. I still train some of those original clients today, independently.
Verve BowlsRegional Manager & Consultant · Seattle
Built the operational backbone that made the açaí-bowl business sellable — the systems, the playbooks, the numbers. It sold profitably in 2023, and it's still running under its new owners.
Chairs Coffee LLCFounder & operator · Spokane
Two venues under one company: Chairs Coffee, a coffee house on Indiana Ave, and Chairs Public House, a bar and restaurant in the old Bulldog Tavern by Gonzaga — regional beer, wine, spirits and coffee, food sourced locally. Hiring, payroll, inventory, liquor licensing, the leases, both build-outs. My first whole operation, and where I learned it the hard way. Inlander, 2011 ↗ KXLY, 2013 ↗
Boards
Seattle Quake RFCMembership Chair, 2023–24 & 2026–now · Sponsorship Chair, 2024–26
Grew a club sponsorship from $10K to $40K in my first month as Sponsorship Chair.
Cascade Flag Football AssociationBoard member · travel-team captain
Co-captained Seattle Boom to the 2021 Gay Bowl Division B title. NGFFL results, 2021 ↗ Capitol Hill Seattle, 2022 ↗
Seattle PrideBoard member
Third-largest Pride parade in the country. Seattle Pride board, 2018 ↗
Sigma Pi Iota Nu Housing AssociationFounding President
The alumni corporation standing behind the chapter — the part that persists as each class graduates.
Sigma Pi Fraternity, WSUFounding member · executive council
One of three who started the colony in 2007; it chartered as the Iota Nu chapter in April 2010. Recruiting, budgets, elections, and the unglamorous work of getting a brand-new organization through its first years — where I learned organizational management, and the reason the housing corporation above exists.
Education
Washington State UniversityBA Communication — journalism and broadcast news, theatre minor
Ask an AI about me.
Open your assistant of choice with a question about my work already loaded. Hit enter and see what it says.
Building something that needs an operator?
If you're founder-led and the operations are the thing slowing you down, that's the work I do best. Let's talk.
Email me