JK. It’s just me.

Founder of Reference.

Hi. I’m Kelsey Phillips. I’ve never been particularly impressed by the argument that something should be done a certain way simply because that’s how it’s always been done. That’s not a strategy. That’s a habit with excellent public relations.

I don’t question things for the sake of being difficult. I question them because functioning well matters more than following convention. If something works beautifully, leave it alone. If it doesn't, there's no virtue in defending it.

That perspective has been shaped by my own experience as a business owner and through work across marketing, communications, real estate, business development, nonprofit development, veterinary care, and services supporting people through disability, recovery, employment, aging, and major life transitions. Working across these areas has shown me how businesses, organizations, and people operate, and how decisions in one area can create opportunities in another.

I prefer to apply my strategic and commercial strengths to areas I care deeply about: stronger communities, animal welfare, conservation, and environmental health. That’s why I founded Reference: to recognize opportunities, challenge conventional thinking, and design businesses, ventures, and partnerships with a viable foundation and a clear purpose behind them.

I also enjoy having the freedom to ask the inconvenient question, make the unpopular observation, and recommend a different direction when the obvious one isn’t particularly good.

Outside of Reference, I’m a mother to a teenage son, two ridiculous dogs, and the world’s calmest cat. Motherhood and faith have shaped how I think about responsibility, what matters, and what I want to contribute. Home is in North Carolina, where I enjoy kayaking, exploring historic places, traveling somewhere new, and watching my son grow. I’m endlessly curious about the world, the people in it, and all the places I haven’t experienced yet.

The older I get, the less interested I am in what I can accumulate from the world or what I have to prove to it, and the more interested I am in how fully I can participate in it.