West News Wire: Dave Hollis passed away at his home in Texas after leaving his position as a Disney executive to assist his wife in managing a prosperous lifestyle company. He was 47.
According to Hays County Justice of the Peace Andrew Cable, Hollis was pronounced dead on Sunday afternoon at his home in Dripping Springs, a town outside of Austin, where his ex-wife Rachel Hollis published the best-selling book “Girl, Wash Your Face.”
As Hollis, who was last seen the previous evening, was “young and didn’t have an extensive medical history,” Cable said an autopsy will be done to identify the cause of death.
While the family struggles to “navigate through the unspeakable,” Rachel Hollis pleaded for prayers in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
“We are devastated,” she wrote. “I have no words and my heart is too broken.”
Dave Hollis worked for Disney for 17 years and had been head of distribution for the company for seven years when he left in 2018 to join his wife’s venture. The parents of four moved from Los Angeles to the Austin area, collaborated on livestreams, podcasts and organized life-affirming conferences. In their podcast, “Rise Together,” they focused on marriage.
When Rachel Hollis announced on Instagram in 2020 that they were getting divorced, she said they had worked “endlessly” over the prior three years to make their marriage work but came to the conclusion that “it is healthier and more respectful for us to choose this as the end of our journey as a married couple.”
During his tenure at Disney, Hollis oversaw the release of blockbusters including “Black Panther” and films in the the “Star Wars” franchise. He told The Associated Press in 2018 that he joined his wife’s enterprise after realizing he was in a corporate rut. He said his new life felt “like a calling.”
Hollis also wrote motivational books. His book “Get Out of Your Own Way: A Skeptic’s Guide to Growth and Fulfillment” was published in 2020 and he released “Built Through Courage: Face Your Fears to Live the Life You Were Meant For” in 2021.
Fitness trainer Heidi Powell, who dated Dave Hollis after his divorce, called his death “a nightmare” in an Instagram post Tuesday.
“This isn’t the way it was supposed to end,” Powell said.
