PICA Member Spotlights
Q&A with independent consultants who successfully “made the leap” and created the consulting career of their dreams
Q: Why did you go independent?
A: My department was going to be eliminated in a large downsizing at a high tech company. During my last couple months, I had the opportunity to reflect on what was next, and I kept returning to the idea of independent consulting. I had spent eight years at large consulting firms, so I knew what consulting was about. I also knew what I enjoyed most about it, which was being in service to my clients, to helping them move forward in achieving their goals. If I was going to return to consulting, I knew that I wanted to focus on working directly with clients and helping them solve their critical problems. I also wanted to have a wide variety of experiences across multiple clients in multiple industries. All of that is difficult to do when you're at a large firm where, when you're in a senior role, you're typically focused on managing large teams of consultants at a single client, always looking for the next big project. As an independent, however, you have more flexibility to work with multiple clients at the same time, and on work that takes different forms, even if at times that might be serving as a sounding board a few hours/month. I really enjoy working in different contexts, different environments, and different challenges all in parallel. And being independent is one of the only ways you can do that.
Q: So how did you actually make the leap?
A: It was actually a two-part journey. The first part was an aborted attempt, but I don't look at it as a failure because I learned some things along the way. I started down the path, thinking through what I needed, and began describing to myself where I would focus. Then I received an offer, right out of the blue, from one of the bigger firms to help jump start a new practice. The lure of starting a new practice took my eye off of my underlying interests (focus on direct client service with multiple clients and situations). Fast forward nine months, and I realized I really wanted to go the independent route. So this time around I was "all in". My wife and I spoke about our savings to be sure we could survive if I didn’t win any work for a year. She committed to not letting me quit trying for at least six months, no matter what! So, the security of the position at the large firm was gone, I had no cash coming in, and we were living off of savings. About four and a half months in I finally got my first job. It was only three days, but it was a high-end cultural assessment with a colleague that I had known and respected for quite a while. It was really gracious of him to bring me on and the two of us were able to do a great job on that effort. Two months later, I got a three-week gig out of state, and the client really appreciated the contribution I made. That turned into a couple months of additional work, and then six months more, and so on. Once I was helping them, I won work at a couple other clients my second year. And ever since, I've always had at least one part-time client, and usually two or three at a time. I've been very fortunate.
Q: What's the one thing you know now that you wish you had known 12 years ago when you went independent?
A: I've actually got a couple things, though I'm not sure they're so momentous or giant. If you really love what you're doing, and you can describe it from your heart, and not mainly as a business pitch, and you've aligned your heart with your activity, then you're going to put your passion into the work. And that will help you be successful. I get deep intrinsic reward from helping and being of service to people in the ways I can. It’s the path I've been on for quite a long time, all the way back to my first jobs in high school as I reflect upon it today. I know that now, and it keeps me sane and very motivated. Early on in my career as an independent, however, I don't think I fully realized that. At some point during the past 12 years, I learned, "I'm okay here," because it's not about the specific work, it's more about being of service to people. And I've finally given myself permission to not freak out so much along the way when the economy gets tight. If you love what you're doing, you will find some way to make it work. So give yourself permission to not worry too much and don't freak out.
Q: How did you do your initial business outreach or how did you get those initial clients? Is that any different than how you’d do it today?
A: It's not much different than how I do it today. During those first four and a half months before I got my first job, I had two different paths. I reached out to my network and let them know what I was doing. That included people I knew at the older firms, people I knew from companies I had worked at where I was an employee, and other people in my network. Even though they were a series of informal interactions, I was nervous. In hindsight, I didn’t have to be nervous because these were friends and I wasn't asking them for a job, but in my head it seemed that way. The conversation was me just letting them know the path I was on, seeing if they had any suggestions or could help me clarify my pitch, and asking if they know anyone else I should talk to that might give me pointers. The second path didn't lead to any work, but it really helped me become more official in my own mind. I had done some M&A integration work, both when I was at the large consulting firms and then on the HP/Compaq integration, including post-merger cleanup for a couple years. I reached out to contacts in the M&A teams at approximately 10 different companies and put together a best practice study. They were willing to share the information about where they were now, how large their teams were, what degree of standardized processes they used, and so on. I treated that as a formal project for myself over two to three months. It helped keep me focused and motivated. At that point I had a colleague reach out to me and say, "Hey, now that I've heard you're doing this, something landed in my lap. I know of an opportunity that needs a short-duration consultant, and I thought of you since your niche is part-time strategic change, as opposed to finding a long-term project." Since then, it's been referrals. Many of my clients have asked me to come back, even after a couple year absence, project after project. And then some clients have moved on to other entities and sort of brought me along at some later point.
Q: Is it OK if people reach out to you for more info or just to network? If so, how should they do that?
