PICA Member Spotlights
Q&A with independent consultants who successfully “made the leap” and created the consulting career of their dreams
Q: Who are you and what’s your business?
A: Hi! I’m Jane Takushi and my company name is Prioritize People. I partner with HR and business leaders in small to mid-sized companies to tackle their biggest, hairiest people and culture challenges including performance, development, and rewards approaches, succession planning, building manager capability and commitment. I also facilitate executive offsites.
Q: How long have you been independent?
A: Just over a year.
Q: What inspired you to “go for it” and become a solopreneur?
A: I was laid off in the summer of 2023 and the employment market for HR jobs (specifically talent management jobs) was brutal. I had a friend say that I should plan on being out of work for a year. Literally hundreds of networking contacts and dozens of interviews later, I was still looking. It was 2024 and I said to myself, “I cannot come back to this same place in a year, trying the same things and expecting different results.” So I decided to do my own thing. Getting my first client was a long slog, but I did, and a second and a third.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about making the leap to solopreneurship or who is just starting out?
A: First, consistency beats intensity. Consistently reach out to 10 potential buyers every week and do that over and over again and then bump up the number to 15 or 20. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Second, find and connect with your people consistently. “Mensch” is a Yiddish term for “good and honorable person.” Connecting with a mensch will keep you encouraged when every voice in your head is telling you you’re crazy for doing this.
Q: What have you had to figure out and how did you do it?
A: I’m a terrible, terrible employee. I spend way too much time on YouTube and social media looking at dog videos. I really need to put myself on a PIP.*
Seriously, when I have a pile of work that I really should do, but no boss telling me to do it, I’m a terrible procrastinator. I’ve learned to deal with that by using the Focus Sessions on the MS Office Clock app. Set it for 35 minutes, accomplish one task that takes some brain power, and then I get to take a walk or do something fun. You can even connect the Clock app to your Spotify account. Shout-out to the Deep Focus playlist that helps me…well…deeply focus.
*PIP = HR speak for performance improvement plan.
Q: Is there a particular quote or saying that you use as personal motivation?
A: When I was thinking about going solo – something I NEVER thought I’d do, my husband’s cousin (also our CPA) said to me, “Jane, when you’re getting up to go to work at a company and accomplish that company’s agenda, that’s for them. The work you do for you is yours. It’s for you.” That was strangely empowering to me and I remember it when I’m doing client work or even writing proposals. I added one of my favorite quotes, which happens to be from Kung Fu Panda to a proposal and to an offsite I did: There is no secret ingredient. It’s just you. I found myself thinking, “You can’t add a quote from Kung Fu Panda to a client workbook!!” Then I replied to myself, “Why not?” (The client loved it.)
Q: What’s next for you and your business?
A: Continuing to find more clients, and focusing in on helping clients create clarity, particularly as it relates to defining and integrating cultural norms into processes, and setting strategy and objectives so that everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing and how their work connects to the broader whole.
Q: How can people find out more about you or your business?
A: I’d love to hear from folks at jane@prioritizepeople.com. My business website is https://www.prioritizepeople.com/.
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