Consulting Wasn’t Plan A

What happens when your backup plan becomes your only plan

I didn’t grow up thinking I’d be a consultant. I didn’t map out some 5-year plan where I’d be building pitch decks in my kitchen or sending proposals from a coffee shop. This wasn’t the dream.

Plan A was simpler. Work hard. Get promoted. Keep climbing. Build something inside a company. Lead a team. Eventually, if I got lucky and worked hard enough, become a CMO.

But then things changed.

Maybe it was a layoff for you. Maybe a bad boss. Maybe burnout. Maybe just… timing. For me, it was a company merger with new leadership. I began interviewing. Had a ton of great leads, had a ton of great conversations, but just wasn’t finding that right fit. I turned things down, other roles ended up not happening, and others I just wasn’t the right fit for.

And at some point, Plan A quietly disappeared. And consulting wasn’t some bold, confident leap into independence. It was survival. It was, What can I do right now to keep moving? At first it was a bridge. Just something I could do while I figured out what was next. A way toe easily answer “what have you been doing lately”? While also keeping my mind sharp, earning some extra income, and having some fun.

At first, I was uncomfortable even saying it out loud. “I’m consulting.” It felt like a placeholder. Something vague. Like a cover story while I looked for something “real.” I didn’t feel legit. How many time’s had I seen someone’s LinkedIn where they said they were the CEO of a consulting business of one person and just didn’t get it. I wasn’t even sure people would believe I was actually doing anything when I said it.

I didn’t have a fancy portfolio or a strong pipeline or could clearly figure out how to turn my experience into a clear niche of work services. I just knew how to help people, and I needed to make some money. So I started just by telling everyone I knew. Annoyingly. Over and over again. Texting. Phone calls. Emails. Just straight spamming. Linkedin surprisingly got me nowhere. 30k impressions on my Linkedin post and zero DM’s.

Eventually though, things started to come in. Small projects. Messy ones. Writing a deck. A few hour conversation with a founder. A few hours a week advising a business.

And over time, something started to shift.