Reclaim Your Career Power With Consulting

When Rachel’s not teaching working moms or listening to an infinite soundtrack of podcasts, she’s hanging out together with her 8 and 5 year old daughtersâ€"who rock her world. When she told her older daughter, Jane, that she was a coachâ€"explaining that different working mothers tell her their hopes and desires and she or he helps them make their dreams come true, Jane looked her lifeless within the eyes and stated, “Mom, that’s not a job.” Since then, Jane has learned that ladies and mothers can run their very own profitable businesses and that individuals can change their careersâ€"even at forty (which to Jane could be very, very old)! Rachel is most herself when she’s connecting people to one another, to issues, to whatever they may need and in consequenceâ€"she is the Kevin Bacon of her community. Her associates affectionately call this phenomenon, “The Rachel Garrett Explosion.” Rachel lives with her husband and daughters in Park Slope, Brooklyn and is a proud lifelong New Yorker. Reclaim Your Career Power With Consulting My first experience consulting in my profession was again in 2005 throughout what I've affectionately named, “The Summer of Rachel.” I was part of a giant downsizing at my firm, so I was about to enjoy three months of severance that fell squarely in the summer months before my September wedding (I knowâ€"this was quite a coup). At the identical time, the new leadership on the firm that laid me off wanted my expertise to drag off a website refresh. They employed me back as a marketing consultant to guide the project, and I negotiated a schedule that was in synch with wedding planning, interviewing for a brand new position, and enjoying every little thing The Summer of Rachel had to supply (which was largely tooling around my neighborhood in pink pumas and sundresses). As someone who put in significant hours throughout my profession to that time (most of them on-site), it was fairly a moment to learn I may work in the office three days per week, name a aggressive hourly fee, and pr oceed to make a significant influence on the businessâ€"delivering high quality work. I breathed in freedom, management, and gratitude for an in-demand expertise I cultivated over years of onerous work. Throughout that summer time, I felt really alive in my profession. While severance plus consulting rate had something to do with thatâ€"it wasn’t every little thing. I LOVED having agency over my selections, my schedule, and my priorities. That feeling prompted me to work even tougher and extra efficiently during my work hours AND get more carried out in my personal life. There have been no idle hours for the sake of face time and that helped me realize my personal fashion of integrating life and work for optimum efficiency. While I did transfer on to another full-time function after that summer season, I was sure I can be again to consulting life again in my profession when the time was proper. This experiment was proof that it was a risk for me, giving me the flexibility and mana gement needed if priorities shifted yet again. And that is simply how it occurred. When my older daughter was 6 months old, I left my full-time role and consulted for the subsequent eight years. I flexed between three and 4 days every week throughout those years, led a division, built a social media presence and a number of other premium digital experiences, and most significantly, developed relationships that make me past pleased with what I completed. There were instances within the first few years I felt I put my career on maintain or I was envious of friends who had what I typically known as, “The Big Job.” But by some means I knew, this was the best factor for me at the time. I felt like I could achieve both work and householdâ€"and make a great living in less time. I see a rising number of girls in my teaching practice who're on the consulting path as a method to stand by their career non-negotiables which are often things like freedom, management, flexibility, autonomy, c reativity, or authenticity. And the pattern with my purchasers matches up with what’s taking place across the country. According to projections in the Freelancing in America Survey, launched by the Freelancers Union and the freelance platform Upwork, “50.9% of the U.S. population will be freelancing by 2027 if a present uptick in freelancing continues at its current tempo.” For those that are contemplating consulting as a attainable path, I work with them to suppose through the next: What’s your imaginative and prescient for how you want your career to look? What are your non-negotiables in your subsequent chapter? More on this in my publish, The Career Contract You Make With Yourself. What providers may you supply that exist within the intersection of your passions and strengths? What’s your monetary picture? What do you need to usher in out of your consultancy to contribute to your backside line? Bring your accountant into this conversation for steering! Who in your netw ork may be excited about these companies? Make a LONG listing of individuals to get you began. How do you're feeling about hustling and selling your services? Consulting takes a resilience and relative consolation with rejection. If selling is already a energy or it’s one thing you’re dedicated to studyingâ€"this might be an possibility for you. Where will you supply your healthcare? How can you experiment with taking up consulting projects whilst you’re still at a 9-5? This can sound daunting, however a time of experimentation with this new kind of life might be the very factor you should figure out if it’s for you. After doing your due diligence to determine if this is a viable option for you, you may resolve you will get your non-negotiables from a full-time gig. If so, I encourage you to have compassion for yourself. Be grateful that you just’ve discovered what you actually want and be open to the package in which it exhibits up. For these of you who determined to seek the advice of at one level, thought it will be momentary, and 5 or 10 years later realized this isn’t a passing curiosity or need, this is THE factor you need to do, there’s all the time time to make your consultancy extra of a factor or a business. I know this, as a result of I’ve helped a lot of you do just that! You can polish up your website, have an elevator pitch able to go, hone in in your “Why” for doing what you do, turn up the amount on your advertisingâ€"and go do the work you wish to do, on your own phrases. I'm a coach, a spouse, a life-long Joni Mitchell fan, and a people connector, but by far the job I’m most proud ofâ€"is being a mother to my two daughters, Jane and Roxanne. I provide Career and Leadership Coaching to women after the life-altering and thoughts-blowing milestone of turning into a mother. By partnering with women to more intently align their lives with their values, passions and strengths, I assist them really feel accomplished and assured in each career and motherhood.