Mylance Consulting Community 'Ask Me Anything'

My work really focuses on identifying the issues and concerns facing founders today and presenting solutions to overcome them.

Once I have the chance to dig into their business and really understand their vision and how things are working today, I can start to map out and idealize the areas in which we can make the adjustments needed to grow. Once we have that defined, the implementation process commences.

In regards to capital specifically, we need to asses how their operations and revenue are performing today. If they're great, then it's all about getting their pitch materials in order and in front of the right people. If they are not, then we need to go back to uncover the reason.

I truly believe that the best way to change the world is through entrepreneurialism and I wanted to spend my time helping entrepreneurs bring their visions of a brighter future into fruition.

As an independent consultant, I can support founders by absorbing the work that may not be their core competency, such as operations and finances. I am essentially enabling them to focus on the work they truly love.

I am purposeful in maintaining a consistent outreach strategy to connect and network with people.

I have also started to focus some energy on increasing my digital presence which includes managing a LinkedIn content rhythm to drive more traffic to my website. I also attend trade shows with the goal of speaking to as many entrepreneurs as possible.

I found most of my clients through my network via connections. My first client was a startup. I had 1 discovery conversation with the CEO, where I identified an opportunity area and suggested a specific project that was similar to something I had done in the past. This led to follow-up conversations with 2 other members of the team, where I was able to get an understanding of what the project scope could look like.

From there, it was easy to develop and get sign-off on a proposal because I knew exactly what they needed help with. I was also able to get the client to agree with my initially proposed rate. I closed this client within 2 weeks of completing the Mylance accelerator.

I was drawn to the idea of freelance consulting because I wanted to expand my experience across different types of companies while working on interesting challenges and projects. I had only known what it was like to be a full-time employee, so I kept putting off the transition because I didn't know if I had enough experience or how to even get started.

The chance came when I was impacted by layoffs due to the pandemic. I decided it was finally time to go for it, and haven't looked back. I now realize that my doubts were mainly driven by imposter syndrome and I'm very glad I took the leap.

I'm now working with 3 clients, about 40-45 hours a week. On a monthly basis, I'm making more than I did before I started freelancing even though I'm working a similar number of hours.

My clients are great and the work is fulfilling. I'm also enjoying the flexibility of being able to choose when I work and knowing that every hour is valued because it's going toward a clear objective or deliverable.

I help my clients (both individuals and businesses) by delivering coaching and advising strategies for their growth based on: increased confidence and resilience, network extension, inspiration and knowledge-gap filling.

In some cases I work with businesses directly on executional marketing to drive revenue generation. It really adjusts with the customer target in real-time and builds off of the 17-year career I’ve had across large and small organizations.

The approach I take in my personal life with networking extends into how I accomplish it for my clients. I approach it with confidence by:

1. Showing genuine interest in reaching out
2. Knowing the worst thing anyone can say is no or decline (you never make the shots you don’t take!)
3. Offering my own network up to anyone I connect with
4. My sense of levity and humor

I started consulting as a side-hustle over 8 years ago to help out a friend who had started a homegrown marketing agency.

I’ve since moved into the full-time consulting world and started my own business.

As I’m still ramping up my efforts for consulting, I have not yet eclipsed what I was garnering in W2 roles. My goal is to get there in the coming months and average in the range of $20-30k month (or more!).

I find my clients through the strong network I have primarily; personal referrals have paid off in spades so far. I expect that to continue but also be bolstered by leveraging Mylance, LinkedIn and my personal website in tandem going into the future.