So, it's been a year.

No, literally. It's been a year since I wrote a newsletter.

Was this my plan? Nope! But if life has taught me anything it's that things don't typically go according to plan.

Now that I think of it, I'm not sure that I had a plan going into this year...

When I started Evolve Consulting, I told myself I'd run a year-long experiment. My big question was: Is this consulting business feasible? Short answer is yes! I set conservative revenue targets for this last year and surpassed them, but gained so much more than just revenue. So excited for the next phase over the next year+.

So, what's been going on?

I've been lucky enough to work with some amazing companies, founders, and coaching clients in this first year. Every company I worked with was bootstrapped, pre-seed, or seed stage. When I said I wanted to go into the chaos of early stage tech startups, I really went for it. If any of you know me decently well, you know when I commit to something I go all in. So here's a quick recap of how this last year looked:

1. I worked with 8 different companies, from women's health to fintech to mental wellness, in various capacities including fractional behavioral design leadership, tightly scoped projects (yeah, scope creep is real), and strategic advising.
2. I ran the inaugural Ignite Bootcamp to help academics and clinicians make the jump to industry.
3. I coached 7 one-on-one clients in their career transitions.
4. I wrote my first check as an LP (limited partner) with a new venture fund focused on promoting women's health and wealth.
5. I exercise 4-5 times a week with my amazing bootcamp community and received a new nickname, Beast. 💪
6. I now pick up my kids from school everyday, hang with them as they unwind from the day, and shuttle them to all of their activities. (Shhh.. don't tell my boss, but I don't usually work at night either...)
7. I am more in control of my life and experience much less anxiety. The driver's seat suits me ;)

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How did the experiment turn out?

Evolve Consulting is feasible. WOOOO! Based on what I've experienced this last year, here are 3 high-level takeaways when it comes to solo consulting:

1. Just do it. I was not one of those uber-prepared consultants who had been making plans to go out on my own for months and months. Once I knew I was going to make the jump, I just.. did it. I knew I needed to hustle when I announced my plans with Evolve if I wanted my experiment to have some good signal. After just doing it, I'm so grateful I took the plunge. I had NO idea what was in store for this past year. Looking back, I can't imagine NOT taking the plunge. Sometimes you just gotta go for it.
2. Talk to (almost) everyone and find your people. After I announced I was starting Evolve, I was lucky to get several requests for intro chats from people - mainly on LinkedIn (if you're thinking about starting consulting, here's my plug that you need to get going on LI!). Sales cycles in consulting can be long (6+ months sometimes!), so it's important people know who you are and what you do. Not only is important to make connections to grow your business, but it's important to find some camaraderie if you're going out solo. It can be really lonely, but finding people who are in similar boats can help you think about how to build your own "bench" of people who understand your solo struggles. I found this mainly through slack groups, most notably OGC (old girls club) led by Mallory Contois and WELL led by Dr. Clare Purvis.
3. Don't sell - solve problems. I had an internship in undergrad doing sales for vitamin water. I hated it.. for so many reasons. Naturally, I was nervous to go back into sales mode with consulting. After all, if you're a solo consultant, you're doing it all from sales to client work to accounting and everything in between. What I figured out over this last year was that I never really sold my services. No one likes a hard sell. Instead, I asked all.of.the.questions and tried to figure out what the prospect's problems and constraints were. In working with early-stage startups, there are many challenges and constraints, which can sometimes make the best path forward pretty clear once do you enough excavating. I've figured out that I'm a bit of an odd one - most consultants HATE selling. Like really hate it. But, I've found I love it. More to come on that soon.. (if you're a consultant and you hate selling, DM me on LinkedIn). In the meantime, think about how you can help vs how you can sell.

What's coming next?

I'll chat a bit about what went well and what really didn't go well in more detail - roses and thorns style. Not making any promises, but let's hope I get the next one out before another 365 days pass... ;)

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Keep evolving,

The Sassy Scientist 💁‍♀️

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