Episode 112

E112: Becoming Your Next-Level Self: Smarter Growth Strategies for Consultants with Jessica Fearnley

What if scaling your consulting business wasn’t just about making more money—but about making it work for you?

In this episode of Scaling Expertise, I am joined by Jessica Fearnley, a business consultant and expert in sustainable growth strategies, to discuss the real challenges consultants face when scaling their businesses. Too often, we chase bigger revenue numbers, assuming that more clients and higher earnings automatically lead to success. But Jessica reveals why that’s not always the case—and how growth can actually hurt your business if it’s not intentional. We dive into why traditional scaling strategies don’t always work for consultants, the common pitfalls of hiring and expansion, and the mindset shifts necessary for building a profitable, sustainable, and enjoyable consulting business.

If you're a consultant looking to scale without burning out, this conversation is for you.

Key Takeaways:

  • Bigger revenue ≠ bigger success. Many consultants increase their revenue but see little to no profit growth. Jessica explains why revenue isn’t the ultimate measure of success.
  • The hidden costs of scaling. More clients, more staff, and bigger contracts can sound great—but they often come with increased stress and complexity.
  • Hiring isn’t always the answer. Scaling doesn’t mean immediately building a huge team. Jessica shares how to assess whether hiring is the right move for your business.
  • Intentional growth is key. Sustainable success comes from a business model that supports your goals, lifestyle, and energy—not just higher numbers.
  • Mindset shifts for scaling success. Jessica discusses the biggest mindset blocks consultants face when trying to grow—and how to overcome them.

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

🔗 Visit her website at jessicafearnley.com

🔗 Avail her book - Too Much: How To Thrive Being More Instead of Settling for Less

More About Our Guest:

Jessica Fearnley is a business coach who helps women build seven figure consulting firms. She specializes in the transition from six to seven figures in turnover, and is an advocate for earning more by working less. Jessica has bachelor's and masters degrees from Nottingham University, and a career background in project management, business planning and business development in both the public and private sector. In December 2019 she was named as one of the LinkedIn Top Voices for Entrepreneurship and Small Business, and is passionate about closing the gender pay gap for women in consulting.

Connect with Jessica Fearnley:

Connect with Erin to learn how to Turn Your Expertise into Scalable Recurring Revenue.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/

Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos

Music credit: Paphos by Mountaineer

A Team Dklutr production

Transcript
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Hello everyone.

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Welcome to this week's episode of

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Scaling Expertise, where we talk to

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experts who have scaled their expertise

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and can help you scale your expertise.

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I am very excited about this week's

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guest, Jessica firmly welcome Jessica.

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Thank you Erin.

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a big fan, longtime fan of Jessica.

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the last time we were trying to decide

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what the last time we, were on the podcast

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together and we think it was three years

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ago, but it could have been two years ago.

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But in any case, lots of exciting

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things have been happening in

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Jessica's life in business since

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then, which we will get into.

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But before we dive in, Jessica, will

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you introduce yourself to the audience?

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Yeah, sure.

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Well, it's wonderful to be here.

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I am Jessica Fernley.

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I am a business coach for women

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consultants looking to go from

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six figures to seven figures.

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I live in the X industrial

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city of Sheffield in the uk.

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but 90 to 95% of my clients

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are actually in the SA.

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so yeah, I have been coaching for 10

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years before I set up my business.

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I. Helped grow an occupational psychology,

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which is in the human resources area.

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if you dunno what that means.

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Mm-hmm.

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But an occupational psychology

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startup, we grew it from six to seven

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figures and then the company was sold.

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So, that was a very

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exciting, exhausting chapter.

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funnily enough, I live in the

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same city now as someone who

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used to be one of my colleagues.

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we worked together probably 2011, 2012.

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I bumped into her last week in the

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woods, the, and we were like, oh my gosh.

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It wasn't in the woods.

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In the woods.

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It's the thing that we do.

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Like, where I live is

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a very outdoorsy place.

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we all do our outdoor walking.

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and it was so funny 'cause I've

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lived here for eight years and

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it's the first time that we've

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actually bumped into each other.

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But we were literally saying

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like, oh my God, wasn't that.

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At the most intense time, do you

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remember how stressed we all were?

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Say.

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I think very much, that experience

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of growing the business, aggressively

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selling it, getting it ready to be sold,

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which I've always said to people is like

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selling a house but times a thousand.

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Yeah.

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Wow.

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Mm-hmm.

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it really left an imprint it made

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me feel, and I think this has

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been really foundational for the

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work that I do with my clients.

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Sure.

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Let's do it better.

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Let's make it as easy as it can be.

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we can all do these.

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Big things, but like, let's do it

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without you feeling like you've

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come to the brink of what you can

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cope with in life, in the universe.

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Mm-hmm.

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that's very much been, a key theme,

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a key priority for me in the work

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that I now do with my clients and

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have been doing for the last decade.

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That is wonderful.

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Thank you for sharing.

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And I will also say that Jessica's

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work really has been an inspiration

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for the transition that I made from

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working with big corporate clients

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to working with, female founders

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of expertise based businesses.

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I think you're probably the first

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person who I, saw right about going

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from six figures to seven figures

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and really kind of like, oh yeah.

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That, you know, and so, It has been

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wonderful to follow you and to get to know

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you over the years, so thank you for that.

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Oh, thank you.

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So, as we get started, of course, this

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is the Scaling Expertise, podcast.

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So you have talked a bit

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about your expertise, you

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know, how you, transitioned.

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I'm trying to remember if I knew

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that you were part of an exit, but.

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which is always exciting, but

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that's not what I intended

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to talk to you about today.

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Today.

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Exciting.

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Yes.

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I, I know like I'm distracted by that now

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because I'm like, wait, did I know that?

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but let's talk about, your expertise

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and how it has developed over the years.

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Yeah.

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I mean, I started my career

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in project management.

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I did everything a weird order.

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Do you know the spell me Erin?

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I worked, actually, I had a job

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working for the National Health

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Service, the NHS in the uk.

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that I did out of

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school, which is unusual.

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I stayed at school till I

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was 18, got good grades.

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couldn't quite bring

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myself to go to college.

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I applied to do English and I was just

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like, I don't know if I wanna do English.

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Mm-hmm.

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And I was in a band at the time as well.

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I was in a rock band, and my poor

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parents, so I was just kind of like,

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I don't think I'm gonna go to college.

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And they were like, what?

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So instead, I got this day job.

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And, I was really fortunate while I

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worked there because they just realized

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quite early on, I didn't know this

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about myself at the time, but they

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were like, you are something special.

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And I was like, well,

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everyone can do what I can do.

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Everyone gets these kinds of

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grades, it's not a big deal.

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Mm-hmm.

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But, um.

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They put me into like a project

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management role, before I left.

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so I did that job for three years

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and then I did apply to college

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and I went to study history.

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and I think my parents were

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like, oh, thank goodness.

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But, because I had kind of had

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that experience before studying,

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it meant that it was much easier

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to come out the other side.

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by that time I was 24, 25

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because I stayed an extra year.

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when I got to college, I loved it so much.

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I did a master's degree

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after my bachelor's and I

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was like, history is amazing.

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Yeah.

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I don't know why

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anybody leaves college.

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That's crazy to me.

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Oh my gosh.

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Yeah.

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I mean, put me in like

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a library reading room.

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I am in my element with

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the biggest stack of books.

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That was absolutely something that I

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really discovered about myself in that

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phase, but it meant that coming out of

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college, I did have that advantage of.

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Having really good degrees because

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I worked really hard 'cause

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I really wanted to be there.

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I just didn't do it, because

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I had to or because that's

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what everyone else was doing.

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I went and worked hard because

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I loved it and it was all, it

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was very passion-based for me.

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but yeah, I had this project management

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experience, so I went into an

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educational organization based in London.

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We had a wonderful, office on

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the North Bank of the Thames.

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so the view, you know, we always

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used to say like, if we ever get

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sick of this view, then because

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we need to do something different.

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Because you could see all of the

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sites of London through the windows.

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But in that role, I was doing kind

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of business planning and business

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development and, we had about 60

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million pounds in government funding.

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And we, knew that the government was

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gonna change at the next election.

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And as it happened, we lost

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all of our funding overnight.

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So my our job was to go around

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and make each part of the

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business self-funding, which.

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Lines up perfectly, you

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know, with what I now do.

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And I really loved that

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about the role actually.

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I found that a really fun thing to do.

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Mm-hmm.

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Wow, that is so interesting.

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I wanna go back to something that

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you said that you kind of glossed

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over that you're in a rock band.

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For those of you who aren't

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watching this on video, Jessica's

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the most beautiful purple hair,

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and I know you're a singer, right?

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Because I think I've seen you, I've seen

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you've done release videos, you have a.

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YouTube channel with your videos, right?

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I do, yeah.

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It's very small, but yes.

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So don't forget to have, be a well-rounded

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business person and have that fun.

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And then the other thing was just this,

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this just struck me as like saying

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that you would study English, which

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as an American, like when we think of

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studying English, it's something like.

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Elevated from the language

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that we use every day.

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Yeah.

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Versus as an English person,

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they'd be like studying like,

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I'm gonna study American.

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Like, what is that?

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Yeah.

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That would be so funny, wouldn't it?

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Well, that's the thing because we have

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a degree course called American Studies,

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and honestly, I think I would've loved.

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That course Uhhuh, but it was kind

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of, it was seen as a bit of a, like a

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Mickey Mouse, kind of like silly course.

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I could imagine that, think at the time I

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think I would've loved American Studies.

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but yeah, I dunno.

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Would you call it American literature?

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Because I guess it's English literature.

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That's what I'm really talking

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about.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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That is so fun.

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Alright, so, so when did you

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flip into working with this, like

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working with B2B women and your

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professional services providers?

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Like when did that.

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Which happened?

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Yeah, I think it was funny because

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I came into basically one of the, I

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think whenever you make a big change,

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like kind of quitting your day job

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or like starting a business, it's

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usually because there's some kind of

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milestone from life that sits with it.

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So for me, I stopped working at the

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startup because I had a baby and

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I had a year of maternity leave.

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I was so bored, I didn't

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know what to do with myself.

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And you know, like it's wonderful to be in

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the UK and have, semi paid Aternity leave.

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I found the transition into

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motherhood and the loss of my career

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and, I was fairly sure I was just

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gonna become a stay at-home mom.

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And then very quickly I was like,

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dude, I gotta talk about some stuff.

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I think, I think so many things,

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I gotta share these opinions.

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Like this baby doesn't talk to me.

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So, um, I started kind of.

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Thinking about what would that look like?

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And I knew I wanted

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something really flexible.

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'cause I had this baby at home

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who's just, was completely gorgeous.

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but like I really struggled to

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know what that would look like.

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And I remember talking to a friend

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about it and she was like, you

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should become a business coach.

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And I was like, okay, what is that?

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And secondly like.

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I can't just be like, oh, by the

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way, I'm a business coach, but it

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turned out that I kind of could.

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Yes.

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Like actually,

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yeah, so I started, while I

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was still on maternity leave, I

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started meeting up with, clients

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just kind of in coffee shops.

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And it was quite a few photographers

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and stuff like that in the local area.

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And in those days, my business was

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very much in the town that we lived in.

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And I realized very quickly like.

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There was a ton that I could do

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to help them make more money.

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There was a ton that I could do

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to help them work a lot less.

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probably one of the biggest things was

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like, look, you've gotta put your prices

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up because I think all of us, if we don't

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know better, we tend to go in very low.

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Yeah.

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But it was when I kind of got to

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the end of maternity leave and was

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like, right, let's do this properly.

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That I started to see myself kind

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of more as a business consultant.

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And I was like, look, I do know quite a

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lot about business because of my career.

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I know a lot about growing and

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scaling because of this work

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that I've done with the startup.

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So I think it made me kind

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of have that bigger vision.

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But then it was very interesting now

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that I look back, probably the first five

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years of my business, I was looking at

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kind of these micro businesses and kind

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of really wanting to help those kinds of.

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Women grow their little

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tiny kitchen table business.

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Mm-hmm.

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Mm-hmm.

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But what I found is that what I wanted

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to charge, they didn't really wanna pay.

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And I think a lot of us, we have

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that kind of time of being like,

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oh, what is the fit for this?

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And then one day it was like,

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oh my gosh, this is so obvious.

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It's consulting businesses.

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'cause that's what I know about.

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Mm-hmm.

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that was a really powerful.

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Breakthrough and that was kind of

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where my brand, which is still called

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Seven Figure Consultant Limited, and

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that's really where that came from.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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I went through a similar struggle about,

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what the target would be for, you know,

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having worked in corporate for, yeah.

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Number of decades and, trying to

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figure out like how to take what I

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know working with big companies to

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work with a different population.

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And then it's like, well, who

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works for these big companies?

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And it is, experts.

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and more particularly for me, with that

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interest in working like, you know,

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having more wealth in the hands of

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women, working with, the female expert

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with corporate clients and like, ah.

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But, it does take some time to sometimes

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to figure out what your niche will be, but

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yeah.

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And kind of look at the landscape and

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be like, what is the best fit for this?

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Mm-hmm.

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I find often for my clients, they're

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nearly always, ex corporate senior

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leaders who now are ready to have an

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expertise based consulting business.

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very often they're a lot more thought

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through than I was, and they can come

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into it straight away and be like.

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I do this, I'm gonna

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do it at a high level.

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but I think it's that definition of

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high level, what does it actually mean?

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Because usually even with

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really kind of professional,

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accomplished women like that.

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Mm-hmm.

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the biggest thing we need to

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work on is getting the price, to

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the right level before we start.

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And one of my things actually

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that I, almost insist on.

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Is that, you know, I say to clients

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from now on the standard thing that

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you offer is gonna be a hundred

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thousand dollars consulting contracts.

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with, you know, the simple logic for that

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is that, look, if you get 10 of those,

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you've got seven figures on 10 clients.

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Mm-hmm.

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I actually saw, an Instagram ad

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recently and it was kind of saying,

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I'll show you how to create like

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an expertise based, seven figure

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business with just 85 clients.

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And I was like.

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85 clients joking.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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It's like I, I should really, I should say

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more about the fact that you can do it on

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between two and 10 clients, because that's

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the thing, if we can get this priced

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right for a corporate audience mm-hmm.

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There's no reason why you

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should have to have 85 clients.

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Mm-hmm.

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if you can do it on

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between two and 10 mm-hmm.

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That changes the whole tenor

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of everything that you do.

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Mm-hmm.

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Absolutely.

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Well, I'm wondering what you're thinking.

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I mean, I feel like I've

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seen lately women who.

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Are leaving corporate but not by choice.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so either through downsizing

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or loss of funding, and do you have

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any, so maybe They hadn't planned it

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out because this was not their plan.

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Yeah.

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Do you have any tips for them about

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how to like kind of get started because

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at a certain age it makes more sense

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to go out on your own than to try to

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get back into the corporate world?

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Yeah.

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And, well, this is the thing I would

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say that probably that pathway has been

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common for nearly all of my clients.

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And certainly for me, talking about

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like these life milestones, that can

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mean that we do make the big change.

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The reason I left my corporate career

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was because I had really bad burnout.

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Mm-hmm.

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And, I love the job, I love the

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environment, but like That kind of high

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intensity commuter lifestyle for me at

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the time, that was just not a fit at all.

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Mm-hmm.

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and I was aware that I kind

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of had chronic health issues.

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I had really bad irritable bowel syndrome,

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but also just general exhaustion and

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mental health deterioration, around

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the time that I worked in London.

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So.

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At the point that I burnt out

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really badly, it was just like,

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I can't go back and do this.

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Like it's not gonna be

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something that works.

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Mm-hmm.

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And it's been really interesting for

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me and my business because that was

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a story that I came into business

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being like, we probably just never

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need to tell anyone about that.

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Mm-hmm.

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That won't be relevant.

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But I remember kind of maybe two or

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three years into my business, one

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day I went out on a limb and I told

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that story to my mastermind group.

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Firstly, everyone cried and said,

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that happened to me as well, I

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was like, oh my gosh, how have

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I not been telling this story?

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it is so powerful.

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So I would absolutely agree with

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you, Erin, that like whether it's

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layoffs, whether it's like being

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pushed out, whether it's chronic

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health, similar to what happened to

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me, or burnout or workplace bullying

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or just feeling like the pressure of

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corporate is just too much because.

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Actually, I think that the pressures

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of corporate life in America are on

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a totally different scale to even

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what we see in London, in the uk.

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I dunno how you guys

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do it, it's so intense.

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I think the biggest thing is finding a

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way to process what has happened to us,

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because when we are traumatized, and I

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wanna use that word carefully, but also

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intentionally like it causes us trauma.

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When we've left a career feeling pushed

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out, feeling like we weren't good

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enough, feeling like we failed, all of

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those things can have a massive impact.

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And one of the things that I've done

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in almost every client engagement that

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I've had is we need to have some kind

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of like debrief about how are you doing?

Speaker:

And like, how is this?

Speaker:

Huge event that has been very negative

Speaker:

for you and very traumatic, how is

Speaker:

that showing up in your business now?

Speaker:

what can we do to mitigate it?

Speaker:

Because we often see all of these things

Speaker:

that happen to women and that, like not

Speaker:

charging enough, not putting ourselves

Speaker:

forward, not feeling qualified, imposter

Speaker:

syndrome, all of these different things.

Speaker:

And also kind of, I think,

Speaker:

overworking business, which, as

Speaker:

entrepreneurs we can just be like,

Speaker:

oh, ha ha ha, hustle culture.

Speaker:

It's what we have to do.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

But I do think there's a significant

Speaker:

link with not feeling good enough,

Speaker:

feeling like we have to prove

Speaker:

ourselves feeling like we messed up.

Speaker:

now we've kind of got to a tone somehow

Speaker:

for what's happened to us in the sort

Speaker:

of demise of our corporate career.

Speaker:

So I think it's really important

Speaker:

for us to have to kind of.

Speaker:

Not quite face that head on, but

Speaker:

acknowledge the impact of that because we

Speaker:

are often procrastinating, not because we

Speaker:

don't have time or we can't be bothered

Speaker:

or we are lazy, we attach those labels.

Speaker:

I hear people say those things

Speaker:

all the time is reasons why

Speaker:

they're not doing stuff.

Speaker:

But I think fundamentally where there is

Speaker:

unaddressed trauma still in our bodies.

Speaker:

We might not feel that it's safe to

Speaker:

go out and get clients or put our

Speaker:

prices up or make significant changes

Speaker:

to the way that we're doing things.

Speaker:

And when we feel that lack of safety,

Speaker:

that dysregulation, I think we can

Speaker:

end up in a place where it's very

Speaker:

hard to move forward on anything.

Speaker:

So I know a big thing.

Speaker:

It's not like a quick tip, but I

Speaker:

think we need to kind of acknowledge.

Speaker:

What has it been like for you coming

Speaker:

out of that career and coming into your

Speaker:

business, and what things are there

Speaker:

that are not serving you that we can

Speaker:

start to process and move forward?

Speaker:

That's interesting.

Speaker:

You're making me think about,

Speaker:

you know, the fact that I have

Speaker:

difficulty with time boundaries.

Speaker:

'cause I have worked remotely for

Speaker:

20 years and so I always felt like I

Speaker:

needed to be so responsive in order

Speaker:

to, 'cause this is before people worked

Speaker:

remotely and that's why I wanted to, if

Speaker:

you send me something, I was, I'm here

Speaker:

sitting at my desk, sending it back.

Speaker:

And so I needed to always be.

Speaker:

Sitting here ready to

Speaker:

respond, whenever it came.

Speaker:

It's

Speaker:

like a hypervigilance almost, isn't it?

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Like, proving.

Speaker:

I am here, I'm paying attention.

Speaker:

and you can't afford to

Speaker:

sort of have people think

Speaker:

negatively of you Professionally

Speaker:

I will say when I get.

Speaker:

Email responses, auto email

Speaker:

responses from people saying,

Speaker:

I only check email once a week.

Speaker:

Or I'm like, what?

Speaker:

Like, that's all I do is check email.

Speaker:

I just, like, how do you do it?

Speaker:

Like, how do you even

Speaker:

like relax into that?

Speaker:

And then maybe that's my

Speaker:

unresolved drama right there.

Speaker:

yeah.

Speaker:

it's that kind of constant

Speaker:

need to prove ourselves.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And to be good enough, and

Speaker:

this is a huge one for women.

Speaker:

To avoid criticism

Speaker:

because so much of like.

Speaker:

The turmoil and the stress that we

Speaker:

feel in business can be around, not

Speaker:

actually things that are happening,

Speaker:

but fear of that criticism coming,

Speaker:

being thought of badly by the other

Speaker:

person, which if we stop and think

Speaker:

about it, it kicks in, doesn't it?

Speaker:

And you're like, I'm not responsible

Speaker:

for what other people think of me.

Speaker:

I can't control that.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And yet when we haven't realized that

Speaker:

we spend so much energy trying to

Speaker:

have other people not think ill of us.

Speaker:

And anticipating that hostile

Speaker:

response in all of our things.

Speaker:

You know, what if I send an

Speaker:

email and everyone hates me?

Speaker:

What if I ask for a favor and people think

Speaker:

I'm really annoying or really selfish?

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

and I think when we take the time to like

Speaker:

actually notice these thought patterns

Speaker:

that we're having, it's like, okay, no

Speaker:

one is gonna think that, but also like.

Speaker:

How much energy is going into

Speaker:

trying to have other people not do

Speaker:

something that actually we don't

Speaker:

know what they're gonna think.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And that's none of our business anyway.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

You know, some people don't believe in

Speaker:

like having, women focused businesses.

Speaker:

But I think that there are some

Speaker:

things where women, like some of

Speaker:

the things that you just mentioned,

Speaker:

being pleasers and having difficulty

Speaker:

with boundaries that are very.

Speaker:

Not exclusive to women, but

Speaker:

more prevalent in women.

Speaker:

And that there is benefit to having

Speaker:

some offers, some programs, some

Speaker:

masterminds that are female only.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Well, I think, Definitely for the client

Speaker:

base that I have, most of my clients,

Speaker:

they're sort of between 45 and 55.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And

Speaker:

a good chunk of the problems

Speaker:

can also come from hormones.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

And, you know, in that phase of life.

Speaker:

And so I think that, It's not that,

Speaker:

yeah, we ascribe everything to hormones,

Speaker:

but that is a reality, you know?

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

How people are just waking up to

Speaker:

perimenopause and being like, oh, the

Speaker:

menopause is something that affects women.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

I could have told you that like five

Speaker:

years ago, because it really does

Speaker:

start to change everything and mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Things like heightened anxiety.

Speaker:

Especially if you've not been

Speaker:

an anxious person before.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

these can have a huge impact.

Speaker:

And it's not that we throw our

Speaker:

hands up and say, oh, there's

Speaker:

nothing that can be done.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

But like, we need more tools, we need

Speaker:

more support, we need more focus so that

Speaker:

we can weather those storms that are

Speaker:

often going on outside of our business.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

So true.

Speaker:

All right, let's talk about scaling.

Speaker:

And so you of course say, you

Speaker:

know, work less and earn more.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Everyone seems to have a different

Speaker:

definition of what scale to scale means.

Speaker:

What's your definition?

Speaker:

Ooh.

Speaker:

I love that question.

Speaker:

I mean, first of all, I am starting

Speaker:

to prefer the word leverage to scale.

Speaker:

because scaling can be very.

Speaker:

I agree with you completely.

Speaker:

I think people have fixed ideas

Speaker:

about what it is and some people

Speaker:

are like, scaling, Ugh, I hate that.

Speaker:

And it's like, mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Ugh.

Speaker:

What even is it, what

Speaker:

are you talking about?

Speaker:

so for me, I like to use the word

Speaker:

leverage 'cause it's about starting

Speaker:

to produce more results than like.

Speaker:

in the hours that I have can do.

Speaker:

So, we have this way of

Speaker:

making money, don't we?

Speaker:

And often we can run this model until

Speaker:

we hit the low six figures of like,

Speaker:

I have 40 hours, therefore I shall

Speaker:

sell my 40 hours for an hourly rate.

Speaker:

But we hit that ceiling very quickly.

Speaker:

So I usually start working with clients

Speaker:

when they're in the low six figures, sort

Speaker:

of two to 300,000 per year in revenue.

Speaker:

And the reason they need my help is

Speaker:

because they're like, I'm out of hours.

Speaker:

I'm working like 50, 60 hours a week.

Speaker:

I'm exhausted.

Speaker:

I hate my life.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

A little bit.

Speaker:

Hate my business.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

And you know, it can be that meeting

Speaker:

fatigue that's the pattern that so many

Speaker:

of us have been in, in corporate of like

Speaker:

just meetings eight till six all the time.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And then you have to get your actual

Speaker:

work done somehow outside of those hours.

Speaker:

I find that people can completely

Speaker:

import that and bring it with them

Speaker:

into their business even though

Speaker:

they don't think they want to.

Speaker:

and again, it's this unconscious,

Speaker:

the things that we do.

Speaker:

Do you have to be at your desk

Speaker:

at eight or nine in the morning?

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

personally for me, because of, time zones

Speaker:

and working with American clients, I

Speaker:

start working at two in the afternoon.

Speaker:

because everyone's asleep in the morning.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

Which has been great for

Speaker:

my work-life balance.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

I think similar to what you were saying

Speaker:

with the remote working area, you

Speaker:

don't actually need to be accountable

Speaker:

for your nine to five existence.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Your clients don't actually need to know

Speaker:

where you are and what you're doing.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

As long as you are meeting

Speaker:

your obligations to them.

Speaker:

So I think the whole area of,

Speaker:

scale and leverage for me is about

Speaker:

starting to do it on our own terms.

Speaker:

And to say, do you know what, it's

Speaker:

not about the hourly rate anymore.

Speaker:

Some industries, they will always want

Speaker:

to do hourly rate and that is what it is.

Speaker:

But I think it's about saying what

Speaker:

is the end result to the client?

Speaker:

What is the value of that result to

Speaker:

your corporate client and pricing

Speaker:

your work in line with that.

Speaker:

And that's how we get to these six and

Speaker:

multi six figure consulting contracts.

Speaker:

Mm. Right.

Speaker:

I love the word leverage too.

Speaker:

the root word is lever, right?

Speaker:

Terribly true.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

and that is a tool that increases

Speaker:

force and, therefore, less

Speaker:

input to get increased output.

Speaker:

and so I like it's very powerful.

Speaker:

I do like that one as well.

Speaker:

thank you for that.

Speaker:

And so when you are, working with

Speaker:

your clients on, deciding how

Speaker:

to leverage their businesses.

Speaker:

what is the first step in that?

Speaker:

the most important thing is understanding.

Speaker:

I. What do you actually want and why?

Speaker:

I'm not one of those people

Speaker:

who's like, your big why.

Speaker:

Your why is the most important thing.

Speaker:

I never say, you know, people

Speaker:

are like, my why is my children.

Speaker:

And it's like, I love my kids.

Speaker:

I am my own.

Speaker:

Why?

Speaker:

of course my children are so

Speaker:

important to me and a lot of what

Speaker:

I'm doing in my business changes

Speaker:

life for them as they experience it.

Speaker:

But I think kind of

Speaker:

feeling that connection.

Speaker:

if you want seven figures, 'cause

Speaker:

you want like your parents who

Speaker:

never approved of you growing up,

Speaker:

if you want them to be impressed.

Speaker:

That might not be a great reason to do it.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Because it can be a very

Speaker:

hollow thing to achieve.

Speaker:

And often with these family patterns,

Speaker:

like you could go to the moon and

Speaker:

they still wouldn't be impressed.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Because that is the pattern

Speaker:

and learning kind of what we

Speaker:

do isn't gonna change that.

Speaker:

it's something that belongs to

Speaker:

that family member and they're the

Speaker:

one who can do something about it.

Speaker:

But I think kind of understanding, like.

Speaker:

Why does this goal matter?

Speaker:

Why does this goal feel aligned?

Speaker:

Because once we find the alignment, that

Speaker:

creates a lot of energy, that creates

Speaker:

the energy, that then gives us the

Speaker:

inspiration to be like, okay, intuitively.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

What is the quick path to achieving this?

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Because something I notice in my work

Speaker:

with women is that, and I've done this

Speaker:

myself in my own business, sometimes

Speaker:

there is like a path I could have taken.

Speaker:

That maybe would've got me

Speaker:

to my goal in six months.

Speaker:

Instead I took a three year detour.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And you know, there's so often,

Speaker:

like there's a really clear thing

Speaker:

that we could do and this is where

Speaker:

the safe unsafe thing comes in.

Speaker:

'cause it's like, oh,

Speaker:

I don't wanna do that.

Speaker:

And so we make up all this nonsense with

Speaker:

ourselves about like, oh, I couldn't

Speaker:

possibly do that 'cause my children.

Speaker:

Need me to read to them after school.

Speaker:

And you know, we make up

Speaker:

all these justifications.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

Which, you know, sometimes kids do

Speaker:

need those things and sometimes there

Speaker:

are seasons where we're more needed

Speaker:

at home or more needed to look after

Speaker:

parents or whatever it might be.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

But it's the thing that I see is

Speaker:

like when that is a story that we're

Speaker:

telling ourselves, so we don't have

Speaker:

to face the fear of just taking a

Speaker:

simple step forward into what we want.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And

Speaker:

you know, I think linked to that, there

Speaker:

can be so many things where it's like.

Speaker:

I don't actually believe

Speaker:

I can have what I want.

Speaker:

So of course it feels like the only

Speaker:

thing I can do is take the long way.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Because we're grappling with this

Speaker:

thing the whole time of like,

Speaker:

can it really be that simple?

Speaker:

Can I make money?

Speaker:

Can I outearn my old career?

Speaker:

Can I outearn my husband?

Speaker:

Can I outearn everyone on my street?

Speaker:

You know?

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

I think this feeling of plausibility is so

Speaker:

important because if we haven't understood

Speaker:

that what we want is very normal, that's

Speaker:

a really big thing that I want to say to.

Speaker:

All women everywhere.

Speaker:

To be honest, like seven figures

Speaker:

is not a big deal in business.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Most small businesses in your town or

Speaker:

in your city, they'll be doing like

Speaker:

2 million, 5 million, 10 million.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

It's a really normal thing and we

Speaker:

shouldn't feel like it's this weird

Speaker:

thing, but I do think that online,

Speaker:

in lots of women entrepreneur groups,

Speaker:

it can be a bit of a taboo thing.

Speaker:

And I've created quite a lot of awkward

Speaker:

moments when they kind of say, oh, my,

Speaker:

my brand is seven figure consultant.

Speaker:

'cause people are like, what?

Speaker:

You can't say that.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And some people get very upset about

Speaker:

seven figures because of all this pressure

Speaker:

and all this societal programming that

Speaker:

women go through of like, actually

Speaker:

we should be the sacrificing ones.

Speaker:

We can't have what we want.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

So I think there's always a lot there.

Speaker:

And when we can start to deal with

Speaker:

some of these deep held issues.

Speaker:

Actually the strategy is far less

Speaker:

important and I do a lot of strategy

Speaker:

work with my clients, but I think

Speaker:

over and above the biggest thing is,

Speaker:

making sure that they can actually

Speaker:

cope with allowing themselves Yes.

Speaker:

To want what they want.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And also receive what they want.

Speaker:

those are often the biggest blocks.

Speaker:

Yeah, I agree.

Speaker:

Mindset.

Speaker:

I think we undersell the

Speaker:

importance of mindset that Yeah.

Speaker:

And there's so many other things that,

Speaker:

other than just the numbers that can

Speaker:

get in the way of reaching our goals.

Speaker:

So let's talk about intellectual property.

Speaker:

My favorite topic.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

And so you are, you know, someone

Speaker:

who's very generous with your.

Speaker:

Knowledge, obviously podcasting for

Speaker:

many years, LinkedIn, top Voice.

Speaker:

and I get too many requests frankly,

Speaker:

about how do I gate, keep my ip?

Speaker:

What are your thoughts about that?

Speaker:

Yeah, I think in today's world,

Speaker:

especially with the advent of ai,

Speaker:

I think everything is shifting

Speaker:

again at the moment and, Issues.

Speaker:

Like, are we happy for clients to put our

Speaker:

call recordings into chat GPT and create

Speaker:

summaries of things because that, could

Speaker:

argue that is actually giving away our

Speaker:

IP in ways that we're not happy about.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

But can we stop people

Speaker:

from doing that And mm-hmm.

Speaker:

I had the experience when I was

Speaker:

researching my book of, being

Speaker:

like, oh, it'd be really good to

Speaker:

understand kind of what the landscape

Speaker:

is around some of these ideas.

Speaker:

I typed it in and.

Speaker:

AI pulled up one of my LinkedIn

Speaker:

articles as like the leading

Speaker:

source, and I was like, oh.

Speaker:

That's weird and a compliment and

Speaker:

a bit

Speaker:

scary.

Speaker:

That's interesting.

Speaker:

Considering there's billions of Yeah.

Speaker:

That is very interesting.

Speaker:

I'm always looking of those examples

Speaker:

of that happening, by the way.

Speaker:

Well,

Speaker:

yeah.

Speaker:

I think one of those moments where

Speaker:

you're like, oh, apparently I

Speaker:

am the authority on this topic.

Speaker:

Great.

Speaker:

But, I think that's the thing.

Speaker:

So what I would say is that IP, as

Speaker:

we have come to know it, and I bet

Speaker:

you have a ton of interesting insight

Speaker:

on this, Erin, with your kind of.

Speaker:

Legal expertise, but

Speaker:

also your focus on ai?

Speaker:

I think that AI is changing

Speaker:

the landscape in this area.

Speaker:

I don't think that we need

Speaker:

to fear it particularly.

Speaker:

one of the big things I've noticed

Speaker:

that AI can be in incredibly wrong.

Speaker:

I had the experience recently

Speaker:

of, was trying to remember a book

Speaker:

that I'd read like 30 years ago.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

And it was a novel and

Speaker:

I was saying to AI like.

Speaker:

Is there a novel, right?

Speaker:

The characters are called this and

Speaker:

this, and this kind of happens.

Speaker:

What is that book called?

Speaker:

And it created the most crazy stuff.

Speaker:

And during the process we maybe

Speaker:

had four rounds of back and forth.

Speaker:

And it suggested different books.

Speaker:

And I was like, I don't think it's that.

Speaker:

It actually helped me to remember

Speaker:

what the book was called.

Speaker:

And I was like, it's

Speaker:

this book by this person.

Speaker:

And it said, oh, of course, I'm sorry.

Speaker:

I just got carried away.

Speaker:

And I was like, you got

Speaker:

carried away being unfactual.

Speaker:

That's really interesting.

Speaker:

I think it's fascinating for all

Speaker:

of us Being in this wild west phase

Speaker:

where we're testing these things.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

We're not really sure what the risks are.

Speaker:

I have always found, I actually

Speaker:

said this to a client the other day,

Speaker:

like, it's almost like there's this

Speaker:

iceberg model that we can think about.

Speaker:

So.

Speaker:

There's the sea level, the ice

Speaker:

that's sticking out over the top.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

That is the stuff that you

Speaker:

talk about without abandon.

Speaker:

That's the stuff that you don't

Speaker:

gate keep, you are happy to say

Speaker:

all kinds of stuff about it.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Loads of things can fit in that category.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

But then there's this other

Speaker:

category, which is below the line.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

I do think it's interesting with the kind

Speaker:

of coaching calls on AI thing because is

Speaker:

that taking, the content of our coaching

Speaker:

calls, which I would consider to be

Speaker:

below the line of what I share publicly.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

Um, because however much I say on my

Speaker:

podcast, on other people's podcasts and

Speaker:

my written content, There is so much

Speaker:

more that I say kind of behind closed

Speaker:

doors with clients when we're working

Speaker:

specifically on their particular business.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

I've always seen it that way.

Speaker:

There are things that we can

Speaker:

say very openly that we can just

Speaker:

give and give and give from this

Speaker:

iceberg above the waterline.

Speaker:

category, but then there's also a

Speaker:

massive expanse of it underneath

Speaker:

the surface, which, mm-hmm.

Speaker:

That's the stuff that I'd be more

Speaker:

cautious about teaching, on a public

Speaker:

forum, especially now that I know

Speaker:

that my article that I just happened

Speaker:

to write myself and put on LinkedIn.

Speaker:

That is now being used as a

Speaker:

source material for a particular

Speaker:

topic or something like that.

Speaker:

And no one has come to me and

Speaker:

said, oh, hey, could you give

Speaker:

your permission for us to do that?

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

I guess you could argue that the terms

Speaker:

and conditions of, certain platforms,

Speaker:

might make it clear that they're

Speaker:

going to do that, but there's not

Speaker:

this permission in the way that there

Speaker:

would be if I'd written it in a book

Speaker:

instead of on the internet, for example.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

You said a lot, I almost wanna address

Speaker:

everything you said there, but wait, but

Speaker:

I'll say this, when you are, recording

Speaker:

a client call, and it will depend

Speaker:

on which version of AI you're using.

Speaker:

If it's odd or for instance, they do tell

Speaker:

you that they use that as training data

Speaker:

versus if you're using Fathom, they say,

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no, we do not use it for training data.

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So it is important to understand

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the terms of use for whichever

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platform you're using.

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and the fact that, I don't know if

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it was chat, GBT or which one, I

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think you said it was chat GBT that

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kicked out your LinkedIn article.

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Was it chat?

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it was the Google one.

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Oh, Claude.

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Claude, Gemini, maybe.

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Gemini.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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that does not make it public domain.

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It's still your.

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Copywriting material.

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So you did not lose any rights

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in That's reassured house.

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So Yeah, I could use it.

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They still need your permission to use it.

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I'm curious, when we get off,

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I'm gonna get your, prompt

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that you use and see if I can.

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duplicate your res, your, result.

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cause I like that example.

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Yeah.

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As one to use.

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So,

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I mean, it was a wonderful compliment.

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I was like, oh, wow.

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Like,

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thank you for the authority boost

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that that is the highest, authority

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considering all the billions of data

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points they have to choose from.

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They're like, Jessica's

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got exactly the thing.

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so speaking of intellectual property,

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I know you have something very exciting

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happening in your business right now.

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Can you tell us about it?

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Yeah.

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I will hold it up for the people

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watching the video version.

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My first book just came out.

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Yay.

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Congratulations.

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That is fantastic.

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Thank you.

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so the book is called too much.

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it's written for women consultants

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and entrepreneurs who have

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that kind of spark of like.

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I would like to go really

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big with my business.

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I would like to create

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a seven figure business.

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and this is something that I've really

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come across in the years that I've

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been speaking to women entrepreneurs.

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And particularly women consultants.

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quite often we have felt like too much

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our entire lives and there's been quite

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a lot of memes over the last few years.

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You know, if I'm too much for you, you're

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welcome to go find less, you know, all

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that kind like slightly sassy thing.

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But it really lodged in my

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brain as just being a real kind

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of theme for me and my life.

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But also when I spoke to my

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clients about it, they were like,

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oh my gosh, I am so too much.

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And there's a complete kind of.

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Excavation really of what that means

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in the book of like, it comes through

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giftedness actually, and it's a good

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thing and it can come through with

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a feeling of are we special because

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we're too much and we're gifted?

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Or are we kind of stigmatized,

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slightly shunned by our peers

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at school and even at work.

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are we the one who always

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kind of gets picked for stuff?

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Like it can be seen, like

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it can be annoying, can't?

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Mm-hmm.

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When there's someone at work and

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they just like, whatever they do

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just seems to turn to gold and

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they get all the opportunities.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so it's this weird thing of

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like, oh my gosh, I'm so lucky to.

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Be gifted in the way that I am.

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I think a lot of women who end up

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being consultants, we are the ones

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who we've got that ability to just

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look at something and be like, the

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problems are here, here, and here, and

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this is what you need to do about it.

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But if we don't hold it correctly,

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if we feel like we are to blame

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for that, we want to make ourselves

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smaller, we are kind of having

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that push pull experience of like.

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Want a big life, I want a big

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business, but I'm also too scared to

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sort of be accused of being too much.

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And it links back to what I was saying

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before about kind of anticipating

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that hostile response from the world.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, so the book is really kind

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of talking through that, but gets

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really practical about like, how

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can you hold a big business vision?

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How can you make sure that you are

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pushing towards that consistently,

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even when you're getting the pushback

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internally from your inner critic?

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Mm-hmm.

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Sometimes we're getting the pushback,

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from the world, from our families,

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from people who just don't get

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it and are quite triggered by

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us wanting to do these things.

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But the book also talks about, our

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experiences of trauma and how that can.

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Show up in business and why we

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need to do that work in order to

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be able to hold space for the big

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vision and the big version and

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turn it into reality ultimately.

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Fantastic.

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Well, wonderful.

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very valuable for everyone.

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I will put a link in the show notes

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to selling it on all the places

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you can get it in all the places?

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Yeah, we are selling on Amazon.

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Okay.

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But we have a special link

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we can share with you, Erin.

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It means that, anyone from around

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the world can press on it and

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it takes you to your Amazon.

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Rather than like the UK one or

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the USA one, it means you can be

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geographically matched to your region.

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Fantastic.

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We will add that.

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Thank you Jessica.

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It has been such a delight to have

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you back on and to catch up with

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you and, everyone please connect.

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Well we can.

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I know you're on LinkedIn.

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Where else we can people

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find you, Jessica?

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Yeah, I've been on

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LinkedIn for a long time.

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I love it on there.

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I'm newly on Instagram.

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my handle is at seven figure

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Consultant and I've managed

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to get it all in like words.

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I was like, yes.

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Oh, that's so good.

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So yeah, do come and find me.

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on Instagram, I do daily content on both

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platforms designed to just be inspiration

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for women who are going through trauma,

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trying to build a seven figure business.

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yeah, come and find me on those platforms.

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I would love to connect with you.

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Excellent.

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Well, thank you so much and

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I hope we do it again soon.

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Thank

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you.

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Scaling Expertise
Scaling Expertise
Strategies for Exceptional Leaders Driving Sustainable Growth

About your host

Profile picture for Erin Austin

Erin Austin

Meet Erin Austin, a Harvard Law alum with over 25 years of copyright and contracts experience. As the go-to advisor for professionals with corporate clients, Erin empowers entrepreneurs to be their own advocates, standing out for her commitment to transforming expertise into empires through the creation, protection and leveraging of intellectual property assets. Explore her blend of legal expertise and entrepreneurial insight on ThinkBeyondIP.com and the "Hourly to Exit" podcast. Off the clock, you'll find Erin in the great outdoors or connecting with business coaches to elevate 6-figure consultants into 7-figure powerhouses.