That's a Wrap

Reflecting on 2023

Hello all, 

As we approach the end of another year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on where we are as a company and how I’m feeling about our work and life in general. 

I set out this year with a troubled, unresolved feeling. I felt like we were doing great client work and contributing significantly to our client’s projects and personal career progression.

For quite some time, my guiding metric for success has been, “are my clients getting promoted?” 

We have continued to help them progress in building their careers, accomplishing big goals, and building their own professional reputations, slow and steady, organically. What was troubling me was really about the opportunity cost of time. I had some help, but not real leverage. Our internal processes - the basics of the business - did not run unless I was driving completion and detail.

My time was fragmented across running the business, operating the business, building the business, and of course, client work.  And big pieces were getting ignored, like revenue growth, consultant engagement and recruiting. 

But most troubling was that I was feeling my creativity being stifled.  In the past, I had been a creative person. But, between trying to create and raise a small child, direct several small businesses, and client work that focuses on strategic planning, the creative piece of me would pop up and find nowhere to live in the day-to-day. I actually think it was starting to cause physical distress, showing up in lack of sleep, low motivation for exercise, and some overly aggressive bouts of dessert eating. 

So, I did what I do, and I set a goal.

My goal was pretty general: “I want to figure out what the hell to do about all these ideas,” I said.  That was it.  Just figure out where they should live so I could tuck them all in bed each night and get my own rest. 

And without any real plan, I started down the path to find a place for this energy. 

First, I assessed problems.  I hated - and thus ignored - our original consultant content platform, which was cumbersome and expensive. I admitted I made mistakes in hiring and did not have the structural support to extract and produce the content. I also admitted that I needed to address the underlying causes of physical stress. 

And, I assessed what I was NOT willing to change. I am not willing to compromise on early mornings or school pickups. I am absolutely not willing to give up my autonomy. And, I’m also not willing to ask for funding and thus put that autonomy at risk. 

Then I started randomly doing things. In hindsight, they seem pretty linear. First, I restructured my support team. I hired Regina to build an internal operation (we call it Mission Control) that would free up at least 10 hours a week of my time.

Then, I shut down the platform we had built and essentially threw it away. There’s an old consulting saying that says, “Sometimes, you have to just tear up the deck and start over.” 

So that’s what I did.

Meanwhile, I started to get scientifically nerdy about the topic more goopily known as “wellness.” I don’t know if I coined the term or not, but I started thinking of myself as a Cognitive Athlete. 

I did a lot reading about e-sports teams and their needs: how they train, recover, and feed themselves.

I developed a perspective that being an executive today (especially those of us who are closeted introverts) requires a similar training approach to professional gamers.  To excel you must have extreme amounts of focus, mental agility, the ability to task switch, and the ability to multitask deep work with people throwing comments at you.

(I also need dermatology 🙂)

I landed on a protocol for improvement that would require me to make a few changes: 

1. Prioritize mental recovery.

2. Physically train to support mental recovery.

3. Relationships & support from the right sources.

4. Highly, highly structured time management.

5. Balanced nutrition - emphasis on balance.

I won’t bore you with the litany of things I tried. And I am FAR, far, from being perfect on any of these. But, over the course of the last 10 months I have found a few nuggets of success. 

1. Boundaries on my time.  I’ve always been good at time management, but I could not control the ridiculous number of requests I get for time.  So, I put in place as my gatekeeper. Even Harshal has to go through her during a workday. 

2. I remade friends, old and new. A friend from b school and I became biweekly “pacing partners” as she built her business, and I built mine. Every other week on Thursday, we get pedicures during lunch. The support and structure we’ve given to each other has been amazing, and carving out the time has taken us from random texts between barfing kids and conference calls to a real support structure. I also built an amazing friendship with another female tech executive who is a fellow frustrated creative, unabashed profit lover and knows the same random designers I follow.  I spent time reaching out to new people - this is not a comfort area for me - and started moving acquaintances to friends.  I joined Chief just to connect with other women like me. I’m sure my husband will read this, but it’s been great to have a bit of my own life again. 

3. The Oura ring, Peloton, and classical Pilates. Ok, here’s where I go woo-woo on you. But here’s the thing. The data from the Oura ring appeals to the biology nerd I truly am. The Peloton gives me the same feeling I had playing basketball as an eighth grader. And Pilates has fixed my back and does not fill me with dread.  These three little changes have taken me from no movement to sleep and four workouts a week - and the result is MENTAL CLARITY. 

As this mental clarity grew and my energy levels came back, Regina and I started to get the business in order.  I made a call to invest in a delegate for my consulting work, and we hired Sarah. Sarah has amplified our success with our client team and has given me back at least 15 hours a week (that’s 25 net giveback).

We brought in Dana, who has consulted with us in the past, to rebuild the consultant platform and establish a newsletter, The 2×2.

We brought in new consultants and have tested the fractional model with some new account expansion, and I’ve locked in on a group that seems to get it and WANT it.

WE are writing some awesome business breakdowns and giving my ideas a healthy and productive place to live. 

So, how do I assess my performance against the goal? I’d say pretty well. I feel like we built the foundation of the business apart from me and are going into 2024 on a platform that can support growth. There are clear but hard choices ahead of us - how to drive consultant revenue growth? How do I spend my time between growth and client work? How do we monetize and actually become a go-to consulting platform for indie management consultants? And, how do the choices I make not compromise my non-negotiables? 

I don’t know yet.  But we’ll get there. 

Have a wonderful holiday and Merry Christmas (my favorite holiday), 

Lauren

Wassup 2024

From all of us at TheConsult.co, we can’t wait to grow together in 2024! Here’s how we’re planning to ring in the new year.

Lauren’s Patel-a-Palooza

Setting the bar at an all-time high, forty one Patel cousins are descending on Austin in sequins and feathers. This 5-day long paartee even includes a dosa guy and a Bhangra DJ. You don’t have holiday plans already? You can come, but the requirement for an invite is that you bring a cousin. 

Regina’s Family Fun Night

Dressed in their best, Regina’s extended family is getting together for a night of karaoke and kids. Complete with food and fireworks in the street, this lively bunch will end the night with a coordinated countdown to ring in the new year. 

Dana’s Starlit Reflection

For Dana and her husband, It’s all about that quiet, reflective vibe. They will sneak off to their secret star-gazing spot, armed with the fluffiest blanket and the most sinfully delicious hot cocoa. There, under the vast, twinkling canvas of the universe, they will let their minds wander into galaxies of possibilities for the upcoming year. Highly recommend it for interstellar inspiration! 

Now, let’s hear about your traditions…

Remember, the path to success is paved with continuous learning and embracing fresh perspectives. So let's stay connected, share ideas, and elevate your consulting business.

TheConsult.co brought to you by Keenan Reid Strategies

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