1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Hi. This is Laura Vanderkam. I'm a mother of four, 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,479 Speaker 1: an author, journalist, and speaker. And this is Sarah Hart Hunger. 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 1: I'm a mother of three, practicing physician and blogger. On 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: the side, we are two working parents who love our 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: careers and our families. Welcome to best of both worlds. 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: Here we talk about how real women manage work, family, 7 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: and time for fun, from figuring out childcare to mapping 8 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: out long term career goals. We want you to get 9 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: the most out of life. Welcome to best of both worlds. 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: This is Laura. This is episode eighty one. We're going 11 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: to be talking with our guest Amy Rasdall about setting 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: up an independent consulting practice. I know a lot of 13 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: women and men decide to do this at some point 14 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: in their career, moving in and out of the corporate world, 15 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: or deciding that self employment is the way to go 16 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: for more flexibility also potentially higher earning as well. So 17 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:57,639 Speaker 1: we're going to learn all sorts of stuff from her 18 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: about that. Well, this is aggression that we didn't plan. 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: But I wonder how many men are listening. Oh, well, 20 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,759 Speaker 1: that's an interesting question. If if you are a male 21 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: listener of Best of both worlds. We would love to 22 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: hear from you, so please just email us secret Laura 23 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: at Laura vandercam dot com or the shoe Box blog. 24 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: I think, right is Sarah Yees seeing that on Instagram 25 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: on Instagram. Yeah, we'd love to hear you, know, we 26 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: because best of both worlds. Could could definitely deal with 27 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: Maile issues too, but that would be fun to find out. 28 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: But yeah, no, independent consulting is I mean, I guess 29 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: sort of what I've been doing, although I don't really 30 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: think of it as that, but I've done various projects 31 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: over the years related to that. So it's interesting to 32 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: hear Amy talk about that. So Sarah has life going 33 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: for you right now? Yeah, well, we're sort of settling in. 34 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 1: I feel like these listeners are getting the play by 35 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: play of what it's like to uproot your family and 36 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: move to another town. You know, our move was not 37 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: that traumatic. We moved a whopping like forty five minutes away. 38 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: But we are gradually putting together the pieces. We just 39 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: had a nice week well pretty nice weekend. My husband's 40 00:01:57,920 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: on call, so that always makes it a little bit 41 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: more of a challenge. We spent one day here and 42 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: one day back in Miami Beach definitely still. You know, 43 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: all of our close friends and family are mostly there, 44 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 1: so we're still apt to go there when we can, 45 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: and the kids still have piano over there randomly, so 46 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: I kind of stuck in that pattern. I have not 47 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: really made that much of an effort to hang out 48 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: with people here yet, but I'm hoping that Naturally, we 49 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: do have a bunch of birthday party invites coming up, 50 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: and most of them are not drop off, so that's 51 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: automatically going to be me hanging out with a bunch 52 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: of parents. Ye make some friends that way. So you've 53 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: been making friends but not reading, apparently, I'm looking at 54 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: my notes here. We were both talking about how we 55 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: were in a bit of a reading rut. I was 56 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: such in the habit when I was pumping, and somehow, 57 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: I don't know, I just sort of lost my groove 58 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,679 Speaker 1: a little bit. I don't want to blame your a 59 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: comedy because I love him very much, and his book 60 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: Killing Commendatore is actually very beautiful and lyrical and nice, 61 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: but it kind of was putting me to sleep every night, 62 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: and it was not compelling me to pick it up 63 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 1: like in those random spare moments, So I did randomly 64 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: pick up yesterday. It was terrible weather, and Genevieve took 65 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: a great afternoon nap and Bell and Cameron were taking 66 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: turns playing Minecraft and reading, which was my way of 67 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: making it feel like it wasn't the worst thing ever. 68 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: And I was picked up Educated by Tara Westover and 69 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: let me tell you, that one much more of a 70 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: page turner. So it's a memoir, but it's fascinating. Yeah, 71 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything wrong with playing Minecraft. I 72 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: think it's one of the better ones. So even if 73 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: they were both playing Minecraft simultaneously, that would be fun 74 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: way too much. And we only have one like real 75 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: setup right now. It's on this special kids computer that 76 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: we have, So anyway, yeah, they they'd have to be 77 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: on different devices and it's a long story, but that 78 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: wasn't happening. So yeah, my husband and my boys wound 79 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: up playing the Xbox together for a long time. So 80 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: maybe you need to dive in fun. You need to 81 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: dive in there with them, Sarah, and play Minecraft with them. Yeah. Now, 82 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: I've been at a reading rut too. I was in October. 83 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: I was reading a ton of business books because I 84 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: had agreed to do this round up for the Wall 85 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: Street Journal of the best business books of the year, 86 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: and I found, you know, a couple that I really 87 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: could recommend, but I had to read a lot that 88 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: I wasn't really going to recommend in the in the 89 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: course of getting there. And that's actually why I stopped 90 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: posting roundups that on my blog too, of like what 91 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: books I'd read, because I didn't want people to know 92 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: the books I'd read. It really didn't want to recommend. 93 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: It was just, you know, anyway, long story, what a 94 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: way to make reading feel like I feel like a story. 95 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: Which I love reviewing books for them, but that particular 96 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: one was just a kind of got me into this 97 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: moment of, oh, well, there's a lot of stuff I'm 98 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: not choosing, and then I just kind of got out 99 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: of the habit. I don't know what happened. So I 100 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: haven't been reading that much for the past few months. 101 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: But you know, did you read it one? Did you 102 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: read on the plane to San Diego? I love you? 103 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: I did so I read Actually on the way there, 104 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: I read cal Newport's forthcoming book Digital Minimalism. Of course 105 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: I want to read that. Yeah, so I'll be talking 106 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: more about that in my blog and stuff, probably by 107 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: the time this has aired. I also, on the way home, 108 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: I read some novellas from an independent publishing house. My 109 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: friend Melanie, who writes the blog A Wandering Scientist If 110 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: anyone reads that, she also as a sideline where she does. 111 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: She has an independent publishing house that does novellas of 112 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: various authors, and she had a couple of really good ones. 113 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: I read one that was called The Inconvenient God, and 114 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: it only took forty five minutes to read, like a 115 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: very short novella, but the author has created this whole 116 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: world within this forty five minutes, and I was like, 117 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:33,919 Speaker 1: I could see this world, like this makes sense. I 118 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: feel like there should be more in this world. But 119 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 1: there's only forty five minutes in this world. So maybe 120 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: I'll find something else from that author in the future. 121 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: But yeah, that was great. So I've read some stuff, 122 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: but you know, I need to get back on the way. 123 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: I'm reading Station eleven. Have you read that? No, But 124 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: that's been on my list forever and I've heard it's amazing. 125 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: I think it's really well written. I'm having a little 126 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 1: trouble with it. It's a bit more of in places, 127 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: that sort of dark page turner I don't always do 128 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: well with. I had to stop bits, you know, and 129 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: then come back to it and be like, Okay, well 130 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: I'm gonna read for half an hour and then do 131 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: something else. It is dystopian, right, That's I don't always 132 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: do well with that. Either. I cannot watch actually dystopian 133 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: TV or movies. Books are a little better, Yeah, like 134 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: even Ready Player one, Like I loved it, but I 135 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:19,359 Speaker 1: it haunted me. Yeah, I'm sure I'll get through it. 136 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: I'll get through it. It's fine, but and I know 137 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: it's a really great book, so I think I'll be 138 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: glad I've read it. It's just not quite what I'm 139 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: in the mood for right now. And I know, maybe 140 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: I feel like January February bleak enough. I don't need 141 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:37,039 Speaker 1: dystopia as well. So anyway, we're getting ready to talk 142 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: with Amy Rasdal and we'll be back with that interview segment. Well, 143 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: Sarah and I are excited to welcome Amy Rasdell to 144 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: the podcast today. Amy is the owner of Billable with Baby, 145 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: which helps women set of independent consulting practices. So, Amy, 146 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,719 Speaker 1: why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself to our listeners. Hi, 147 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: I am so excited to talk to you guys today. 148 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: I've been looking forward to it. I listen to your 149 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: podcast and I can't believe that I get to have 150 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: a conversation with you two this morning. So thanks for 151 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: having me. I am Amy Rasdall and I like to 152 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: say that I liberate corporate working mothers. I left my 153 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: corporate job for consulting fifteen years ago, and I love it. 154 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: I have been able to still have a meaningful career 155 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: and not sacrifice pay or career trajectory, while still having 156 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: the flexibility to raise my kids the way I want. 157 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: And so I think for there. I know a lot 158 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: of corporate moms who do great in the corporate world 159 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: and it works fine, but for some of us it's 160 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: hard to juggle all the things when you don't have 161 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: any flexibility. So I help working mothers have the freedom 162 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: and flexibility to do that excellent. And I assume that 163 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: you had a corporate career prior to this that led 164 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: you to believe that this was the direction to go in. 165 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: I did, and I really didn't set out to be 166 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: a consultant when I started my corporate career. I think 167 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: like other working people. I thought I wanted to rule 168 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: the world. Right. I was on my career path and 169 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: I had high hopes of ruling the world. And my 170 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: original career goal was to be a startup CEO. I 171 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: grew up in Silicon Valley, so I'm a Silicon kid. 172 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: I didn't actually realize there was business outside technology in 173 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: the early days of my career. So I started as 174 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: a software engineer and then went to business school and 175 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: worked my way up and did all my cross functional 176 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: areas and all that stuff, and it was all going great. 177 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 1: And at one point we did a startup company that 178 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: didn't work, so I found myself out of work. A 179 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: consulting project fell into my lap. It was twenty hours 180 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: a week for three months, and I thought, wow, this 181 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: is great. I'll bring in some money while I'm looking 182 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: from an next job. I got a few weeks into 183 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: that and I said, cancel the job search. This is 184 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: the life. I'm now a consultant, and I think that 185 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: I love, loved completely working for myself. And the other 186 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: thing that I found career wise is that as a consultant, 187 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: I could actually have more impact on my clients because 188 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:16,439 Speaker 1: there's a phenomenon when they're paying you consulting pay. They 189 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: really listen to what you tell them, even more than 190 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: they do when you're an employee. And then I also 191 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: could choose when I work where I want, who I 192 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: work with. I had a lot more control over how 193 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: much I got paid, and I loved all of a 194 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: sudden the work was so much more interesting. Let's step 195 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: back a little bit, because I'm totally curious about the 196 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: whole consulting phenomenon, being in a completely different industry, and 197 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: I'm definitely sure there are listeners who don't have no 198 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,200 Speaker 1: idea how people get started as a consultant, what a 199 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: consultant actually does. So take us a little bit through. 200 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: Did you ever do any consulting for like a consulting 201 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: firm or you just went out on your own? And 202 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 1: how did you find that job and how did you 203 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: find the expertise to do it? Did it just no 204 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: volunteer lab So that there's a few parts of that question. 205 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 1: If I don't catch them all, then feel free to 206 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: ask them back. But I didn't, and so I'm sure 207 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: that it was probably good and bad that I hadn't 208 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: worked for a professional company. The bad part is that 209 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 1: I made a lot of mistakes. And so I'm fifteen 210 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: years in now to being a consultant, and I've made 211 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: all the mistakes, and sometimes my billable with baby. People 212 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: now that in addition to being consultant, I also help 213 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 1: people start their own consulting businesses. People will say, well, 214 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: what can I learn from you that I couldn't figure 215 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: out on my own, And I'll say, absolutely nothing. You 216 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: could figure it all out, but it's taken me fifteen years. 217 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: How long do you want to wait? Right, I can 218 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,199 Speaker 1: tell you all of these mistakes that you can skip. 219 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 1: So I made a lot of the mistakes. On the 220 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: other hand, I didn't have any of the constraints. I 221 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: figured I could just do anything. So occasionally not having 222 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: experience can be kind of a benefit it. And then 223 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: in terms of how you get started, what's interesting is 224 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: that I got started and I hear a lot of 225 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: other people get started a little bit accidentally. I wasn't 226 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: looking for a consulting job, but people heard that I 227 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: was between jobs and they thought, oh my gosh, Amy 228 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 1: could help us with this, Amy could help us with that. 229 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: So I got started accidentally, and I do a lot 230 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: of speaking now on how to start your own consulting business, 231 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: and one place that I speak every month is an 232 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,439 Speaker 1: outplacement services firm. So when you get laid off from 233 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: a big corporate job, sometimes you get outplacement services that 234 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: helps you find your next job. And I get a 235 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: lot of people in those sessions who are already doing 236 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: a little tiny bit of consulting work because it has 237 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: fallen into their lap. So what's funny about it is 238 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: that it's actually shockingly easy to get started, sometimes accidental. 239 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,679 Speaker 1: But there are pitfalls to doing that because and all 240 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: of the mistakes that I talk about today are ones 241 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: that I've made. One of the things that happens that's 242 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: so common and I made this mistake is because I 243 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: didn't think I was going to do it. I just 244 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: kind of came up with a rate and I thought, well, 245 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: I didn't do any homework or research. I thought, well, 246 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: I'm just going to do this a few months. It 247 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: doesn't really matter. And most people start out pricing too 248 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: low because they think, oh, it's just a thing I'm 249 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: going to do for a little while. So that's one 250 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,679 Speaker 1: of the pitfalls in terms of the expertise you are 251 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: going to be consulting in the field that you already 252 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: have experience in so I'm really helping people and helping 253 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: position people who already have some years of corporate experience. 254 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: It's not a great option to go as an independent 255 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: consultant when you're fresh out of college, so people are 256 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: going to be doing what they've been doing all these years. 257 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: People hire me because I've been doing what I do 258 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: for many years and they know that I'm good at it. 259 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: So it feels a little bit strange when you first 260 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: get started, and it's slightly scary, but as soon as 261 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: you jump in with the client, you realize, oh, this 262 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: is what I do. So the new part is setting 263 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: your rate and the proposals and all that stuff. But 264 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: when you once you actually dive in and start doing 265 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 1: the work, it's it is your expertise, it's what you've 266 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: already been doing. So Amy, maybe you could explain for 267 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: some of our listeners, who again aren't in this world 268 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: sure why a company might bring in a consultant, you know, 269 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 1: whether they're bringing in like a big firm like you know, 270 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 1: McKenzie or Accenture, or whether they're bringing in independent people 271 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: to do stuff. I mean, what are they looking to 272 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: solve that they can't with their own employees. Yeah, so 273 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: when they hire somebody like me, I'll start there. I 274 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,679 Speaker 1: come in to be really a superhero. So they're hiring 275 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: me because they don't have either the internal bandwidth or 276 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,719 Speaker 1: specific skills to get something done, and that's when they 277 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: bring me in. So I come in I can hit 278 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: the ground running immediately because I have all of this experience. 279 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: There's typically a very small learning curve. I can jump 280 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: in and start contributing immediately in an area when for 281 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: me personally, I most typically come in when things are 282 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: really messed up, so a little bit of maybe not 283 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: a crisis, so to speak, but when, gosh, this is 284 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: something that's really important. We need someone to come in 285 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: here and get it on the road, either from the 286 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: beginning or we tried to get it started ourselves and 287 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: it didn't go very well. Now let's get an expert 288 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: in here to really make it happen. And you're still 289 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: in the technology part of this, right, So we're talking 290 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: like a technology problem that didn't work and you need 291 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: to bring in somebody to help solve it. So more 292 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: typically now, so I moved out of technology, I went 293 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: to business school. I got general management, so I do 294 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: some technology but I do other problems too, So for myself, 295 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: I have a broad range of skills from technical to 296 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: marketing and a lot of steps in between, so I 297 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: can do a little bit of everything. I can come 298 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: in and be somewhat of a utility player and solve 299 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: a broad range of problems. But any expertise is relevant. 300 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: So you may have technical people, you may have really 301 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: crackerjack finance people, you might have marketing people. You might 302 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: have people who are really good at manufacturing. I do 303 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: a lot of work in medical devices. A lot of 304 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: my corporate experiences medical devices, but I don't only do that, 305 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: all right, So Amy, let's say that somebody has decided 306 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: either because they've they're between jobs, or you know, they've 307 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: decided that they want to just go out on their 308 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: own and try this. What. Well, first we should explain, 309 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: I mean, the reason you would the upsides of consulting 310 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: versus sort of traditional job. I assume mostly it's that 311 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: your billable rate can be higher than what you'd be 312 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: earning per hour because you're coming in for a short 313 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: term big thing. But then the upside for you is 314 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: that you're not an employee, so yes, you're working hard 315 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: while you're on the project, but you can often dictate 316 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: when to a degree you'll work, and that you can 317 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: say I'm going to take it or not take it 318 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: right exactly. Yeah. And then I also I think most 319 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: consultants can organize it so that you can do a 320 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: fair amount of your work remotely, which for anybody, I 321 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: think that not for anybody. For many people that's appealing, 322 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: and especially when you have kids, it's appealing. So for myself, 323 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: what I really want to emphasize is that it's choice. 324 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: So I often work half my work hours during the 325 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: day and half my work hours at night because I 326 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: prefer to work that way. But you don't have to. 327 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: And I never first say that I work from home. 328 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: I always say that I work remotely because professionalism is 329 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: really important. But I do work from home. I do 330 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: have a dedicated office space. I can close all the doors, 331 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: I can open or close them as I choose, and 332 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: you can choose. Some people find it hard to work 333 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: from home, so they can go get an office or 334 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: go to a co working space. So the important thing 335 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: I think is that it's choice. And so yes, billable 336 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: rate can be higher, and you can dictate how you 337 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: want to work. So there are so many upsides I 338 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,439 Speaker 1: think to doing it well. One thing that we wanted 339 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,479 Speaker 1: to make sure our listeners that we made clear is 340 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: you're not saying, oh, you can just put your baby 341 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: to bed and not have any child care and do 342 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: all your work during nap and bedtime. Let's clear the 343 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: air on that one. Yes, I mean I will put 344 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,240 Speaker 1: out there that when I first saw your company name, Amy, 345 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: I was like, I don't know that we're going to 346 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: do this, because this is Laura's particular bugaboo of people 347 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: that assume that if you are independent or freelancing or 348 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: you know, consulting whatever that you know, and you have kids, 349 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,479 Speaker 1: you can just like have them right with you and 350 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: not worry about You can have the best of both worlds, 351 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: right but you know, no need for childcare, which is 352 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: not true at all. Yeah. So I am a little 353 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: cheeky about it on my website saying, you know, and 354 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: I make flip little statements about I'll teach you how 355 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: to do a full proof conference call from Disneyland, and 356 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: I have done conference calls from Disneyland. But at the 357 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: same time, I really teach how important it is to 358 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: be professional, and like I said, I never say that 359 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: I work from home. I say that I work remotely, right, 360 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: because I don't want anyone to have the vision that 361 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 1: I'm home with babies crawling around in pink fuzzy slippers. So, yes, 362 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: I did have childcare, but I didn't need to have 363 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: for me. I didn't choose to have full time childcare. 364 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: Some of my colleagues do. I liked the idea. And 365 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: I was just listening to one of your episodes. I 366 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: know you were talking to Laurie Mindful Return. I was 367 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: just listening to that episode. So you're talking about breastfeeding. 368 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: So thank goodness, I never had to pump because I 369 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 1: was I had access to my babies, right, but I 370 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: had the nanny taking care, and she would trot the 371 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,440 Speaker 1: baby into my office, you know, and then I could 372 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,400 Speaker 1: nurse the baby and give the baby back to the nanny. 373 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: So I had some flexibility. I didn't need full time childcare. 374 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: And now that my kids are in school, either my 375 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: husband and I go on all the school field trips, right, 376 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: one of us goes in those elementary school years when 377 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 1: I think we don't quite trust the other parents to supervise. 378 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: So I can organize my schedule to do all of 379 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 1: that stuff, but no crying babies, barking dogs in the 380 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,439 Speaker 1: background of a conference calls not accepted. Yeah, and you 381 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: may have to show up places at times too. I 382 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: mean there are going to be like hours and meetings 383 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: and things like that. So it's not yeah, you know. 384 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: So we just wanted to get that out on the 385 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: table here. So and so just one more point on that. 386 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: Now that your business card no longer says Microsoft or 387 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:11,119 Speaker 1: Google or Facebook, it's more important than ever before to 388 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,239 Speaker 1: be professional. This is not the time to show up 389 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: in shorts and flip flops. I do sometimes meet with 390 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 1: clients face to face. I usually close the business face 391 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: to face, and then as time goes on in the project, 392 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,400 Speaker 1: I do more and more remotely. But I do still 393 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: meet with clients. And what I do when I do, 394 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 1: I dress in full business dress. I'm careful. Now, there 395 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: are some startup technology companies where full business dress is 396 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: jeans and boots, but I would never show up in 397 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 1: shorts and flip flopsy. You know, we're your hoodie for 398 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: Facebook's Yeah, dealing with that all right. So let's say 399 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: one of our listeners is saying that she wants to 400 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: set up an independent consulting practice. I mean, the key 401 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: thing she needs to figure out what people are willing 402 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,640 Speaker 1: to pay her for. How do you go about that process? 403 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 1: And clearly part of that strategy might be checking out 404 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: buildable with baby I'm getting feel free to add that 405 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,240 Speaker 1: in there, Okay. So the thing that I like to 406 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: talk about first is if the idea of starting a 407 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,439 Speaker 1: business is exciting to you and you're really gung ho, 408 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: that's great. If you're like most of us and the 409 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: idea of starting a business is overwhelming, especially if you've 410 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: just had a baby or you have small kids and 411 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: there's already a lot new in your world, you don't 412 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: really need to think about starting a business. You just 413 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: need to think about landing a project. So I really 414 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,920 Speaker 1: like to tell people to focus on generating revenue first, 415 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: land a project and get a check in the bank. 416 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: And when I was sitting in the shoes of where 417 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: at least some of your listeners may be, which is 418 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: a corporate job, I thought, I've never been self employed. 419 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: What's all this stuff that you have to do to 420 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,239 Speaker 1: be self employed? So I had no idea of all 421 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 1: that administrative and set up stuff was a giant mountain 422 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: or a little hill. And so I'd like to clear 423 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 1: the air first and say there's no giant mountain. There 424 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: is a checklist of administrative stuff that you need to do, 425 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: but it can be done step by step as you 426 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 1: move through the path. There's very little. You don't have 427 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:22,719 Speaker 1: to set up a corporation and a website and have 428 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: a logo and professional photos. You don't have to do 429 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: all of that stuff from day one. In California, the 430 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 1: only administrative thing you have to do is get a 431 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:37,440 Speaker 1: business license, and I suspect that it's similar in other states. 432 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: You don't have to do all that other stuff right 433 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: from the start. So I really teach land a project, 434 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,399 Speaker 1: get a check in the bank. And what's interesting is 435 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:51,919 Speaker 1: that it's surprisingly easy to get started. And the first 436 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,479 Speaker 1: thing I already mentioned this a little bit. You're going 437 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: to start out working in the field where you already 438 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,879 Speaker 1: have all of your work experience, all the things that 439 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: you may have gone to school for, all the years 440 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: that you worked with So the good thing about this 441 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: starting is that in terms of your earning potential, you're 442 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: not leaving any of this value on the table. If 443 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: you were to go and start a completely different business, 444 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,880 Speaker 1: all of that education, the years of experience, the work 445 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: that you may really love would be left behind, so 446 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,439 Speaker 1: you don't need to do that. And so what I 447 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: tell people to get started is you reach out to 448 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: the people that you've already worked with and you already 449 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: know in the past. So the first thing you do 450 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: need to do is figure out what is it that 451 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,200 Speaker 1: you're going to sell. So in the corporate business world, 452 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: it would be called your value proposition, and it really 453 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,479 Speaker 1: simply is just the goods and services that you're going 454 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: to sell. As consultants, we sell services, So what piece 455 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: of your background is really going to sell on the market. 456 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: And then you do need to do a little bit 457 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: of homework and find out your rate. But I will 458 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 1: tell you, as people are sitting out there thinking, gosh, 459 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: I have no idea, for reasons that I don't fully understand, 460 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: eighty percent of the independent consultants out there, and I'm 461 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,719 Speaker 1: talking about business people with corporate experience, which may not 462 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: be all of your listeners, but certainly is some of them. 463 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: For reasons that aren't completely clear to me, eighty percent 464 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: of those people charge one hundred and fifty dollars an hour. 465 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: It's just the number, and it's a weird thing. But 466 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 1: I've been doing this for a long time, so I see. 467 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,160 Speaker 1: I think it's really important to throw that out there 468 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,159 Speaker 1: because if some of our listeners are out there thinking, 469 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,239 Speaker 1: oh wow, that's maybe I'll get this a shot, and 470 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,879 Speaker 1: you have no idea where to start, let's try that 471 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,640 Speaker 1: we start at one hundred and fifty dollars an hour. Now, 472 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 1: I do want to also throw out the mistake that 473 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,159 Speaker 1: I see most often is people not charging enough. So 474 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: if someone is sitting out there right now thinking, gosh, 475 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: I think I'm worth three hundred dollars an hour, go 476 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: for it. I'm not saying don't charge more. I'm saying 477 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,719 Speaker 1: just so if one of my billable with Baby people 478 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: is coming back to me and saying, I don't know, 479 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: I don't know if I can charge one fifty, I 480 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 1: think one fifteen, I'm gonna really I'm going to make 481 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: them really prove it to me to allow them to 482 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: charge less than that. Well, well, someone currently selling a house, 483 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: I feel like the market's going to decide for you, right, 484 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you put yourself at it, like hopefully a 485 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: slightly higher value than you think, and if it works, great, 486 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,199 Speaker 1: that's what you're worth. And if it doesn't then you 487 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: have to. Yeah, And i'd also you know, it's it's 488 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,399 Speaker 1: better to aim a little high a because people will negotiate, 489 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: which you should be prepared for. But b also because 490 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: once you do one project at a rate, like if 491 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,120 Speaker 1: those people refer you to other people, they're gonna tell 492 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,880 Speaker 1: what they paid, yes, and so you know it's gonna 493 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: be hard to you can go up, of course, because 494 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:47,639 Speaker 1: you can always just say no, I'm not willing to 495 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: do it for that, but that's gonna be the sort 496 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: of anchor point, and so you want to be that. 497 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: So you know, I think one other thing you might 498 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 1: you probably have people do is like look around you. 499 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: If you've worked for company, like you've worked for a 500 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 1: big company. Your big company has hired consultants in the past, 501 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: So what did they do, like, what functions did they serve? 502 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: And could you do any of those things or something 503 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,159 Speaker 1: related to those things. I think that would probably be 504 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,120 Speaker 1: another way to figure out what the market will take. 505 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: Absolutely and so and a lot of times in your 506 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: corporate career you have either hired or worked with consultants yourself. 507 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: So often you have a good idea. And what's funny 508 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: is when I talked to my job transition people. A 509 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 1: lot of times, the company that just laid them off 510 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: realizes that they actually do need a certain amount of 511 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: their expertise and hires in the back as a consultant. Yeah, 512 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:41,880 Speaker 1: they laid off too many people, and they're like, wait, 513 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,639 Speaker 1: we need people. Where do we get the I mean, 514 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: I me twice as much for consultants. That sounds smart. 515 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: I've done it because sometimes when you're sitting in a 516 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 1: mid management management job, it comes down that you have 517 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: to get rid of a certain number of people and 518 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: you say okay, And I've been in the position and 519 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 1: I've had people and I've said good for them come 520 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,200 Speaker 1: back and say, yeah, but guess what. I did a 521 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: little homework and now I'm worth more. I know that 522 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 1: I'm worth more than what you were paying me, and 523 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: I say, well, good for you, right, and now we 524 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:15,439 Speaker 1: need you and now we're going to pay you that. 525 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 1: So it's really common. And what happens is that we're 526 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: all good at what we do. We're really good at 527 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,920 Speaker 1: our jobs, and when people find out that we're available 528 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,879 Speaker 1: on the open market, they want to jump in and 529 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 1: grab us. And that's why it's so easy to get 530 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,840 Speaker 1: started at the beginning. Now I'm fifteen years in and 531 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,400 Speaker 1: oddly enough, I have to work harder for my business 532 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,160 Speaker 1: at this point than I did at the very beginning. 533 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 1: And what I realize is I've worked off what I 534 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: now call the pent up demand. And at the beginning 535 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: I had never been available on the open market, right, 536 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,479 Speaker 1: I'd always been in a job. Now you're available, and 537 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: people surprisingly will snap you up. So let's talk. So 538 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: it's easy to get started. Yeah, let's talk through a 539 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: day in the life, because I know Sarah is very, 540 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:10,439 Speaker 1: very interested that she's like the self employed? Do we 541 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: do all that? So? Amy, what does your date? What 542 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: does a day look like for you when you're not 543 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,640 Speaker 1: up at six A? I'm talking to us. Sorry about 544 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: that time zone issue. Yes, yes, that was so funny. 545 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: So the most important thing is that I spend part 546 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: of every single day doing networking, marketing and business development 547 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: to keep my business and my pipeline and my customers 548 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: coming in. So for most of us, I don't think 549 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,239 Speaker 1: that's the favorite part. There are a few people that 550 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: just love getting out there and selling, but the selling 551 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: part is the hardest part. I started life as an engineer, 552 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: and so there's part of me that just loves to 553 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: hibernate in my office and shut the door in front 554 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,200 Speaker 1: of my computer. But I make a point every single day. 555 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: I never let a day go by without doing something 556 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: for networking, marketing, and business development. So that takes at 557 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: least an hour a day and the rest of the day, 558 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,640 Speaker 1: and now I often spend more than that. So a 559 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: day in the life would be getting up And of 560 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:19,840 Speaker 1: course I have kids, so getting all of that stuff 561 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: taken care of. How are your kids right now? My 562 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: kids are five and fifteen at this point. So I 563 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: jump in and first I'll log into my email and 564 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: just make sure that there aren't any client emergencies, because 565 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: I really do positions myself as a superhero who solves crises, 566 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,239 Speaker 1: whatever that crisis might be, And so I'll jump in 567 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: and just kind of take the temperature and see if 568 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: there's anything urgent, maybe send out a couple of emails. 569 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: I might even jump on a really quick call, shut 570 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: my door while the morning craziness is going on, and 571 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: get all that happening, and then I'll get everyone off, 572 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: and then I'll dig back down and I'll always have 573 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 1: I know that you guys are big on planning priorities, 574 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: and I think you guys resonate with me a lot, 575 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: because I'm very much that way too. So I do 576 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: time blocking of my day and then I'll jump in, 577 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,160 Speaker 1: I'll have some live calls or meetings, and then I'll 578 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: work all of my other kind of hourly work where 579 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: I'm doing more independent work around the pieces of calls 580 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: and meetings that I need to attend to and what time. 581 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: And then you said you yeah, I was gonna say, 582 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: give us a like, and then do you pick your 583 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: kids up from school? And then you say I to 584 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: work at night? Yes, yeah, So for me in one 585 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 1: of my lives, I'm a dancer, and one of the 586 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: huge advantages to being on my own and being able 587 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: to set my own schedule is that professional level dance 588 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: classes dancers work at night, so professional level dance classes 589 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:50,959 Speaker 1: happen at nine thirty or ten o'clock in the morning. 590 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: So now that I work for myself, I can do that. 591 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,960 Speaker 1: So my day really is most typically getting everybody going, 592 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: checking in, doing a little bit of work on days 593 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: that I possibly can, So three or four days a week, 594 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: I take it a hard dance class at nine thirty 595 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: or ten. Then I come back dive back into some 596 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 1: of my work. I most typically when I can schedule 597 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:15,480 Speaker 1: my calls and client meetings in the early afternoon so 598 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 1: that I can do my dance class, I'll work for 599 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: the afternoon, and then we actually kind of divide and 600 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: conquer my husband and I. I do the driving around 601 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: for the little guy, and my husband does the driving 602 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: around for our teenager who's a girl. So then I'm 603 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: usually clear to work until about four thirty when I 604 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: pick him up, and then I do all the family 605 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: and dinner stuff, and then I usually sit down again 606 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,880 Speaker 1: to work from about eight to ten or eleven. What's 607 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: interesting is that I have positioned all of these, really 608 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: what are my lifestyle preferences as a client advantage. So 609 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: a lot of my clients are executives, and they're really 610 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: busy during the day, and because I like to work 611 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: in the evening times do conference calls in the evening. 612 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: So I don't think it's always good for my client's 613 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: lifestyle and their families, but I'm available to do conference 614 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: calls in the evening, which can be sometimes a benefit 615 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: for a busy executive who's running around all jay chasing 616 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: their teams to sit down and have a quiet one 617 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:21,719 Speaker 1: on one session with me, and I can imagine if 618 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 1: they're in the kind of crisis mode where they've hired 619 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 1: you to fix something, they may not mind leaning in 620 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: a little bit for those nighttime That's right. So that's 621 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: so makes sense. So your I have been able to 622 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: position my lifestyle preferences really as a client advantage. Always 623 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: good when you can do that. Yeah, always thinking about 624 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: you know, because what you are in, you know, sales 625 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 1: and services, You're always thinking about how it meets the 626 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: client's needs and anything you can do to position that 627 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: way is great. So Amy, as you know, as a 628 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: podcast listener, we always do our Love of the week, 629 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: so we can go first in case you want to 630 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: think about it. Sure, okay, So Sarah, what do you 631 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: have for us this week? You know, I have a 632 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: not terribly exciting one, but I wanted to give a 633 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: shout out to my laptop because I typically buy them 634 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: every five years and maybe to make things easy. I 635 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: think I did like two thousand and five, twenty fifteen, 636 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: so it's twenty nineteen, and you know, this one's really 637 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 1: like lasting and it's a MacBook Pro. And yeah, I'm 638 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: just impressed as longevity because it still feels pretty new 639 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: and feisty to me. That's awesome. Yeah, laptops are key, 640 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 1: and especially if you are an independent worker. Oh my goodness, 641 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: the setup of good technology. I've had to go other 642 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: places when my internet goes down. So yes, well that's 643 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:50,440 Speaker 1: not my love of the week story. But we have 644 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: high hopes that this one thing will go out great, 645 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 1: So my love of the week is different. I was 646 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:56,240 Speaker 1: on a plane the other day and I watched the 647 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: Mister Rogers documentary, which I don't know either of you 648 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: guys have seen, but won't you be my Neighbor whatever 649 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 1: it was called. And it was funny because I forgot 650 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,600 Speaker 1: how strong my memories are of watching mister Rogers neighborhood. 651 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:11,840 Speaker 1: But they showed some of the you know, him walking 652 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:13,799 Speaker 1: in and putting on his sweater, taking off his shoes, 653 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 1: and I'm like, those curtains, Oh my gosh, I remembered 654 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: those curtains. I was staring at this curtains every day, 655 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,719 Speaker 1: the sort of greenish, bluish yellow flooralish curtains that he 656 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: has in his house. But it was a good movie, 657 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 1: so I'm glad I saw that. All right, Amy, how 658 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:34,360 Speaker 1: about you? So my new love is my new protein 659 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: powder shake that I drink in the morning. Oh, you're 660 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: so a silicon valley there, I know, isn't that funny. 661 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:42,799 Speaker 1: But I made an effort a few years ago to 662 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: really eat real food as much as I can and 663 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: not use bars and stuff. But I recently added a 664 00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,239 Speaker 1: purch just a simple It's a really simple powder that 665 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,760 Speaker 1: you just flo thrown a shaker with ice and water, 666 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: and I add that in the morning and so I 667 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: can grab it whether I'm taking kids to school or 668 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,160 Speaker 1: running off to dance class. And that protein boost in 669 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:05,279 Speaker 1: the morning has made a really big difference in my 670 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:10,240 Speaker 1: keeping my energy level steady throughout the days I'm running 671 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 1: around through all of my different incarnations and lives. So 672 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,919 Speaker 1: that's my new current love. Yes, eating protein is good. 673 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 1: We're fan. We're fans of proteins. Well, Amy, thank you 674 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: so much for joining us. This has been great. Thank 675 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,640 Speaker 1: you for sharank you so much for having me. It's 676 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,040 Speaker 1: been really fun to have a conversation with you guys. 677 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,280 Speaker 1: So we have a fun question today that is actually 678 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,440 Speaker 1: from a mutual acquaintance of Sarah and mine that she 679 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: said her kids ages six to eight ish will be 680 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: with grandparents for two weeks this summer. That's part of 681 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 1: their childcare the summer is sending the kids off to 682 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: grandparents for week long two week long chunks. She says, 683 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 1: she and her husband will still be working, but they 684 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,400 Speaker 1: won't have kids at home, So what should we do 685 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: to make the most of this time and feel recharged. Well, 686 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: first of all, thank you, I'm his friend for this question, 687 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: because it's a super fun question. I just enjoyed fantasized 688 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,520 Speaker 1: and fantasizing about your children being shipped. That's a nice 689 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:12,720 Speaker 1: little chunk man two weeks. And I think they actually 690 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: do both sets of grandparents. I think it might be 691 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 1: more than ten. Yes, thought, and yeah, how great for 692 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,680 Speaker 1: the kids. They can really immerse like you have that 693 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,319 Speaker 1: time with the other family, and so I feel like 694 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,239 Speaker 1: this is a win win. Okay, So my ideas were, 695 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 1: even though you're working a weekdays, I definitely think you 696 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: need to build in a mini getaway because that will 697 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:31,840 Speaker 1: just make it feel more special. It doesn't have to 698 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,320 Speaker 1: be somewhere far, but you can. You could fly somewhere 699 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,640 Speaker 1: two three hours away, maybe like up to Canada, maybe 700 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:39,880 Speaker 1: because I know where you live. Maybe a Montreal trip 701 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,840 Speaker 1: perhaps anyway, you could leave like Friday right after work 702 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,320 Speaker 1: and then get back Sunday night. And I do feel 703 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,360 Speaker 1: like even a mini trip would kind of make the 704 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,080 Speaker 1: time feel more special compared with staying home the whole time. 705 00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 1: So I highly recommend adding in that maybe around a 706 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,200 Speaker 1: concert or a show that you want to see. I 707 00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:58,480 Speaker 1: definitely would make a list, because you know I love 708 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 1: making and actually take a list. We do too, and 709 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,279 Speaker 1: you'll probably blog about that list, so you should make 710 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,680 Speaker 1: one and I'll enjoy reading it. I do think it 711 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 1: might be a good time, Like if there's one really 712 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,960 Speaker 1: annoying work project that's just like like it is your 713 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:13,360 Speaker 1: brain invery time you think about it, you know what 714 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 1: I mean. I would maybe just think about like a 715 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:19,040 Speaker 1: week like an power hour every night to do that perhaps, 716 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 1: and then it will just be off of your plate. 717 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,800 Speaker 1: And then finally, I think if I had this, I 718 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,520 Speaker 1: would so I'd have to resist my urge to come 719 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,200 Speaker 1: home and just like stack out on the couch every night, 720 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:30,319 Speaker 1: because would probably be my initial instinct. And maybe I 721 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,720 Speaker 1: could do that the first couple of nights, but maybe 722 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,799 Speaker 1: I would put in after I've recovered a little bit, 723 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 1: like an evening massage or an evening pedicure or like 724 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,600 Speaker 1: a workout that I wouldn't normally do on some of 725 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,600 Speaker 1: the nights, just so you can, because otherwise I'm sure 726 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,160 Speaker 1: that time is normally fairly high energy. You have to 727 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:48,839 Speaker 1: come home to make the interne if you do bad time, 728 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,239 Speaker 1: So do something that takes a little bit energy, but 729 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: that's purely for yourself, how decadent, or with your husband 730 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:57,680 Speaker 1: of course, not just alone. Yeah, no, I think it's 731 00:37:57,680 --> 00:37:59,319 Speaker 1: good to make a list of like a short list 732 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:01,200 Speaker 1: of the things you guys want to do during that time. 733 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,799 Speaker 1: But also the part of the fun though, of you know, 734 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:05,439 Speaker 1: not having the kids around, is you can do things 735 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,920 Speaker 1: spontaneously as well, which true, yeah, I mean, And so 736 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,040 Speaker 1: that's kind of leave some room for that for being like, oh, well, 737 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:14,480 Speaker 1: let's just go meet somewhere for dinner, like in a 738 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:17,640 Speaker 1: nice neighborhood, and we can walk around and find a restaurant. 739 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:19,120 Speaker 1: And if the restaurant you want to go to has 740 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 1: a thirty minute wait, you don't care. You'll just go 741 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,160 Speaker 1: sit at the bar and like, you know, because you're 742 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:27,960 Speaker 1: not paying a spitter and counting the hours, or you know, 743 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,440 Speaker 1: I need to get home before bedtime and all that stuff, 744 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: so definitely plan on doing that a few evenings, just 745 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:38,280 Speaker 1: you know, enjoying the extra stuff. So I have actually 746 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 1: experienced this in the past. So in the summer of 747 00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:46,319 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, I was crashing on a book deadline for 748 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,840 Speaker 1: I know how she does it, and my husband took 749 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,799 Speaker 1: the three kids we had at the time, well the 750 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,200 Speaker 1: three extra uterine kids we had a time because I 751 00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:58,920 Speaker 1: was pregnant, but I was stuck with the baby. Obviously 752 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:06,760 Speaker 1: it's so easy when there's so the three older kids 753 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:10,320 Speaker 1: went with him to a family extended family get together 754 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: at the beach and I had no kids other than 755 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:16,560 Speaker 1: being pregnant for the week. And I know what I 756 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 1: did was basically I just worked and that's but you know, 757 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:20,840 Speaker 1: if my husband had been around for the week, I 758 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,680 Speaker 1: probably would have done stuff with him, so we I 759 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:26,759 Speaker 1: it had a mini version of this yesterday, which I 760 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,359 Speaker 1: wasn't planning on that. My husband had been like, oh, well, 761 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:31,880 Speaker 1: I'm going to take the kids skiing, but then it 762 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:33,560 Speaker 1: had gotten moved around in the day. I thought he 763 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: was gonna do it in the morning, then he didn't, 764 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:36,080 Speaker 1: so I took the kids to church in the morning. 765 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,840 Speaker 1: We came home, he loaded them in the car, and 766 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:40,480 Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, I realized, wait, it's like 767 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:42,160 Speaker 1: an hour and a half up there. They'll ski for 768 00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:44,120 Speaker 1: at least two hours. Then it's an hour and a 769 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 1: half back. I have five hours' free, like day five hours. 770 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:53,480 Speaker 1: So again I just worked. But you know, sometimes it's 771 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:56,200 Speaker 1: good to catch up on these these things. So we'll 772 00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:59,279 Speaker 1: see what she does. Yeah, that's uh. And it can 773 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,319 Speaker 1: also be fun to kind of adopt more of your 774 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,160 Speaker 1: natural schedule, Like this is the thing that I figured 775 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 1: out that week. Is what I do is I get 776 00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:10,040 Speaker 1: up in the morning and work it kind of relaxed 777 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:12,440 Speaker 1: in the afternoon, even nap or you know, just sort 778 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 1: of be very low key, and then work more at night, 779 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:17,200 Speaker 1: but starting more like seven and go through till midnight. 780 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,840 Speaker 1: And that's just a schedule that doesn't really work in 781 00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:24,239 Speaker 1: my life now, but does if I have no one 782 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:27,080 Speaker 1: else around? So interesting to know. Well, we'll have to 783 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: report back because since we know this person, we can 784 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,880 Speaker 1: actually let you all know what she does. Yeah, so 785 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:35,840 Speaker 1: you've not had that, You've never had all of the 786 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,759 Speaker 1: kids gone, Sarah, and not for any I want, I'm 787 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,120 Speaker 1: on call. But then I'm like, I mean that's not 788 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:46,279 Speaker 1: very exciting. No, not for any length of time. I mean, 789 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,960 Speaker 1: the closest thing to this kind of freedom for me 790 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,960 Speaker 1: is like when I've gone on conferences, and I did 791 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:54,000 Speaker 1: go away for a girl's weekend, like by myself. So 792 00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:57,000 Speaker 1: mostly I've been the one traveling. If I'm going to 793 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,120 Speaker 1: get solitude, I don't. My husband hasn't, like ever, like 794 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,239 Speaker 1: left with all three of them for some extended You 795 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:04,239 Speaker 1: haven't had this solitude at home? No, I haven't had 796 00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:09,520 Speaker 1: the magical solitude at home. No, sounds nice. Someday, someday 797 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:12,440 Speaker 1: a day. Well, this has been Best of Both Worlds 798 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,160 Speaker 1: Episode eighty one. We've been talking with Amy Razdel about 799 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:18,160 Speaker 1: setting up an independent consulting practice, so we'll be more 800 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:20,200 Speaker 1: back next week with more on making work and life 801 00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:26,400 Speaker 1: fit together. Thanks for listening. You can find me Sarah 802 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:30,320 Speaker 1: at the shoebox dot com or at the Underscore Shoebox 803 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:34,160 Speaker 1: on Instagram, and you can find me Laura at Laura 804 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:37,479 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. This has been the Best of Both 805 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:41,040 Speaker 1: Worlds podcasts. Please join us next time for more on 806 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:43,080 Speaker 1: making work and life work together.