Unleashed - How To Thrive As An Independent Professional

Our guest today is Josh Spodek, the author of Leadership Step by Step. Josh is an independent professional who coaches individual clients teaches leadership and entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at NYU does speaking engagements runs online courses in leadership and entrepreneurship on SpodekAcademy.com For the show we met at Josh’s apartment in Greenwich Village, and in the first part of our conversation we discuss the blackboard in his room and the new course he is currently developing, which is sketched out in chalk. We also talk about what Josh has learned from blogging every single day since 2011, the impact on his fitness from doing 90,000 burpees over the past few years, and how he fits four months of garbage into one tote bag. Josh’s approach to teaching leadership and entrepreneurship is very experiential and organized around a series of exercises. We discuss several of these, including what you can learn from three raisins. You can learn more about Josh and take his online course at http://

Our guest today is Esther Kim, an independent consultant based in San Francisco who focuses on serving clients in the social sector, including non-profits, philanthropies, and social enterprises. After getting her Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from MIT, Esther got her start in consulting at McKinsey, where she worked with energy, industrial, and nonprofit clients. She then spent nine years at REDF, a venture philanthropy firm based in San Francisco. In 2014, Esther set up her own consulting practice focusing on the social sector. In our discussion we talk about the similiarities and differences between serving for-profit and non-for-profit clients We discuss what it takes to transition into the social sector, the difference in vocabulary from the for-profit sector, and how Esther tweaks frameworks such as the Business Model Canvas to apply them in her work.  She also shares an inspiring  story of a social enterprise Esther helped to establish- a staffing agency-  that has helped hundreds of form

Our guest today is Steven Koltai, the author of "Peace through Entrepreneurship: Investing in a Startup Culture for Security and Development" Steven has had multiple careers. he has been a management consultant at McKinsey, the head of strategy at Warner Bros for ten years, and a successful entrepreneur. His most recent career began as a senior advisor to the US Department of State under Secretary Hilary Clinton, where Steven conceived and launched the Global Entrepreneurship Program, based on the principles that joblessness leads to violence and unrest; and one of the best ways to reduce joblessness is to foster entrepreneurship in emerging markets. After leaving the State Department, Steven has continued to advance that goal, and his consulting practice has supported entrepreneurship in over 30 countries, particularly Africa and Latin America. We discuss advice for independent professionals interested in working in international development process of getting funding for such projects key success factors f

Chris Fox, an alum of McKinsey and Marakon, has held executive leadership roles at Xerox and MeadWestvaco.  Since 2014 he has been operating his own consulting practice, Meridian Strategic Consulting, based in Richmond, Virginia.  In this episode, we discuss the range of Chris's practice, with a particular focus on strategy and due diligence assignments.  Read more about Chris on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/chrisjfox  

Our guest today is Ron Hubsher, the Managing Director of the Sales Optimization Group and the author of Closing Time: the 7 Immutable Laws of Sales negotiation.” Ron’s book is in print but not available on Amazon – he explains what happens when you buy his book from his website., and why he doesn’t sell his book anywhere else. Ron has a multifaceted business – he does consulting projects to sales organizations, he provides training programs, he gives keynote speeches. In some cases he delivers his training programs himself; he’ll also license the training program to a client and make money while he sleeps. In our wide-ranging conversation, Ron discusses several case examples of how he works with clients, and along the way I learn how a playing card in an Atlantic City casino is different than one used in Las Vegas. You can find Ron’s firm on the web at www.salesOG.com          

Our guest today is Michael Bendit, an independent professional based in NYC who started his consulting career as a principal at Booz & Co. Michael has two sides to his practice He runs a consulting practice, with a particular focus on strategy and pricing He also represents multiple software development shops, primarily focused on digital marketing agencies Michael has created a referral network in NYC that has been meeting every two weeks for several years. His group includes a range of independent professionals that all serve digital marketing agencies, with different specialties, and every two weeks they get together to share leads and look for ways to collaborate. Getting up a group like this up and running takes a lot of effort, but has been successful at generating a flow of work over time and is something that independent professionals might want to consider replicating. You can read more about Michael’s software firm at http://softdevresources.com/

Martin Pergler is Founder and Principal at Balanced Risk Strategies, Ltd., in Ottawa, Canada. Previously, he was Senior Expert in Risk at McKinsey, where he was a leader in their Corporate Risk and ERM service lines, based at various times in their Chicago, Prague, Singapore, and Montréal office. 

Soyini Coke is a McKinsey alum and independent consultant based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also the host of CEO Exclusive, a radio show in which she interviews a mid-market CEO every week. In this episode we discuss how she has invested time to build her visibility and thought leadership, such that she now has CEOs reaching out to her to get on her show. You can learn more about Soyini's firm on her website: http://annonaenterprises.com/ And you can listen to her show at http://ceoexclusive.businessradiox.com/about/

David Burnie is a McKinsey alum and the founder of The Burnie Group, a boutique consulting firm based in Toronto. We discuss how we started as an independent professional and then proceeded to build a firm and how he has partnered with software firms to offer robotic automation. You can sign up for his firm's newsletter and read more about The Burnie Group at www.burniegroup.com  

Our guest today is my friend Julie Gupta, who has a Masters in Material Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Julie started her consulting career at Bain & Company, and after a series of roles in the tech industry she started her own practice, Gupta Consulting, in 2006 – so she has been a successful independent professional for 11 years. In our discussion, we focus on Julie’s pro bono work, which I find incredibly inspiring. She has done pro bono consulting work at fantastic organizations that include Guide Dogs for the Blind, NPR, the Girl Scouts of America, Boston Public Schools, City Year, the Humane Society, among others. Julie shares one question that has shaped her thinking and her life: “Are you optimizing your resume or your eulogy?” We talk about how as an independent professional to find those pro bono opportunities, and some best practices to make sure that you have impact and that your time is well spent.  We also talk about the unanticipated benefits – such as relation

In this in-between-isode, Will Bachman offers suggestions on 27 action items to consider as you set up your firm.

In this in-between-isode, Will Bachman offers a perspective on the questions you should answer to create a strategy for your practice, namely: What is your definition of success? Or in other words, What is winning? Where do you play? How do you win on the battlefields where you have chosen to play?  

Our guest today is Mike Feiner, who has been an influential figure in my own life since I took his class High Performance Leadership at Columbia Business School. Mike is now on his fourth career. He was the Worldwide Chief People Officer at Pepsi – so the head of HR and the top advisor on all people matters to the CEO. Here is a factoid: in the last three years, according to The New CEO Report by Feigen Advisors, 81 individuals have ascended to the CEO role. in the Fortune 250.  Of those 81, eight of the CEOs had worked previously at Pepsi, several of them while Mike was the head of HR.  Something special was clearly going on. After Pepsi, Mike developed and taught one of the most popular courses ever at Columbia Business School. While he loved teaching, after ten years he wanted a new challenge and took the role of Senior Managing Director at Irving Place Capital where he Lead firm's efforts in guiding portfolio company management teams build, grow & develop their leaders & managers. And now Mike is

Our guest today is Matt Weill, who is my attorney as well as a good friend. Matt began his legal career as an Associate at Skadden Arps and then he became a partner at the firm of Golenbock, Eiseman, Assor Bell & Peskoe. His legal practice is primarily focused on business and transactional matters for a wide range of clients, including private equity and venture/growth capital funds and their related portfolio companies and investments. Matt  routinely counsels entrepreneurs, startup and growth-stage companies and investors in connection with the structuring and formation of new business ventures, private placements, capital raising transactions, and agreements among founders. Matt has extensive experience working with independent professionals, and for Umbrex he has prepared three contract templates – a contract between an independent professional and a client; a contract that an independent professional can use to engage a subcontractor, and a non-disclosure agreement. If you email me at unleashed@umbre

Our guest today is Dorene Stockman, an insurance agent with the Owens Group, an independent agency. Dorene helped me get my own insurance policy, and I thought she was very knowledgeable and a helpful advisor on that process, so I asked her to be on the show to share her advice for independent professionals on the types of coverage we need to consider getting. In our conversation we discuss the types of coverage that are applicable to most independent professionals, namely: Business owners insurance – closely related to General Liability policy Umbrella policy Professional liability policy Privacy / cyber policy We discuss policies that independent professionals should consider getting if you hire an employee or engage a subcontractor, including Workers comp Disability Unemployment insurance For those independt professionals that serve on the board of a non-profit or for-profit, we discuss directors & officers insurance Dorene also shares tips on how to select a broker, how often you should re-quote y

Four reasons why an independent professional might want to start a podcast, and 17 tips on how to get started. 

Our guest today is Rick Condon, a former submarine officer and a former Engagement Manager at McKinsey. He has been running his own consulting practice since 2004. The majority of Rick’s clients are privately held mid-market companies and he works on a range of topics including preparing companies for sale; turn-around efforts, and jump-starting growth. You can read about Rick’s firm Inside Consulting at insideconsulting.net

Our guest today is my friend Amanda Setili, the author of two books: The Agility Advantage: How to Identify and Act on Opportunities in a Fast-Changing World, was published in 2014. Her latest book is coming out in the fall of 2017, Fearless Growth:The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate your markets. Amanda has an MBA from Harvard and started her consulting career at McKinsey & Co. She has been running her own successful consulting firm, Setili & Associates, in Atlanta for nearly twenty years. Her first book emerged out of something Amanda did which I think is pure genius: she created the Strategic Agility Think Tank, which brings together senior leaders from a blue-chip list of clients, several times per year for an in-person session that includes a panel discussion and then Q&A. The Think Tank keeps Amanda top of mind with the clients she has served in the past and is a reason to reach out to new ones. It gives her fresh material and case studies for her writing. It p

Our guest today is Valia Glytsis, who runs The Paradox of Leadership, a leadership education firm based in New York and San Francisco. Valia works with leaders and organizations that yearn for a more meaningful and impactful way of working, communicating, and leading. She’s got a blue-chip list of clients that includes HBO, McKinsey & Company, Digitas, Kiehl’s, Soul Cycle, Edelman, New York City Economic Development Corporation, New York University (Stern), Georgetown University. In our wide-ranging discussion, we talk about the ways Valia builds her firm’s visibility through writing, hosting events, and speaking engagements. We talk about the three main revenue lines of her firm, namely executive coaching, training seminars, and keynote speeches. She reveals her morning routine – and I’ve already adopted some of her practices myself. She discusses her three core values, how she chose them, and what role they play. On her website, theparadoxofleadership.com, Valia has some audio products for sale, and she

Robbie Kellman Baxter served as a consultant to Netflix when all they did was mail out DVDs. That experience got Robbie thinking deeply about a new emerging business model.  She developed these ideas over a period of nine years before publishing in 2015 her book The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue. In our discussion, Robbie goes into some detail of how the book came about, how she promoted the book, and how it transformed her practice from more traditional consulting projects to work that is more advisory in nature .  She has made an investment in becoming a thought leader, and it has paid off: Robbie is regularly invited to give keynote speeches and she has clients who’ve read the book reaching out asking for her help.  You can learn more about her work by reading her book, the membership economy, and by checking out her website: peninsula strategies.com Robbie studied at Harvard College and Stanford Business School, and started her consul