In this episode, I’m joined by Amber Joiner-Hill, MSSW, a social worker and consultant who shares her story of how she transitioned from a traditional role in social work to starting her own consulting business. Amber walks us through everything from grad school to AmeriCorps, to the moment she said “no more toxic jobs” and built her own path. We get into the nitty gritty of program evaluation, setting up an LLC, pricing your services, and navigating the rollercoaster that is entrepreneurship. Amber doesn’t gatekeep! She shares real numbers and the lessons she learned the hard way (like what happens when a client doesn’t pay or how to price your work without selling yourself short). If you’ve ever thought about starting your own consulting business or just want a peek behind the scenes of how one social worker made it happen, this episode is for you.

Takeaways From This Episode:

• What sparked Amber’s love for program evaluation and systems-level change
• How she transitioned from full-time work into full-time consulting (and back again)
• Why her first paid training was $1,300, but her next contract was $15K 👀
• The mindset shift from hourly to flat-rate pricing (and how it saved her time and made her more money)
• How building relationships early in her career opened doors years later
• Why your consulting journey doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to start

Mentioned resources:

• Check out the affiliated blog post for the full list of resources mentioned in this episode and the unedited transcript.  

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