What if the very experience that once felt like your biggest liability is actually the thing that makes you impossible to compete with, and commands premium consulting rates?

In this episode, host AJ Riedel talks to Lauren Leonardis, founder and consultant of Rind and Reason, a consulting firm specializing in stakeholder engagement, youth leadership, and organizational structure. Lauren is a nationally recognized expert on Youth Action Boards and co-author of the Massachusetts State Plan to End Youth Homelessness, and she built that career from lived experience as a formerly homeless young adult.

Why You Should Listen to This Episode

If you're a self-employed consultant struggling with inconsistent income, unsure how to stand out in a crowded market, or watching your client base dry up because of forces outside your control, this episode will hit close to home. Lauren's story is raw, real, and remarkably instructive. She went from being paid $15/hour under a 1099, with no framework for what she was worth, to running a national consulting practice. Then she lost virtually all of her clients overnight due to federal funding cuts, and had to figure out how to rebuild. What she learned about niching, pricing, personal branding, and building resilience into her business model is directly applicable to any consultant trying to build a practice that doesn't collapse when one client disappears.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why Your Niche Is Your Superpower: Lauren explains how having a genuine, experience-backed niche, not just a chosen specialty, is what separates consultants who command premium rates from those competing on price.

• How to Know What You're Worth (and Stop Taking Whatever's Offered): The real story of how Lauren went from accepting exploitative 1099 rates to
understanding her fully loaded rate, and what that shift meant for her business.

• What to Do When You Lose All Your Clients at Once: Lauren received a midnight termination notice cutting all of her federally funded contracts simultaneously, and shares what she did next, practically and emotionally, to keep going.

• The Case for a Diversified Client Pipeline: Why depending on a single funding source or sector is a business-ending risk for consultants, and how Lauren is
using local networking, a lead magnet tool, and rebranding to build a more resilient practice.

• Why Social Proof Beats Certifications: How Lauren spent 10 years winning contracts without a degree or formal credentials, and how she's thinking strategically about rebuilding that credibility as she expands into new markets.

• The Lead Magnet Strategy That's Already Working: Lauren launched a free Youth Action Board Milestone Tool and hosted a webinar, and is already converting attendees into paying clients. Learn the thinking behind this low-cost, high-value business development tactic.

About Lauren Leonardis

Lauren Leonardis is the founder and principal consultant of Rind and Reason, a consulting firm specializing in authentic stakeholder engagement, organizational
structure, and youth leadership. Drawing on over a decade of national consulting work and her own lived experience as a formerly homeless young adult, Lauren has become a nationally recognized expert on Youth Action Boards, the governance structures that center young people with lived experience in community planning to end youth homelessness.
She is a co-author of the Massachusetts State Plan to End Youth Homelessness, a founding co-facilitator of the Boston Youth Action Board, and has provided technical assistance to communities across the country under HUD's Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program. Lauren recently earned her bachelor's degree from UMass Amherst (graduating with a 4.0 GPA and the William F. Field Alumni Scholar Award) while simultaneously navigating the sudden loss of nearly all of her federally funded contracts. She is currently expanding her practice beyond the youth homelessness sector to serve local businesses, nonprofits, and organizations that want to build better systems and more meaningful stakeholder engagement.

Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleonardis/

In this episode, host AJ Riedel talks to Joanna Murray, franchise consultant at Quantum Franchise Group. Joanna is one of the rare consultants who rebuilt her practice not once but twice, first after leaving a misaligned corporate career in commercial real estate, and then again after navigating a cancer diagnosis, two surgeries, and concurrent chemo and radiation treatment.

Why You Should Listen to This Episode

If you are a self-employed consultant who has ever felt like you were starting from zero, because of a slow start, an unexpected setback, a market that shifted underneath you, or a pipeline that just will not fill, this episode is for you. Joanna’s story is not about overnight success. It is about what it actually takes to keep building when circumstances are hard, when old strategies stop working, and when you have to rediscover your own resilience. She also shares a critical insight about LinkedIn outreach that every consultant relying on generic messaging needs to hear right now, and a deceptively simple approach to niching that makes every conversation more authentic and every close more natural.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why your ideal client might already be you: Joanna explains how defining her niche as women in corporate who felt exactly where she had been made every outreach message more resonant and every sales conversation easier to have.

• Why generic LinkedIn outreach has stopped working: Joanna shares what her franchise association’s updated training revealed about why mass messaging no longer converts, and what personalized, human-first outreach looks like instead.

• How to keep a business alive through a major life crisis: Joanna describes how she maintained just enough pipeline momentum during a year of cancer treatment to have something to return to, and what that minimal-effort strategy actually looked like.

• Why pivoting is the most essential consulting skill: Joanna reflects on what it means to rebuild in a market that has fundamentally changed, and why the willingness to let go of what used to work is what separates consultants who grow from those who stall.

• How in-person networking and referral fees can break through the noise: Joanna outlines the multichannel strategy she is building now, local events, virtual networking, and a referral program, to connect with prospects who want her service but do not yet know it exists.

• What Atomic Habits taught her about showing up every single day: Joanna shares the one principle from her most-recommended book that keeps her consistent even when results are slow and motivation is hard to find.

About Joanna Murray

Joanna Murray is a franchise consultant with Quantum Franchise Group based in Massachusetts. After more than two decades in corporate America,  including a long career in commercial and industrial real estate, Joanna left the corporate world to help other professionals do the same, on their own terms. She specializes in working with women at the VP level and above who are ready to leave corporate and find a business that fits their values, lifestyle goals, and financial ambitions. In 2024, Joanna was diagnosed with cancer and underwent two surgeries followed by concurrent chemotherapy and radiation. She is now in recovery with a clean scan and is rebuilding her consulting practice with a focus on Massachusetts and New England.

Connect with Joanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-murray-mba-1ab3b3/

If your consulting pipeline feels like it’s always 90 days away from empty, this episode will reframe how you think about referrals, relationships, and where real organizational value, and real consulting opportunity, actually lives.

In this episode, host AJ Riedel talks to Chris Ellis, founder of Chris Ellis Consulting and Coaching. With 20 years as a managing partner at a global management consulting firm and 16 years running his own practice, Chris brings a rare combination of enterprise-scale expertise and solo practitioner wisdom to the conversation.

Why You Should Listen to This Episode

If you’re a self-employed consultant wrestling with inconsistent income, a pipeline that relies too heavily on who happens to remember your name this month, or the nagging question of how to scale beyond trading time for money, this conversation is for you.
Chris Ellis has spent 35-plus years inside the consulting and coaching world, first as a managing partner at a major firm and now running his own solo practice. He shares with refreshing candor how he keeps a stable practice through an active, relationship-first approach to business development, and why the biggest untapped consulting.

The opportunity most of his clients are missing isn’t at the C-suite level at all. This episode is packed with practical, experience-tested insight for consultants who want to build a practice that lasts.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Turning Referrals Into an Active Strategy: How Chris transforms what most consultants treat as a passive waiting game into a consistent, intentional lead generation system.
• The Alumni Network Approach: A simple, low-tech system for staying top of mind with past clients and contacts so they refer you when the moment is right.
• Fixed-Price vs. Hourly: Why It Changes Everything: Why Chris fixed-prices nearly all his work and how it eliminates awkward billing conversations while
protecting the client relationship.
• The Management Development Gap: Chris’s contrarian argument for why organizations should shift investment from C-suite leadership coaching to developing managers and directors, and why this represents a major consulting opportunity.
• How the Best Senior Leaders Got There: The progression from strong professional to great manager to great senior leader, and why skipping the middle step is where most leadership pipelines break down.
• Scaling a Solo Practice Without Losing Quality: How Chris structures his consulting-coaching hybrid model with built-in capacity limits that protect the quality of his work and his own well-being.

About Chris Ellis:

For over 35 years, Chris Ellis has served hundreds of organizations and thousands of people worldwide as an executive, consultant, adviser, coach, and mentor. He serves clients of all ages, stages, and roles, with an emphasis on middle-management and senior executive development in professional services, health services, and technology services. Chris is a past senior leader and managing partner of a global professional services firm, and currently runs his own consulting and coaching practice. He is also a board member and adviser, university educator, local and national speaker, and published author. Chris is the creator of the Management Accelerator Program (MAP), a comprehensive management development framework drawn from over three decades of client work and consulting experience. His contrarian conviction: the biggest development gap in most organizations isn’t at the top, it’s in the middle.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisellis-consulting/

🎧 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations on thriving through change, growth, and entrepreneurship.

#ThrivingThrough #KatyHill #ConsultingBusiness #Entrepreneurship #CareerGrowth #BusinessStrategy #Leadership #NicheMarketing #SelfEmployment #PodcastEpisode101

In this milestone Episode 100 of the Thriving Through Podcast, Katy Hill shares a powerful and refreshing perspective on growth, alignment, and building a business that truly fits you.

With over 20 years of experience in higher education operations, Katy opens up about her non-linear journey into entrepreneurship, how she discovered her ideal niche in architectural and engineering firms, and why thriving is less about hustle and more about being in the right environment.

This episode is packed with insights on self-employment, niche clarity, business partnerships, energy management, and long-term vision. Whether you're a consultant, entrepreneur, or someone navigating a career pivot, this conversation will challenge how you think about success and alignment.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• What “thriving” actually means (and why it looks different for everyone)
• How to find your niche and become a category of one
• The power of values alignment in choosing the right clients
• How to manage multiple ventures without burnout
• Real strategies for building strong business partnerships
• Why coaching and mentorship can accelerate your growth
• How writing a book can support your business strategy
• Katy’s bold 3–5 year vision for impact and freedom

Katy also shares practical frameworks for communication, leadership, and creating sustainable growth—without forcing a path that doesn’t fit your life.

If you're feeling stuck, exploring self-employment, or trying to scale your consulting business, this episode will give you clarity and direction.

🔗 Connect with Katy Hill:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-hill-consulting/

🎧 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations on thriving through change, growth, and entrepreneurship.

#ThrivingThrough #KatyHill #ConsultingBusiness #Entrepreneurship #CareerGrowth #BusinessStrategy #Leadership #NicheMarketing #SelfEmployment #PodcastEpisode100

In this episode of Thriving Through, AJ sits down with Staci Rivera-Nichols, a multi-passionate consultant, DJ, and coach to unpack her journey from launching a multi-state legal services business to navigating financial loss, reinvention, and the AI shake-up of 2024–2025.

Staci shares how she rebuilt her consulting career after losing everything, leveraged networking to create unexpected opportunities, and developed a 23-rule AI system to maintain quality, authority, and human voice in legal content.

If you're a freelancer, consultant, or content creator feeling the pressure of AI or struggling with inconsistent pipelines, this episode is packed with real, practical insights.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What “thriving” actually means in business and life
The biggest mistake new entrepreneurs make (and how to avoid it)
How networking quietly drives long-term success
The real impact of AI on content writing and consulting
Why law firms abandoned and then returned to human experts
How to build systems that make AI work for you, not against you

Connect with Staci - https://www.linkedin.com/in/staci-rivera-nichols/

👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more real conversations with consultants and creators navigating change.

#Consulting #AIContent #Freelancing #Entrepreneurship #LegalMarketing #BusinessGrowth #ContentStrategy

In this episode of the Thriving Through Podcast, AJ Riedel sits down with Ebbi Nicole Young, an Authority and Visibility Consultant, to discuss how leaders and founders can broadcast their skills to build a consistent pipeline.

Ebbi shares her journey from a journalist and event planner to a digital strategist, explaining how she pivoted her business during shifts in the economy. She breaks down the "paradox of modern marketing" why having more tools can actually make it harder to stand out—and how to cut through the noise using strategic storytelling and "activated" networking.

🎯 What You’ll Learn:

The Definition of Thriving: Why success isn't just about work, but about finding joy and "touching grass."
The Pivot Strategy: How to transition from a generalist to an authority-focused consultant for leaders and founders.
Activated Networking: A deep dive into Ebbi's "journalist approach" to networking—how to research guest lists and choose the right rooms to ensure your ideal clients are present.
Storytelling as a Bridge: Why stories remain the most powerful tool for connection in a transactional digital world.
The LinkedIn Gap: Leveraging the fact that less than 5% of users actually post content to build your authority.

🔗 Connect with Ebbi Young: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebbinicole/

Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the channel for more interviews on how to navigate professional shifts and thrive through every chapter of your career.
#Consulting #PersonalBranding #Storytelling #NetworkingStrategy #Visibility #AuthorityBuilding #ThrivingThrough #DigitalMarketing2026

In this episode of the Thriving Through Podcast, AJ sits down with leadership coach and consultant Rachel Wexler to explore the journey from corporate leadership to building a purpose-driven, self-employed consulting practice.

Rachel shares powerful insights from her 20+ years in industry, her transition into coaching, and how she built a blended model of consulting, advisory, and leadership development. This conversation dives deep into fulfillment, resilience, and what it takes to grow a meaningful and sustainable business.

You’ll learn why celebrating small wins matters, how to handle rejection without taking it personally, and how playing the long game can lead to real success.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

The difference between surviving and truly thriving
Why celebration fuels motivation and growth (backed by neuroscience)
The real challenges of becoming a self-employed consultant
How to deal with rejection, silence, and slow progress
Why most consultants underestimate the time it takes to succeed
The power of 360 coaching in uncovering business opportunities
How to balance coaching, consulting, and advisory work
Building long-term client relationships vs transactional work
Managing burnout and staying aligned with your values
The importance of playing the long game in business

Whether you’re a consultant, coach, entrepreneur, or leader, this episode will help you rethink success, not just as profit, but as fulfillment, impact, and growth.

Connect with Rachel Wexler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rlwexler/

About the Podcast:
Thriving Through is a podcast for self-employed consultants and professionals who want to build profitable, sustainable, and most importantly, fulfilling practices.

Keywords:
thriving vs surviving, consulting business, leadership coaching, self employed consultant, entrepreneurship journey, business growth, coaching business, leadership development, personal growth, consultant life, mindset, fulfillment, professional development, resilience, women in leadership

Hashtags:
#ThrivingThrough #ConsultingBusiness #LeadershipCoaching #Entrepreneurship #PersonalGrowth #BusinessGrowth #WomenInLeadership #Coaching #Mindset #Fulfillment

Discover a smarter way to build a sustainable consulting business without constantly chasing new clients. In this episode, host Aj sits down with Rebecca Bauer, Principal Consultant at Rebecca Bauer Consulting, to unpack the power of subcontracting as a long-term strategy for stability, growth, and fulfilment.

Rebecca shares how she built a thriving consulting practice by partnering with other firms, leveraging existing client relationships, and focusing on delivering high-value work without the pressure of direct client acquisition. If you're a consultant, freelancer, or aspiring entrepreneur looking for a more predictable and balanced business model, this conversation is packed with actionable insights.

Learn how subcontracting can help you:

✔ Build consistent income streams
✔ Reduce the stress of sales and marketing
✔ Strengthen professional partnerships
✔ Focus on your zone of expertise
✔ Scale your consulting career strategically

To connect with Rebecca: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-faith-bauer/

Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your consulting approach, this episode offers a refreshing perspective on creating a business that works for you.

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations with industry leaders and experts.

#ConsultingBusiness #Freelancing #Subcontracting #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #CareerGrowth #ConsultantLife

If your consulting practice feels like organized chaos, where you're holding everything in your head, having the same conversations on repeat, and making decisions on gut feel alone, this episode will show you exactly how to fix it.
 
In this episode, host AJ Riedel talks to Kendra Whitney, Founder of Perigo Partners, a small business operations consultancy. Kendra is a former Fortune 500 project, process, and change management leader who spent 25 years mastering large-scale corporate methodologies, and now translates those best practices into lean, practical systems that help small businesses run smarter.
 
 
Why You Should Listen to This Episode
If you left corporate to build something of your own and now find yourself buried in the day-to-day without systems to show for it Kendra's story will feel uncomfortably familiar. She walked out of a 25-year corporate career after a layoff, spent time genuinely noodling on what was next, and made a deliberate decision to do something different: take the best of Fortune 500 project management, process improvement, and change management and bring it to the small businesses that need it most. In this conversation, Kendra gets real about the challenges of learning a new language (translating corporate jargon for small business owners), overcoming a deep fear of sales, surviving the isolation of solo work, and building a stacked offer suite instead of a menu of disconnected services. She also shares the gardening analogy that every early-stage consultant needs to hear, and the single reframe that finally made sales feel natural for her.
 
 
What You'll Learn in This Episode
•        [Translating Corporate Expertise] How to stop speaking corporate jargon and start talking to small business owners in the language they actually understand — and why this single shift is the foundation for landing clients.
•        [Building a Peer Support System] Why networking events aren't just for lead generation and how Kendra deliberately built a team-like community of fellow solopreneurs to combat isolation and loneliness.
•        [Overcoming Fear of Sales] The reframe that finally made discovery conversations feel natural — and how framing sales as problem-solving (not pitching) transforms your confidence in selling.
•        [Stacking Your Offers] Why building discrete, stackable service offerings instead of custom proposals for every client makes your business more scalable and gives you the data to know what's actually working.
•        [Structure Creates Freedom] How implementing the right systems and processes actually gives you more mental capacity, reduces decision fatigue, and lets you make data-driven decisions instead of gut-feel guesses.
•        [Choosing the Right Coach] What Kendra learned — sometimes the hard way — about how to evaluate coaching investments so you actually get a return, including the two non-negotiables she looks for now.
 

About Kendra Whitney

Kendra Whitney is the founder of Perigo Partners, a small business operations consultancy based in the Raleigh-Durham, NC area. With 25 years of experience leading IT and operations teams at Fortune 500 companies, Kendra specialized in project management, process improvement, and change management — overseeing multi-year technology implementations that impacted tens of thousands of employees. After a corporate layoff, she made the deliberate decision to bring those enterprise-level best practices to small business owners, helping them build the systems, processes, and structures they need to run efficiently, make data-driven decisions, and scale — without the bureaucracy. She is currently in her first year of running Perigo Partners as her sole focus, and is building toward a team-based model that can serve more small businesses at scale.
 
Connect with Kendra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendrawhitney

Unlock the true power of LinkedIn and personal branding in this inspiring episode of the Thriving Through Podcast featuring Sarka Risch.

From spending 20+ years in corporate sales and marketing to building a thriving consulting business, Sarka shares how finding purpose, overcoming fear, and letting go of perfectionism transformed her life. She dives deep into how LinkedIn can become a powerful tool for lead generation, community building, and long-term business growth.

You’ll learn:
How to build a strong LinkedIn personal brand
The 3 key pillars of LinkedIn success (profile, community, content)
Why relationships matter more than impressions
How to overcome fear, self-doubt, and perfectionism
The mindset shifts needed to grow as an entrepreneur
How investing in yourself accelerates success

Sarka also shares her journey to being featured in Forbes, delivering a TEDx talk, and how consistent self-development helped her create new opportunities.

If you’re an entrepreneur, coach, or professional looking to grow on LinkedIn and build meaningful connections that convert into real opportunities, this episode is for you.

Connect with Sarka Risch on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarka-risch/

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more insights on business growth, mindset, and entrepreneurship.

#LinkedInMarketing #PersonalBranding #EntrepreneurMindset #LeadGeneration #BusinessGrowth #SelfDevelopment #PodcastInterview