Latest / Black Girls Consult TOO! / Episode 143: 7 Truths About Starting a Consulting Business

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Episode 143: 7 Truths About Starting a Consulting Business · Black Girls Consult TOO!

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: They say, the odds are stacked against us as women, especially women of color, trying to thrive in the consulting world.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: But rather than wait for a seat at the table that may never come, what if we build our own tables?
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: What if we channeled our talents into guiding each other towards the success we deserve?
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and I've walked the path from healthcare consultant to a mentor for women like you, ambitious, unstoppable and ready to make waves in the consulting world.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: This podcast is your go-to spot for all things entrepreneurial consulting.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: For us as women, especially women of color, think of it as your weekly coffee date with a friend who's here to dish out real talk on building a solid business, elevating your thought leadership and mastering that all important mindset.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: And let's not forget, we're doing all of this while balancing day jobs, family life and running teams.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Yes, we can do it all.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: So if you're ready to dive into how you can grow a thriving consultancy or get strategies and insights that actually fit your busy lifestyle, then you're in the right place.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Grab your coffee, tea or, hey, even a glass of wine, I won't judge and let's get started.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Hello, hello, hello.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and today I am just doing an audio podcast.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: I feel like it's been a while since I've been able to have more of a casual conversation with you, because sometimes when you turn on the camera and you are trying to film, I don't know, I feel like it brings out almost like a slightly artificial side of yourself, maybe because you know this camera is watching you, and it feels different, it feels weird.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: So I wanted to just take it back to how we normally would have conversations and just relax a little bit, just catching you up on life.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: On this end, things have been just flying by this year.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I cannot believe we're already in the fall of 2025.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: It's crazy to think that we are about to enter into the fourth quarter of the year, into the fourth quarter of the year, and for me it's been a shift into a new part or phase of my year in journey, especially in business, because my office buddy, my fur baby, did pass away, and so you know, for me it's been kind of I don't know a little bit sad being back in the office and probably another reason why I didn't feel like hopping on camera.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: But I'm back at it.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: I know that you know pets tend not to be here for the totality of our lives, but you know it's always so hard when you lose them, because they're such loyal and true fans and lovers of you.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: And not having them around, not having the excitement of their pitter patter and little feet sometimes can really just change your mood quite a bit.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: But I'm doing fine, I'm doing better, and now I'm just focused on really moving full steam ahead into the end of this year.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I don't like to think about this shift into the fourth quarter as being something that means business just completely stops.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of people think about that because of the holidays that are coming.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: However, if you are in the midst of building your consulting business, this is a time to truly, truly lean into that building process.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: If you are growing your business, remember that there are some fiscal years that are going to start or have just started, and also you want to get ready for the new year and everything that it has to offer being able to get in front of the right people, get your ideas and thoughts out there so that people are more familiar with your work, being able to network, get referrals, market yourself online.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: All those things still have to be ongoing in the midst of us celebrating, even going into the holiday season I can't believe I'm talking about holiday season already so I wanted to take this opportunity and this time to talk about seven troops, about starting a consulting business, and this is coming from a carousel that I did online for Instagram and LinkedIn, but this is a carousel that I often use because I think it really breaks down what I like to call a mini lesson for women, especially women of color, who are ready to build wealth to live their future on their terms, because what I found throughout my life is that whenever I ran into any type of financial need or crisis, I was running and trying to find a job.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: I have worked and taught at a night school before.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I've done all kinds of things trying to use my expertise in order to generate more income for myself or for my family, and one thing that I finally realized is that many times when I was sharing my knowledge in that way, I was doing it for a fraction of what I could have been earning if I would have put my expertise into the market on my own accord.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: So I don't want you to make that mistake.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: I don't want you working late hours and long shifts trying to make money in order to build wealth for your family.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Even if you have a great income and you're nine to five, sometimes we're looking for extra work and working PRN jobs, or trying to work and hustle on the side.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: You have a moneymaker in your mind, and so that's why I want to talk about this today, because I think we don't lean into this enough, and especially with the holiday season coming along.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: This is another reason why I think this conversation is so important, because you have the ability to make far more than you could ever imagine, and I don't want you to think about this as an all or none type of situation.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that if you pursue a consulting business, you need to go all in, leave your job and then rely totally on that business for your income.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Yes, I think many of us have always dreamt of getting to that point.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: However, it may mean that this is something that you supplement your income with.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Maybe adding 30, 40, $50,000 to your base salary right now could make a world of difference.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Or maybe you can get to a point where you're able to double or triple the amount that you're making.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I know that if you are a high income generator, then it's going to take quite a bit for you to leave your nine to five, especially when you're thinking about your salary, the benefits, college tuition grants, all these other types of things that they give us in order to keep us locked into our nine to five, and one of the reasons why they give it to us is because your knowledge and your expertise is so valuable.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: I don't think that we think about that enough.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: We're always thinking about everything that a job can offer us, but we're not realizing that we are giving them what they need most, and so these seven truths are going to help to break down all of that and get us thinking about starting consulting and growing our consulting businesses in a different way.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Have you ever thought about how much your expertise is worth in your nine to five?
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Without knowing anything about your field, I can tell you that it's likely much more than you realize.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: What I've found over time is that many experts in their industry undervalue their contribution to the bottom line.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: They sell themselves short and assume that their high-level knowledge and valuable experience are commonplace, but that's not true.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: In fact, most people are sitting on a gold mine, and you are too.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Look, if you have been thinking about starting a consulting business and figuring out how you can sell what you know, then you need my free guide.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: It will walk you through the process of figuring out what you can put into the market that will sell like hotcakes.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Trust me, you have tons to offer.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: It's time to uncover new ways to use what you already know to create the life you truly desire.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Download your free guide now, all right.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: So truth number one is that what you have already is enough when I say that one of the most common things that I see us as women, especially as women of color, doing is getting additional degrees, and I think a lot of this comes from the fact that we have always been taught that we need to be better than our colleagues in order to get half as far better than our colleagues in order to get half as far, and that led to a lot of education, a lot of investment in getting degrees and certifications and other skill sets, and I'm guilty of that too.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: I'm sitting here with a master's degree, a PharmD degree, all kinds of certifications that I have to pay hundreds of dollars every year to maintain all those things, just so that I could stand out in the career space and get the job that I wanted and grow and climb the corporate ladder All those things I felt like I needed.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: One of the beautiful things about entrepreneurship is that there are no job requirements.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: We're used to going online whether it's on Indeed or some other type of job platform looking for a job that's posted, trying to figure out whether or not we meet the criteria to apply.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: That does not exist for entrepreneurship.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: There is no universal standard.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: The beautiful thing is that when you start your consulting business, you determine what's actually needed and while that feels exciting and refreshing to even think about, I think a lot of times we don't necessarily believe it.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: We tend to question whether or not that's truly the case and whether we can really get into the rooms that we need to get into in order to be most effective and to land the type of contracts that we want to land.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Now, there are going to be requirements in different industries, so I'm not saying that if you want to consult in the medical space and you don't have any type of healthcare-related or medical background that you're going gonna easily be able to do that you still can.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: There are ways, but there are scenarios where having the baseline foundational knowledge is going to work to your advantage.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: But I would say that would be true with anything that you wanna do.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: In order to be considered an expert, you have to have some level of foundational knowledge.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: But you determine where you want to practice, who you want to help, what you want your business to look like, and rarely, very rarely, does another degree or another certification help you do that.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Truth number two and I'm calling all of my women who have massive student loan debt right now that you are paying off to the front.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: You've already invested time, money and energy.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: You haven't even fully leveraged what your existing degree offers.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Have you thought about that?
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Your degree wasn't designed for you to land one position.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: So the investment in your education whether it was through you paying through cash or loans or scholarship that degree, that education, was designed for you to be open to opportunity, and that includes opportunities that you build for yourself.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: You have not scratched the surface as to what your knowledge can do for you and that job you work hard to get.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: It was never your final destination.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Often, like I said before, we get into these jobs and into our career and we begin to climb the corporate ladder, and there's nothing wrong with doing that, as long as you're moving ahead toward your goal and what you want to accomplish.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: But if that's not bringing you joy, if that's not bringing you happiness, if that's not bringing you the revenue that you need, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you expanding beyond that.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: And the great part is that you don't have to always invest in something new.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: You've already invested time, money and energy.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: You've already done that.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: All I'm trying to convince you of is that now is a wonderful time to capitalize on that investment and get a return on that investment.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: And when we start thinking of it in that way, it makes it a lot easier for you to feel prepared and not feel like an imposter when you're entering into this new space, because you've already done the hardest work.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: So truth two you've already invested time, money and energy, and now you just need a return on that investment far greater than what you've already invested time, money and energy.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: And now you just need a return on that investment far greater than what you've already gotten.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Truth number three you're the reason their business exists.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Now we think about businesses and we think of the product that they have in the market, whether that is looking at Nike and tennis shoes and athletic clothing, if it's looking at Apple and all of the electronic devices that they're able to market and sell, we see that as the business, as the product, as what is generating money and revenue for them.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: That's one piece of the puzzle, but most companies today actually run on human capital, so the value of the business is actually based on the experience and the expertise of the people.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: It's the individuals that are contributing their knowledge, their insights, their skill sets to develop those products that they then sell.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: That truly is the most valuable aspect of that business.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: You are an asset and we don't often think about ourselves that way.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: We think about ourselves as labor, as employees, as someone who is working in the business to help promote the product or the service, but we're not thinking about the fact that our knowledge, our expertise, what we bring to the table, is actually the most valuable component.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Because without that, those products that marketing, the sell, the success of that business would not exist.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: And when we understand the value of what we bring to the table, then it makes it a lot easier for us to see how that same knowledge, that same skill set is just as valuable to other executives at the highest levels, and that they do need advice from consultants and advisors to help them move forward and get ahead.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: And this leads directly into truth number four you can easily put your expertise to work for you Whenever you transition to another role.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: So if you're going from one job to another job, you're taking your value with you.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: The knowledge and the insight that you have doesn't stay with your previous organization because you left.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: So that means that you can actually take that same expertise, that same skill set and build something entirely your own, and you don't need anyone's permission to do that.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Once again, what you know, what you already have, is valuable.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: It is an asset, and that same human capital that's working for everyone else can work for you too.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: So here's truth number five Consulting is no longer reserved for those who have spent decades in their field.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: When we think about how consulting looked, even just when I started over a decade ago, typically a consultant was a very seasoned, typically older white male that had been in their industry for a number of years.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: They decided to branch out as they got closer to retirement, tap into their network inner circles and establish themselves as a consultant and make money toward the end of their career and kind of move on from there into retirement.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: That typically had been the picture toward the end of their career and kind of move on from there into retirement.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: That typically had been the picture.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: And, as you started to see, maybe some people enter into the space that were a bit younger.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: They had access to networks that allowed them to navigate a lot faster.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: However, many of us, especially as women and women of color, were blocked out of that space because there were gatekeepers there.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: There was someone that could tell you that you had not spent enough time doing XYZ or you didn't have the right connections because you weren't in that actual meeting or boardroom or on that golf course when that decision was made.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Those were things that kept us watching from the sideline instead of actively being in the game.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: But now we have a lot more on our side.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: The digital economy has completely changed the way that consulting contracts and business is won.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: You don't need decades of experience or to be the right age to build wealth from your expertise.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: One of the reasons why that was so valuable before is because you had to have a way to establish credibility and your career in totality.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: The longevity of it and the things that you had accomplished over years and decades was evidence that you did have a certain level of knowledge and skill.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: However, now you don't have to have that long trajectory in order to be able to demonstrate that you have other ways of sharing your thoughts, your ideas in a space and gain more visibility that highlights what you can do.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: Because you have that access now, it makes it a lot easier to move beyond those tight inner circles that had to crown you as being worthy of being a consultant.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: That does not exist any longer, and I think many of us don't appreciate that fact, especially if we weren't practicing in those times where that was the case.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Now it seems like everything has been fair game and people can start consulting businesses at their whim and be successful.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: That was not always true in this space.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: So now we have this digital advantage and, if we can put it to use, we have greater market access.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: That honestly makes it extremely promising for any solo consultant or even small firm to get out there and compete with some of the biggest in their industry.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: So consulting is no longer reserved for those who have been in this space for a long, long time Now.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Truth six and this is definitely something I want to highlight is that the fact that these things have changed is a game changer for women, and especially women of color.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: What this means the greater access that we have to the digital economy means that we no longer, as women, have to be stuck playing by rules that were never meant to include us.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I want you to go and find your favorite consulting book.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: I always like to give clients this exercise because I think it really does highlight why they need to be in this space, why it's so important for them to push through difficulties and to really get their businesses growing and off the ground, because we need you here.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: If you pull any of these books off of a bookshelf and I'm looking over at my bookcase right now, every last one of them whether you're looking at million dollar consulting or flawless consulting, or the trusted advisor, et cetera they're all written by pretty much the same person in many cases, or the same type of person which, as I stated before, a typically cisgendered, older white male that, in essence, had complete control of this industry for so long.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: And that's just the truth.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: That's just how it has been, but now the playing field has finally shifted, and I think what makes me so excited and why I have this podcast, why I do the work that I do, why I work with the women that I do, is because now there's real access for those of us who were always kept on the outside of the old boys club.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: We have the ability to seize this moment right now where we can build wealth on our own terms and begin to also rewrite the rules for everyone else that comes behind us, also rewrite the rules for everyone else that comes behind us.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Now we can set the stage for people to know that you can be young, brilliant and highly profitable, selling your expertise without having a middleman, without having a job or a company or organization that does that for you, a job or a company or organization that does that for you and so having that ability to generate income and wealth by the use of the things that you've already spent time investing in is something that just opens the door to so much more when it comes to us living the lives that we truly desire.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Many of us may want to have more of a lifestyle business that helps us to enjoy our families and to travel and to spend time with family.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Or maybe you're one of the ones that wants to build a major firm and to have a big exit plan where you're able to kind of go off into the sunset and enjoy millions upon millions of dollars.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: All of those things are possible.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: But all this starts with us being able to take advantage of where we are right now in this digital economy to utilize all of these tools that we have to our advantage to make it easier to run a business, to market ourselves, to sell, to serve clients.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: There's so much that we have access to that makes running a business a lot easier.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: That was very, very difficult to do in the past, so I want us to lean into that and recognize that this is a unique moment in time.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: And finally, truth number seven you're already making an impact in building wealth using what you know, but it's just a fraction of your potential.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Listen, if you are that person that sits in your office, people come to you all the time with a quote-unquote quick question and that turns into this long 30-minute strategy session because you're the only one who can untangle the mess, that's something special.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Or if leadership is pulling you into meetings to get your take on decisions, even though it's quote-unquote technically not your job.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Your take on decisions even though it's quote unquote technically not your job.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: That's not a coincidence.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: This is all evidence and market validation that you have knowledge that is valuable and that can sell.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: You're already making an impact in your job.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: You're already making an impact with colleagues and within your network.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: You're already doing that.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: The only difference is that the income that you're generating is only a fraction of what you could generate.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: If you're thinking about having a business of your own or an external revenue stream, there is a way for you to earn more from the same work that you're doing already.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: That's the beauty of all of this is that it doesn't take you working harder.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: It just literally takes you being able to market and sell what you're already doing to individuals that desperately need it individuals that desperately need it.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: There are consultants out there charging $300 plus an hour, landing strategy contracts for 50k plus.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: I mean doing all the things while you're doing the same work, but you're making a fixed salary.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: So I want you to think about that.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Think about the fact that you're already doing what you could be making money for, and listen if you want to do something different, which I always like to encourage clients to do.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: I believe in creating a business that you love, meaning that you bring in other talents and skills that you have in order to stand out in your space and to do things in a way that really does honor your strengths and also allows you to concentrate and focus on those things that you enjoy most.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: You are able to do that work with more joy, and that more joy leads to less stress, leads to less disease, leads to increased wellness or greater wellness.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: Disease leads to increased wellness or greater wellness, and all of those things are invaluable if you try to put a price tag on it.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: So you're already doing the work.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: You are just only capitalizing on a fraction of your potential.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Listen, I hope these truths help you to think about starting or growing your consulting business differently, because these are truths, they're facts, this is the reality, and it's often a reality that we don't give ourselves the opportunity to consider and to think about, and so I just want to urge you to give that more thought to consider and to think about.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: And so I just want to urge you to give that more thought as you're leaning into the work that you do.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Think about how that can grow into something bigger.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: If you've already started your business, think about how you can expand and grow that to the next level.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: There is so much that is possible and so much opportunity that lies ahead of you.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: It just takes you looking at it a little bit differently and I promise that once you do that, it's going to open doors that you can't even imagine.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: All right guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Please, please, please, share it with a friend.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: If you know someone that's been thinking about going into consulting or someone who has started their business and you see bigger goals for them than they even see for themselves, pass this episode along.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Number one it helps get the word out there.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: It helps to grow the show.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: But then also, I would love if you can leave your five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: All of your feedback is always welcome and I just look forward to seeing you out there flourishing and growing as we all begin to expand and grow this consulting industry into the diverse ecosystem that it has always been meant to be.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: All right guys, talk to you soon, take care.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in to the Black Girls Console 2 podcast.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to leave your review on Apple Podcasts, subscribe and share it with a friend.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: We're on a mission to increase the success and longevity of women in consulting, and you can help us do just that.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Also, I'd love to hear from you, so let's connect at Dr Angelina Davis on Instagram or LinkedIn, and don't forget to visit excel at consultingcom for more information to support your consulting journey.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Until next time, keep breaking glass ceiling.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: All right, take care.