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What does it take to build a business that can actually withstand real life? Kara van Stralen spent over a decade inside the rooms where big decisions get made, working on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and in a governor's office, before she started her own government affairs firm. That insider view of how decisions really happen became a real edge in her own sales process. But the bigger test came later, when her business had to prove it could hold up under real pressure, not just win clients, but actually support her family when life didn't go as planned. Kara van Stralen, founder of Vista Strategies, shares how she went from chaos to calm, and built something sturdy enough to catch her when she needed it most.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

Marketing has changed for consultants. LinkedIn has changed. And if you feel like you're chasing a moving target, that's because you are. Jaclyn Sergeant, the Academy's Marketing and Pipeline Coach, joins Leah to break down what's actually working right now, including how LinkedIn's algorithm works today and why falling reach might be good news. They also share how the Academy rebuilt its entire marketing system to match this moment, and what that means for how you should be showing up today.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

Fractional work is exploding, with some estimates putting the number of self-described fractional executives well over 100,000. But there's a gap between what the label promises and what a lot of people offering it are actually delivering. In this episode, Leah breaks down what's genuinely good about the fractional model, the honest truths nobody tells you before you brand yourself that way, and the dirty little secret almost no one's saying out loud. Whether you're already calling yourself fractional or thinking about it, you'll walk away knowing what actually makes any engagement work, fractional or otherwise.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

Almost every woman consultant is carrying something from a job she already left. Sometimes it's harmless. Sometimes it's the reason she won't publish, won't ask, won't say what she actually thinks where a client can see it. In this real coaching call, a client who'd stalled for months finds hers. Plus Leah's own version, and the three questions to ask when you catch yourself following a rule you never agreed to.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

You can be great at what you do, get results your clients rave about, and still not be the one deciding what you work on. That's most consulting businesses. Shanna Hocking spent 25 years in university fundraising before starting Hocking Leadership, and she went looking for help at the exact moment things were going well, because good wasn't the same as chosen. Here's what shifted, and what it made possible.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

Leah had spent over twenty years as a self-described personal development junkie, always reading, always learning, always reaching for the next book that would help her get better. But one day she sat down to work through a problem in her business and realized she couldn't hear herself think over the noise of everyone else's advice. So she did something drastic: she quit all of it, personal development and business books, cold turkey, for what turned into two years. In this episode, Leah shares what pushed her to walk away, and the unexpected things she found waiting on the other side.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

Pricing head trash is sneaky. It doesn't care how long you've been in business, how much you've made, or how much mindset work you've done. In this episode, you're going behind the scenes into a real Academy group coaching call, where two experienced consultants are hitting the same wall in two very different ways. What you hear might sound uncomfortably familiar.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

You already know who you want to work with. You've known for a while. But saying it out loud, committing to it, building your whole business around it? That feels like a risk you're not sure you can take. Abby McAdams, founder of ASM Communications, felt the same way, and she did it anyway. Here's what happened when she did, and what it could look like for you too.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

What do clients actually need right now? How are they making decisions? And what makes one consultant the obvious choice while another never hears back? April Uchitel, founder of The Board, sits on both sides of the table, working with clients and consultants alike, and in this conversation she's giving you the inside look. In this episode you'll hear how organizations are making decisions about outside help right now, what clients wish they could tell you but don't, and the one behavior that turns a first conversation into a client relationship that lasts.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

You're posting on LinkedIn. You're sending a newsletter. You're doing the things... and it's still not getting you the clients you want. If you've been working too hard at marketing for it not to be working, this episode is for you. Leah breaks down what's actually going on, the one thing not to do (even though every coach will tell you to do it), and the three shifts that actually move the needle, including the one ask you can make this week.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

If you're a consultant, you probably know the feast or famine cycle: you look at the next three, six, or nine months and it looks fine. But beyond that, you have no idea what's going to happen. That's the cycle most consultants live in. But it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode, Katy Goldstein, a PR consultant working with early-stage B2B tech companies, will share how she ended her own feast or famine cycle, for good, and how you can too.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap

There's a hidden tax to living through hard times, and your business is paying it whether you notice or not. Today, a coaching call where one client starts to see hers. Listen in for what overwhelm has been doing in the background, and what it takes to come back without spiraling into shame.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

You know the feeling. You're great at what you do. You've been doing it for years. And yet, the clients you want aren't finding you the way you thought they would by now. This episode is about why that's happening, and what the women who've cracked it are actually doing differently.   — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap   —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

Everyone's talking about AI, but what does it actually look like to use it in your consulting business in a way that moves the needle? Nina Willdorf, founder of Special Projects, shares how combining a clear methodology with the right AI tools helped her grow faster than she ever imagined. In this episode, you'll hear the specific strategies that made the biggest difference, the mindset shifts underneath them, and what it could look like for you too. — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you. 1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply. 2. Get Roadmap to Clients Map out a simple sales process for your consulting business in less than an hour. Take potential clients smoothly from first contact to a signed proposal – so you can stop reinventing the wheel with every opportunity. Get the free video course at smartgetspaid.com/roadmap —   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected]

We're at 130+ episodes! Not sure where to start? We've got you. We put together curated playlists of our best episodes by topic — pricing, mindset, LinkedIn, and more — so you can go deep on exactly what you need right now. The Pricing Playlist is out first, with new playlists dropping every couple of weeks. 👉 smartgetspaid.com/podcast — When you're ready to break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business, here are two ways I can help you.   1. Join The Academy For women consultants who've been in business 2+ years and are making $120k+. Build the two systems every consulting business needs to get more of the right clients, get paid more, and build a sustainable business:  → A marketing system to bring the right clients to you and fill your pipeline → A sales system to help clients say yes and get you paid more. If you're ready to make your business and revenue more stable, secure, and sustainable, visit smartgetspaid.com/academy to learn more and apply.   CONNECT WITH LEAH: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahtn/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@smartgetspaid Website: smartgetspaid.com Email: [email protected] Here's what's in the Pricing Playlist:   The Pricing Playlist Ep 130: From small projects to big impact, with Carrie Bornstein Ep 120: More revenue with fewer clients - success without burnout, with Brynne Krispin Ep 97: How to work with fewer clients that pay you more, Part 1: current clients Ep 98: How to work with fewer clients that pay you more, Part 2: new clients Ep 77: How to get paid more for your consulting work link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/57xtJcEeZLrOsHzp0XXoub?si=mdOe42YMT-Gy_WCPaz8BuQ Pretty Link: smartgetspaid.com/playlist-pricing