Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

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 consulting career at Booz Allen. She has been running her own consulting firm, Peninsula Strategies, since 2001, so she has been a successful independent professional for 16 years.

Several years ago, Srikumar Rao left a comfortable tenured position to set out as an independent professional. He now gives keynote speeches and offers his course to corporations and the general public around the world. His TED talk has been viewed nearly a million times. Learn more about Srikumar at https://theraoinstitute.com/ Srikumar created one of the most popular courses ever at Columbia Business School: Creativity and Personal Mastery. It is the only business school course that has its own active alumni group keeping the conversation going a decade and more after students graduate - including reunions, and Srikumar remains a beloved mentor by the thousands of students he has taught. Srikumar is the author of two best-selling books: Are YOU Ready to Succeed?: Unconventional Strategies for Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life and Happiness at Work: Be Resilient, Motivated, and Successful - No Matter What. In our show Srikumar discusses several practical exercises from his courses that students have found particularly powerful.

Lilly Liu Minkove is an expert in the luxury retail sector. She focused on the luxury retail industry as an investment banker at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. Then she gained experience in industry as a Director of Strategy at Coach and as a Director of Stores for Louis Vuitton. Presently she is a partner at ArtLogica Strategy Group which she co-founded with fellow McKinsey alum Jessica Zhu. ArtLogica is a marketing and strategy consultancy for the consumer, retail, and luxury industries. In our discussion, Lilly gives an insider's view into what she looks for when she does an in-store diagnostic. We also talk about how an independent professional can work with agencies to do large scale consumer surveys. Learn more about Lilly's work at http://artlogicagroup.com/

Susan Hamilton is a brand identity strategist and a member of Umbrex. She is an alum of Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group, and her firm, sh.BRAND, is based in New York City. We talk about what a brand identity is and how Susan helps firms define their brand identity. To learn more about Susan, check out her website at http://sh-brand.com/

Known for his wit, wisdom, and formerly purple hair, McKinsey alum, author and independent management consultant Ravi Rao reveals how we can improve the performance of individuals within the corporate culture through emotional intelligence. As a young man, Ravi wanted to be an actor but ended up in neuroscience. With a keen interest in the function and development of the brain, he obtained a PhD in neuroscience, became a resident physician in neurosurgery at Harvard, where he studied the emotional behavior of babies. After he made a career switch to management consulting to join McKinsey & Co., he used his training in how the brain works to bring new insights to corporate culture transformation. In our discussion, Ravi explains why the basic element of trust is behind all progressive and profitable businesses. From being open to ideas and receptive to growth, to mitigating the loss of high-performers and enabling staff to proactively anticipate and solve problems. Ravi talks about his process as an author for his book, Emotional Business: Inspiring Human Connectedness To Grow Earnings And The Economy: how he wrote it, published it, and how it has helped lead to further conversations. Ravi's got a unique morning routine that is inspired by his own neuroscience training, and he shares how he starts his day. Ravi is on Twitter @emobizguy. Unleashed is sponsored by Umbrex, the first global community of top-tier independent management consultants.

David Fields is the author of The Irresistible Consultant's Guide to Winning Clients: 6 Steps to Unlimited Clients & Financial Freedom, one of the best books available on business development for independent professionals. David runs a consulting consortium and serves as an advisor to independent consultants and boutique firms. In this episode, we dive into some of his key pieces of advice for client development, including right-side-up thinking, defining your firm's impact, building your visibility, how to have a context discussion, and tips on pricing. You can read more about David's work and sign up for free content on his website: http://www.davidafields.com/ David provided a list of books he recommends: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini The Trusted Advisor, by David H. Maister and Charles H. Green The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip and Dan Heath Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Strategy and the Fat Smoker, by David H. Maister Managing the Professional Services Firm, by David H. Maister We'd love your feedback on this episode. Email us at [email protected] Unleashed is sponsored by Umbrex.