How did you go out on your own?

I recently was asked …

How did you start all this? I am so tired of working for other people who tell me how I have to work and the box I have to stay within. How did you go out on your own?

In the beginning

I never thought I was going out on my own. I always saw myself as a business, a company, in community, in collaboration. My first business name was Jennifer Frahm Collaborations! My current company – Agile Change Leadership Institute was co-founded with Lena Ross.

The short answer is a shit load of work, hard effort and a willingness to take risks. Not many people are prepared to put in the hours, accept the low returns, or take the risks.

At a high level I spent the late 80s and 90s in wild job turbulence. I say job, not sure they were ‘career’ – and company after company closed down. I learnt my greatest strength was the flexibility / adaptability to leap to higher ground. This innate skillset stays with me, I can read the shifts and adjust relatively easily.

I didn’t want to do a PhD – I did it because I was broke from being a full time mature aged student and was offered an industry stipend. I made sure my research was applied and embedded in an organisation and would lead to IP I could sell. Cue leap to higher ground.

I didn’t want to be an academic. I did it because I was close to being bankrupt in finishing the PhD and got offered the perfect position within six months of completion. Cue leap to higher ground. ?I then spent four years building my profile, volunteering, speaking at events, honing my ability to teach and share ideas, and thinking deeply about a field I love.

The university permitted staff to do consulting one day a week. I had met a new client at a speaking engagement, and they offered me a statement of work which meant I would earn 2/3 of my academic salary in 3 months. So, on the eve of being offered tenure at the university, and with a fresh understanding of my value, I resigned to … leap to higher ground.

If I reflect on the 16 years since I left academia to “go out on my own” – here are some of the lessons that jump out on me.

Get comfortable with sales – 50% of your world will be sales. Business development, creating sales processes, nurturing sales, closing sales, analysing why sales are not flowing, analysing why sales are going great.

Live within your means – being fully accountable for your salary may mean you may not be doing the overseas trips your friends are or buying property like your friends are. There will be terrible financial periods. There will be exciting financial periods. You won’t know the sequencing so make sure you have a buffer and a good accountant.

Embrace escalation of commitment. Escalation of commitment is a psychological construct responsible for entrepreneurs’ success or failure. They commit to an idea even if the data / signs point to it not working. You will commit to something that others don’t understand or believe in. It will make you very successful or bring you down. Better you know now.

Time for money doesn’t scale – productise. If you are selling yourself as a consultant, a speaker, a facilitator you will never be able to scale. You will in some markets be able to keep increasing your rates. It’s only when you work out how to productise your offerings and systemise them that you have a scalable business and one that is not dependent on your energy levels. Remember, 50% of your time is sales.

A portfolio career is not a fall back – it’s a privilege. I once recall an entrepreneur saying, if this doesn’t work, I can fall back to contracting. Contracting, consulting, PT employment is not a fall back. It’s a privilege. You have flexibility and the means to create more revenue. Embrace it and keep those tools sharp for when they are needed.

Ask for help – you can’t do it alone; you are going to have to ask for help. Other businesses, competitors sometimes, customers. Be prepared to verbalise what you need. Accept people will say no though.

Have something to say that adds value. It is a heavily saturated market. This means you need something that differentiates you from others. Reputation, credibility, or a fresh way of solving your market’s problems. If you are going to go out on your own and hit the market with regurgitating mainstream change leadership wisdom its unlikely you will stand out. Find a niche or a specific way of doing things, or a specific concept that plays to your strengths and double down on it.

Be prepared to spend a LOT of time online. This is where your network is, this is where your opportunities are, this is where your intel is. This is your potential for scaling and servicing a global market. But you need to do the time. If you pull back on spending time online there is always a cost to reinvesting when you need it.

Invest in community – volunteer. This is one of those universal lessons. You gotta give before you can take. I spent seven years with the IABC as a volunteer, no time for side hustles! I started a change community in 2009 that met up on a regular basis for 3-4 years (Change Management Professionals). I served as a manager on the Organisational Change Practitioners LinkedIn Group for several years. I was a volunteer for the first ten years of “going out on my own”. ?CMI and ACMP are always very keen for volunteers, so this is the first place to head to!

Take risks – See here’s the thing, you need to replace the discomfort of being told to do work a certain way, and get put back in your box, with the discomfort of speaking uncomfortable truths and making people cranky. Low risk, low reward. But the reward means you may burn some clients along the way. You’re going to replace the discomfort of being told what to do with the discomfort of making the wrong call with investing in the wrong vendors, solutions and partners and losing money.

Maintain your integrity – you’re going to see people use engagement pods, take others’ ideas and cast them as their own, pivot to be positioned as experts in fields they have very little understanding of. It will be really tempting to follow their lead. I truly believe that operating with integrity creates a solid base for growth and sustained business. Your community and customers know what you stand for. It builds trust.

Be prepared to walk away – understanding your boundaries is critical, with vendors, partners, collaborators. At a holistic level – what is the trigger for shutting down your offering or business? There is a remarkable peace of mind that comes with this and knowing when to say “Hey, who wants an entrepreneurial Chief of Staff who understand people, transformation, communication and agility? Cue leap to higher ground.

Final thoughts

You’re going to be taken advantage of. People will copy you. People will work on the assumption you are a nonprofit and should give everything away. Customers / clients will not pay bills. Your greatest ideas will be duds. You will be blindsided at times. You will be exhausted. If you know this now, is it better than being told to stay in a box? If yes, then go for it.

I get this might paint a negative picture, but I have always said, it’s hard work but immensely satisfying. Twice the stress of being an employee and three times the reward. ?

Sixteen years on I have ZERO regrets about “going out on my own”, and I am much more intentional now than the first 10 years. I am so very proud of what I have been able to do, and the impact on bettering people’s professional lives and workplaces. I don’t think I ever could have planned it or imagined it.

And you see, it’s this last sentence that I think can be most helpful in making your decision. Will you have more impact as an effective change agent inside of a company? Trusted, knows the organisation inside out? Or will you have more impact ‘out on your own’?

In the end, the choice to step out on your own, or to make the most impact within an organization—is deeply personal. It’s not a question of right or wrong, but of alignment with your values, your strengths, and your aspirations.

Ask yourself: what truly matters to me? Is it the autonomy of charting my own course? The opportunity to make more than what I might as a permanent employee (no guarantees!)? The satisfaction of having full control over how I work and the legacy I leave? Or is it the ability to influence deeply, embedded within a team or an organization?

Whatever path you choose, remember: the key to success isn’t just hard work or talent—it’s knowing what you want, why you want it, and being willing to leap to higher ground when the time comes.

Sixteen years on, I’m proof that the risks and rewards are real, and the journey though challenging is worth it. I hope your story, wherever it takes you, is one you’ll look back on with the same pride and gratitude!

Cue leap to higher ground?

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