I Was Trapped in a Corporate Cubicle and Going Crazy!

So, I did the only sane thing I could do!

In the middle of a recession,

I quit and started consulting!

Two years later, my old division went bankrupt, and all those who had stayed for "safe" secure jobs were unemployed.

Working in “Big Corporate” did not mean security for the thousands working there.

But that doesn't mean that striking out on my own was easy.

I was an “expert” in technology and marketing. During the eight years I was an Air Force pilot, I went to graduate school for an MS in Physics and an MBA in Marketing and Finance. Then I was manager of competitive analysis for seven years in a division of Texas Instruments.

With all that training and experience, I thought being a consultant would be easy. Was I wrong!

In the first few years as an independent consultant, I made half what my corporate salary had been.

College gave me knowledge.

Working in industry gave me experience.

But I knew nothing about building and growing an independent consulting business, finding my niche, building a brand, winning clients, calculating fees, pulling together teams, or scaling the business.

I was starting from scratch!

With the only book on consulting I could find, no mentors, and no consulting community, I faced years of painful and costly "learning opportunities."

I wished I had a community or someone to coach me on consulting.

Five years and many painful lessons later,

I was making six figures.

And then seven figures...

But I was still a solo, independent consultant!

What was the difference?
I was using strategies, tactics, and systems that worked!

As a former military pilot, I knew the importance of checklists and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) so I started documenting those "learning opportunities" and recording what drove success.

The strategies, tactics, systems, and tools that I learned over the years became a foundation for Critical to Success.

Proven strategies, tactics, and systems built a great client list...

The Imposter Syndrome and uncertainty disappeared. The confidence came with proven strategies, tactics, systems, and tools I could depend on. The fear and uncertainty of "selling" to prospects became more comfortable with the new mindset and a consultative sales system that feels genuine.

Professional productivity systems like the proprietary Cornerstones to Capstone™ system have evolved over the years, but that system helped me write 27 books published by J Wiley and Macmillan.

Those systems combined with Gen AI give me,
a solo practitioner, tremendous productivity.

Consulting, research, and writing are even faster and easier now that we have combined the Cornerstone to Capstone ^tm system with the new Gen AI consulting power tools in the Consulting Mastery course.

Four of the 27 books I wrote on strategic performance, digital marketing, and Microsoft technologies became international best-sellers and have sold over 3 million copies.

I learned there were many ways to leverage expertise into multiple streams of income through multiple channels.

Proven strategies, tactics, and systems created a great work-life balance...

Using proven systems in marketing, client sales, and client deliverables pulled me out of the Feast-or-Famine cycle that steals time from solo consultants.

Our family loves travel and adventure, so our plan for 2025 is to ride the dedicated bike trials from Stockholm down the Rhine valley, over the Alps from Munich to Venice, along Lake Garda, one of the most beautiful bike paths in the world, then over to a small cafe in Croatia.

I expect it to be a fun, easy ride since my wife says she’ll pull the luggage trailer behind her eBike. Our first long date was a bike trip that circled South Island, New Zealand.   :)

If you are a cyclist, check out the USA and EuroVelo bike trails.

Here's to what's Critical to Your Success,
Ron
[email protected]
https://linkedin.com/in/ronperson/