All Episodes

May 23, 2025 18 mins

Send me a text message and get your questions answered on the podcast! I'd love to hear from you!

Are you caught in the crossfire of the solopreneurship debate? Perhaps you've heard people declare that solo consulting is a "trap" or wondered if you're limiting your potential by not building a team. This debate touches the core of how we define success in consulting and whether we're allowing others to define it for us.

The truth is more nuanced than blanket statements allow. As high-achieving women, especially women of color, we've spent too long assuming we must follow predetermined paths that weren't designed for our lives. When your business model supports your personal vision rather than someone else's expectations, you've found your path to success.

Interested in this conversation? Tune in to learn more!

 

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast.
I'm your host, dr AngelinaDavis, and if you have been
tuning into the podcast in thepast, then you know that I have
been working on bringing thispodcast to you in video form on
YouTube.
It has been a journey, to saythe least, and I have had ups

(00:22):
and downs and it has been a hugelearning curve.
So while the early videos thatare coming out may be a little
bit messy, I am excited theycontinue to improve as time goes
on and you get to actually seewhat it's like to take something
like an audio podcast that doesnot have a video attached and

(00:45):
turn that into something that isavailable in multiple forms.
So it helps to reach morepeople, which is a great thing
for the podcast, but then alsofor you.
You get to see the messy middle, all of the ins and outs and
everything in between.
So this episode is from thevideo podcast.
It is a conversation aboutsolopreneurship and whether or

(01:08):
not it's a trap.
Are you meant to have a soloconsulting business or are you
destined to have a firm or somebigger corporation one day?
I wanted to tackle thatquestion and consider all of the
things that help us to makethis decision and are we making
the right one?
So if you are interested inthis conversation, then keep

(01:30):
listening along.
Let's get started.
Is solopreneurship or soloconsulting a trap?
Are you making a mistake whenyou try to go into business solo
, all along, with no helpwhatsoever?
At least that's whatsolopreneurship implies, or does

(01:52):
it?
I was scrolling online recentlyon LinkedIn, and that's part of
why this came up as a topic forthis episode because when I read
the statement aboutsolopreneurship being a trap, I
was immediately conflicted.
And the reason why I felt thatway is because, in all honesty,

(02:13):
my answer was you know well, itdepends.
It depends on the type ofbusiness, it depends on your
goals, it depends on who you'retalking to, it depends and I
think whenever we're talking orspeaking in absolutes, we can
get ourselves in trouble.
If you cannot say that in 100%of the cases that something is

(02:37):
true, then more than likelyyou're not thinking as broadly
as you should about a topic, andit's very rare that we fall
upon a circumstance where we cansay, in 100% of cases, going
into business as a solopreneur,as a solo consultant, is going
to lead to a negative outcome.
So, yes, I would say that ifyou want to build an enterprise,

(03:04):
then you're not going to beable to do that as a solopreneur
or a solo consultant and Iwould say in 99.9% of cases
because, look, I can'tcontradict myself when I'm
trying to explain and talk abouthow we shouldn't be thinking in
absolutes, because there may besome random circumstance where

(03:25):
that can be the case, but Ithink we all know that when
you're thinking on that level,it's going to require a lot more
than just you as one particularperson working in and on your
business.
But I do think that there is amisconception that
solopreneurship has to belimiting when it doesn't.

(03:47):
When I was reading thecommentary around the post that
I saw recently, a lot of ittalked about how they viewed
solopreneurship as being lonely,something that they didn't find
enjoyable because they feltlike they were often working by
themselves and they were stuckto a laptop and the business
didn't run, unless they wererunning and in some ways it was

(04:11):
logistically challenging.
But that doesn't have to be thecase and that is not always the
case.
For many, solopreneurship hasled to having multi-million
dollar revenue streams with veryhigh profit margins because you
don't have a lot of overhead.
When I think about certainbusiness entrepreneurs, such as

(04:32):
the Justin Walshes of the world,that focus a lot of their
efforts around solopreneurship.
They've been able to amass notonly a very large audience, but
then also a lot of money hasbeen built in their business
without having a massive team,and I can go on and on with a
number of examples where thathas been the case.

(04:54):
So there is the possibility ofyou achieving financial goals
that you may have and still be asolopreneur or a solo
consultant.
It can offer greater freedomand greater flexibility.
I can speak to that in terms ofbeing able to operate in your
own way and design everythingwithout thinking about a lot of

(05:17):
moving parts, because thosemoving parts are not dependent
upon you and so you do have alevel of freedom or flexibility
that may be there.
For many, solopreneurship canoffer you reduced stress because
you're not managing a team.
There's a lot of benefit inhaving a team because there's a
lot of help.
There's a lot of ways to getthings done faster and to have

(05:40):
the business run behind thescenes more seamlessly because
you have other people involved.
But that does not necessarilymean it is stress-free for
everyone, and in some cases,having a team can add a level of
stress that's not desirable,because, in order to have a team
that runs effectively, you needto also be able to train that

(06:03):
team, to make sure that you'rein constant communication with
that team, to make sure thatteam has all of the resources
and tools that they need inorder to be successful on your
behalf, and so it is anotherlevel of responsibility that
even comes from the businessowner that many people don't
think about.
It's not as simple as justhiring a team and handing
everything off to them andletting them run free.

(06:25):
You have to have the trainingin place in order to be able to
do that, and especially inconsulting, that can be somewhat
challenging, because we aremaking money based on our
expertise, our knowledge, andtherefore we have to be able to
put that into something that'smore of a concrete framework or
some type of guidance, so thatthose who work for us and work

(06:48):
under us can follow.
Without that, then, it's goingto be difficult for you to be
able to provide your level ofservice to the best of your
ability, and then, for some,being able to work as a
solopreneur offers happiness andfulfillment and joy, and
there's something to be said forall those things.

(07:09):
It means that many times youcan end up with greater
alignment and even fulfillmentin terms of the type of life
that you want to live.
So if what you are buildingmeets your lifestyle goals and
your lifestyle needs, then thatmay be the approach for you.
So this is one of the reasonswhy I say that it depends.

(07:34):
It depends on what you want toaccomplish and what your goals
actually are, what type ofpersonality you have and whether
or not you see having a teamand a firm and working with a
lot of people as being moredesirable than, maybe, working
by yourself.
There are a lot of moving piecesand a lot of things to consider

(07:54):
, but I will argue that wheneverpeople make this comparison,
they're making the comparisonbased upon one person delivering
the service, one person doingall of the communication, one
person creating everything, oneperson showing up and serving

(08:15):
every day.
And that does not have to bethe case, because part of the
biggest benefit that we have intoday's society is that we have
a lot of things at ourdisposable a lot of tools, a lot
of resources, technology, a lotof different ways to show up.
Who thought that we would bedoing so much business right now

(08:37):
on Zoom.
Most people would not haveimagined that that would have
been the case, and, to be honestwith you, it wasn't until we
had a global crisis that thisactually pushed this type of
communication forward.
So the world continues tochange, and we continue to
embrace new ways of doingbusiness and new ways of showing
up.
We have a number of ways for usto be effective, even as

(09:02):
solopreneurs and soloconsultants.
The thing is that it's not theactual business model that is
potentially problematic, butit's whether or not you are able
to leverage your expertise, andso I would say that leverage is
actually the key, because whenyou are able to leverage what

(09:23):
you know most effectively, thenit is possible for you to
achieve a number of goals,financially and business-wise,
without having a massive team.
Entrepreneurship does not meanthat you are on this journey
alone.
It doesn't mean that it has totrap you.
It doesn't mean that it has tobe limiting, which is why I

(09:44):
always like to have thediscussion with my clients when
we first start.
We start off with a process ofvision mapping, and one of the
reasons why I like to use visionmapping is because I think
often we don't think about orconsider what we view as success
, where we want to go personally, what makes us happy, what fits
our lifestyles, what goals wemay have.

(10:06):
Everybody may not necessarilywant to have an enterprise,
business or a large corporation.
Maybe the goal is to have avery renowned solopreneurship
business or small boutique firmthat's able to make millions
upon millions of dollars andstill be highly profitable, that
can afford the lifestyle andthe legacy that you may want to

(10:28):
leave, and that's absolutelyfine.
And the one thing I want us tomove away from is the feeling
that we're somehow not achievingas much if we choose to use a
different business model.
If someone choosessolopreneurship, then that
doesn't mean that they're goingto be less successful at all.

(10:51):
You'll be surprised how manysolopreneurs actually generate
greater revenue than many whohave larger firms, and it all
has to do with the amount ofprofits that they're able to
achieve.
We can't just make blanketstatements and assume that
because someone decides toutilize one particular business

(11:14):
model, that is going to somehowhandicap them or make it not as
good as, and on the flip side,we don't want to assume also
that by having a large firm withteam and other consultants
surrounding you is going to bethe best approach.
There are pluses and minuses onboth sides.
It's thinking about what yourvision actually is telling you

(11:39):
what do you see for yourself?
What type of life do you seeyourself living?
If you do want that flexibilityand freedom that doesn't come
with having to manage a team,that's okay.
There's nothing wrong with that.
And if you do enjoy thecamaraderie and being able to
work together and collaborateand to be able to diversify your

(12:01):
work a bit more because you arebringing on other consultants
and contractors that are able toassist you with the work, then
that's great as well.
I think that we have to startreally taking into account what
we want for ourselves indefining what success looks like

(12:21):
in our lives not success byother people's standards.
Success by other people'sstandards.
So if you found yourself toyingwith whether or not you should
continue to try thesolopreneurship route or if you
need to go and build a big firm,I want you to instead ask
yourself what is your vision,what are your goals?

(12:45):
What are you trying toaccomplish?
What life are you trying tolive?
What lifestyle do you want tohave?
Because when you're able toanswer those questions, then
it's easy to reverse engineerthe best business model for you.
There shouldn't be a blanketstatement nor a general

(13:06):
expectation that in order for usto achieve success, we need to
follow one particular path.
There are a number of ways toget there, and one thing that I
want to stress, especially as acoach and mentor for other
consultants, is that whicheverpath you choose is okay as long

(13:27):
as that path meets your goals,and we have to start putting
blinders on when it comes towhat other people are
experiencing.
Now, if someone feels as ifgoing the solo entrepreneurship
route is a trap, then you wantto utter that as well.
I don't think that you shouldgo down a path that doesn't feel

(13:47):
aligned, but I also don't wantyou to assume that you need to
follow a particular path to besuccessful.
You know, that's one of thethings that, as women especially
women of color we've been doingfor far too long assuming that
we need to walk down a set paththat may not be designed for our
lives.

(14:08):
The best that we can do is tobetter understand who we are,
because when you're operatingand building a business that
surrounds your lived experiencesand your unique perspective and
your expertise, you have tofind ways to embody that in
every aspect of your businessand for some people that may be

(14:29):
easy to do with a team, and somepeople it may be easy to do
with a team, and some people itmay be harder.
And then also, I want us tolook at business building as a
journey.
It's not something that happensovernight.
So, yes, this may be yoursolopreneurship season, but that
doesn't mean that you won't bein your, your boutique or firm

(14:50):
season in a few years.
Everything takes time to buildout, to figure yourself out, to
understand what you need inorder to best serve your
industry, because, dependingupon what you're able and want
to offer, you may need a littlebit more, but then also you may

(15:14):
not need as much as you're doingright now.
So when you're thinking aboutgetting help, ask yourself am I
doing this from a place of trueneed or am I doing this because
it's what other people expect?
And the one thing about us ashigh achieving women is that

(15:36):
often we do a lot of things thatpeople expect of us, and not
necessarily what honors who weare.
But in this season, we want tofocus more on our vision, on
what we want to do in ourbusiness for our lives, and so
if that means that you want tobe a solopreneur, a solo

(15:59):
consultant, so be it.
And if it means that you wantto build a team and have a
larger corporation, business orenterprise, then so be it.
Corporation, business orenterprise, then so be it.
That is the beauty of modernconsulting the fact that we
don't have to choose.
That is the beauty, because inmodern consulting, we have

(16:28):
access to things to help us.
You have access to people whocan do freelance and contract
work.
You have access to artificialintelligence that can simplify a
lot of tasks in your business.
You have automations.
You have systems and operatingsystems that can be put in place
that allow the solopreneur tofunction like they have a small
team, and you have the abilityto educate and train a team more

(16:53):
effectively with these sametools.
The thing that modern consultingoffers us is choice, freedom
and flexibility, not just in ourlives, but in every aspect of
the business journey.
So if you are thinking aboutthis question now, after we've
had this discussion, I'm hopingthat you're realizing that the

(17:16):
choice is up to you Whether ornot you want to lean into
solopreneurship or soloconsulting or you want to focus
on building that firm.
It is up to you.
It is your choice and yourdecision which way you go.
Your choice and your decisionwhich way you go, and the great

(17:37):
part about it is that, no matterwhich you choose, you'll be
successful.
I believe it because I've seenit happen.
All right, guys, I hope youenjoyed this episode.
If you did subscribe to thechannel and if you're listening
to this on Apple Podcasts orSpotify, leave your five-star
rating and review.
It'll help us to reach morepeople and until next time, take

(17:57):
care.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.