A former classmate swooped into town for work yesterday.

I took advantage of a cage-free life and went and caught up with her between her afternoon client meetings.

She’s quite humble, but a very successful principal at one of the big consulting firms, and inevitably we started talking about the solo thing.

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She’s gone the indie consulting route before, then went back.

For good reasons: pay stability, family needs, and a chance to work with marquee clients in her space.

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When we got to talking about whether she’d ever go solo again, she said:

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“I wouldn’t want to do all the execution work myself again.”

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Fair enough.

So I said, “You could just sell advisory.”

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And then I heard it:

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“Yeah… but I don’t know what sort of unique expertise I have to offer.”

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To which I said:

“Uhh, 20 years of compounding experience? With social impact orgs literally all over the world?”

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We both laughed.

Because we know it’s true.

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We don’t see our own expertise, because it’s built slowly.

Over time.

While we’re living it.

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Just because someone in your network seems to have it all figured out…

Or because someone's loud about it on LinkedIn…

Or because you’re not speaking on stages or writing books (yet)…

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Doesn’t mean you don’t have a sharply tuned lens on your domain.

It doesn’t mean your insight isn’t powerful.

It just means you’re used to it.

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Now, I don’t push people off the plank toward the solo path.

You have to want it. The desire has to be intrinsic.

And admittedly, it's not right for everyone's situation.

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But whether you’ve just jumped in (I see you),

Or you’re still circling the idea (I see you too),

Or you’ve been at it for years and our old friend Doubt still drops by sometimes (oh, hello 👋)

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Just remember:

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Expertise is a compounding game.

And the clock didn’t start when you went solo.

It started at your first job.

Maybe even earlier.

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Now it’s just a matter of showing people what you’ve built.

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💡

-Wes

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