Earlier this month, I officially kicked off my book tour for The Expert’s Privilege by hosting a “Can I Go Solo?” dinner with the Wharton Alumni Club of Seattle.

I'm building this tour around small gatherings, intentionally.

After all, we’re talking about a major career pivot, one that elicits that wild combination of curiosity and excitement, but also self-doubt and vulnerability.

Given the intimate size of the dinner, we were able to explore a lot of that in depth.

What was most surprising to me was the broad range of backgrounds and situations, even among apples from the same tree:

• Some from the Wharton MBA program who graduated 20+ years ago
• Some who completed the Executive MBA program recently
• Some who have made the leap to solo work
• Some who are just starting to think about it
• Some who have been laid off in the past few months
• Some who are starting some preemptive planning in case of an unexpected turn of events

But the common thread around the table (myself included):

We had all steered very intentionally onto the corporate track.

And now seek to steer intentionally away from it.

And that’s ok! It’s something to be celebrated. Not some sort of betrayal of your roots.

Even beyond this particular dinner table, it sometimes seems like there’s some universal hush policy when thinking about going solo.

Like if you ever leave the corporate “tribe” or even hint that you want to, you’ll be shunned, exiled, and never allowed back in.

And that fear, among others, leads many to abandon exploration altogether, or at least keep their interest to themselves.

But I’ve found that when you peek outside, and start talking to even just a handful of those who have ditched the corporate grid or want to, the guard comes down, the questions pour out, the curiosity compounds, and excitement replaces fear.

At least that’s what happened on a smoky summer evening over a lakeside dinner in Seattle.

If you’re here sitting in the wings, just wanting to get a glimpse of the other side, welcome. Please stay as long as you’d like.

And if you’d like to think more tactically about how to redeploy your unique expertise solo, let’s talk 1:1 about your “Parachute Plan”.

If you’ve read my book, you know your parachute is already packed.

Now you just decide how and when you jump.

💡

-Wes

P.S. For those already out on your own, I'm about to close the "What's sinking your time?" pulse survey. Please take <1 minute to complete it.

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