Ange Bruce credits Consultants of Choice with changing her life

Coming from Australia’s not-for-profit community, Ange noticed how a lack of operational resources was holding organisations back. Her new consultancy supports senior leaders with better systems to compensate for their small teams.

Ange explains, “Not-for-profits are well staffed with programmatic and fundraising specialists. But operations teams are much smaller. Getting things done is infinitely harder, and requirements just keep mounting.”

Making the leap before you’re ready

Ange left permanent employment in early 2023. She says, “Consulting was always something I thought I might do. But my internal narrative was that it would be maybe five to 10 years from now. I thought I needed more experience for consultancy to be viable.”

“However, when Alicia launched Consultants of Choice I thought I’d give it a go and see where the journey took me. Part of what drew me to the programme was the foundational work around values and value proposition. I thought, even if I don’t get anywhere in consulting, knowing all those things is valuable if I go for another job.”

“I was pretty nervous and anxious. I’d left the security of permanent employment, not knowing what was on the other side. I didn't really have a market niche or any idea what my business would look like. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Consultants of Choice or if it would work for me. But it became a way to explore whether consultancy was right for me. Maybe it wasn’t true that I needed more experience. Maybe I could get going now.”

“Consulting was always something I thought I might do. But my internal narrative was that I needed more experience … Consultants of Choice became a way to explore whether consultancy was right for me now.”

Not quitting when the work gets hard.

A lot of Consultants of Choice is inward-looking work. Ange explains, “That self-development piece is quite challenging but rewarding. There's so much value in getting clear on what you want to do, who you want to help, and being able to tell that story.”

“Lots of times, I thought about quitting. It's hard doing the whole deep dive on yourself, working out what your life will look like. There were definitely times when I thought, maybe I should throw this in and just get another job. But it's a really valuable process, and the support from the Consultants of Choice community keeps you going.”

The realities of marketing and sales can also be confronting. Ange says, “You don't hear many consultants talking about what they have to offer or what they're good at. In this sector, it's about who you know. Very few consultants I've worked with have a visible presence on social media. Their business mostly comes from referrals and relationships they've developed over the years.”

“As a result, finding a voice in this space feels a bit intimidating. Just getting to grips with that has been a journey. But marketing yourself is part and parcel of being a consultant, and I need to get more comfortable as I continue on this path.”

“There's so much value in getting clear on what you want to do, who you want to help, and being able to tell that story.”

Co-creating offers with your clients

Identifying your target market and honing your consultancy offer can take trial and error. Ange shares her journey. “It’s been a bit of an evolution for me identifying where the not-for-profit market most needs help. The offer I'm currently working on is around better integrating compliance and quality management into core business practice day-to-day. My goal is to free not-for-profits up to be thinking, planning, and doing.”

“As I've developed my value proposition, I've also been doing proposals and working with my first client. Being able to shape my offer with a supportive client has been great. I’ve been able to experiment with solutions and get live input. It’s been great to ask, ‘Would you be open to doing this?’ As I come up with new ideas or discover a new need, I go back to the Consultants of Choice techniques to review and refine my offer. And each time I refine my process, I get a bit better and feel more confident.”

“But I don't think I would've had the confidence or the grounding to experiment like this without Consultants of Choice. I would never have known you could work collaboratively with clients to shape an offer like this. While I was working in not-for-profit organisations, I only ever dealt with consultants who’d been doing their thing for years. Starting from the ground up is not something I'd ever considered as an option until I did it.”

“Being able to shape my offer with a supportive client has been great. I’ve been able to experiment with solutions and get live input.”

Demystifying the scary stuff

Ange has enjoyed the Consultants of Choice process from start to finish. “I like the structure of the programme. I like that each module has a specific focus. It's helped me get clarity and shape something out of nothing. Your confidence and your story build up over each of the modules. Everything that you do creates a tangible product that you can put to use straight away. Iterating and testing your ideas, messaging and offers is built into the curriculum.”

“The community itself is just so incredibly supportive. The ability to ask questions and get peer support and perspectives from people at all stages of the consulting journey is really cool. Some are still employed, some are new to consultancy, and others have worked as consultants for years. It’s really helpful to hear that any doubts or anxiety you might be feeling is totally normal, and there's a way through.”

“Alicia's great. She's got a way of making complex information really accessible, and she’s good at stripping things back to the basics and breaking them down to make something that feels insurmountable easy to tackle. She’ll take an intimidating topic and say this is what it means; this is what you need to do, and you don't necessarily need to worry about the rest.”

“The ability to ask questions and get peer support and perspectives from people at all stages of the consulting journey is really cool.”

Liberating yourself to do the things you want to do

Sometimes, knowing you’ve made the right choice doesn't take long. Ange says, “I’m only nine months into my business, but I'm comfortable that I've made the right call. I’m happier and more confident. I have a better balance between family and work; if I don't want to do something, that's okay. I find myself saying, “Maybe I should …’ a lot less. I can do the projects I want to do and not worry about the rest, which is liberating.”

“I don't know if I’d be sitting here working as a consultant and doing what I enjoy if Consultants of Choice hadn't come along. I probably would've applied for another job. The programme definitely came along at the right time for me.”

“Consultants of Choice has changed my life. If you’re committed to exploring something different and want to give consulting a go, I recommend it as a course. It's such a great programme and such a great community. Without the support of Consultants of Choice, I would've been bashing around in the dark for a long time.”

“Without the support of Consultants of Choice, I would've been bashing around in the dark for a really long time.”