Workforce Expert Creates Empowerment Consultancy

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Here's a news flash for you. If your job sucks, you don't have to accept it. And in fact, maybe you can learn something from it. If that's your situation, or if you know somebody in that situation, there is another way, there is another option. And if you can't leave your job right away because you need the paycheck, because people are counting on you, or for any other reason, I understand, but you can still start laying the foundation to do something else.

You can start thinking about your future, not just the present situation, which as I said, might suck, but there is something for you on the other side of whatever that current situation is, or at least there can be, but of course you have to take action to make that happen. So as you hear these daily stories, my hope is that you'll go away with a sense of possibility, as well as perhaps a gentle nudge. How are you laying a foundation? How are you building a bridge to your future, the future that you envision, the future that you would like to have? So in today's story, oh, by the way, I should say welcome to Sadosville School, my name is Chris Guillebeau.

I have the privilege of bringing you these stories each day. And in today's story, an executive feels mistreated at work. The experience contributes to a sense of malaise and severe depression. Fortunately, she learns from it. She regroups and makes a powerful comeback.

Her goal now is to empower other women of color in the workplace. And she has built this up to a pretty serious business. Naturally, this is an income generating project started on the side that is now bringing in real money. After beginning for less than $100, it goes on to earn six figures in year three. This founder now works on it full-time and is continuing to grow what has become a company offering a range of training and coaching services.

So there is another way, there is another option, and here is one example coming right up. [Music]

For Dr. Akilah Kadeh, her dream job had become a nightmare. She had been promoted to a high position at her hospital sector company and worked tirelessly to secure funding for future projects. But as soon as the money hit the company's bank account, Akilah found herself demoted to her old position and never paid for her extra work.

She felt like she'd been used by her boss and couldn't figure out why it had happened. Was it because she was a woman of color or had she just been used for those skills she had and then discarded when the skills were no longer needed? She spent months searching for answers and felt a gaping hole in her life. Her sense of purpose and self-worth had been called into question and she didn't know what to do. She eventually decided to take a two-week trip to Thailand to escape and spend some time connecting with herself.

It was there she would find the answers to her questions, at least some of them, and find the side hustle which would change her life. She was tired of racism, sexism, and invisible glass ceilings in the workplace. It was time to create a job where she was calling the shots and could ensure other people never felt the same way she had, or in the worst case scenario, they knew what to do and they did feel that way. To bring it to life, Akila came up with the idea for a consulting company, which she called Change Cadet. She wanted to go into workplaces and show people how to create a more diverse environment so that more women and people of color could work their way to the top.

She was studying for a doctorate in leadership and organizational behavior at the time and felt it was the perfect application of her skills. But she knew she wasn't in a position to just quit her job and go all in on the idea just yet. She had bills to pay. So she kept at it, working at the job during the day and spending evenings figuring out how to land her first consulting clients. Her startup costs were very low, a simple website, and an initial batch of business cards.

Most of the time she spent on the new project was devoted to networking. She looked for people she already knew, whom she might be able to help, and tapped into their networks to find new contacts. All these connections led to her first client, a large nonprofit. When negotiating that first contract, Akila admits she kind of guessed at a number based on what she felt comfortable charging. But they said yes, and that got her started.

And the more she works, the more she researches, the more comfortable she feels charging higher rates. One decision she made early on was to ensure her branding and services were only targeted to women or people of color. She knew this was the demographic she could best serve. That decision has turned out to be profitable. From her workplace trainings, consultations, and a new coaching service, she's making real money.

It took some time, but in her third year, she made $170,000 and decided to go all in. Last year, her fourth, she made $240,000. Again, all from $100 startup. Akila says many of the barriers she's had to overcome have been based on how women and people of color are treated in today's business world. There is less emphasis on knowing your worth or how to empower yourself.

And it takes time and research to build the confidence to walk into a room of people and say, "Hey, this is me, this is what I do, "and this is what it costs." Change today has already helped lots of people and businesses overcome these barriers. By creating leadership development programs and working one-on-one with clients, she's seen people take huge leaps in their career and business. She loves nothing more than seeing someone's face light on when they make a life-changing realization. Next, Akila wants to take Change Kade National and have an impact on women and people of color all across the country. [Music]

All right, so as I said in the beginning, if your job sucks, and certainly if you're being mistreated in some way, then you need to find an offering.

But I also understand you can't just jump right away, at least most people can. You have to lay that foundation, build a bridge, et cetera. So I'm so glad that Akila was able to do it. And able to do it in this way that's really specific and intentional. And by the way, she has a great video on her website.

It kind of shows her in action, teaching one of these workshops. Sometimes these kind of things are a little bit easier to show instead of tell. So if any part of my description of it sounds generic, I assure you it's not. If you come and take a look at this video, you get a much greater understanding of what she's doing. Now, I also think it's pretty cool and pretty smart that she's built up multiple sources of income within this one consultancy.

My comment there is that this is critical, but it can also be a challenge when you're getting started. Because often like you look at the long-term outcome and you say, okay, I wanna have this kind of consultancy, you know, whatever the service is. And I can see how I can earn money from companies, you know, doing these kinds of trainings. But I also might have like a coaching service. I might do some consultancies with brands and so on.

But I don't think you should necessarily do all of that when you're getting started. When you're starting, it's best to focus on your flagship service and then build from there. Like what is the big thing that you're trying to do? Sometimes trying to start it all at once is like trying to start three businesses at once. Not usually a good idea.

And in addition to the fact that you're doing it part-time after your job, so in other words, your time and your energy is limited, you also run the risk of confusing your potential customers when you're trying to lend those bigger gigs. So I don't know the precise timeline of Akila's business of how she kind of grew it and added different things along the way. But from what I can see, it looks like a stellar example of how to do it the right way. So start with your flagship service, build it out from there and don't accept mistreatment. You can do better because you are better.

I firmly believe that for every one of our listeners and my encouragement for you today is, are you laying that foundation? Are you building a bridge to the long-term future that you want to live in? Nobody's gonna do it for you, but you can do it for yourself and you're not alone. Lots of other people are trying to do this in different ways. All right, that's it for me today.

If you wanna check out these show notes for today's episode, learn more about Akila's business, go to sidehustleschool.com/781. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back again tomorrow with another story. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]

From the Onward Project.