Wisepreneurs | Independent Professionals Building Practice on Their Own Terms

Nigel Rawlins | Wisepreneurs
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The Wisepreneurs Podcast features conversations with experienced professionals, authors, academics, and consultants about building sustainable practice on their own terms.  Hosted by Nigel Rawlins, the show explores how experienced independent professionals position accumulated expertise, work with AI tools, and use the cognitive advantages that come with decades of professional experience.  Topics include positioning, professional transitions, cognitive vitality, relational branding, and the changing nature of knowledge work.  New episodes fortnightly. 90+ episodes.Transcripts and more: wisepreneurs.auConnect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlinsSubscribe to The Wisepreneur newsletter: wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletterField guides for independent professionals, short workbooks and self-assessments that give you an honest reading of what you are working with: wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides

  1. Jul 2

    Valentine Gatard Future of Work: Workplace Agency from 15 Years Self-Employed

    Valentine Gitard spent nearly 15 years self-employed in Paris researching the future of work, completing a master's in organisational studies at La Sorbonne and building a practice around speaking, coaching and hosting the Work Narratives podcast. Valentine explains why French professionals increasingly refuse management roles, how two team members fought because collaboration meant 'respond immediately' to one and 'think before answering' to the other, and why human agency matters more as AI automates routine tasks.  She describes vibe coding an agency assessment app on Lovable connected to Supabase, her research into narrative agency through Finnish researcher Hanna Meretoja, and her work with nonprofit Les Émergences on what they call the quaternary economy, a model where all forms of societal contribution are recognised.  The conversation also covers the debunked tripalium myth about the French word for work and why community remains the most important resource for self-employed professionals. Mentions and references: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, B******t Jobs by David Graeber, Hanna Meretoja, Finnish researcher, narrative agency, Laetitia Vitaud, future of work author and Valentine's first podcast guest, Les Émergences, nonprofit promoting the quaternary economy and civic agency Connect with Valentine: Website | LinkedIn: Valentine Gitard Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    44 min

  2. Jun 18

    Alisha Hook Career Coaching: Networks and Reputation in a Shifting Job Market

    Alisha Hook spent 25 years in talent acquisition and HR across Australia and the UK before founding Your Career Edge, a career coaching and fractional talent consultancy based in Melbourne. Alisha explains why professional reputation carries more weight than a polished resume in the current job market, where AI-generated applications have made candidates harder to differentiate.  She covers three trends reshaping how people find work: job hugging, peek-a-boo jobs, and anti-perks.  The conversation extends to practical career coaching strategies including building career advocates, networking as ongoing career currency rather than a last-minute scramble, and understanding what applicant tracking systems actually filter for.  Alisha also discusses her fractional talent work across healthcare, superannuation, and professional services, and her current ICF coaching accreditation through Thought Conductor. Connect with Alisha: Website yourcareeredge.com.au LinkedIn Alisha Hook Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    44 min

  3. Jun 4

    Johanna Rothman Independent Consulting: Principles That Outlast Every Trend

    Johanna Rothman has worked as an independent consultant since 1994 and written 21 books on management, consulting, and professional writing, including Successful Independent Consulting. Johanna uses the Consulting Role Grid from Champion, Kiel and McLendon (1990) to draw a distinction that matters for every experienced professional: hands-on experts who take no responsibility for client growth are really contractors, not consultants.  She explains the nine consulting roles from reflective observer to trusted advisor, why retainer agreements serve both consultant and client better than hourly billing, and how continual planning replaces rigid annual plans.  The conversation includes her reader journey mapping technique for nonfiction books, adapted from Jeff Patton's user story mapping, and her approach to time-boxing daily work. For experienced independent professionals, this episode maps the practical mechanics of building consulting practice around deep expertise. Mentions and references: Successful Independent Consulting by Johanna Rothman Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer by Johanna Rothman Consulting Role Grid — Champion, Kiel & McLendon (1990) Jeff Patton — user story mapping, adapted for reader journey mapping Connect with Johanna: Website: jrothman.com | LinkedIn: Johanna Rothman Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    58 min

  4. May 21

    Bex Thomas Intentional Career Breaks: Sabbaticals That Lead to Real Change

    Bex Thomas spent 20 years in recruitment before an intentional career break became the catalyst for a portfolio career as a career transition coach, sabbatical coach, and podcast host of Sabbatical Stories. Bex explains her five-question framework for planning intentional career breaks: why you are taking the break, when to take it, where to go, who to spend time with, and who you want to become afterwards.  She describes the financial planning behind extended breaks, including spending time in countries where Australian dollars stretch further.  For experienced professionals sensing their current role no longer fits, Bex shares why the integration period after a sabbatical determines whether the break transforms your career or fades into a distant memory.  She also covers how to negotiate leave when your company has no formal sabbatical policy and why most mid-career transitions turn out to be values realignment rather than seismic change.  Bex describes her own prototyping journey through travel blogging, travel coaching, and travel writing before finding her fit in coaching and podcasting. Connect with Bex: website: bexthomas.com | LinkedIn: Bex Thomas Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    47 min

  5. May 7

    Margareta Krizova Freelance Advice: Six Questions for Professional Reinvention

    Margareta Křížová offers freelance advice for professional reinvention, sharing six questions that replace the business plan. After co-founding a boutique M&A advisory firm in Prague in 1993, Margareta spent almost 30 years in dealmaking before selling her equity stake at 53 to rebuild as an independent freelancer.  She now combines selective advisory work with entrepreneurship mentoring and runs the NEWTON University Business Accelerator, now in its fifth year with 14 projects in acceleration. Her six questions (what do you sell, who will buy it, why, what is your go-to market, what is your pricing strategy, and do you want to work alone or with partners) cut through the complexity that stops people from starting.  She describes the financial blind spot she calls invisible work, where freelancers fail to count their own hours and underprice as a result. The conversation covers why side hustles work as a low-risk transition from corporate employment and how Margareta uses ChatGPT with Keith Cunningham's The Road Less Stupid as a virtual thinking partner for business decisions. Mentions and references: NEWTON University Business Accelerator, Keith Cunningham, The Road Less Stupid, Third Career (book by Margareta Krizova) Connect with Margareta: website: margaretakrizova.com | LinkedIn Margareta Křížová Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    50 min

  6. Apr 23

    Janine Garner Expertise Monetisation: How Women Build Independent Consulting Practices

    Janine Garner helps women entrepreneurs over 50 turn accumulated expertise into independent consulting practices that charge what professional judgment is worth. After 20 years in corporate marketing, finishing as group marketing director for the Oroton Group overseeing Oroton and Ralph Lauren brands across Australia and Asia, Janine built a seven-figure mentoring business focused on expertise monetisation for experienced women leaving corporate careers. In this conversation, Janine explains why experienced women consistently underprice themselves when starting independent practices, often earning less per hour than a fast-food worker despite decades of professional knowledge. She shares her days-down-dollars-up business strategy for restructuring consulting offers around value rather than time. Janine breaks down the four-role network model from her book It's Who You Know: promoters who champion you, teachers who stretch your thinking, pit crew who keep you on track, and butt kickers who drive action. She explains why true collaboration requires curiosity rather than transaction, and how to codify implicit professional knowledge into saleable intellectual property. The conversation also draws on Professor Ron Heifetz's work at Harvard Kennedy School on the professional, familial, and ancestral voices that shape career decisions. Janine describes building a business for a client in her sixties who wanted to work exclusively with CEOs from her caravan. Mentions and references: It's Who You Know, Be Brilliant, and From Me to We by Janine Garner. Professor Ron Heifetz, Harvard Kennedy School. Melissa Liberman, executive coach. Connect with Janine: janinegarner.com.au| LinkedIn: Janine Garner Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Subscribe for new episodes. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    57 min

  7. Apr 9

    Ella Zhang Expertise Building: Micro Habits for Experienced Consultants

    Ella Zhang helps experienced professionals monetise hard-won expertise through inner operating systems that rebuild leadership capability from the inside out.  From her Sydney consulting practice, she draws on neuroscience and Chinese medicine to design micro habits that make capability stick where one-off training programs fail. Ella explains how four inner operating systems, mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical, shape sustainable performance for independent consultants. She covers diagnosing organisational issues by root cause rather than surface symptom, why micro habits outlast workshops, and how values alignment prevents burnout. The conversation includes her own burnout recovery in 2007, her book Upgrade: How to Outperform Your Default Self to Gain Your Super Powers, her annual Vipassana meditation practice in the Blue Mountains, and why she has sacked only one client in ten years. Mentions and references: Upgrade by Ella Zhang. Luc P Beaudoin, productive practice research. Vipassana meditation. Neuroscience research on burnout and recovery. Connect with Ella: ellazhang.com.au | LinkedIn: Ella Zhang Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    53 min

  8. Mar 26

    Ben Legg Portfolio Careers and Expertise Monetisation: From Google COO to Solopreneur

    Ben Legg helps experienced professionals monetise expertise as co-founder of The Portfolio Collective, a 16,000-member community for portfolio careers.  Before that he was COO of Google Europe, led Coca-Cola's India turnaround, worked at McKinsey, and served in the British Army's Royal Engineers. Ben explains why experienced professionals are leaving corporate careers for portfolio work, covering the practical mechanics of building advisory practices, keynote speaking, and consulting across multiple clients. He introduces the Designer vs Hamster framework for working on your career rather than inside it. Ben shares how fractional work actually finds people: 20% through listings, 30% through online presence, and 50% through networking. He describes using Gemini to audit his personal brand and outlines the Catapult course for launching a portfolio career. The conversation covers why thinking of yourself as a company of one with strategy, brand, products, and continuous improvement changes how you approach independent work. Ben also discusses cognitive vitality practices including walking meetings and intentional day design. Mentions and references: Marketing for CEOs by Ben Legg. Charles Handy, Second Curve and Shamrock Organisation. Richard Susskind, AI and tasks. Filip Drimalka, The Future of No Work. Paul Jarvis, Company of One. Fiona Chorlton-Voong, co-founder of The Portfolio Collective. Connect with Ben: The Portfolio Collective | LinkedIn: Ben Legg Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Support the show Connect with Nigel Rawlins Website: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/ Free assessments - Embodied Intelligence Self-Assessment - Professional Reputation Audit - Business Clarity in Five Lines https://wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides/ Please help support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new The Wisepreneur newsletter Practical thinking for experienced independent professionals building practice on their own terms. Each issue: - A preview of who is coming up on the podcast and why their work matters - One idea or practice from a recent guest you can actually use - How to position your accumulated expertise so the right clients find you - How to work with AI tools without handing over your professional judgment Subscribe: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter

    52 min
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The Wisepreneurs Podcast features conversations with experienced professionals, authors, academics, and consultants about building sustainable practice on their own terms.  Hosted by Nigel Rawlins, the show explores how experienced independent professionals position accumulated expertise, work with AI tools, and use the cognitive advantages that come with decades of professional experience.  Topics include positioning, professional transitions, cognitive vitality, relational branding, and the changing nature of knowledge work.  New episodes fortnightly. 90+ episodes.Transcripts and more: wisepreneurs.auConnect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlinsSubscribe to The Wisepreneur newsletter: wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletterField guides for independent professionals, short workbooks and self-assessments that give you an honest reading of what you are working with: wisepreneurs.com.au/field-guides

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