If your consulting pipeline feels like it’s always 90 days away from empty, this episode will reframe how you think about referrals, relationships, and where real organizational value, and real consulting opportunity, actually lives. In this episode, host AJ Riedel talks to Chris Ellis, founder of Chris Ellis Consulting and Coaching. With 20 years as a managing partner at a global management consulting firm and 16 years running his own practice, Chris brings a rare combination of enterprise-scale expertise and solo practitioner wisdom to the conversation. Why You Should Listen to This Episode If you’re a self-employed consultant wrestling with inconsistent income, a pipeline that relies too heavily on who happens to remember your name this month, or the nagging question of how to scale beyond trading time for money, this conversation is for you.Chris Ellis has spent 35-plus years inside the consulting and coaching world, first as a managing partner at a major firm and now running his own solo practice. He shares with refreshing candor how he keeps a stable practice through an active, relationship-first approach to business development, and why the biggest untapped consulting. The opportunity most of his clients are missing isn’t at the C-suite level at all. This episode is packed with practical, experience-tested insight for consultants who want to build a practice that lasts. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: • Turning Referrals Into an Active Strategy: How Chris transforms what most consultants treat as a passive waiting game into a consistent, intentional lead generation system.• The Alumni Network Approach: A simple, low-tech system for staying top of mind with past clients and contacts so they refer you when the moment is right.• Fixed-Price vs. Hourly: Why It Changes Everything: Why Chris fixed-prices nearly all his work and how it eliminates awkward billing conversations whileprotecting the client relationship.• The Management Development Gap: Chris’s contrarian argument for why organizations should shift investment from C-suite leadership coaching to developing managers and directors, and why this represents a major consulting opportunity.• How the Best Senior Leaders Got There: The progression from strong professional to great manager to great senior leader, and why skipping the middle step is where most leadership pipelines break down.• Scaling a Solo Practice Without Losing Quality: How Chris structures his consulting-coaching hybrid model with built-in capacity limits that protect the quality of his work and his own well-being. About Chris Ellis: For over 35 years, Chris Ellis has served hundreds of organizations and thousands of people worldwide as an executive, consultant, adviser, coach, and mentor. He serves clients of all ages, stages, and roles, with an emphasis on middle-management and senior executive development in professional services, health services, and technology services. Chris is a past senior leader and managing partner of a global professional services firm, and currently runs his own consulting and coaching practice. He is also a board member and adviser, university educator, local and national speaker, and published author. Chris is the creator of the Management Accelerator Program (MAP), a comprehensive management development framework drawn from over three decades of client work and consulting experience. His contrarian conviction: the biggest development gap in most organizations isn’t at the top, it’s in the middle. Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisellis-consulting/ 🎧 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations on thriving through change, growth, and entrepreneurship. #ThrivingThrough #KatyHill #ConsultingBusiness #Entrepreneurship #CareerGrowth #BusinessStrategy #Leadership #NicheMarketing #SelfEmployment #PodcastEpisode101
