The Journey Away From Consulting

Towards consistency

There comes a point in one's life when they crave consistency. For me, this came in the form of work, after consulting for myself for 4 years. I started to get tired of the unknown. Will I have work next month, do I need to perform outreach, will my existing proposals be ignored? While I generally thrive in the unknown, this constant uncertainty started to become exhausting.

My wife and I discussed this and we decided that consulting was too inconsistent and we were at a point in our lives where we needed consistency. So we gave the business a deadline. If it didn't explode (in a good way) by the end of January, my main goal was to get a 9-5.

To be clear, I made good money in 2024. I was working for an agency and doing my own consulting concurrently. There were no benefits or major perks, but it was enough. My wife has the job with health insurance. The issue: I parted ways with the agency and one of my long-term clients decided they needed to halve their expenses. This happened within one month of each other.

Coming into the new year, I built a relationship with a company that was providing me leads, but it wasn't consistent. What I do pays well, so when I do land a client the income is substantial. But when you can go 3 months without a new contract, then suddenly sign 3 in 3 weeks, that whiplash is exhausting, volatile, and the definition of inconsistent. So, job hunting I a-went.

I started doing some light searching in December, then went hard in February of 2025. I first focused on remote roles, then hybrid roles in Portland, then hybrid roles in major cities. I didn't think I was going to find anything squarely in my skillset—Operations Consultant, specializing in Notion—so I looked for other roles.

I used to be a product manager, product designer, and QA engineer; so I applied to those specific or adjacent roles. I even applied to some moonshot roles, because why the hell not. At first I took my time and was hyper diligent. I wrote custom cover letters, looked up hiring managers, asked for references. But then I decided to switch my approach. I was going to apply en masse.

During the period of December 2024 and May, I applied to 204 jobs. That's fucking nuts. This approach yielded better results. I started to have first and second calls. I even made it to the final round for one, but didn't land it. Then nothing. Ghost town. Nothing new on job sites, no recruiter calls. The jobs dried up. Then I stumbled upon 2 roles that were exactly my skillset—totally out of the blue.

First, I found a role with an agency in Portland. It moved pretty quickly. They worked with other businesses and agencies to build operational systems, using no-code tools. Perfect match. I made it through all of the interviews and tests like a breeze.

At the same time, a role opened up at a company that was a 100% perfect fit. The role was made for my skills and I knew their product like the back of my hand. The interviews also breezed by. The only catch: it was in San Francisco and I lived in Portland.

So after a lot of thought and emotional moments, I picked the role in San Francisco. I know, get to it already. Tell us the company and the deets. While I'm not ready for a reveal, it is essentially what I have been doing for the last 4 years, but for a SaaS company directly. I start in a few weeks and I will likely sprinkle in bits about my work here. Not directly, NDAs and all, but new learnings about working in this industry.

This is a huge shift for me. Yes, the company and role are amazing, but this is the first time I have worked for anyone in years. This is a mental shift I have been making over the past few weeks. I stopped all client work in June, as moving states, even ones that border each other, can be a logistical nightmare—which it was. Since then, I have been trying to relax (that only started the past week) and shifting my mind about work.

As a consultant, I was always working. To be clear, I had great discipline about when and where to work, but as a business owner it is always on your mind. My personal tools were also my work tools. It's hard to turn it off. It's always there, simmering in the background. Additionally, I worked 100% remote since 2020. Now, I will be working in office a few days a week, working on company hardware, and have things like PTO and a team. This changes how one thinks about work.

It will take time to fully shift back to the 9-5, corporate mentality, but I am looking forward to it. So far everyone I have dealt with has been amazing. I technically accepted the role a month ago, and they have given me ample time to move and connect with team members to acclimate. I am glad they gave me this time, as I truly needed it.

After 4+ years of consulting, it is bittersweet to leave it behind. I have been closing out projects, migrating data, and canceling services I no longer need.

It has been liberating and empowering working for myself. But living in a country without government-provided healthcare and in an economy that is erratic at best, I needed to make a safe bet. The bet ended up yielding a role that I couldn't have expected. While the journey away from consulting is unknown, I am excited for what's to come. Consistency included.