Freelancer Focus
Consulting Careers Grow in Stages, Not in Straight Lines
Written by: Flexing It
12/12/2025
6 minutes read
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When you hear the stories of experienced consultants, one thing stands out: their careers were anything but linear.
In most cases, the path unfolds through turning points: a prolonged period in a corporate setting, a side project that gathers pace, or a search for impact beyond any one title.
From the conversations with senior independent consultants – Aastha Murarka (HR), Rajneesh Chaturvedi (Brand marketing and Business Leadership), Krishna Warrier (DEI & Communications), three big career stages emerge:
- Transitioning into consulting
- Steadily building a consulting business
- Shifting focus to impact and legacy
Let’s navigate these stages, guided by the voices of those who have lived them.
Stage 1: Transitioning into consulting
Often, the first step into consulting is prompted by curiosity, wondering, “Can my experience travel more widely than this job allows?”
For Aastha, the shift was deeply personal as well as professional - consulting came out of both entrepreneurship and life choices:
“Personal life and an aspiration to step out as an entrepreneur led me to explore opening a branch of the family business.”
While she was setting that up, former colleagues started calling her for help on projects and that “informal help” turned into a consulting business.
Krishna describes his transition as a shift in where and how he led:
“For me, the transition wasn’t about stepping away from leadership, but redefining how I lead—from inside a single structure to helping many structures evolve.”
Rajneesh wanted to apply his experience beyond a single company:
“Consulting gave me that opportunity - to work with multiple organisations, solve complex business problems, and help brands find clarity in clutter.”
What this stage is really about:
- Questioning the “one employer, one ladder” script
- Wanting more control over time, energy, and the type of work
This stage is about gentle exploration: small side projects, occasional requests from outside your organisation, and the growing sense that your experience already carries value.
Stage 2: Steadily building a consulting business
The next stage is when you view consulting more as a serious business than a side gig.
For Aastha, this happened almost organically: support requests from her network snowballed into a formal company. She moved from “helping old colleagues” to running multi-client, multi-industry mandates, often with C-suite stakeholders.
Krishna emphasises that this stage is about trust-building over time, not quick wins. He talks about approaching his transition with:
“A mindset of gradual trust-building… patience and consistency matter more than quick wins.”
Rajneesh talks about the entrepreneurial side of consulting:
“In a way, consulting allows me to be both strategic and entrepreneurial at the same time.”
That entrepreneurship shows up in how you position yourself. He highlights building a visible personal brand and focusing on outcomes, not just offerings, such as “growth acceleration” or “brand transformation”.
This is the “starting a new business” phase: proposals, admin work, building an online presence, such as a personal website, folio, LinkedIn, decks, with a lot of learning that will happen on the go.
This shift toward independent consulting is also reflected in the growth side of our Flexing It platform. Our H1 report shows that registrations of consultants with over 15 years of experience have grown by 111%, with nearly half having 20+ years of leadership experience. The most represented skill areas in this senior talent pool include General Management (18%), Technology (15%) and Human Resources (10%).
Stage 3: Shifting focus to impact and legacy
Most consultants recognise the importance of money. Still, the ones who endure often also want to make an impact, to work with autonomy, and to be respected for their craft.
Aastha talks about the joy of multi-industry problem-solving and working directly with leadership:
“The opportunity to work with multiple clients across industries, problem areas and the nature of businesses is superlative.”
She adds that collaborating with C-suite leaders gives her a direct view of impact unfolding in real time.
Rajneesh loves being called in at critical challenges:
“The most fulfilling part is seeing impact happen fast… The ability to identify what’s really blocking momentum, and then design a clear path forward, is immensely satisfying.”
Krishna, in the DEI space, describes this stage in the most human way:
“The most rewarding aspect of being a senior DEI consultant is the transformational impact you get to help unlock… to see people feel seen, heard and empowered.
If you feel a growing pull towards purpose, depth, and transformation (in clients and in yourself), you are moving into this stage.
How to Navigate Your Own Consulting Stages
Wherever you are, a few recurring patterns from these four journeys can help:
- Start with what draws you in : You could say yes to a few aligned projects and let evidence, not theory, tell you if consulting fits you.
- Treat your experience as an asset : Explicitly showcase your high-impact work and how it transfers to new problems.
- Invest in trust and visibility : As Rajneesh suggests, build a personal brand with real thinking: case studies, articles and talks.
- Be patient and consistent : Krishna’s reminder is: real consulting careers are built on trust compounded over time, not instant wins.
- Aim for impact : All three, in different ways, emphasise the satisfaction of seeing real-world change in projects, culture or outcomes.
Consulting is a series of evolutions. You do not have to have it all figured out today.
You could begin by thinking:
What’s the next step in my stage of the journey – more freedom, a clearer niche, or deeper impact?
And then, like every consultant eventually learns, build the roadmap as you go.
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