What I’m saying when nobody’s paying me
Two podcast appearances, zero polished takes, and a whole lot of thinking out loud.
I help Rails developers ship iOS and Android apps. I’ve shipped 25+ apps, wrote the book on Hotwire Native, and share what I’m learning about running a business without burning out.
Hey there,
I was on two podcasts recently. One is my own show, Permission Not Required, where Colleen and I talk about running solo businesses. The other is Technology for Humans, where I was a guest talking about consulting, AI, and going independent.
Podcasts are… well, weird. You say things out loud that you haven’t fully processed yet. Then the episode ships and those half-formed thoughts are just kinda out there.
Here are a few that stuck with me.
Nobody pays a stranger for consulting
Every client I’ve ever signed was someone who already knew me. They’d read the newsletter for a year. They’d seen me speak at a conference. They’d worked with me on a different project years ago. Or someone they trusted sent them my way. None of them were strangers when the contract showed up.
That’s the part of consulting nobody tells you when you’re starting out. It’s not a marketplace where the best portfolio wins. It’s a relationship game with a really long lead time. You’re not selling expertise. You’re selling the comfort of working with someone who already feels like a known quantity.
Which makes the next thing I’m about to say a little painful.
“I’m looking for work” posts have never worked for me
Every solo consultant has done this. You hit a dry spell, you post on X or LinkedIn, and you wait. It has never once resulted in a signed deal for me. Not once.
What does work: a conference talk, a newsletter issue, a podcast episode. But here’s the frustrating part. There’s a six-month lag and you’ll never know which one did it. I keynoted Rails World last year and the leads from that didn’t show up until early 2026.
Next conference I’ll take Colleen’s advice: before I go, research who’s attending via the Slack or Discord. I’ll make a list of people I genuinely want to meet, not for a sale, just because I find their work interesting. I’ll reach out beforehand. And if I can’t find someone, I’ll DM them: “I know you’re here, want to grab coffee?”
There’s no magic lever. Just the long game played consistently (with a lot of coffee).
The feast-or-famine cycle
I was honest about a typical year for me on the pod: Q1 is dry. Q2 brings leads. Q3 makes most of the money. Q4 goes quiet. I’m stressed for six months, then two clients sign at the same time.
If I could snap my fingers and change one thing about consulting, it would be stability. Not higher revenue, just steadier revenue.
My attempt at a fix this year is saying yes to smaller advisory retainers I used to turn down. A team that wants me on call for architecture questions. A maintenance engagement where I keep an app healthy month to month. These used to feel too small to bother with. Now they’re the foundation. They don’t replace the big projects, but they keep the lights on. Stability over spikes.
What I’m actually learning right now
Here’s the part I haven’t said on any podcast yet.
I have three types of client work going on right now. A maintenance retainer where I keep an app healthy. An advisory retainer where I collaborate with a team on their native app strategy. And a build project where I’m shipping an Android app from scratch.
The build project pays the most. But the advisory and maintenance work? That’s what I love. The collaboration. Helping a team make better decisions without having to write every line of code myself. Being a real part of something.
I don’t know what that means long term. More of this but rebranded? Something else entirely? I’m honestly not sure.
But figuring that out isn’t urgent. Yet. The urgent thing is making this year work. I have parental leave coming up, and the difference between stressed parents and relaxed parents going into leave is what happens in the next few months. That’s my North Star right now.
Listen to both episodes
If any of this resonated, here are the full conversations:
Permission Not Required, Episode 9 with Colleen
Technology for Humans with Errol from reinteractive
I’d love to hear what landed for you. Drop a comment and let me know what you’re thinking!