Seven Figure Consultant with Jessica Fearnley

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207: Client Showcase: The Leadership First Approach with Amanda HarNess

In this week’s episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, originally broadcast in August 2024, I interviewed my wonderful client, Amanda HarNess, an executive coach specialising in leadership development.

Amanda shared her journey from working as an occupational therapist to becoming a successful business owner and coach, adapting and transferring her skills from her previous career.

We discuss the challenges and motivations behind Amanda’s career shift, her signature Leadership First Approach™ and the importance of strong leadership for organisational success.

In this episode:

[00:00:40] Amanda shares about her role as an executive coach in leadership development and her leap from occupational therapy to starting her own business.
[00:03:23] Amanda reflects on her experiences as a good but unsatisfied employee, seeking more influence.
[00:06:38] ‘Realising the Entrepreneurial Itch’ - Amanda describes how her desire for entrepreneurship grew during her career and the impact of COVID-19.
[00:10:58] What advice Amanda would give her past self as she embarked on her entrepreneurial journey.
[00:12:28] Amanda explains her signature framework, emphasising the importance of strong leadership at the top of organisations.
[00:15:00] The value of focusing on leadership to foster positive organisational change.
[00:16:07] Discussion on LinkedIn, content creation and brand photography.
[00:18:55] Amanda reflects on the value of having a startup coach and seeking help early on.
[00:19:38] The necessity of investing in oneself for business success.
[00:26:14] The importance of overcoming past limitations to pursue future goals.
[00:28:11] The parallel growth of personal and business development over time.

Key Takeaways:

One of the most valuable pieces of advice Amanda offers is the importance of trusting your intuition and having confidence in your ideas. She acknowledges that while she has made progress, having a stronger belief in herself earlier on could have accelerated her journey. Amanda also emphasises the significance of investing in yourself, whether through hiring a coach or seeking professional development opportunities. This investment can lead to significant growth in both business and personal life.
Effective leadership creates a strong foundation for the entire organisation. Poor leadership can lead to misalignment and ineffective communication, which ultimately trickles down to the rest of the organisation.
Leaders must be willing to acknowledge their shortcomings and invest in their development to create a positive organisational culture. By focusing on enhancing leadership skills, organisations can foster high-performing teams and achieve their goals.

Quotes:

“I like to say that I was a great employee, but I was also not a great employee, because I either met or exceeded the status quo or the expectations. But I was also still unsatisfied. And so I wasn't one of those employees that just kind of did my work and showed up. I was always pointing out something that could be better and how it could be better, and you know, that wasn't always received well.” - Amanda HarNess

“I felt like I would come up with these ideas or find the things that needed to be changed and just get shushed or someone would smile and nod and then not do anything, and it always felt like I was being held back. And this idea in my mind felt like ‘if I owned my own business, what could hold me back?’” - Amanda HarNess

“If you have misalignment, poor communication, either just bad leadership skills or untrained leadership skills, whatever's happening at the top is going to roll downhill and trickle down in the organisation. … You have to make things strong at the top in order to create the real progress that you want in the organisation.” - Amanda HarNess

“I think a lot of us, we have this thing of like, ‘I can't invest in myself, that would be a waste of money’. But actually the difference that it makes when a business is making money on a regular basis, like those kinds of investments, if you do it properly, it can really make such a huge difference to how the early years of your business actually play out.” - Jessica Fearnley

Useful Links

Amanda:

Visit Amanda’s website to learn more about her approach and services.

Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn to get more insights and expert advice.

For access to exclusive content and special events become an Email Subscriber.

Amanda’s Photographer, Danielle Uhl.

Jessica:

The Seven Figures Club

Wealth Dynamics

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast

Sherry’s website - sherrylukey.com

Guest Bio

Amanda is the CEO and Founder of Business Excelerated. She is a coach and consultant who works with leadership teams of organizations with high stakes environments, helping them to make REAL progress using the Leadership First Approach™. By leveraging her expertise in human behavior, psychology, leadership development, and effective communication, she helps leadership teams close the gap between where they are now and where they want to be.

206: Client Showcase: Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Success and Connection with Sherry Lukey

In this week’s episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, originally broadcast in March 2025, I interviewed my wonderful client, Sherry Lukey, an extraordinary executive and life coach who helps successful professionals worldwide unlock their full potential, cultivate meaningful relationships, and create a life of purpose, peace, and presence.

Sherry shared her inspiring journey into the world of coaching, emphasizing how trauma can significantly impact both personal and professional success.

We talked about the disconnect between outward success and internal struggles, especially within corporate environments, plus the importance of creating safe spaces for healing and exploring how the subconscious mind plays a crucial role in shaping our beliefs.

In this episode:

[00:00:00] Sherry shares her journey into coaching, influenced by her family dynamics.
[00:02:59] The disconnect between outward success and internal struggles faced by clients.
[00:06:52] The feelings of isolation experienced by successful individuals in corporate environments.
[00:10:07] The difference between conscious and subconscious minds and their roles in trauma.
[00:11:34] Discussion on the different types of trauma and the ingredients that contribute to it.
[00:13:27] Insights on how early experiences shape negative narratives about oneself.
[00:16:16] Discussion on the disconnect between rational thought and bodily feelings related to safety and trauma.
[00:17:16] How addressing trauma can transform long-standing patterns and behaviors in clients.
[00:18:24] Creating safe environments for deep coaching work and personal transformation.
[00:21:58] Advice on conducting body scans to maintain awareness of emotional states throughout the day.
[00:23:36] Discussion on how women often feel guilt for others' emotions and strategies to overcome this.
[00:24:32] The dangers of taking on others' emotions and the need for clients to experience their own breakthroughs.
[00:26:10] Challenges faced in pricing coaching services appropriately for transformative work.
[00:29:14] Discussion on the disparity in pricing between genders in coaching and the need for women to charge appropriately.
[00:31:59] Sherry discusses her decision to double her prices and the mental challenge behind it.
[00:34:35] The hidden struggles of seemingly successful individuals.
[00:35:06] The value of understanding everyone's unique story behind their success.
[00:36:27] The importance of women achieving financial independence and success.

Key Takeaways:

Healing trauma unlocks success. Many high-achieving women unknowingly hold themselves back due to past experiences that created deep-seated fears around visibility and success.
Trauma isn't just 'big' events. Trauma can stem from experiences that left us feeling shocked, isolated, and powerless - even if they don’t seem significant from the outside.
The subconscious mind runs the show. While we may consciously want success, our subconscious fears can sabotage us - like avoiding opportunities, procrastinating, or feeling deep discomfort when we try to step up.
Women tend to ‘freeze’ or ‘fawn’ under stress. Instead of fight or flight, many women default to people-pleasing or shutting down, which keeps them stuck in unhealthy patterns.
Your next level is waiting - if you’re willing to claim it. Success often requires shifting from ‘Why me?’ to ‘Why not me?’ and confidently stepping into your worth. Once you change your internal narrative, everything else shifts.

Quotes:

“It's certainly something that I think all of us as coaches see, we have clients who come to us and they are so outstanding as individuals. They have this amazing potential, and quite often they have things that are already going really well. But for whatever reason, there are these deep traumas sometimes really holding them back and old narratives that don't serve them, but everything just feels completely tangled up and they can't move forward.” - Jessica Fearnley

“We can heal trauma and we can have patterns that have plagued us for decades. You always kind of know that you're destined for great things, and every time it's in front of you, you manage to swerve. But to actually be able to heal those patterns, it changes everything.” - Jessica Fearnley

“When the subconscious perceives a threat, whether it be real or perceived, that stress response comes on and then your options are fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. And fawn being people pleasing, which is one of the things that women really, really tend to do.” - Sherry Lukey

“What people don't realize is that really a trauma at any level has three ingredients. One is shock, it's sort of like you've been blindsided, something that just totally came out of nowhere, a feeling of isolation and a feeling of powerlessness. And if you have those three ingredients, you end up with trauma.” - Sherry Lukey

“People have to break down to break through. And so by you taking that on, you're actually preventing their breakthrough. And it completely turns it on its head to be like, ‘oh, this is a massive disservice to take this on for someone’ because you subconsciously and energetically, you're actually saying to them ‘you're not capable of handling this. So I'm going to handle it for you’.” - Sherry Lukey

Useful Links

Sherry:

Jessica:

Buy Jessica’s book, Too Much, on Amazon

Get in touch with Jessica to discuss your consulting business

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast

Jessica’s LinkedIn

Guest Bio

Sherry Lukey is an extraordinary executive and life coach who helps successful professionals worldwide unlock their full potential, cultivate meaningful relationships, and create a life of purpose, peace, and presence. Using her unique expertise and Tap into Power Method™, she guides clients to break free from deep-rooted subconscious patterns and biases, empowering them to lead confidently and leave a legacy.

Sherry's expertise has been showcased in top media outlets like Forbes, Beyond the Couch, and the Fearless and Successful podcasts. She captivates audiences with powerful presentations, expertly moderates events, and delivers game-changing insights on panels.

When she's not empowering leaders to lead with greater compassion for themselves and others, you'll find her pursuing her passions for personal growth and pottery in her home studio. She shares a beautiful life in British Columbia, Canada, with her husband of thirty-seven years and takes immense pride in being the mother of adult twin daughters.

205: How to Work With Me in 2025 and 2026

In this episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, I’m outlining the ways you can work with me in 2025 and 2026 if you’re ready to grow your consulting business.

The message I’m hearing again and again is that things have felt uncertain in the world this year, but this is beginning to shift in a lot of markets. I’ve been speaking to B2B consultants at all stages of business who are seeing all these opportunities opening up and I’m so passionate about helping them to take advantage of these opportunities to grow their business - all while working less and earning more.

Tune in to hear more about the stages of a consulting business and how I can help you grow in 2025 and 2026!

Quotes:

“You can work less - fewer hours, fewer clients, less context switching through your week, less time needed on lead gen and sales - and earn more - by pricing your services competitively for the market you are targeting.”

“You might not have realized it yet but one of the biggest determining factors in terms of whether your business will grow further than it has already is you. You are likely the bottleneck to all future progress.”

“Your business doesn’t need to feel hard or attritional. We don’t need to believe the story that in order to grow to 7 figures you have to sacrifice your life or your wellbeing. I love to help consultants make this season of growth feel safer, and calmer and something they are in command of.”

“When we align your services with your Zone of Genius, instead of just your Zone of Excellence or your Zone of Competence, we can create a consulting business that feels fun again, and where you are building the reputation of being an expert at a specific thing.”

Useful Links

Get in touch with Jessica to discuss your consulting business

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast

204: How to Take a Vacation as a Seven Figure Consultant

This week’s episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, originally broadcast in June 2023, is all about taking a truly restorative vacation as a seven figure consultant.

Drawing from my own experiences, I discuss recognizing burnout, tuning into your emotional and physical needs, and intentionally planning time off to maximize rest, highlighting the importance of listening to your intuition during your break and setting intentions for your return.

I also talk about practical tips for managing client communications, setting boundaries, and preparing your business for your absence so you can create a vacation that allows you to recharge, inspire and support both personal wellbeing and business growth.

Quotes:

“My calendar experiment this year has been tapering my work schedule before the very end of term, so I can actually get that breather before it feels like the wheels are about to fall off. And similarly with returning to the office after time away, I'm doing more to really ease into it and make it a gentle experience, rather than the whiplash feeling when you've jumped off the work wagon and you just can't quite get back into it full speed.”

“So often the information we need is right in front of us. But we just can't hear the whispers our body is sending. Are you tired? Are you exhilarated? We need to get way more curious about the depth and variety of our emotions.”

“Create the blueprint and then plan your business around it. Otherwise, you'll find that business expands to fill the space and it will totally sabotage your plans. There's also an important consideration here about how to ensure that the business can run smoothly without you.”

Useful Links

Get in touch with Jessica to discuss your consulting business

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast

203: Making the Most of the Summer Reset

This week’s episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, originally broadcast in July 2023, is all about how to make the most of the opportunity we are presented with during the Summer months for a reset, before we jump into the Fall.

It’s a chance to reflect on the changes you are ready to make in your business – and the things you are ready to leave behind. I share my experience of letting go of money fears, embracing abundance, and building self-trust, and invite you to do the same!

Summer can be a powerful time for business reset and personal growth, using this quieter season to gain clarity on your goals and desires, and to approach the coming months with intention.

Quotes:

“One of the things I love in these quieter seasons is the opportunity to reflect and really look back on the last 6 or 7 months since the holiday season and ask ourselves, what do I want to bring with me into the next season?” - Jessica Fearnley

“We can't just give up a bad mindset habit. We need to replace it with something better. Switch out fear and choose abundance and self-trust instead. ‘I don't need to think about this, because if we end up in a worst case scenario, I will know what to do.’” - Jessica Fearnley

“Never say to yourself that you can’t have something. I ban my clients from using the word realistic. As women, we are way too quick to shrug our shoulders and accept less when we know we are looking for more. If you can’t name your desires to yourself, how will you bring them into being? It starts with getting clarity within ourselves.” – Jessica Fearnley

Useful Links

Episode 153: How to Take a Vacation as a Seven Figure Consultant

Get in touch with Jessica to discuss your consulting business

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast

Free Guide: How To Get Your First B2B Consulting Clients

202: How To Get Your First B2B Consulting Clients

In this episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, I’m sharing practical advice for new and aspiring women B2B consultants aiming to reach their first or next $100K in revenue - including a brand new free resource just for you!

I talk about the common challenges of defining your expertise, identifying your ideal clients, pricing and marketing, as well as the importance of taking action over endless planning!

Tune in if you want to confidently build a successful consulting business and finally embrace your entrepreneurial journey.

Quotes:

“If you build your business right, it will not be difficult to make your first $100K in annual revenue as a B2B consultant.”

“I always say to my clients that the $0-$100K phase of a consulting business can actually feel like the hardest one to crack because you're validating the business. You're selling something sometimes for the first time in your career. And worse than that, you're selling yourself for the first time, which can feel so deeply uncomfortable.”

“So often I speak to women who want to plan it out so that it's perfect, and then when they know it's guaranteed to work, then they'll put it out in the world. And I have to say, with love - no, no and no - this isn't how entrepreneurship works. There are messy workarounds and creative gaps and best guesses that we road test in the real world by talking to people.”

Useful Links

Get in touch with Jessica to discuss your consulting business

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast

2025 Success Planner for Coaches

201: What New Consultants Need to Know to Get Their Consulting Business Off the Ground with Joanna Lott

In this week’s episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, I spoke to Joanna Lott about the realities of building a coaching or consulting business from the ground up.

We explored the challenges new entrepreneurs face, from defining a niche and mastering marketing to overcoming visibility fears and developing a strong money mindset. Joanna also shared practical advice on leveraging personal connections, adapting to client needs, and embracing the messy, rewarding journey of entrepreneurship.

Whether you’re just starting out or refining your approach, this episode offers actionable insights for growing a thriving consulting business.

In This Episode:

[00:00:00] Joanna shares her background and motivation for helping coaches.

[00:01:17] Discussion about the gap between coach training and actually building a business, and the misleading promises from training organizations.

[00:03:21] Joanna describes the shock new coaches face regarding marketing, sales, and the importance of niching.

[00:05:20] Clarifying the focus on executive and corporate-facing coaching, and the dual audience of organizations and individuals.

[00:09:15] Advice on aligning marketing messages to organizational pain points and the importance of targeting decision-makers.

[00:11:45] Joanna’s advice on choosing a specialism, researching organizational needs, and being open in client conversations.

[00:15:10] Discussing the discomfort around sales, visibility, and the money mindset issues new coaches face.

[00:17:17] The value of reaching out to existing contacts for leads, and the vulnerability involved in doing so.

[00:21:00] Stories about landing first contracts, learning to ask about budgets, and the evolution of pricing confidence.

[00:23:58] The importance of being willing to fail, adapt, and learn from missed opportunities in proposal and offer development.

[00:25:16] Encouragement to embrace high-ticket pricing and the reality that there’s no single “right” answer in new service creation.

[00:28:36] The role of resilience in entrepreneurship, celebrating growth milestones, and the emotional rollercoaster of early business.

[00:31:58] Recognizing that business growth takes time, and the need to persist through uncertainty and discomfort.

[00:34:40] Stories of how both hosts’ businesses changed over time, and the importance of letting your brand and offers evolve.

[00:38:38] Practical advice for new coaches.

Key Takeaways:

Visibility, sales resistance, and money mindset are the biggest hurdles. Getting over the fear of being seen and learning to confidently price your services are non-negotiables if you want to grow.
Many high-value corporate contracts begin with a simple message to a past colleague. Be clear, be specific and always end with a question, not a full stop.
Successful proposals start with curiosity. Don’t cling too tightly to a pre-planned offer - let conversations with organizations shape what you deliver and how you position it.

Quotes:

“The heartbreaking thing is that people just don’t buy freedom or having a great life. They don’t buy coaching. They buy the result that they want.” - Joanna Lott

“I find clients get very attached to their offer. … If they just take a step back and really, really listen in those conversations, they could gain more opportunities. Because if you're trying to only pitch your one little offer that you've got in your head that you want to sell, it's really tricky. Get the other person talking as much as possible as to what their challenges are, and then essentially use your coaching skills to reflect everything you heard and decide at that point, if that's something that you want to offer or not.” - Joanna Lott

“So I think it is being willing to learn and fail in public in front of people that perhaps you used to know. And yeah, not always knowing the right answers… There is no one right figure that’s going to mean you are 100% guaranteed to get this contract.” - Joanna Lott

“We can only learn in the trenches, in the sandbox, by getting our hands and feet dirty. That’s the way it has to be.” - Jessica Fearnley

“I often find those conversations that I get my clients having have a really fruitful outcome in terms of leads and sales. Even this year, I’ve got several clients who’ve made multi six-figure deals just by phoning up people that they’ve known for 20 or 30 years. It’s such a quick win, but that can be such an uncomfortable thing to do because all of these things come up, like, ‘who am I to ask for this?’” - Jessica Fearnley

Useful Links

Joanna:

JoannaLottCoaching.com

Women in the Coaching Arena Podcast

Jessica:

Buy Jessica’s book, Too Much, on Amazon

Get in touch with Jessica to discuss your consulting business

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast

Guest Bio

Joanna Lott is a business coach who helps qualified coaches attract clients with honesty, not hype.

As the host of The Women in the Coaching Arena, a top 2.5% globally ranked show, she provides practical strategies to help coaches grow thriving, sustainable businesses.

With a track record of successfully selling executive, career and business coaching services to both organisations and individuals, Joanna has now supported hundreds of coaches in building profitable, integrity-driven businesses through strategic marketing.

She is an ICF Associate Certified Coach and holds an ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching & Mentoring, bringing a wealth of practical experience and professional expertise to her work.

200: Learning the Art of Self-Trust as a Leader in Your Consulting Business

✨ We made it. Episode 200. ✨

That’s 200 conversations, reflections, truth-bombs, mindset shifts, and gently delivered mic drops.

200 episodes of holding space for ambitious women B2B consultants who are done with burnout and ready for sustainable, soul-aligned success.

Honestly? Hitting 200 episodes feels like a big milestone. Not because of the number - though it’s a good one - but because of what it represents.

Years of walking alongside you. Of speaking into the void and trusting that the right women would find these words at just the right time.

And they have.

To celebrate, we’re re-releasing one of the most-loved episodes we’ve ever shared.

This one’s all about self-trust.

Because the deeper I go into this work, the more I see how central self-trust is to everything we want to create. Not just in our consulting businesses, but in how we live, lead, and be.

In this episode, I unpack themes like:

Radical non-attachment (yes, even to our biggest goals)
Letting go of external validation (no more gold stars, thank you very much)
Learning to root our confidence internally, rather than chasing it in client feedback or bank balances

It’s an invitation to loosen your grip on outcomes and instead, lean into trust. Trust in your value. Trust in your process. Trust in the bigger picture.

Because when you stop white-knuckling and start listening to your intuition?

That’s when it gets really good.

This episode is for the women who are ready to stop playing small, stop waiting for permission, and start moving from a place of quiet power and unshakable belief in what they’re here to do.

Here’s to the next 200.

Let’s keep growing, gently and powerfully.

Quotes:

“Even in a corporate facing consultancy business, by setting our value internally and by practicing radical attachment, I am convinced we set ourselves up to receive more than we can even imagine. Because think about it - It means we can try stuff in our businesses and fail and not be crushed.”

“We can learn more. We can reach out for the wisdom of others. We can get the support we need to make good decisions. We can hire people with expertise that complements our own. But most of all, we can trust ourselves to make the decision we need to make. Even if we don't get it right the first time.”

“When we make the source of our fulfillment and happiness something that's external to us, for example, I have to get this job, I have to get that contract, that award, that relationship, that connection in my network… when we make this something external to us, we become completely powerless. Whereas the flip side of this, allowing our source of fulfillment to be something internal to us, we become powerful.”

Useful Links

Get in touch with Jessica to discuss your consulting business

Leave a rating and review for the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast