Midlife MavericksFor eight years, I’ve been doing everything myself.
Like a badge of honour, I insisted on doing the bookkeeping, the calendar management, travel booking and the tedious regulatory client onboarding. And then add to it writing the newsletter. Publishing to the site. Scheduling posts. Managing the backend. All of it.
Partly because I’m a little bit of a control freak, but also because I didn’t want to hand off the work until I’d proven the system actually worked.
This weekend, I finally hired a VA.
Not to write for me or “manage my socials.”
Not to speak to my clients either. They are demanding, but I love them to bits and direct proximity is what they came here for.
But to handle the admin that is eating 20 hours of my week:
- the formatting
- the uploading
- the managing onboardings and contacts and systems
- all the other fiddly bits
The VA handles the upload. I handle the insight.
And now that I have capacity, here’s what I’m doing with it.
Quote of the Week
“Leverage is as much about what you don’t do as what you do.”
Naval Ravikant
What’s Changing
For 52 weeks, I’ve shown up every Wednesday with a story. The messy, real, permission-giving kind.
That’s not changing.
But I kept noticing a pattern.
After discovery calls, women would say: “I loved that newsletter on pricing, but… how do I actually write the proposal?”
Or: “Your story about the bad client was so validating, but what do I say when they ask for one more thing?”
You wanted the story. But you also needed the system.
So starting this month, I’m going deeper.
Every Wednesday: You still get the newsletter. The story. The lesson. The “you’re not alone, here’s what I learned” insight. That’s staying right here in your inbox.
New: Step-by-step guides on the execution stuff:
- How to write a proposal that closes
- The discovery call framework (with scripts)
- Handling scope creep without losing the client
- Setting up your business (LLC, insurance, the boring bits)
- The 12-month plan to leave while employed
Some of these will be too long for email (nobody wants a 3,000-word inbox bomb), so they’ll live on the site where you can search and save them when you need them.
I’m also expanding where I show up:
I will be cross-posting to Substack — same content, different platform. Some of you have been asking for this.
And I’m testing LinkedIn (where I’ll be focussing more on finance-related content but keeping my blunt approach: the anti-LinkedIn LinkedIn strategy).
Same voice and honesty. Just more ways to find me when you need the answer.
What’s staying the same:
This newsletter stays personal. Story-first. No sanitised corporate BS.
I’m not “scaling my content strategy.” I’m answering the questions you keep asking me.
And I’m still writing every single word myself.
You’ll get the story and the system.
The Wednesday mindset shift + the deep-dive tactical how-to you can actually use.
I’m planning to write 2 long execution pieces per month — depth over volume. I’ll adjust the cadence as I figure out what works, but I’m saying this out loud so you can hold me to it.
My venture into Substack and LinkedIn will take time too. I’m testing as I go.
What do you need most right now?
Over the next few months, I’m covering the transition mechanics (how to build while employed), sales conversations that close, proposals and contracts, and client management without burnout.
Hit reply and tell me what you’re stuck on. I’m building this for you.
See you Wednesday,
Claudia
P.S. If you’re thinking about hiring your first VA and don’t know where to start, I’ll be covering that later this year. Short version: delegate the 10 hours of admin that drain you before you add 10 hours of new projects.
