Going independent doesn't have to mean going it alone.

Jeff Reynolds spent more than 30 years in executive leadership across privately held and publicly traded companies before starting his consulting business in 2018. Eight years on, he works closely with C-suite leaders to improve performance, optimise costs and strengthen enterprise value.

In this episode of Your Second Curve, Dr. Arnd Halbach, author of Your Second Curve, talks with Jeff about the move from leading large organisations to working on his own, why having your spouse on board matters, how he handled the first weeks and months in a home office, and how he found his first clients and grew them into a portfolio. They also cover how he built a network of specialists to work with on client projects and why that keeps the energy up, how he thinks about retirement and legacy, and his advice for anyone thinking about leaving corporate to start their own business.

What does it really take to leave a corporate career and go independent?

Pellegrino Riccardi, award winning TEDx speaker and cross-cultural expert, did it in 2007 with no business plan and a family to support. Nineteen years later, the phone is still ringing.

In the first episode of Your Second Curve, Dr. Arnd Halbach, author of Your Second Curve, talks with Pellegrino about the scary first years of self employment, why he never started a company and still works alone as a sole trader, and how he built a speaking business on word of mouth. They also cover how AI is changing work, what people leaving senior corporate roles need to relearn, and his advice for anyone in their late 40s or 50s thinking about starting their own business or a second career.

He Left Corporate With No Business Plan. 19 Years Later the Phone Still Hasn’t Stopped Ringing

Arnd Halbach sits down with Pellegrino Riccardi, an award-winning TEDx speaker and cross-cultural expert who has spent close to four decades studying what makes people and organisations tick. In 2007, Pellegrino left a corporate career with no business plan and built a successful independent business around himself. He talks about the fear of the first year, why he never started a company, how he measures growth in ideas and quality rather than money, and why humans still have the edge in the age of AI. He closes with the advice he’d give anyone in their 40s or 50s thinking about making the leap.

Stay tuned for the full episode