Episode 140: Building Authority That Commands Attention

Ever feel like your professional brilliance isn't translating into the consulting success you deserve? You're not alone. The most frustrating reality for many exceptional consultants isn't a lack of expertise—it's watching less qualified competitors land premium contracts while you remain overlooked.

For women consultants, especially women of color, these challenges often have systemic roots. But with strategic authority positioning, you can transcend these barriers. Stop being your industry's best-kept secret and become the obvious choice that clients know they need to hire immediately. Your brilliance deserves recognition, and with the right framework, you'll make it impossible to ignore.

Tune in now and don't forget to subscribe to Black Girls Consult TOO! on YouTube and Spotify, or Apple Podcasts, to continue this journey toward establishing yourself as the authority in your space. Your expertise isn't the problem. Your invisibility is. Let's change that together!

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Ready to identify the gaps preventing your genius from being recognized? Click here to take the quiz to discover your next steps toward unshakeable credibility that generates consistent demand without the hustle.

Interested in learning more about the Strategic Authority Framework? Visit  https://excelatconsulting.com/authoritydesigned/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drangelinadavis/

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Black Girls Consult 2
• 2:17 Introduction to Strategic Authority Framework
• 5:24 Common Consulting Reality Traps
• 8:06 Three Obstacles Facing Women Consultants
• 11:28 Building a Scalable Consulting Engine
• 15:45 From Best-Kept Secret to Obvious Choice

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Black Girls Console 2 podcast. I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and if this is your first time tuning into the podcast, I wanna say welcome. We are on a journey in creating not just an audio version of this podcast but a video version as well. So many of the episodes that you will listen to in recent months they have been videos that have been published on YouTube and then turned into an audio format for our audio podcast. This has been a growth journey, to say the least, which is one of the reasons why episodes have not been as frequent as they have been in the past, but that is continuing to evolve and to change and to grow as we get a little bit better at this. This particular episode is one that was recorded very recently to start to take a deeper dive into some of the frameworks that I use with clients, one being the strategic authority framework, and in this particular episode I'm introducing what this framework is and how it can help you shift from becoming your industry's best kept secret to that consultant that needs to be hired right away, I mean like yesterday. So if you're interested in this conversation, then I want you to tune in and listen closely in this episode as we dive a little bit deeper. If you want to see the episode on YouTube, just visit Black Girls Consult 2 on YouTube and you will be able to view this episode fully, where there's a little bit of writing and some other information that you can actually visually see. That may help you better understand what is being conveyed. However, I'm glad to have you here. I'm so excited to welcome you into this journey with me. I'm having so much fun trying new things, and this is one I know. It's easy to hire somebody to do all of the ground work for you and to really do things that are hard right now. But I am learning in this process. I want to become better in this process and I just thank you for giving me and showing me the grace as I do this. So, without any further ado, without me holding you up any further, let's get started.

Speaker 1: 2:17

They say. The odds are stacked against us as women, especially women of color, trying to thrive in the consulting world. But rather than wait for a seat at the table that may never come, what if we build our own tables? What if we channeled our talents into guiding each other towards the success we deserve? Welcome to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast. I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and I've walked the path from healthcare consultant to a mentor for women like you, ambitious, unstoppable and ready to make waves in the consulting world.

Speaker 1: 2:48

This podcast is your go-to spot for all things entrepreneurial consulting. For us as women, especially women of color, think of it as your weekly coffee date with a friend who's here to dish out real talk on building a solid business, elevating your thought leadership and mastering that all important mindset. And let's not forget, we're doing all of this while balancing day jobs, family life and running teams. Yes, we can do it all. So if you're ready to dive into how you can grow a thriving consultancy or get strategies and insights that actually fit your busy lifestyle, then you're in the right place. Grab your coffee, tea or, hey, even a glass of wine, I won't judge and let's get started. If you're operating with elite level brilliance but entry-level visibility you're watching less experienced consultants land the clients that you want to work with and deserve, while remaining your industry's best-kept secret then this episode will change how you think about building your consulting business forever.

Speaker 1: 3:59

I'm going to show you exactly why traditional consulting advice keeps brilliant women like you invisible and introduce you to a framework that's been used by numerous women with extraordinary expertise that transitions them from hidden gems to becoming the obvious choice. I'm Dr Angelina Davis, and over the past decade I've worked with numerous women consultants who had the same frustrating pattern that I've seen time and time again they have elite level brilliance, proven expertise, extraordinary results with clients, but still somehow they're going overlooked. And here's what I've noticed after sitting in corporate boardrooms and watching what happens behind the scenes, especially when it comes to hiring consultants the consultants that land premium contracts. They aren't necessarily the most brilliant. They're the most strategically visible, and there's a massive difference between being the best kept secret and being the obvious choice. So today I'm going to break down exactly what that difference is, why traditional consulting advice may be failing you and how the strategic authority framework can transform your entire approach to building your consulting business. If you want to learn more, then stay tuned. Let me paint this picture of what your reality probably looks like right now, because I want you to know that what you're experiencing is not a personal failing. It truly is a systemic problem. So see if one of these relates to you.

Speaker 1: 5:42

First, there's the RFP trap. You're likely responding to requests for proposals, where you're competing against a number of other consultants, and so the decision often comes down to who meets the criteria that's been laid out the best, and oftentimes who's the cheapest. This is not a reflection of who does the best work, of who is the most talented in their field. So when you spend hours crafting this perfect proposal, showcasing your methodology, you're experiencing your results, and then you lose to somebody who seemingly copied and pasted a template and undercut you by 40%, well, that can feel a little bit defeating, but it is one of the examples of the challenges that we face. Another is the networking nightmare. Maybe you're showing up at networking events and having great conversations, you're collecting business cards and people are telling you you know what, we should definitely work together sometime. But those connections rarely turn into true contacts, and when they do, it's usually maybe a small project that maybe leads to more small projects, but not the big breakthrough that you've been looking for.

Speaker 1: 7:00

Then we have the best kept secret trap. You take pride in your work, you do an amazing job, and you really don't care about being seen, because, in your eyes, you want the work to be done with excellence to take center stage when people can't associate you with the outcome that's been provided with that work, then you lose a certain element of social proof that goes along with what you do, and therefore, when they're thinking about new projects, they don't often have you at top of mind. So in each of these scenarios, it's not because you are not a great consultant or you don't have an amazing business, or you haven't worked with clients and been shown to provide fabulous results. You have everything that you need in order to be an industry leader, but you don't have the authority that you need in your space, and not having that authority can cost you more business than you know. When we think about the obstacles that most women face when trying to establish themselves as industry leaders in the consulting space, there are usually, I would say, three hills of mountains that we have to climb.

Speaker 1: 8:22

Now, when we think about building authority, it is not a matter of us focusing on having more credentials. I think that is one of the misconceptions that in order to be seen as an authority in your space, you need to have the most degrees or credentials behind your name. That's not it. Strategic authority is something that we can build, and we build it by being able to overcome the most common obstacles that we will face in order to be seen as a trusted advisor or industry leader. So you may be asking what those are. Well, let me show you. All right, so what we're going to dive into is what I call the strategic authority framework, and this framework is a framework that was created after working with so many women that were not being recognized appropriately and compensated for their brilliance in their industry. This is a way for us to build a sustainable authority-based business where your authority, what you have accomplished, your expertise attracts and draws in the business that you need and you're able to sustain your business over the long term by creating something that is lasting, instead of just searching for random projects to acquire or to pick up. We want something that is going to last.

Speaker 1: 9:49

Now, when we think about approaching authority building, we often have to face a few obstacles, and I mentioned before. There are typically three common obstacles that most women consultants face. These are things that really keep us from being competitive in our industries, no matter what your field may be. Now I'm going to draw this out as three heels, although it does not necessarily mean that these need to come in this order. There is some variability as to how everyone will experience these obstacles. It is not a linear process, but we do know that there are three key areas that pose a problem for many or most women. One is that your expertise is likely undervalued.

Speaker 1: 10:46

Being undervalued means that you're in a situation where you are highly capable, have the track record, have the credentials, have all of the things that you need in order to stand out in your space, but because you're positioned as more of a generalist, your clients don't view you in the most valuable light. So in order for you to change that, what needs to happen is that you shift from this point of being undervalued for your expertise to actually being expertly positioned. It means that you are now being seen as more of a specialist. So we need to make this transition from being undervalued for your expertise to being highly valued or expertly positioned through your specialization. Now the second obstacle that many of us face is limited access. You do not have direct access to decision makers, so you're likely drumming up business through referrals, doing a lot of networking, submitting your response to requests for proposals or RFPs, instead of directly building relationships with those individuals who are making decisions at the highest level for the largest contracts, and this is something that we need to be able to change Now in order for us to shift from limited access to a scenario where we have greater access. It means that we need to be able to have direct to decision maker presence presence. When you have direct to decision maker presence, then you are speaking to the person or the individuals that are driving change. You have direct access to them. You're able to impact the way that they think, how they view the world, how they view your industry, how they view the future in your space. That's when you have direct-to-decision-maker presence and that helps you to overcome that limited access.

Speaker 1: 13:08

Now, the last obstacle that most face and this is one that truly can inhibit growth or hinder growth in the long term is that you have an unscalable model, and when you have an unscalable model, it means that your business is running off of and dependent on you. It depends on your personal time, it depends on your energy. It means that, essentially, you're running a high-end job, not the business that you want. That's going to bring you the flexibility and the freedom that you desire. That you want. That's going to bring you the flexibility and the freedom that you desire. So we have to be structured so that, instead of having this unscalable model, that we instead have what I like to call a scalable consulting engine consulting engine and the reason why I like to call this a scalable consulting engine is because this needs to work for you. This needs to be able to drive itself, to fuel itself, and once we're able to do that, then we are building something that is going to last. When we have been expertly positioned, when we are able to have direct-to-decision-maker conversations and then have a scalable consulting engine, you will be unstoppable.

Speaker 1: 14:46

This is easily attainable, especially when you're approaching it from a very structured point of view, and that's what this framework is designed to do. It's designed to help you become the industry leader that you deserve to be. The women I have worked with that have used this framework have stopped being the industry's best kept secret. You need to be seen as the obvious choice. Being the industry's best kept secret, you need to be seen as the obvious choice and when that happens, you stop being the humble expert, the one that is doing everything behind the scenes and taking little credit and hoping to be discovered, to being recognized for the authority that you command and the person that everybody knows to call.

Speaker 1: 15:28

So remember, your brilliance was never the problem. The problem was that your brilliance was invisible to the people who need it most, and the strategic authority framework that we just went through makes you impossible to ignore. So if you're ready to stop chasing contracts and start attracting the clients who value your expertise, then we need to get you over those three obstacles that are standing in your way, because once you do, you'll have the business that you dreamed of. All right, I hope this helps. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure that you subscribe to this YouTube channel as well as share this episode with a friend. Leave your rating and review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts if you're listening to this through the audio version, and I will talk to you again next time. Take care.