The Myth That Slows Most Women Down
If you’re exploring fractional leadership or a portfolio career, there’s a belief that quietly stalls progress:
“I need to get visible first.”
“I need a website.”
“I need to announce that I’m now doing fractional work.”
This assumption creates unnecessary friction.
In practice, your first fractional client rarely comes from strangers.
It comes from people who already trust your judgement.
This isn’t a gap in ambition or marketing skill.
It’s a misunderstanding of how fractional work actually begins.
You don’t need more visibility to land your first fractional client.
You need clarity with the people who already know you.
Why Your Existing Network Is Almost Always the Starting Point
When companies hire fractional leaders, they’re not buying potential — they’re buying certainty.
That certainty usually comes from:
- having worked with you before
- knowing how you think under pressure
- trusting your decision-making
This is why first fractional clients so often emerge from:
- former colleagues
- ex-managers or peers who’ve moved companies
- founders you’ve advised informally
- senior leaders who’ve seen you lead through complexity
For fractional leadership, trust travels faster than marketing.
If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t really have a network,” this is the moment to pause.
Your network isn’t your LinkedIn following (though that does help!).
Your true network are the people who already rely on your perspective.
The Three Ways First Fractional Clients Actually Appear
Across all of the conversations with women building fractional careers, I’ve seen three stages that most fractional executives go through as they start building their portfolio.
Stage 1. “Can You Advise Us?”
This often starts as informal advisory work:
- a quick call
- a deck review
- a sounding board conversation
This is often (but not always!) where unpaid advisory work begins.
The signal here isn’t the question — it’s the frequency.
If people keep coming back to you for clarity, that’s demand.
Stage 2. “We Need Someone Like You”
This usually comes from:
- a former colleague
- a past manager
- a peer who has stepped into a leadership role elsewhere
They already understand your value.
They don’t need convincing — they need availability and scope.
This is a great opportunity if you’re aiming to to start building a portfolio on the side: you’re still employed full-time and want to explore fractional work safely.
Stage 3. “You’re Already Doing the Work”
This is the moment many fractional women recognize something uncomfortable:
They’re already acting like a fractional leader — just without boundaries or pay.
This often shows up as:
- ongoing startup advising
- leadership support without authority
- strategic input without role clarity
More often than not as women we’re trusted before we are formally positioned into a role.
That means:
- you’re relied on quietly
- you’re pulled into high-stakes conversations
- your influence is real — even if it’s invisible
This is not a disadvantage.
It’s an entry point. But it’s worth making sure you’re not being taken advantage of!
The challenge isn’t demand — it’s translating trust into intentional fractional leadership and building out the portfolio while being compensated correctly.
If people already trust your judgement, you don’t need to prove your value.
You need to define it.
What Stops Women From Turning Network Conversations Into Clients
At this stage, far too many of us stall before properly kicking off a portfolio or fractional career.
They don’t stall because they can’t land clients. They stall because of internal mindset blockers:
- “I don’t want to seem salesy.”
- “It feels awkward to charge.”
- “I’m not senior enough for this.”
- “It’s just helping.”
The real issue isn’t confidence.
It’s structure.
If you had structure you’d feel confident in selling your services, asking for compensation for the value you bring. Because it wouldn’t be about you – it would be about the value you bring to the table. Structure helps you get your head around that!
Moving From Helpful Volunteer to Intentional Fractional Executive
The most important mindset shift in fractional leadership is this:
Your network doesn’t need more help.
It needs clarity.
That means:
- naming the problem you solve
- elevating conversations from tasks to outcomes
- being clear about scope and role
This is where we move from:
“Happy to help” → “This is how I work.”
And this shift is what turns informal conversations into real fractional engagements.
How to Approach Your Network (Without an Awkward Announcement)
You do not need a public declaration.
In fact, large announcements often backfire at this stage.
What works better:
- quiet 1:1 conversations
- curiosity-led check-ins
- language focused on outcomes, not availability
Think exploration — not selling.
This is how we build trust. And trust sells more than any sales call ever will!
Why One Client Is Enough to Start
You don’t need five clients.
You don’t need momentum.
You don’t need validation.
One well-scoped fractional client is enough to:
- test market fit
- build your confidence in your fractional offerings
- refine your offer
And most important of all – get proof that you can deliver results!
Fractional leadership doesn’t start with scale.
It starts with one intentional yes.
When Your Network Is Quiet (And What That Actually Means)
If you’re reaching out to your network and nothing is landing, or not opportunity surfaces immediately, it doesn’t mean:
- fractional work isn’t for you
- your experience isn’t valuable
It usually means one of two things:
- a visibility gap (people don’t know this is something you’re open to)
- a positioning gap (they don’t yet understand how you help)
Get Clarity Before Action
Before reaching out, before announcing anything, before saying yes again — pause.
Focus on getting clarity on:
- the role you want to pitch yourself for
- the scope you want to own and deliver on
- your unique value – that all important value proposition.
This is what makes fractional leadership sustainable, sell-able and something that can fill your days with fun roles where you get to do the bit of executive thinking that lights you up (and let go of the operations piece that many of us don’t like in that full-time executive role!).
If you’d like support thinking this through, I offer complimentary strategy sessions for a limited number of women each month.
No pressure.
No expectation that you quit your job.
Just clarity.
👉 Book a discovery call here.
