How I Won My First 5 Clients
Blending Traditional Strategy Frameworks with My Human Design
Welcome to The Portfolio Careerist, my weekly newsletter where I share actionable insights for building a pro-passion, anti-hustle portfolio career using Human Design.
This week, I'm sharing exactly how I landed my first 5 clients by blending corporate strategy frameworks with Human Design - creating a business that actually feels like me, not some cookie-cutter bro model.
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Bonus Exercise → Access Free strategy + human design exercise
Free Workshop → Sign up here for a Free Workshop I am hosting on How to Turn a Stuck Corporate Career Into Multiple Income Streams Using Your Human Design
How It Started
When I first started out in my career, I was obsessed with landing an in-house strategy role. That's apparently where all the 'smart' people worked, and let's be honest, I wanted a slice of those vibes.
After almost 5 years of hustling (yes, I did that back in the early to mid 2000s), I finally landed my first proper strategy role in 2009, and I thought I'd hit the jackpot.
In reality, it was so boring and completely out of alignment with someone with my human design. I am an active 3/5 generator who likes to jump in and experiment, and build things. The only thing I ended up 'building' was 80-page decks for executives.
Like all experiences, though, I did walk away with valuable lessons and new mental models on how to build and grow businesses. Little did I know that in 2019, when I was planning my corporate exit, I'd use one strategic framework from those corporate days to win my first 5 clients.
Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
It's no secret that the number one thing that concerns all business owners, whether you are a solopreneur or a growing business, is getting leads and converting them to paying clients.
This is especially terrifying for someone who has always worked in corporate and had a magical sales team bring in ready-to-buy customers.
When I decided to start my own business, I knew I needed skills that senior management hadn't taught me. So I did what I always do: I devoured every business book, attended every free masterclass, and joined entrepreneur groups and Masterminds. I surrounded myself with people who had what I wanted: a thriving business that generated consistent income.
Pretty quickly, the advice all started sounding the same. For a hot minute, I thought I was missing something or being duped - surely the 'good' advice would be revolutionary?
Then it hit me:
I'd spent months searching for the secret formula, paying for masterclasses and devouring business books, only to discover I'd been carrying it in my back pocket the whole time. Those 'revolutionary' business strategies? They were just my boring corporate frameworks wearing a startup disguise.
So I dusted off my old strategy decks and found a framework that had always delivered results: The Strategy Playbook from "Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works." (If you're curious about how Fortune 500s think about growth, it's worth a read.)
What I discovered was that all the advice boiled down to three core elements that mirrored the frameworks I already knew:
Theoretically, this all made sense to me, but when I tried to execute the strategies, I hit a wall. The business bros were advising me to focus on untapped niche segments or do 50 cold outreaches a day because I'd eventually get a yes.
And while I don't disagree with that advice (great tips for some projectors who love to niche or manifestors who are energetically wired for cold outreach), I just couldn't imagine building a business around strategies that felt completely misaligned with who I am.
That's when I thought:
Have I left one corporate prison only to lock myself into another, one masked as having 'freedom'?
I needed a different approach entirely.
So I moved into experimenter mode (this is my line 3 in human design) and began to dive deeper into the energetics of my own design. While there were plenty of Human Design coaches online, I didn't feel like anyone was using the system to help people like me. I wasn't interested in becoming a coach who coached, coaches, or going full woo-woo. I wanted to use Human Design as a practical operating system to build a service business that worked with other businesses to deliver tangible results and consistent income.
I looked at the core components of my chart and identified five key elements that would shape how I built my business:
My Human Design Profile (3/5): How I naturally move through the world - someone who experiments and then shares insights to solve real problems. I'd leverage this to build my offers & communicate my core messaging.
My Decision-Making Process: My sacral authority means my gut instantly expands or contracts depending on whether something is a yes or no.
My Defined Centres: I leveraged my defined Throat centre for my communication style and defined Identity and Direction centre to keep me centred in my purpose.
My Undefined Centres: My undefined Emotional and Root centres helped shape my go-to-market strategy and how I pitched offers.
My Natural Gifts: The channels in my chart showed me where my energy naturally flows, how to communicate complex concepts effectively, and where success comes easily when I'm aligned.
After mapping these core elements, I overlaid them with the strategy framework and began testing how I could express traditional advice using my design.
Here is an example (download PDF here):
Here's how this played out in practice:
Client #1 came through my beta offering launch. I used my 3/5 profile to position it as an experiment - "Human Design + Mentorship Beta Program." My sacral authority guided the pricing, and the vulnerability of calling it a "beta" attracted someone who wanted to be part of the experiment.
Client #2 happened at a networking event where I shared my story about blending corporate strategy with Human Design. Someone resonated with the "anti-hustle but still strategic" message, and my sacral immediately said "yes" - this was an aligned fit.
Building on this momentum, I decided to scale my approach.
Clients #3-5 came when I hosted free masterclasses. True to my 3/5 profile, I shared my experiments - what worked, what failed, and how I implemented each lesson. My defined Throat centre thrived in this live format, and three participants became clients because they wanted to work with someone who practiced what they preached.
By month 6, I had 5 clients who not only paid well but actually energised me to work with. The framework hadn't just helped me get clients - it had helped me get the RIGHT clients.
Following this framework, combined with my design, showed me that I could build a business that actually energised me instead of draining me. It wasn't instant; it was iterative. But the breakthrough came when I stopped trying to fit into someone else's business model and started building around my own design.
The result wasn't just clients, it was proof that I could create success without sacrificing who I am. And that's when I knew I'd found something worth sharing with other women ready to build their own aligned businesses.
‘So what’: Your Next Steps
If you’ve read this far, here’s your takeaway: you don’t need to force yourself into cookie-cutter business advice. You can take the same proven strategic frameworks and filter them through your Human Design to create something that feels natural — and works.
Here’s how you can start (access exercise here):
Pick a Strategy Framework: Use the one I shared above (Where to Play, How to Win, Aligned Execution) or one you already know from your corporate days.
Pull out your Human Design basics.
What’s your Type & Strategy?
How do you make decisions (Authority)?
Which centres are defined vs. undefined?
Which profile lines tell you how you move through the world?
Do any channels show you where your energy naturally flows?
Overlay them: For each part of the framework, ask: “How can I execute this in a way that feels natural to my design?”
Example: Instead of blasting 50 cold emails (which drains me as a Generator), I host live Masterclasses because my defined Throat shines in real-time conversations. And I happen to have one coming up in a couple of weeks!
Experiment: Start small. Test a market, a message, or an outreach style. Notice what energises you (keep that) and what depletes you (drop or delegate that).
Iterate and reflect: Your first few tries won’t be perfect. That’s the point. If you’re a 3-line like me, your business grows through experimentation and sharing what you learn along the way.
Your challenge this week: Pick one part of your business strategy (your niche, your marketing, or your client outreach) and run it through your Human Design filter. Where can you shift from “should do” to “designed for me”?
📅 WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT: How to Turn a Stuck Corporate Career Into Multiple Income Streams Using Your Human Design
On Tuesday, 12th August, I'm hosting a free masterclass where I'll show you exactly how to align Position + Performance with your specific Human Design type for sustainable multi-6-figure success.
You'll discover:
The biggest visibility mistake each energy type makes (and the simple fix)
How to build systems that work WITH your natural rhythms, not against them
Why 90% of business advice fails when it doesn't match your design
The exact 4-step sequence I used to go from scattered systems to systematic success
Plus: I'll give you a sneak peek at how the other 4 P's from my complete 6P Framework create long-term sustainable success.
Live attendees receive:
Chance to win access to my comprehensive course: Personal Branding using Human Design (valued at $1000)
Exclusive early-bird pricing for the September Portfolio Career Club cohort
Your Human Design isn't a limitation—it's your competitive advantage. Stop fighting against your design and start using it to build the portfolio career you actually want.
And if you are looking for support to kickstart your portfolio career in 2025, here are some ways to work together:
Launch Your Personal Brand Using Human Design Course - Get Instant Access Here
Register Your Interest for the September Portfolio Career Club Intake
Get your Hyper-Personalised Human Design Career Insights Report: Personalised analysis revealing your innate work style and leadership potential, blending Human Design with strategic frameworks
Check out my Portfolio Career Mentorship: Corporately-honed, consciously-led 1:1 portfolio career mentorship for visionary women (taking interest for June, 2 spots available)
FREE Download: Guide on how to Kickstart Your Portfolio Career using Human Design, download here
FREE Quiz: Find out your Portfolio Career Archetype here