What One Year of Full-Time Focus Taught Me About Strategic Consulting (And Why It Changed Everything)
After nearly 20 years in marketing, I began focusing fully on P Three Consulting (P3C) on October 1st, 2024. What I thought would be a simple transition from part-time to full-time consulting turned into something much more profound, a complete transformation in how I understand strategic consulting and its true impact on mission-driven organizations.
Today marks one year of that full-time focus, and the lessons learned have changed everything about how I approach this work.
My Foundation in Strategic Marketing
Like many millennials, I've been working since I was 13. Restaurants, hotels, government jobs, even a secret clearance with the Department of Defense, I tried it all. But in high school, while serving on student government, I unknowingly stumbled into my calling. We were trying to figure out how to get students more engaged, so we surveyed our peers, gathered ideas, and turned them into action plans.
At the time, I didn't know that was marketing. I didn't know it was research, audience insights, and campaign strategy. I just knew I loved it.
That passion carried me through college, sales, and eventually into agency life — a fast-paced world where I built my career in multicultural marketing, leading teams, managing Fortune 500 clients, and helping organizations connect with audiences that too often were overlooked.
Throughout my career, I have developed a deep understanding of what it takes to create meaningful connections between brands and communities.
Recognizing the Need
In 2024, with economic uncertainty and AI disruption, strategic thinking isn't optional anymore—yet mission-driven organizations need strategy that works with limited budgets, not against them.
During a period of reflection, I recognized something I'd been unconsciously developing for two decades: a systematic approach to strategic planning. Looking back at my most successful projects, whether with Fortune 500 companies or small nonprofits, I realized I had always been following the same seven-step process:
Context Assessment: Where is this organization really starting from?
Landscape Analysis: What's happening in their competitive environment?
Audience Deep-Dive: Who are they actually trying to reach?
Roadmap Development: What's their strategic path forward?
Implementation Planning: How will they execute these strategies?
Tracking Systems: What metrics will tell them if it's working? Yield Optimization: How will they learn and improve over time?
This wasn't something new I invented—it was recognition of the methodology I'd been refining throughout my entire career. That's when our CLARITY framework was born.
Building P Three Consulting
I've always been passionate about helping mission-driven people, small businesses, solopreneurs, and nonprofits. These are the people who need strategy the most but often have the least access to it.
When I began focusing fully on P3C, I spent months validating what I suspected: there's a massive gap in strategic marketing support for organizations with limited budgets. Most small businesses and nonprofits are focused on daily operations. They don't have time to stop and plan strategically because they're busy serving their communities, fundraising, and delivering their mission.
This journey taught me that strategic thinking shouldn't be a luxury reserved only for large organizations.
Here's what we've built in this first year:
Guides & Resources – Practical, affordable tools like AI prompt guides, checklists, and social media playbooks for solopreneurs and organizations who prefer to implement strategies themselves but need proven frameworks.
Workshops & Training – Interactive sessions for teams and organizations that want expert guidance and hands-on learning but don't need full consulting support. Perfect for groups who learn better together and want to build internal strategic capacity.
Strategic Consulting – For organizations ready to make strategic transformation a priority, with a budget for ongoing partnership and comprehensive support. Best for leaders who want customized strategy development, implementation support, and accountability partnership.
Everything is designed around our three pillars: clarity, connection, and capacity — helping organizations understand their mission, reach their audience, and build sustainable growth. This three-tier approach ensures we can meet mission-aligned leaders where they are, regardless of budget constraints.
The Strategy Gap
Our Small Business and Nonprofit Marketing Assessments consistently reveal common challenges: organizations struggle to describe their mission in 30 seconds, don't know where their target audience spends time, or choose platforms based on personal preference rather than strategic data.
Our role isn't to do everything for them — it's to help them identify their top 2-3 priorities and build strategic execution plans around those priorities. We become strategic partners, not just service providers.
In this first year, I've had the privilege of working across industries, from tech startups to community nonprofits, while serving on boards including the GA PTA, Wesley International Academy PTSA, and the Joseph and Evelyn Lowery Institute. This community involvement, along with my experience as a Tech Stars mentor, reinforces my commitment to accessible strategic thinking.
The Reality of Building a Consultancy
Let me be honest about what this year actually looked like. I maintained some existing consulting relationships while taking time to refine my approach and ensure I had a needed product and a clear value proposition.
Entrepreneurship is the hardest job I've ever had. Your income is directly tied to your efforts—there are no guaranteed paychecks, no built-in support systems, and when you work for yourself, there's no such thing as a day off. I've had to learn to leverage AI to scale my capabilities and navigate the challenges of working from home while maintaining work-life balance.
I was truly my own first client because I was building a systematic approach from scratch—not just financially, but strategically. I had to practice what I preached: look at the data, assess the situation strategically, and build a plan that actually worked.
Those early months meant adjusting everything: my lifestyle, my expectations, my timeline. I gained new business through word of mouth and by being responsive to opportunities as they arose, a reactive approach that served us well in year one. Now, as we enter year two, I'm transitioning to a more proactive, strategic approach to growth.
One of the most meaningful aspects has been having my kids see me learn, grow, and help those who need it most. They're watching me build something from scratch, face challenges, and stay committed to serving others, showing them what it looks like to align your work with your values.
What This Year Has Taught Me: Five Strategic Lessons
This year has been one of faith, discovery, and alignment—and also learning, growing, and pivoting one step at a time. Here are the five most important lessons that transformed how I approach strategic consulting:
Lesson 1: The methodology I'd been unconsciously using for two decades was scalable and applicable across all organization types and sizes. What worked for Fortune 500 companies could be adapted for small nonprofits—it just needed to be packaged differently and made accessible.
Lesson 2: There's incredible opportunity in serving underserved markets when you approach it strategically and authentically. Mission-driven organizations aren't looking for charity—they want expertise at accessible levels and partnership that respects their constraints.
Lesson 3: You don't have to have it all figured out to take meaningful steps; you just have to be willing to figure it out along the way. The clients who trusted me in year one became partners in refining our approach and validating our value.
Lesson 4: Entrepreneurship forces you to practice what you preach. Every strategic framework I recommend to clients, I had to apply to my own business first. This made me a better consultant and gave my recommendations more credibility.
Lesson 5: Strategic thinking and accessible pricing don't have to be mutually exclusive. You can build a sustainable business while staying true to your values and serving those who need strategic support most.
Most importantly, I'm still here. I'm still building. I'm still learning and growing with each client, each workshop, each assessment.
I'm grateful that I've been able to navigate this discovery process and find where I can add value to my community, mission-driven organizations, small businesses, and individuals, because that is where my passion lies, and those are the people who need strategic expertise at accessible levels.
What Changed Everything: The Transformation
Going full-time didn't just change my schedule—it fundamentally transformed how I understand strategic consulting and my role in it. Here's what changed everything:
My Relationship with Strategy: I went from delivering strategy TO organizations to developing strategy WITH them. The best results came when clients became partners in refining the approach, not passive recipients of recommendations.
My Understanding of Value: I learned that accessibility doesn't diminish expertise, it amplifies impact. Making strategic thinking available to mission-driven organizations with limited budgets created more meaningful transformation than any Fortune 500 engagement ever did.
My Business Model: I shifted from being reactive to opportunities to being proactive about the organizations I could serve best. This transition from responsive consulting to strategic partnership changed everything about how P3C operates.
My Definition of Success: Success became less about revenue and more about sustainable impact. Having my kids see me learn, grow, and help those who need it most redefined what professional achievement means to me.
My Vision for P3C: What started as consulting work evolved into something bigger—a methodology and approach that could serve mission-driven leaders for generations. My vision shifted from building a consulting practice to creating a legacy of accessible strategic thinking.
As we enter year two, my focus shifts from reactive response to proactive, strategic partnerships and sustainable growth. The foundation is solid—now it's time to build intentionally. My vision is for P3C to live long beyond me, for the CLARITY framework to serve mission-driven leaders for generations to come.
I celebrate this milestone to honor the journey that brought me here. Every challenge, every meaningful conversation, every brilliant colleague taught me something valuable. Through varied experiences, I was able to learn about the industry and about myself. I worked with intelligent people whose contributions shaped my perspective, and I don't believe that anything is coincidental.
I'm grateful for the clients, small businesses, and nonprofits who trusted me in this first year. I'm excited about the strategic partnerships ahead and the communities we'll serve together across all industries.
To those reading this who are building mission-driven organizations: strategic thinking doesn't have to be out of reach. Whether you're seeking new approaches, developing new capabilities, or planning your next growth phase, clarity about your values and strategic thinking about your next steps can make all the difference.
Here's to the first year of P3C. Here's to walking in purpose. And here's to all of you who believe in strategy that moves.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
– Jennifer Rogers-Givens, Founder, P Three Consulting
Ready to Strengthen Your Strategic Foundation?
Whether you're looking to clarify your organization's marketing strategy or improve your strategic thinking, start with an assessment. Take our Small Business Marketing Assessment or Nonprofit Marketing Assessment to identify your strategic gaps and discover your next priorities.
What you'll get:
Clear identification of your top 2-3 strategic priorities
Actionable insights tailored to your specific situation
A roadmap for moving forward, regardless of your budget
Ready to begin? Take your assessment today, explore our guides and resources, or learn more about our workshops.
Because everyone deserves access to strategic thinking that actually works.
