Like thousands of development professionals, Grace Tran, founder of Athena Insight Consulting LLC, and Taylor Williamson, director of Cadence Advisory, lost their jobs last year as a result of the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development. Both have since transitioned into independent consulting — a shift they discussed during a recent Devex event, reflecting on the challenges of their first year and on navigating the unpredictable nature of project- and client-based work.
For Tran, the pivot to consulting was not something she had given much consideration to previously. After being laid off, her gut reaction was to frantically apply to “anything and everything.” But in a saturated job market, where people with decades of experience were applying for relatively junior roles, she struggled to see where she would fit.
“Consulting was kind of something that I was essentially forced into,” said Tran. “It became really clear that I was not going to find a full-time job.”