The Unique Boutique Podcast

The Credible Choice, Not the Louder One - Sue Rizzello on Proof as Differentiation Most boutique consultancies have a handful of case studies sitting on their website, quietly doing very little. Sue Rizzello thinks that's a wasted revenue opportunity - and in this episode, she explains how to fix it. Sue has spent 35 years in B2B marketing and runs Remedy Marketing, now in its 20th year. Her...

"We need a new client tomorrow." It's the moment most consultancies start thinking about business development - and according to Luke Badiali, that's already too late. Luke is the co-founder of BeDeveloped, which helps boutique consulting firms replace feast-and-famine selling with a repeatable BD engine. Drawing on conversations with over a thousand consulting leaders, he make...

"Google are bandits." It's not the kind of thing you'd expect from a certified Google Partner agency - but Karen Young says it with a smile, and she means it. Karen is the founder of Ethos Metrics, the ethical pay-per-click agency built on a simple, provocative idea: the platforms are incentivised to maximise their own profit, not yours, and that gap costs advertisers more than...

Most consultancies still pitch what they can do. Clients have stopped buying it. Cris Beswick has spent two decades inside the boardrooms of global brands - first as a consultancy founder with two exits (the second five days before Lehman Brothers crashed), and now as an innovation, leadership and culture advisor to CEOs at some of the world's most complex organisations. In this episode of Th...

For this episode, Matt does something different - he turns the microphone on himself. No guest, just an AMA: real questions submitted by boutique consultancy founders across The Unique Boutique network, answered in turn. The questions cover the pains that keep consultancy leaders up at night - losing pitches on price to firms half as capable, referral pipelines quietly drying up, partners who each...

Matt sits down with Justin Michael - author of over a dozen books including Tech-Powered Sales and Seven Figure Formula , and one of the highest-paid consultants in the world of B2B sales and client acquisition. Justin has trained over 250 teams, worked one-to-one with more than 1,000 professionals, and built a seven-figure practice without a big agency, a VC-backed budget, or a Harvard MBA. In th...

In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , Matt Hodkinson sits down with James Thomlinson (Sprint Partners) to unpack a question almost every consultancy leader is asking right now: Why does marketing feel so much harder than it used to… and what actually works now? From shrinking attention spans and squeezed budgets to the “sea of same” created by AI-generated content, James shares what’s changed,...

Most consultancies want to “use more tech,” but end up trapped in spreadsheets, scattered SaaS tools, and duct-taped automations that create more friction than they remove. In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , Matt Hodkinson sits down with Patrick Kelly-Weller , founder of Adapt Digital , to unpack what smart, practical digital evolution actually looks like for consultancy firms. Patrick shar...

In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , I sit down with Danielle Heward , co-founder of Optimo, to unpack what it really takes to build — and sustain — a values-driven consultancy in a challenging market. We cover: Danielle’s journey from contractor to consultancy founder How she built Optimo around purpose, impact, and operational excellence Why so many consultancies are struggling right now —...

Consultancies are already being outplayed on LinkedIn and beyond - not because their expertise is weaker, but because they’re invisible on video. In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , I’m joined by John Wilson of Honest Video and Explainer to unpack exactly how consultancies can use video to build authority, shorten sales cycles, and stay top-of-mind with the right buyers. We cover everything...

Boutiques are primed to win - if you tighten scoping, build an embedded sales culture, and obsess over 5 unsexy KPIs.  In this episode, Ben Edwards (CMap & Consulting Pulse) and Matt go deep on what’s really happening in pro services right now: slower decisions, margin squeeze, and how the best boutiques are still crushing it with sharper positioning, productised offers, and data-driven ops. B...

Building a consultancy that helps other consultancies hire better - what does that actually take? In this episode, Caroline Boston, Managing Director of New Minds, shares the origin story behind her people-strategy firm and the hard-won lessons from partnering with boutique and challenger consultancies. We dig into the hiring do’s and don’ts that prevent expensive misfires, how to balance permanen...

In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , host Matt Hodkinson sits down with Leena Sowambur, founder of Marcoms by Leena, whose career spans 25 years in digital marketing and PR, including global campaigns for icons like Beyoncé and Take That. Leena unpacks the so-called “expertise apocalypse” and the rise of AI-driven “Beachside Bros,” exploring how distorted visibility and performative purpose d...

If you're tired of spammy sales cadences and tired outreach tactics, this episode is for you. I sit down with Mikey Hanson, founder of Growth Genie, to explore how consultancy leaders can break free from referral dependency and ignite real conversations with ideal prospects. Mikey reveals why polite persistence outperforms one-and-done outreach, how to leverage client stories to craft sales p...

In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , I interview John Barrows, CEO of JB Sales, whose journey from hammering out 400 cold calls a week to advising Salesforce, LinkedIn and Amazon has made him one of the most respected voices in sales. We unpack why so many founder-led sales teams stall, how John rebuilt his business after losing $6 million in revenue virtually overnight and why authenticity -...

Most case studies suck. They’re long. They’re fluffy. They’re written for your ego, not your buyer’s anxiety. On this week’s episode of The Consultancy Edge, I speak with James de Roche, founder of Lead Comet, who’s on a mission to fix that. James shares how to build case studies that actually sell—not just tick a box. We explore: Why the standard “Challenge - Solution - Results” format is broken...

What happens when the referrals stop rolling in? On this episode of The Consultancy Edge , I’m joined by Martin J. Williams - founder of Camford Management Consultants and the mind behind frameworks like the Pyramid of Trust and the 3x9 marketing strategy. Martin doesn’t just talk theory. He shares the raw, unfiltered story of hitting financial rock bottom - then betting what little he had on a be...

If your exit strategy is “someday,” this episode is for you. Shawn Walsh doesn’t pull punches. The CEO of Encore Strategic Consulting and co-author of The Pumpkin Plan for MSPs joins Matt Hodkinson to talk about building businesses that grow without you - and don’t collapse when life throws a curveball. From founder-led sales bottlenecks to the myth of “hire slow, fire fast,” this episode rewires...

The brand halo is dead. That’s the bold claim from Omaro Maseli - and she’s got the research to back it up. On this episode of The Consultancy Edge , Omaro joins Matt Hodkinson for a fascinating deep dive into the future of consulting. From G20 stages to boutique boardrooms, Omaro’s journey has taken her from law and public policy to advising global consulting firms on how to stay relevant in a wo...

Consultants love to overcomplicate growth. Funnels. Ads. Paid traffic. Big teams. But what if you could build a multi-seven-figure business without any of that? Jeanne Omlor did exactly that - starting at 54, in debt, as a single parent and with zero following. In this episode, Jeanne cuts through the bull**** and shares how she scaled fast by focusing on what actually moves the needle: offers tha...

£10m exits. KFC chaos. And the truth about consultancy growth. In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , Matt sits down with Marc Jantzen, founder of The Consultancy Growth Network and former CEO of Blue Sky, which he scaled and sold to Capita for £10 million. Marc shares his unfiltered journey - from managing 200 people at KFC (yes, really), to leading a 17-year consultancy adventure filled with...

Consultancy is still often seen as pale, male and stale . This episode is your wake-up call. Gillian Jones-Williams is the founder of Emerge , a coaching and training consultancy specialising in leadership, women’s development and DEI. She’s seen it all: mishandled harassment cases, performative panel invites, surface-level “initiatives” that change nothing - and cultures that quietly exclude. In...

Truth is attractive. That’s Craig Herd’s mantra - and this episode proves why. Craig is the founder of Consultancy Growth. He works with boutique consultancy founders to help them scale sustainably, systemise growth and escape the treadmill they built for themselves. In this candid conversation, Craig gets fun, fascinating and focused on what it really takes to build a consultancy that doesn’t bur...

Still waiting on referrals to fill your pipeline? Danilo Kreimer says that’s not a growth strategy - it’s a gamble. In this episode of The Consultancy Edge , I sit down with Danilo, founder of the Boutique Consulting Club, to dig into the brutal truths behind go-to-market success for early-stage consultancies. We get into: Why referrals run dry - and what to do instead The secrets to building a re...

How do you take a consultancy from zero to £20m in just seven years? Marcia Marini did it - and then became the first female executive leader at Mott MacDonald Group. In this powerhouse episode of The Consultancy Edge , Marcia shares the turning points that fuelled her firm's explosive growth, the challenges of integrating into a global giant and why boutiques have the upper hand against the...