When one of my first ever clients David left his director-level job at a top consulting firm in 2024, his LinkedIn header didn’t include what most people in his network expected. He didn’t make a lateral move to a competitive consulting firm. Or get a promotion.
Instead, he updated his headline to read as follows:
"Strategy Consultant | Newsletter Writer | Executive Coach"
Reactions, he intimated, ranged from confusion to curiosity. He recalled getting a slew of text messages from friends in his network wondered if he was in between jobs, messaging him with concern, “Wait, are you freelancing now?”
Nine months after taking the plunge, David's was making 15% more than his corporate salary, doing work that actually energized him, and, most importantly, spending more quality time with his two young children and his father who was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's.
I’ve seen versions of David’s story play out across a growing wave of professionals who are no longer satisfied with choosing between meaning and money and are instead choosing to build what is called a portfolio career.
So What Exactly Is a Portfolio Career?
A portfolio career is a deliberately designed career that combines multiple income streams, projects, and paid and unpaid roles into a self-defined eco-system of work.
It’s not about cobbling together jobs to make ends meet. It’s about deliberately constructing a life that aligns with your values, strengths, and vision of success.
The key word here is deliberately.
You're building something thoughtful with the long view in mind which includes: financial sustainability, creative expression, autonomy, and agency.
Why Are They Becoming So Popular?
A few years ago, portfolio careers were less common.
But today, it's one of the most future-proof ways to work, and here's why:
Secure employment is no longer a thing. Layoffs, at-will contracts, vanishing pensions, and AI have made the corporate path less safe than it used to be.
Technology enables independence. With Zoom, Stripe, Notion, and AI tools, you can run a global business from your laptop. Geography is no longer a barrier anymore.
The creator economy exploded. Platforms like Substack, Discord, Teachable, Maven, Circle, etc democratized access to education, communities, and information. You don't need gatekeepers or as many expensive accreditations to begin monetizing your expertise or connecting with people that would benefit from your products or services.
Cultural hunger for purpose. Professionals of all ages are now prioritizing flexibility and work life integration, values-alignment, and creative autonomy above traditional career advancement and managerial responsibilities.
The Anatomy of a Portfolio Career
No two portfolio careers look the same, but they tend to include some mix of the following projects:
Service-Based Work : often serve as your portfolio foundation—full-time work, consulting, fractional leadership roles, or project-based work that leverages your existing knowledge expertise. Think strategy consulting, fractional marketing, brand audits. This often becomes your anchor income stream at the beginning of developing your overall portfolio.
Knowledge Products : scale your impact beyond trading time for money. Digital courses, weekend skill workshops, books. These also act as lead-ins to higher-ticket offerings.
Content Creation: builds your audience, authority, and credibility while generating an additional channel for revenue through sponsorships and subscriptions. Think things like a weekly business newsletter, podcasts, an educational youtube series.
Speaking or Teaching: Teaching at uni, Guest lectures, keynotes, or corporate training events that position you as a subject matter expert on a particular topic.
Investments: can include equity in startups you consult for, royalty-generating products, real estate, angel investing, etc
The power of the portfolio... is all in the mix!
Just remember: Your anchor income stream gives you financial security! Your scalable or passive streams create leverage! And your creative work is the space for the art (and the heart) of your body of work!
A Final Thought
Portfolio careers aren't for everyone.
They demand initiative, adaptability, and a high degree of discipline. You also need to be comfortable with uncertainty and capable of managing multiple projects at once.
Especially in the beginning, you'll handle your own marketing, business development, operations, and financial planning. If you leave your 9-5, you’ll lose traditional benefits and deal with irregular income, at least initially.
But for those ready to step outside the traditional career model, portfolio careers offer something increasingly rare: the ability to build a body of work that integrates with your life and goals instead of competing with them.
All of that is to say, you don't have to choose between creativity and stability, freedom and money, autonomy and growth. You can engineer all of these things to fit together IF you're willing to put the time, energy, and effort into building a portfolio career!
Want some help growing your portfolio career?
👇 Here are a few ways that I can help you out! 👇
SUBSCRIBE to “the lab” (it’s FREE.99!) → If you’re keen to come along on this whole polyworking journey, give this account a follow or a subscribe!
BUY the book → 📖 🎉 Want the full Polyworker experience? Go grab a copy on Amazon or Bookshop. She’s right there waiting for you! 😉
TALK SHOP with me → Ready to make real progress in your portfolio career? Book a 1-to-1 career coaching session via my cal!
I call it living life on buffet mode. A little of this, a little of that. The ability to do the things I am best at - which isn't just one thing.
If you can get over the idea of not having a check hit youe account on the 15th and 30th like clockwork, it's a good way to live.