Join us to learn all of the juicy secrets of tech leaders - their biggest successes (and failures) - on our quest for gaining that all-important technology edge.

I went from 105-hour weeks and near-divorce to a 40-hour workweek, zero turnover, and no missed deadlines.

That crisis forced me to rebuild everything—my leadership style, my team, and my life.

Now, I teach technology executives how to do the same.

I’ve coached executives from startups to Fortune 500s, helping them turn overwhelmed teams into high-performance A-Teams.

I’m Mike Mahony, a 20+ year CTO, Executive Coach, and creator of the Decentralized A-Team Method. 

My mission: help leaders escape firefighting mode, build autonomous teams, and scale without burnout.

Through executive coaching, digital products, and consulting, I guide tech leaders to:

	•	Cut hours without sacrificing results
	•	Develop teams that deliver without micromanagement
	•	Eliminate chaos and streamline operations

I also serve as a Fractional CTO and NetSuite specialist, where I translate messy systems into clear business wins—whether that’s automations, API integrations, or optimizing data workflows.

And as host of “Gaining the Technology Leadership Edge”, I sit down with top executives, founders, and disruptors to reveal the real stories behind successful teams—the hard lessons, surprising wins, and the strategies they wish they’d known sooner.

Here’s how we can work together:

🔹 Want to apply the Decentralized A-Team Method to your leadership style? DM me “COACH”

🔹 Have a story for the podcast? DM me “PODCAST”

🔹 Need a NetSuite Developer or Fractional CTO? DM me “NETSUITE”

👉 Listen to the show: https://gtle.show

📘 Grab the book: TopTierCoachingServices.com/dcatbook

Mike Mahony

I Show Consultants How To Monetise Their Expertise By Mastering The Art Of Self-Promotion (Even If The Thought Makes Them Feel Queasy) In 60 Days 🚀

I spent 20+ years in the corporate world building global brands & then I took the leap to co-own a 7-figure marketing design agency.

On paper, it looked impressive.

In reality, I was absolutely exhausted.

Every one of our corporate clients wanted something custom.

Growth meant working more hours and doing less of the work I loved.

The “freedom business” I was building took more from my family than being an employee ever did.

My kids got my leftovers, and I certainly wasn’t the mum or wife I wanted to be.

Somewhere along the way, I’d shaped myself into what everyone else wanted - bosses, business partners, clients.

I found that I'd muted my voice and put on a mask.

Because being 'me' just wasn't enough.

I'd left corporate to become my own boss for more meaning and impact, yet found that all I'd done was create another job. With way more stress.

So I started over.

Now, I run a fully independent consulting/coaching business that’s simple, profitable, and designed around my life - 20-hour weeks, consistent clients, no virtual coffees.

Here’s what I see…

Most consultants swap one job for another, outgrowing their business model because they’re not truly aligned with their genius, offer, or message.

Losing sight of what truly matters. Their potential goes untapped.

LinkedIn tells you to hustle and perform - but the people I work with aren’t here to become influencers.

They’re 40+, brilliant at what they do, but want to work differently - with more freedom and genuine fulfillment.

That’s why I built BoundlessOS™ - the identity-first operating system for consultants who want to bolt on a private coaching offer, run it alongside their corporate contracts, until they reach a point where they can smoothly transition to private work only.

You can do this without:
• Starting from scratch
• Jeopardising your reputation or income.
• Pretending to be someone you’re not.

Just one signature offer, one simple acquisition rhythm, and a practice that’s truly yours.

What it looks like in the real world:
• A consultant who spent a month in Europe and still hit $25k
• A founder who scaled from $12k → $36k/month in 5 months
• An e-commerce consultant who jumped from $5k → $42k in 6 weeks—and now takes Fridays off

If you’re ready to build a simple, profitable, fully aligned coaching practice - start here:

- Watch my free 20-minute walkthrough
- Book a Boundless GamePlan session
(Everything’s in my Featured section)

Or just DM me - I’m human 😊

Karita Beard 🚀

All you need to get clients is write content daily.

All you need to get clients is comment on others posts daily.

All you need to get clients is make new connections daily.

All you need to get clients is to optimise your profile.

All you need to get clients is get in the DM’s daily.

All you need to get clients is to make offers daily.

All you need to get clients is be consistent.

All you need to get clients is be yourself.

The truth is you need to do ALL these things to get clients.

And even if you do do this, none of it will work without…

Clear brand positioning and messaging.

A keen offer that dream clients can’t resist.

And a simple system that gets your offer in front of the right people repeatedly. 
(mine takes 30 minutes a day).

There’s a lot of peeps on here giving you advice on how to get clients (me included).

But what they don’t tell you is that there is a lot more to it than originally meets the eye.

Producing 30 days of generic AI drivel simply won’t cut it in 2026.

You think it’s going to cut time.

But what’s the point of that if it doesn’t yield results.

I believe that this is the year where sharing your voice and demonstrating your way of working and solutions in person will matter more than ever.

People have seen enough BS online and they’re going to see even more of it - this is your opportunity to take advantage.

You’ll be pleased you did come January 2027!

☕️

Wanna see and me and my clients are getting clients from LinkedIn - click ‘visit my website’ above to grab the free training.

Karita Beard

Consultants use my BoundlessOS™ to build their independent practice alongside corporate contracts - without risking income, reputation, or family time | See Featured for more info

No alternative text description for this image

What you don’t see behind this picture…

Mr B with Bali belly
Miss 15 vomiting
Miss 12 full of cold & asthma

A lot of what you see on social media is a facade

I’m guilty as much as the next person

Ai will heighten the trend to hide

Even though you’re convincing yourself you’re showing up

That makes it harder to be seen by the right people as you morph into the vanilla noise

I’ll be using ai this year to increase speed to market for me & my clients

But I’ll be ensuring I keep what I put out there very real in the process.

☕️

Click the ‘Visit my website’ link above to see exactly how I’ll be doing it

Consultants use my BoundlessOS™ to build a 6-figure private practice alongside their corporate contracts - without risking income, credibility, or family time

I didn't post once this week.

Still got 7 leads.

That would've stressed me out a year ago.

Now I have proof my little system works without me being visible all the time.
(this is how - https://lnkd.in/gu2HV-s6

Took me way too long to figure this out.

I used to spend 5+ hours a day on LinkedIn doing everything the gurus said...

Writing 3 different content formats. Engaging on 20 influencer posts. Commenting on their followers. Searching hashtags. I even joined an engagement pod.

No leads. No engagement. Soul destroying.

I'd spent 20 years building a successful career. I thought taking the leap and starting my consulting business felt like the hard part.

Turns out growing your brand online (and staying in the game) was harder.

I sat on LinkedIn every day hoping someone would like my posts, send a message, become a client.

Despite the hours, the consistency, the effort - it didn't happen.

Only when I added a 2-step outreach system did things change.

Now I spend 30 minutes a day on here.

(This week it's been more like 5 minutes)

7 leads still came in.

If you're spending hours on LinkedIn with nothing to show for it, you may need a different approach.

☕

I thought marketing was why I struggled to grow my consulting biz.

It wasn’t.

It was what I was leading with.

I see this pattern constantly with experienced consultants trying to grow the private side of their business.

They tell me things like...
“LinkedIn doesn’t work.”
 “My content gets ignored.”
 “I’m invisible in my space.”

So they do what the gurus tell them.

Post more.
Engage more.
Study the algorithm.

All while serving clients.
Running a household.
Carrying a full career behind the scenes.

And still nothing changes.

Because after years in corporate, something subtle happens.

Your authority gets diluted.
Your language smooths out.
Your edge goes quiet.
You start playing it safe.

Not because you lack experience - but because that’s how you were trained to survive.

And it’s not your fault.

Things only shift when three things lock in...

You’re crystal clear on what you stand for
Your framework and offer are actually articulated
You’re speaking to people who already want that

That’s when marketing starts to “work.”

Your writing sharpens.
Your voice sounds like you again.
The right people lean in.

Not because you got louder.
But because you got clearer.

This isn’t about personal branding.

It’s about deciding what you’re willing to lead with - and building a business around that clarity.

☕ 

I break down exactly how I did this (and how my clients do it now) inside a short walkthrough called Boundless Blueprint.

If you’re an experienced consultant trying to turn your expertise into a simple, focused private practice, click “Visit my website” above.

I was trying to run before I could walk.
And it came at a cost to my consulting business.

When I started my business I had these grand visions of what I was going to build.

I went into it with all guns blazing.

Invested thousands in what I believed would be important and get me further faster.

Website, branding, education, qualifications, course creation coach, VA's.

Looking back I wouldn't do any of that again.

85% of what I spent was a complete waste of time and money.

I'd come from managing a $5 billion dollar brand. So of course I knew what it took to build and market a brand and increase its value.

OMFG I didn't have a clue.

I had a corporate head on an entrepreneur's shoulders.

Ignorant in thinking that I knew better.

The good news is that I made all these mistakes so my clients don't have to.

Some will follow my advice.

Others will continue to stay with their corporate identity.

Because it's a shield.

It maintains status on the facade.

Even if behind the scenes things are going to the dogs.

I've seen many people give up on building their private practice and stick to corporate retainers and contracts.

I came close too.

But what kept me in the game was setting foundations from self, not strategy.

Knowing exactly what you're here to do and who you're here to serve.

Your purpose.

Once you truly know what this is, it's impossible to ignore.

When your vision is set from your purpose, you know that you're going to get to where you want to go.

It might not look like what you ultimately had in mind.

But having it will keep you on track, and when you fall off course (as you will when you get blinded by shiny objects) it will get you back on it.

It's the foundation that should have been my first investment.

Not the last thing I figured out after burning through cash and almost giving up.

If you're ready to build your consulting business on something unshakeable - your actual genius, not borrowed strategies - click 'Visit my website' above and I'll show you how to get started for FREE.

Purpose first. Everything else follows.

☕

If you wanna grow your consulting brand online in 2026 you better stop using ai…

…for writing your posts.

This sounds odd coming from someone building an ai platform for my clients.

But hear me out.

We’re very quickly moving into a time where if you don’t embrace ai and incorporate it into your consulting business you’re going to get left behind.

It’s evolving at lightening speed, and the knock-on effect of this is that people are developing and implemening faster than ever before.

Never in our lifetimes have we experienced anything like this.

It’s incredible. But at the same time there are elements of ai that scare me.

I found myself towards the end of last year getting sucked into an artificial vortex, by outsourcing my voice.

For the last 7+ years I’ve used writing as my main marketing medium.

Every day I’ve written hundreds if not thousands of words. Most of them never see the light of day, but writing became my thing.

From journaling, to brainstorming, session notes, resource creating, content production - I have 3 A4 pads on the go at any one time.

Last year I threw myself into creating AI tools for clients, it was a game changer for them and me, it’s transformed the way I operate my business, and how quickly my clients get to market.

But in the process, I started to use it to help me write content.

I trained ‘Chatty’ very well.

I went from spending 20 minutes or so a day to write a piece of content, to outsourcing it to ‘Chatty’ and it taking 20 seconds.

What it spat out was in my voice, related to my client avatar, copy flowed amazingly. It would only take me a couple of minutes of editing and the post or email was good to go.

Brilliant. To start.

But very quickly I started to feel a little dirty.

Like I was cheating my audience and myself.

Because I knew the words weren’t coming from my heart. The content lacked soul and real meaning.

And given that I help consultants build their brands and business from their core self and essence, it didn’t sit well with me.

People aren’t just using AI to save time...

When I scroll through LinkedIn 95% of what’s out there in the feed is total bollocks.

You see it. I see it. We all see it.

Content polished and perfected within an inch of its life.

Flawless. Because anything less could leave you open to criticism.

But that’s not real life.

It’s a mask.

I can’t judge cos I totally get why people do it.

But if you really want your dream clients to see you in a sea of sameness - embrace your creativity, quirky ways, and share your REAL voice.

You hear ‘be unapologetically you’ all the time - because it's what true personal freedom feels like. 

It’s also what makes you magnetic to those you really want to attract.

AI can't do that for you, ever.

So, if you’re serious about growing your brand online in 2026, when you think of copywriting think of AI becoming Authentic Insight rather than Artificial Intelligence ;-)

It’s likely to serve you well.

☕

Every morning I woke up with that sinking feeling.

Here we go again.

Same yesterday. Same the day before. Same 3 months ago.

Same a year before that.

When I left corporate to have my own business I thought I'd finally be free.

I wasn't.

Still dealing with the same bullshit - difficult personalities, red tape, projects I was great at but not inspired by.

More stress. More hours. More responsibility.

Constantly beating myself up at being a crap Mum who was always pre-occupied.

This isn't what it was supposed to be like.

3 months ago T reached out to me.

"I'm exhausted from clients who expect 40+ hours a week, plus trying to grow the private side of my business. I'm sick of being treated like I'm not a human because I'm a consultant.

I can leverage my knowledge and skills, and become more of a prominent thought leader. However, I feel that is elusive - I need to figure out my core value proposition and identity (I can do many things). I want a healthier life and time for my family."

But she didn't know how.

In our first session together I asked her what success would look like in 3 months time (1st week of February).

"To have my first paying client signed up into my new offer."

Yesterday, we had a chat.

I asked where she was at with inviting people into her new offer. She told me it wasn't the official launch yet, she wasn't ready.

"You'll never be fully ready. What's stopping you from asking those who've already shown an interest in what you're doing?"

"Me. I'm the bottleneck."

Then a long pause.

"OK. I'm just going to do it."

Here we are 24 hours later, AND 1 day before we hit February, and not only has she signed one client into her new offer, she's signed two.

Because she JFDI and put courage over comfort (in the famous words of Brene Brown).

Ex-corporates are perfectionists.

Years of big launches. Big budgets. Big teams.

Corporate conditioning that simply doesn't work when you're a one-man band.

You need to be agile, brave, and prepared to fail and learn.

That doesn't come from waiting for the perfect time.

Or the perfect website, perfect branding, or perfect content.

T doesn't have any of this.

What she does have is crystal clarity on her positioning, a great offer, the ability to start conversations.

And also, the bollocks to go after her dream, even when she doesn't feel ready.

Next Thursday I'm running the 'Identity Unlocker' Workshop.

This is exactly where T started - crystal clarity on positioning, a compelling offer, and the confidence to start the right conversations.

If you're ready to stop relying on corporate contracts and finally build your private practice, there are still a few spots left - click 'Visit my website' above.

☕

M came to me thinking he had a marketing problem.

He said his content wasn’t working, that posting felt harder than it should, that explaining what he does somehow got more confusing the more he tried to make it clearer.

And what made it frustrating was that, he was a great consultant.

Years of experience.

Strong client results.

A career most people would happily point to as proof they “knew their stuff.”

But the moment he stepped outside corporate and tried to build the private side of his private consulting practice - everything felt off.

Writing felt unnatural like he was trying to prove himself.

Whilst knowing he was holding back from saying what he really thought.

Kept telling himself he just needed better messaging.

But messaging wasn’t the real challenge.

It was identity.

After years inside big organisations, he’d learned how to survive by watering himself down.

Being careful with his words.

Avoiding anything controversial.

That works incredibly well in corporate environments.

But is crap when building your personal brand.

Cos it strips out the very thing people actually hire you for.

Things don’t change when you rewrite your bio or refine your offers.

It’s when you stop talking about what you do and start paying attention to how you naturally see things.

The way you frame problems without trying.

The assumptions you question instinctively.

The moments clients paused mid-sentence and say, “I’ve never thought about it like that.”

That’s the part most experienced consultants have buried under polish.

Once you name that, things started to change without so much effort.

Your writing stops sounding borrowed.

Your confidence stops feeling manufactured.

Your offers finally felt like an extension of how you already think, not a performance you have to maintain.

What part of your thinking have you learned to mute just to sound professional?

Because this isn’t really about personal branding.

It’s about remembering who you were before you learned how to blend in.

And when that version shows up, the business you’re trying to build stops feeling like a strategy…

…and starts feeling like it actually belongs to you.

☕️

This week I’m hosting a workshop showing you how to design and grow your private practice with ease.

To grab your free spot - register here…

https://lnkd.in/gMDK3Yuz

Cracking holibobs in Bali to kick off 2026 🌴

Now time to get back to it.

I’ve got some super exciting stuff I’m working on personally and developing for my clients.

My statement this year is ‘authentic actions speak louder than words’.

I’m fully focusing and following through on less this year.

But bringing a hell of a lot more…

1. Last year I created a few little tools for clients.

They’ve gone down a storm.

Resulting in them building their personal brand.

Nailing positioning.

Creating offers.

Getting them in front of dream clients in weeks rather than months.

So this week I invested in a brand new standalone operating system. Being developed during Q1.

I’ve never been more excited.

This is gonna be insane and completely change the game for consultants, who want to get the private side of their business up and running alongside their current corporate contracts…

…without risking income, reputation or family time.

2. I do every single thing in my business with zero help.

I drop a lot of balls and that’s not efficient and prevents growth.

So to free up a little time to get more focused and be more creative (see point 3) I’m going to hire a VA again.

The only problem is I’m terrible at delegating 🤦🏻‍♀️

So I need to get better at that.

3. Even though AI is going to play a huge role in my biz moving forward.

I’ve said from day 1 I’m about building from the inside out.

And that’s never been more essential than it is today.

AI is amazing for speed of development and execution.

But it’s bloody awful for watering down your true essence and voice.

You can see this from all the copy & pasted posts on LinkedIn.

95% of them are friggin’ dire.

Which is why those who show up and share their voice authentically will get miles ahead of their peers.

One of my copywriting heroes has asked me to be a guinea pig for a new product he’s launching. It aligns perfectly with this.

If you’re a consultant who is over relying on corporate contracts & retainers and want 2026 to be the year you finally get the private side of your business humming.

👉Comment BOUNDLESS and I’ll send you a walkthrough video of how me and my clients are doing it.

Everywhere you look in Bali peeps are trying to get the perfect Instagram shot.

I’m an ex- corporate brandie…

When I started my consultancy I thought it was essential for my logo, fonts, & colours to be perfect.

It was my ego.
It was protection.
I wanted to look legit.

The aesthetics didn’t get clients knocking in my door.

It was conversations.

My advice is to start messy.
Be agile.
And get to market with bum clenching courage as soon as possible.

All your clients want is a result.

And for you to be real.

☕️

If you wanna see how I’d do it all over again click ‘Visit my website’ above

Had a cup of tea before bed last night.

Completely buggered up my sleep.

Took me 3 hours to drift off.

Mind swirling through everything.

My daughter away with friends.

My brother's sick dog.

But mostly my new platform launching soon.

At some point in my weariness, I started to doubt.

Have I put the cart before the horse?

Is this the right decision?

It's a big one that will completely change how I operate.

Super exciting.

But scary.

In recent years, big decisions immediately trigger doubt.

Probably because business failures made me question if anything can actually work for me.

It's frigging stupid.

I've always made BIG decisions and gone for it.

They usually turned out well.

Apprenticeship instead of A-levels.
Dropped out of uni, got a job, bought a house.
Night school for 3 years to graduate in marketing.
Sold up, moved to Australia.
IVF when we had fertility issues.
Left corporate, bought into a marketing agency.
Took the leap and started my own consulting business.

But now I hesitate.

I never used to be this way.

Maybe those failures taught me to expect them.
Maybe subconsciously I'm scared of success.
Or maybe uncertainty is a core desire of mine.

Something Tony Robbins said to Steven Bartlett really made me think.

Maybe that's why I've spent my whole life making alternative decisions.

Breaking away from the norm.

Because deep down, 'uncertainty' was a driver.

Makes total sense.

I hear people talking about wanting certainty.

Everything perfect and lined up before making a move.

That's the complete opposite for me.

Although there's more riding on uncertainty now.

Uncertainty mixed with an addiction to perseverance.

And dare I say it, struggle.

It's a dangerous mix as I get older.

Because on one hand I want to slow down.

On the other I want to speed up.

The juxtapositions of everything in life.

That's why I love Bali so much.

Traffic, noise, dirt, hecticness.
Walk 10 metres back from any street.
Stillness, serenity, peace.

That's what I seek in life too.

I speak up. I go quiet.
All systems go. Sat on a yoga mat.
Stressed out. Chilled AF.
Sun and rain.
Hot and cold.
High and low.

For every one thing there's a complete opposite.

That's what makes life exciting.

And sometimes exhausting.

In business, nothing is certain or uncertain.
Nothing is perfect or imperfect.

It's about the ride.

Making decisions aligned with your ultimate vision.
Your purpose.
Your passion.

Acknowledging where you falter.

Being aware of where you might self-sabotage.

Giving your all in pursuit of what you truly desire.

Maybe your doubt isn't a problem at all.

The consultants I work with who build the strongest private practices are the ones who questioned everything first.

Who sat with uncertainty instead of rushing past it.

Your doubt means you're taking this seriously.

That's exactly who should be building something meaningful.

☕

Are you consuming more than you create?

It’s easy to get sucked into the social media vortex when you’re growing your business.

Facebook you’re bombarded with ads promising you the next $100k month.

Instagram you’re bombarded with bros and their million dollar Dubai lifestyles and Stripe accounts.

LinkedIn you’re bombarded with AI generated drivel that even those who post it have no affinity with.

Yet, you find yourself scrolling for hours a day absorbing the words, images, and in 95% of cases total BS.

Your logical mind knows this, but still you can’t help yourself.

By the end of each day you’ve managed to compare your business to that of a 27 year old single, childless dude, who lives with 2 mates, with little responsibility other than feeding himself, and smoking his next cigar.

So the next time you find yourself doom scrolling, beating yourself up that you’re not where you should be, that others are doing better than you, are smarter than you, or making more money than you.

The chances are you’re consuming more than you’re creating.

You already know what you need to do.

☕

How much better would LinkedIn be if you just stopped caring what others thought?

In fact, how much better would your life be if you just stopped caring what others thought?

We’re human.

We want to be liked.
We love status.

But we also want to belong.

Getting called out in the feed is many people’s idea of hell.

It’s what holds you back from speaking your truth.

From sharing what’s really going on.

What you really think and care about.

But in the process you’re cheating yourself.

Creating and building an internal frustration like a pressure cooker.

From being restricted.

From trying to be please everyone else but not yourself.

It’s suffocating.

And counter intuitive.

Because in the process you’re preventing the people who really matter from getting close to you.

From building a connection.

If you’re struggling to attract dream clients on LinkedIn, the first place to start is by being you first.

☕️

taplio

The Battle

Mike Mahony

Karita Beard 🚀

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The Battle

Mike Mahony

Karita Beard 🚀

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Karita Beard 🚀's LinkedIn Performance

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