She was brilliant.
Not “Instagram brilliant”, but the kind of brilliant that makes messy problems go away.
Her name was Anna. She helped ethical, eco-led brands tell the truth about what they do and get paid properly for it. Messaging. Strategy. Offers. The invisible architecture that stops good businesses bleeding money through small cracks.
Anna also had a gentle soul. And that, in today’s economy, can become an expensive personality trait.
The friendly chats that weren’t friendly
It started innocently.
A coffee after a networking breakfast. A “quick can I pick-your-brain” call. A voice note that began with: “Could I just run something past you…?”
Anna would smile. She’d listen. She’d tune in. Then she’d do what experts do when they care.
She’d solve.
She’d draw the map. Name the sticking point. Offer the positioning. Identify the missing piece in their funnel. Show them exactly where profit was leaking out of the back door.
And the person on the other end would say, warmly: “Oh my gosh, you’re amazing. This has been so helpful.”
Then… nothing. No proposal request. No paid engagement. No referral. No follow-up. Just another “quick one” the following week.
Anna didn’t notice the pattern at first
She only noticed the feeling. That slightly hollow drop in her belly when she closed her laptop.
The tiredness that wasn’t physical.
The sense that she was giving away her life force in teaspoonfuls until suddenly the jar was empty.
Remember, your breath controls your nervous system. Your nervous system controls your brain. Your brain controls how you lead, think, decide and perform.
Anna’s nervous system was doing a very particular kind of important work and was protecting her from discomfort by keeping her “nice.”
Yet “nice” was costing her peace, power, and profit.
The moment it became undeniable
One Thursday afternoon, she opened LinkedIn and saw a post.
A woman she’d had “a friendly chat” with was celebrating a new brand message, a new offer, a new website and a £12k client win.
It was Anna’s framework. Anna’s words. Anna’s structure.
No credit. No thanks. No payment. Just… gone.
Anna sat very still. Not because she was calm, she wasn’t. But because her system had finally hit the wall. And in that stillness, she knew the deep truth.
“I’m not broke because I’m not good. I’m broke because I’m not positioned.”
As I often say, little hinges swing big doors. And one little hinge, the help she didn’t know she needed, was about to change everything.
A few days later, Anna met a strategist at a quiet lunch, She was the kind of person who listens with precision. After ten minutes, the strategist said:
“You don’t have a confidence problem. You have a commercial boundary problem.” Anna laughed, then almost cried. The strategist continued:
“You’re giving away the diagnosis for free. And diagnosis is the highest-value part. People will always pay for implementation after they’ve already got the answer… from someone else.”
Anna felt seen. Properly seen. Then came the question that shifted her identity: “If you were truly in your power, what would you be protecting?” Anna didn’t even have to think.
“My peace,” she said. “And my time.” “And the fact I’m actually… exceptional.”
The repositioning from “helpful” to high value
They didn’t start with a new website. They started with Anna’s nervous system. Because a dysregulated system will undercharge, overgive, and over-explain.
They built a simple, elegant boundary:
- No more “quick chats.”
- One paid entry point. A 60–90 minute Insight Session with a clear fee.
- A calm, confident script for every request:
“Happy to help. This is exactly what I do professionally. The best next step is my Insight Session where you’ll leave with clarity, decisions, and an action map. If you want my brain, you book it.”
No apology. No awkwardness. No over-justifying.
Just clean leadership. They also tightened her positioning:
- Not “I do brand strategy.”
- But: “I stop ethical businesses under-earning by fixing the message, offer, and sales pathway without hype, pressure, or burnout.”
Peace. Power. Profit. In that order.
What changed (fast)?
Within three weeks:
- The “friendly chat” crowd disappeared (good).
- Serious people leaned in (better).
- Anna had five paid sessions booked at a fair fee (best).
And something unexpected happened… She started enjoying her work again. Because she wasn’t resentful.
Resentment is a signal of your inner compass saying, “hang on, a boundary is missing.” Remember that clarity is my compass and Anna had found hers.
If this is you, read this twice
If you’re the expert who keeps being “so helpful”… here’s the truth:
You’re not being taken advantage of by bad people. You’re being harvested by a system that rewards unclear boundaries.
So today, do the small hinge work:
- Name your paid entry point (one offer, one fee, one outcome).
- Stop diagnosing for free. Curiosity is free. Strategy is paid.
- Use a single sentence boundary and repeat it like a mantra.
- Protect your vibration like your life depends on it… because it does.
The greats never sacrifice the important for the urgent. They handle the immediate problem and still make sure to secure the future.
Your future isn’t built on more generosity. It’s built on clean value exchange. And when you do that? You don’t just stop being the broke expert. You become the pre-eminent, most sort after expert by those people who value your expertise the most.
Peace in your body. Power in your voice. Profit in your business. The holy trinity of success without pressure.
Contact me to discover more about expert positioning, alignment or reclaiming your inner power. I hold masterclasses, small group training and private advisory where I share a unique perspective on power, human and organisational energy, presence and influence that affect your affluence.
Love. Gail.