I’m starting a new series in The Fractional Playbook.
The idea is simple: ask fractionals the same 15 questions about the business they’re running and the life they’re building around it.
How do they find work? What makes them feel financially secure? What do they miss about employment? And what does all that flexibility actually make room for?
Each edition is one person’s experience, not a blueprint everyone else should follow. My hope is that, over time, we’ll get a fuller picture of the different ways people make this work.
First up is Hannah Beckett.
Almost two years into independent work, Hannah works with growth-stage startups across operations, product, and whatever needs untangling. What stood out to me in her answers: she isn’t necessarily working fewer hours. She has more say over where those hours go.
Sometimes that means skiing before work. Sometimes it means meetings until 2 a.m. in Singapore.
Here’s Hannah.
NAME Hannah Beckett
LOCATION Vancouver, BC / Toronto, ON
WORK Fractional COO / Fractional Chief of Staff
YEARS INDEPENDENT Almost two
1. What does a good working life look like to you now?
A good working life means finding the right balance: having time for the things I love while working on things I’m excited about.
In a more structured 9–5, I had to shoehorn life into evenings and weekends. Now, I’m happy to ski in the early morning, then work afternoons and evenings. Or I’ll start super early to accommodate time zones and wrap up in the afternoon.
I would guess I’m working the same number of hours, if not more, than I was previously. But that flexibility makes it feel more sustainable.
2. What brought you into independent work?
I started my career in consulting and absolutely loved it. Working with a wide variety of clients and teammates was the best part. I learned so much at such a rapid pace, and I credit a lot of my professional development to those years.
Being surrounded by brilliant people was a gift. The mentors I had—and still have—really shaped me as a person.
Ultimately, I wanted more say in which projects I took on, which clients I worked with, and which industries I invested time in. It didn’t feel like too scary a leap because so much of what I do now is familiar.
3. What does your calendar look like this week?
I had to rejig my week. Monday was mostly meetings, Tuesday and Wednesday are heads-down days, and Thursday I’ll be working on the go as I fly. Then I’m taking Friday off.
It’s made the start of the week very front-heavy, but that’s a trade-off I’m happy to make.
4. How did your most recent client find you?
All my clients have come through referrals or my existing network, including my most recent one.
I was already working with someone on another project, and she looped me into something with another contact of hers.
5. How do you charge for your work today?
When I first started, I took my previous salary and broke it down into an hourly rate. That gave me confidence I wouldn’t be underpricing myself by accident.
Since then, I’ve adjusted my rate based on conversations with other fractional leaders doing similar work, with inflation adjustments on top. I’ve also thought about how pricing should differ between time-and-materials work and arrangements with dedicated hours.
Generally, clients have understood that costs evolve. I’m forthcoming about rate increases and will work with them on other solutions if needed.
6. What would make this practice feel financially secure to you?
The biggest pieces are overlapping projects and a pipeline.
Most of my projects have been medium-term, with only a few short and sweet ones. That lets me plan a few quarters ahead. Ideally, I never have multiple projects ending at the same time. As one ends, I have time to tee up the next piece of work.
In year two, I’ve also worked hard on my corporate investment strategy, which was largely an afterthought in year one. That includes keeping a few months’ safety net available.
If everything disappeared at once, I’d have time to figure out my next plan without putting my mortgage at risk.
7. What has been hardest to learn about selling your own work?
I’m prone to underselling myself and taking my skills for granted. I’ve always felt uncomfortable “bragging” about myself.
Learning to strike that balance when I’m my own salesperson has been a good challenge. It’s also forced me to reflect on where my strengths lie, and appreciate them.
8. What is one early sign that a client will be a good fit?
When they’re referred by someone I think extremely highly of. Referrals from previous clients are usually a good indicator that the next client will be wonderful too.
Otherwise, great clients come in all shapes and sizes, with varying levels of clarity about their goals and objectives. Ultimately, a collaborative client is always the best one.
9. Tell us about the last time a client asked for something outside the agreement. How did you handle it?
My first instinct is to give someone the benefit of the doubt.
The beautiful part of being a medium- to long-term fractional leader is that you become part of the team. It can get fuzzy where your remit begins and ends compared with the role defined upfront.
New asks go through a three-step process in my mind:
Is this a real fire, or does it just feel like one? Someone might have seen only a snippet of the data or misinterpreted the urgency. Let’s understand the why behind the ask before we run. Go slow to go fast.
What can we reprioritize? If we need to go down this path, here’s everything else already in scope or in flight. How do we create space?
If everything is mission-critical, what else can change? Can we reallocate someone’s time, increase the fractional allocation, bring in additional support, or adjust timelines?
I want clients to feel like I’m part of the team and we’ll tackle the ask together.
Being a leader means being able to pause, ask the critical questions, and lay out the best course of action. The levers are time, scope, and capacity. Let’s figure out together which ones we can pull.
10. What part of working for yourself takes more energy than you expected?
Two things come to mind.
The first is shutting my brain off. Because I don’t work standard hours in a standard setting, I’m always passively thinking about the next thing: what’s on my to-do list, whether I responded to that email.
Granted, I wasn’t great at switching off in a conventional job either. But I have to be more rigid with myself when it’s important to stop.
The second is chasing invoices. Following up about payment can feel uncomfortable, although thankfully that’s been quite rare so far.
11. What, if anything, do you miss about having a job?
I really loved leading a team.
I work closely with clients, but I’m largely a solo operator in my day-to-day work. People often talk about fractional work being lonely or isolating. I generally don’t feel that way, but I do miss leading a team.
I loved providing mentorship, seeing people grow, and helping them reach their potential. I still mentor more informally, but some of my favourite career moments have been helping people navigate the early stages of theirs.
12. What have you made room for outside work?
Some fun things and some boring things.
I love getting laundry done on a workday and freeing up weekends to see friends and get out of the house. Now that mornings are so dark, I love being able to walk the dog in daylight when my meeting schedule allows.
I like going to the gym at off-peak hours, around 1 or 2 p.m. And I’m excited to do more working vacations because I can work from anywhere.
I did struggle with one working evening in Singapore this year, when I had meetings from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. But it was worth it!
Ultimately, I feel like I can fit a lot more “life” into my day-to-day because of that flexibility.
13. What support has made this way of working possible for you?
I have an incredible community of fractional friends and colleagues I can lean on to bounce ideas around.
I bring them onto projects whenever I can because it’s always more fun with them involved. They’re amazing at what they do, and they inspire me to push myself, think creatively, and try new things.
14. What are you proud of that would not show up on LinkedIn?
I’ve always felt passionately about making the world a better place, but didn’t really know how to go about it. I’ve had the privilege of working with clients doing that in their own ways. Helping those organizations flourish leaves my heart feeling full.
I’m also proud of staying calm through challenges, navigating difficult conversations, and delivering high-quality work across a lot of ground.
I’m constantly learning new things: US sales tax, the venture capital lifecycle and how it interacts with startups, the psychosocial impact of breast cancer treatment. The world is vast, and there’s so much complexity to it.
I’m proud of being able to dig into those topics and apply what I learn to make informed recommendations that help us move forward as a team.
15. What are you trying to change about your practice next?
Continuing to find ways to work more efficiently. It’s an iterative process!
Thanks for reading,
Gev
P.S. These conversations are also helping shape Juggle, a tool I’m building for people running an independent practice. If you’re figuring out your own version of this, I’d love to have you in the beta. Sign up →
