Sarah (00:08)
Welcome back to UnDUBBED podcast that's unscripted, uncensored, and undeniably data. I'm Sarah.
Fiona (00:14)
And I'm Fi and if you're a regular listener, you'll notice something's different about today's episode. It's just the two of us.
Sarah (00:24)
That's right.
This time we're doing something a bit special. Instead of interviewing guests, we're celebrating one year of dub dub data by getting real about what we've learned,
what we'd do differently and what we wish someone had told us before we started.
Fiona (00:40)
Honestly this year has been a wild ride. We've had some incredible wins, some proper, aw shit moments, and learned more about running a consultancy and partnership than any textbook could have taught us.
Sarah (00:56)
Today we're asking each other about boundaries, tough decisions, unexpected pivots, and the stuff nobody talks about in those glossy LinkedIn posts.
Fiona (01:07)
goodness, you've got me a little bit worried there now. Because like we say, we're unscripted, so I haven't seen your questions and have no idea what's coming. For anyone that's followed our journey or listened to our guest talk about their consulting experiences from Chris and Carl, to Andy Cockreave, to Matthew Miller, this is our turn to share what it's like behind the scenes.
Sarah (01:31)
So whether you're dreaming of going out on your own, already running a consultancy, or just curious about what the first year of data business actually looks like, stick around. We're keeping it real and hopefully you'll walk away with something useful.
Fiona (01:48)
Rightio, let's do this. Sarah, are you ready?
Sarah (01:51)
Let's go!
So Fi, thinking back to those early days of setting up DubDub data, what's one foundational decision we made about how we structure or run the business that you're really glad we got right from the start?
Fiona (02:16)
That's a really β good question. β
plenty of things that I think that we actually did get right from the start. And they may seem a bit weird, but things like having a Confluence site where we can do all of our documentation and sharing that and Confluence is free for small organizations as well. It's been a bit of a game changer. And so even though things might be changing at a frenetic pace right from the start, having a platform like Confluence to...
help us to update those processes and practices has been really helpful. But I think that one of the sort of secret source elements to us setting up dubdub data is the conversations that you and I had before we got started. And those were conversations around being really honest about why.
we were afraid of starting the business, what kind of hangups we'd have about it and what are the things that we're hoping to avoid. So I think by having those conversations upfront and establishing a culture where it's okay to keep raising those issues as they're starting to pop up and being honest about other things that are going on in life as well, we really nailed that.
Sarah (03:40)
Yeah, I tend to agree. know, confluence has been great for us and like you've said, it's free, which is awesome. And also just making sure that that communication stays open and safe as well. Because sometimes, you know, in a partnership, there's things that you don't necessarily want to raise, but just having that safe space where we feel that we can raise them with each other and forge your way forward together because that's what being in partnership is all about.
Fiona (04:10)
Yeah, absolutely. And I don't think I've ever had that level of complete transparency about everything that's going on. Because let's be honest, we're funding it ourselves, we're doing everything. It has an impact on our family lives. And so it's really important for us to establish that level of trust going into building a business together.
So that leads me into my first question for you Sarah. What's one thing you thought you needed to have perfect before launching DubDub but turned out to matter way less?
Sarah (04:46)
Can I say everything?
Fiona (04:48)
Yeah? Yes.
Sarah (04:50)
Like, you know, coming from our corporate lives, every time we stood up and delivered something, we had so many people, you know, watching us and almost not in a great way, you know, challenging us or expecting perfection out of us. And I think that really got ingrained into who we were. And I remember picking up the saying of perfect isn't done.
And it was something that in the early days we really had to lean into and make sure that we weren't spending all this time to make every single pixel perfect everywhere we were doing things and to actually just get out there and start talking to people. And I think the thing is as well, is we took a lot of twists and turns and where we started and where we've gone. And if we'd sat there and just done that perfectly.
we'd probably still be there in a mural board or a confluence page trying to figure out how we were going to deliver that one thing perfectly.
Fiona (05:56)
still think even when we were trying to not do things perfectly, we spent too much time in them. So one thing that I think back to is, part of our ethos originally is bringing together the best in the world to be able to deliver great things with data.
for clients and so we had the idea of the marketplace and we spent so much time talking to influential people within the industry both from people who own consulting firms as well as people who required their services and
We spent so much time scoping out a marketplace that we then had to go and build. Good job on that, by the way. And then all of a sudden we realized, wow, people still don't want to come on and actually use it, even though they were saying, great idea, girls. So that was a big thing for me that even though people might be saying one thing about all the research that we were doing, it's not until you actually have that MVP up.
then the rubber really hits the road and you really get to understand the market forces.
Sarah (07:07)
Yeah, and it was really interesting talking back to the marketplace and even the platform provider that we leveraged said started off in, and I can't remember, like Excel or something, right? Started off really low-fi and that is something that I think anyone that's coming in or thinking of doing something big, start as small and minute as you can and really get traction there.
Fiona (07:23)
Mm-hmm.
But I was really surprised that the people that we were interviewing would be so on board with it. And then when we hit the go live button, it was just all too difficult or too hard, or I'm just not interested because I'm not going to get the most out of it.
Sarah (07:53)
And also I think a lot around timing as well. think if this was something we'd done, you know, 2020, it might've had a much different impact where communities were really starting to be built up and marketplaces were quite new. But I feel even since kind of we've stepped back from the marketplace idea, it just feels like it's a bit swamped, a bit swamped at the moment with those.
Fiona (08:03)
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, interesting.
Sarah (08:22)
Yeah. Okay, Fi. So both of us have come from corporate backgrounds. What was your biggest mental shift that you had to make when we started DubDubData? And what do you wish you'd understood earlier about consulting life?
Fiona (08:39)
It's a really good question. β So when I think of my role, I don't just think of consulting life, I think of co-founder life as well, because we're trying to bring everything together.
But it was quite a mental shift to come from someone's paying my salary and I know that I go in and I work out what my goals are for the year and I know what I'm working towards and I can deliver towards those goals into having to build the operations from the ground up of the organisation of DubDub and then at the same time trying to do client consulting and sales and everything else that comes with it. And I would say in my corporate life, β
When anyone says no to me, it's just a challenge to actually get it done, if I really believe in it anyway. And I don't feel like I took that same ethos into our business in its initial stages. Sure, I was giving it a crack, but if someone would say, no, I'd just move on to the next thing, even if I probably really believed in it as well. And so some of the things that come to mind,
Obviously our recent partnership with Biztory for Tabmove, that's migrating from Tableau server into the cloud through automation. taking all of the headaches away. But the initial conversation with Biztory when I reached out to them was a no. And, you know, because they've never opened it up to any other organisation to go out and use it. But for whatever reason, I really wanted to use it.
I really believed in it. And so I just kept asking more questions and turning left until they were turning left with me and we came to the agreement there. And so there were a few other examples, but what that really reminded me of was the resiliency that I possess and getting the seemingly unachievable achieved and bringing that into our business life as well. for me,
The biggest mental shift has been stop thinking like you need to relearn everything because you're a business owner and you're so far out of your depth in a lot of things and you're learning so much and start to remember and bring together into the business what's made you be so successful in corporate and then share that with your clients.
Sarah (11:11)
Some really good reflection there. And I would like to understand why do you think you had that kind of blocker that you couldn't couldn't do it now you were out in startup land?
Fiona (11:25)
It's not that I had a blocker as such. did it. It was like an unknown, unknown almost. I didn't realize that I mentally put myself in a frame of mind where...
I suppose I felt like I had my training wheels on in a role, whereas previously in my corporate roles, I climbed the ladder and become successful in what I was doing in data. And because there were so many new things that I was learning as part of being a business owner around legals, financials, taxes, payroll, so many different things, building websites, communities, you know, all of these things and learning.
so much new that's outside of the day-to-day and data that I just kind of forgot that part of me because I wasn't sure about all these other parts and so I wasn't coming from a place of β listen I know that this is going to work if we just keep persisting with it so it was a really great learning for me to remember who I am as an individual.
Sarah (12:33)
Yeah, yeah, really interesting. Another piece you talked about as well was around setting goals. And you said in corporate land, you set your goals and off you went. So for me, just reflecting on goal setting, quite often goals were set for me or they were set very big goals that were trickled down. And that's got pluses and minuses, right? You love some goals, you hate others.
Fiona (12:43)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah (12:59)
But when you're out on your own and it's it's up to us to set the goals and steer the ship, it is quite a different conversation, isn't it? And I think there's great things about it because we get full flexibility, but it's also a bit scary. It's like, are these the right goals? Are they not? But I think I like as well, like you and I have adjusted our goals and had those open and honest conversations as we've evolved and looked at.
Fiona (13:03)
Hmm.
Mm, mm.
Sarah (13:25)
at what our goals are and why they're important to us and our ethos.
Fiona (13:29)
I have a question for you on that specifically because we do regularly go through our goals and readjust where the priorities are. Sometimes the thing that we thought was most important last month is just completely fallen by the wayside because something's dropped in that we need to address. So you and I sit down, we have our board meeting, we look at what the priorities are.
Have you ever felt that you've accepted some priorities or orders of priorities because I'm influencing you on that or trying to push for a specific thing and like what's your reflection, if that's the case, on how that's been working?
Sarah (14:13)
Yeah, so I would say 100 % that has happened. And when I talk specifically, it's around the sales piece. And we set some really big targets on ourselves around the amount of time that we were going to spend in sales. And we've spoken about this before, we're both really uncomfortable in sales. And your approach was like, right, we're going to spend, was it three hours a day on sales. And that's really
Fiona (14:22)
Mm.
three hours.
Sarah (14:43)
hard. And we would kind of have that meeting and we'd go off with a bang and we'd be like, okay, I'm gonna block this time off. And from three to six, I'm doing sales all day, every day. And it would get to a point where it's like, this is really hard. it's a lot. And I think sometimes, I would feel that I didn't want to spend as much time, but I knew you were really gunning for it. And I was like, and we're bad at it. So we need to do it.
Fiona (14:54)
Mm.
Mm.
Mmm.
Sarah (15:11)
So we would do it, but then it would trickle off and we probably should have had that conversation going, okay, something else has come in, this has gone down, what should we do about this and do we need to reset? And are these expectations realistic?
Fiona (15:26)
Yeah, similar stories. we've jumped into an RFP and spent a month of our life that we're never getting back. And whilst we knock everything out of the park that we do set our mind to, I'll jump on that journey because that's what you want, even though I don't believe in it. You know, even though I don't believe in it at the time. And I think what I'm hearing from both of us is we've got to be better at that.
Sarah (15:54)
Yeah. And I mean, but the other thing is as well, we are gonna, you know, hit some bumps, we are gonna hit some failures along the way. And I think that's fine. And for those that are listening that are thinking about or on this journey, fail fast and have a conversation and move on.
Fiona (15:55)
Yeah.
Hmm, for sure. All right, so on that note, how do you decide when to say no when everything feels like an opportunity?
Sarah (16:25)
Great question. We were talking about this just yesterday, I think, or the day before. And we have a real big ethos here and it's that we don't want to work with assholes. And we've spent our corporate lives doing that. And that was a big reason.
Fiona (16:26)
Yeah
Mm-hmm.
everyone.
Sarah (16:45)
You know who you are. β
Fiona (16:49)
If you think it's you, it is you.
Sarah (16:51)
It probably
is.
So you're right. There's so many opportunities that come at us all the time. And what I've discovered recently is we've got some amazing clients that are so lovely and so genuine and support us as we support them.
and we're just knocking it out of the park, right? Then we have some other clients that are a lot more prickly or we've had clients in the past that are, and I think it's just trusting our gut a lot more on, it's our business. We can decide who we work with and who we don't, what meetings we're in, you know? So I think it's saying no to the opportunities that don't feel right.
Fiona (17:42)
Yeah, I think that's really important because we have to maintain what is true about the culture that we wanted to build right from the start. If we're, turning our back on it and saying, oh, like, I'll just do that for a bit of cash. That's really going to shine through as we scale out and have more people join DubDub. So,
absolutely making sure that there's a good client fit And I really like the way of having a POC upfront with a client so that they don't need to commit to a massive budget. We do things relatively quickly. They see how the automation works and they can figure out.
Is it the right fit with our organisation? And people feel a lot more confident and comfortable moving forward when they actually start to see some of those runs on the board as well. And we get a sense for what they're like to work with.
Sarah (18:38)
Exactly. And just on the POC concept, what I love about it is, I mean, how many times have we kind of looked at a big project and gone, okay, this is definitely what they want, done the POC and gone, actually, no, right turn. You know, it's actually over here what they want or what they need or what they think they've got and they don't have. So yeah, I really love that idea as well that we've been nailing.
Okay, so we've interviewed people about their data disasters. In your opinion, what's been our biggest β shit moment in the year one and how did we recover from it?
Fiona (19:20)
The biggest shit moment for me was once we'd committed to building the marketplace, got everything on board and then I could just feel it in my waters that something wasn't right. It wasn't right. I was feeling huge anxiety about it. I was literally crumbling probably in front of your eyes. And on reflection, I had to try and figure out why.
why was I feeling this way? What was impacting me to feel like that? And then have the conversation with you to say, I need you to trust me on this, I wanna pull it. And I'm not saying that we can't come back to it, but here's why I wanna pull it. And I think that was a great trust building exercise for us because you worked through with me, know, what I was.
sort of feeling at the time why I was feeling it and it wasn't like no you know you didn't bat it away and say listen you just need to commit to it further or we need to do this you're like okay so what does it mean if we do this how will we approach it what is the impact to us doing this and there was some significant rebuilds of things that we needed to do because we'd built the marketplace on one side and we had the community on the other side we needed to fully rebuild out the
website and then go through SEO and a bunch of other things as well. And so that took a decent amount of effort to get that back across the line but you were there the whole way through with me and and said yep let's let's just pivot and try something different because it's not working right now and you know maybe it would have if we continued down the track who knows but for you know the past
eight months or nine months since we made that decision to change. We've really worked on what we look like as an organisation and I feel like we're much further ahead than we would have been if we remained. So that was my biggest shit moment. What was your biggest shit moment?
Sarah (21:30)
Hmm.
Well, this isn't definitely isn't the biggest, but it springs to mind. Like we record these podcasts all over different time zones. And there was β one night where we'd been talking all day about recording the podcast and we're actually recording two podcast episodes that week. And for some reason, when you were referring to the podcast, I had in my head that it was Friday's podcast and not tonight's podcast. So all day I was like, β
Fiona (21:42)
Mmm.
Mmm.
Yes.
Sarah (22:04)
Fi's getting pretty excited about a podcast that's in like four days, whatever. And anyway, I got into bed and I do take some medication that makes me quite sleepy in the evenings. And I've taken this and luckily my watch, if that's kind of like an emergency call, so maybe if someone's calling me more than three times, it'll come through on my watch. And Fi's calling me and I'm like, what is going on? And then I look at my phone, which is...
and away from my bed. And there's all this like, you joining? We've got the podcast started. So that was a quick change out of my pajamas and into my into my podcast clothes and off I went.
Fiona (22:50)
I remember that one and for anyone that does listen to a few of our podcasts, try and guess which podcast Sarah might have taken medication on. Reach out. We'd love to hear.
Sarah (23:03)
Thanks.
Fiona (23:04)
You
forward laughing at any responses that come through because now she just looks slow on any podcast.
Sarah (23:16)
This is true, this is true.
So you've managed some pretty complex client relationships this year. What's one boundary or expectation you wish we'd set clearer from the start? And what would you tell consultants about managing client pressure?
Fiona (23:38)
Good question. one boundary, boundary is such a strange word to be using with a client. β So one perhaps expectation that I think is really important to sit with clients is just making sure that we get enough face to face or video time with them to be going through and processing any of the questions that are popping up. So explaining how we operate, making sure that
We have robust processes to capture those questions and then keep updating the work that we're doing. I think, I don't know that it's setting it clearer from the start, but it's definitely making it obvious this is the way that we actually operate.
And that's something that I would say to consultants who are trying to manage the pressure is just communicate a lot. You know, make sure that you're updating your clients with here's the progress that I'm making. Here's the things that have slowed me down. Data quality, there's a shout out to you. You know, any analyst will be looking at data quality and going, yeah, trying to understand the data quality or β following a thread back through all of the different tables to figure out where things went wrong.
That's often where you can end up spending a lot of time. If the data is clean, you know, it's really easy for us to go in and start visualizing. making sure that people are really clear about how they're communicating, what they're communicating, when they're communicating, doing the same thing over and over again. It sets up a really good rhythm for the client to know, β I'm meeting with Fi and Sarah in the morning. You know, I'm expected to be...
ready to answer their questions, you know, and answer any questions that have been sort left behind and giving them a bit of an update, but also helping to steer the conversation as well.
Sarah (25:36)
And I think that's really key as well. You spoke a little bit around having templates and frameworks set up. And I really appreciate you are very big on that side of things and really making sure that that communication, although it does feel repetitive sometimes, it's very much necessary. And our clients, I feel, learn to really enjoy it.
Fiona (25:43)
Hmm.
What is a moment this year that made you think, yep, this is why we do this?
Sarah (26:09)
Yeah, so there's been a few, when you start a business, you're spending a lot of time in the trenches and you feel like you're not getting traction and are you just hitting a brick wall and all these things that I'm sure anyone who's gone into this world has experienced at least a couple of times. And for us, think it was, it's even just recently, you know, all the networking we've done, all the relationship and community space, time that we've spent in the community.
has started to pay back. We're having so many more open conversations with so many more people because of all the groundwork that we've done. And I love the momentum that we're at right now.
Fiona (26:40)
Mm.
Yeah, I agree. I think also the focus, one of the things that, at the beginning, we talked about how wide we were going to cast the net and what we actually do. And we've niched down a lot into the Tableau Salesforce land. And it's great. It's where we feel confident and comfortable, but there are so many new developments coming out with Tableau Next, et cetera. But one of my highlights,
that we have come to, we had a bit of a strategy about trying to become ambassadors again this year, because we'd been ambassadors for many, many years in our corporate life and actually.
left for a while because when you're at a senior level, things can get incredibly busy. And so you just can't give as much back to the community. And one of the things that I've really enjoyed is getting closer with the community again, and also closer with Tableau and really cementing our relationship with them. And also I think with the account execs as well. So I've been really, really enjoying that and feeling like we're absolutely hitting our stride.
Sarah (28:01)
Yeah, 100%. And for those that don't know, that was the Tableau ambassadors. So we can put some links in the show notes to who else is in that amazing community. And I feel the same, it's nice to be part of that community again.
Fiona (28:16)
One thing that I'm curious about is we've been doing this podcast now for a year, can you believe it? And I'm wondering what the most memorable, undubbed moment is that stuck out for you? Maybe it's something that a guest said or shifted how you think about data, people, AI or work.
Sarah (28:39)
Yeah, great question. So we've had some amazing guests on. I think one of my favorites would be Andy Cockgrieve because at the end of our podcast recording and the half hour before and probably that half hour plus afterwards, my cheeks were so sore from laughing so much. Like such a great guy. Can't wait to see what he's doing next. What about you, Vy?
Fiona (29:04)
Yep,
absolutely. So shout out to Andy and his co-authors for their... Hang on, here we go. The Dashboards That Deliver book has just arrived, so I'm looking forward to going through that. Hopefully at some point we'll have one of the authors on to discuss the book itself.
But Andy has since recording his podcast with us actually left Tableau and he started to do his own consulting and freelancing, I believe, and speaking out β in the data community. So definitely have a look for Andy. Now coming back to the question you asked was what about the standout moment for me?
There's been so many amazing guests that we've had and I always actually enjoy interviewing someone else rather than us two oldies on here.
One of the, I really love getting feedback from people on our podcast. And in particular, when things really hit hard or help them to adapt or change or, do anything that helps their own careers. And we've had a lot of those as well. And I don't want to specifically talk about those individuals, but one thing that sticks out in my mind is.
Catherine McCrindle's mum tuning in to our podcast and β loving our podcast when we reviewed her INVIS and we had her on. The other thing for me, I actually had an old friend reach out to me a few weekends ago and that was because of our podcasting. It's like people who aren't even in data are listening to our podcast and enjoying it, which I find hilarious. So I think...
The fact that we've had the opportunity to spend time with and learn from so many amazing people and have those laughs and have, an opportunity to help others. It's been amazing because it feels a bit weird podcasting because I feel like I'm not the best at it. So thanks for all your feedback and
always send in anything that good, bad, ugly. If we've done something wrong, we like to hear that too. I know we have, Yeah, we've got to change that. So yeah, it's these things are just an amazing opportunity and I just feel really grateful to have gone through it and had 25, 26 podcasts out there.
Sarah (31:35)
We have had that shit moment, right? Yeah. We won't go into details, but it was like, β shit. Yeah, we gotta edit that.
Yeah, I know. can't believe we've we've gone this far. you know, I'm the same. I've got friends and family that message me and say, I listened to this podcast the other day. And it's like, wow, like, how are you getting this? And obviously, it's all over our socials. But, you know, a lot of non data people are getting a lot of out of it as well.
Fiona (32:21)
Mmm. For sure.
Sarah (32:26)
So Fi what's the most unexpected personal growth you've experienced in this first year? And conversely, what's something you've had to sacrifice or let go of that you didn't anticipate?
Fiona (32:42)
The most unexpected personal growth that I've experienced in the first year is starting to get a hang of the sales process a little better. And what I mean by that, if you ask me, how do you do sales? Like, as you said earlier, know, three hours, make sure you're calling and reaching out to this number of people, X, Y, and Z.
In the meanwhile, build your brand, do the stuff, get a lot out on the socials, make sure you're commenting, make sure you're doing everything. And I think I've become more relaxed about that entire process. I find it really hard to context switch on things. So I really like to focus. So trying to balance the socials at the same time as delivering things can get really tricky for me and actually feels really uncomfortable. β And so
What I've found is that it's okay to let go of some of the things that I've committed to and that's a big growth for me. I also think that this whole sales cycle and understanding the different types of sales, so that branding, yes it is important. That commenting, yes it is important. The meetings and the phone calls, just calling up different account execs or establishing those relationships with them.
That is important. knowing all of these different things and bringing it together, that's when the momentum is building, you know, and being brave enough to have, you know, the kind of conversations to get us hooked up with other partners, et cetera, and bringing them all together. So I think for me, that personal growth has been unhooking from what I think is traditional sales and just keep trying different things until we get through.
And I sort of mentioned a little bit what's one thing that I had to sacrifice. I like to tickle the boxes and get everything done, but I know that even with long hours, it's not possible to do it all. And so sometimes I don't hit our social goals that we have in place and that's okay.
Sarah (34:53)
Yeah, and I think that you're right. It's being okay in that space and knowing, and I think that's another thing that we're really learning, knowing where to focus on what, when, and that's something that comes as you grow both together and as a business.
Fiona (35:06)
Mmm.
Yeah, that growth together is really important, right? Because we're not just individual business owners who are driving, marching to the beat of our own drum. There's all of those discussions about how to do things together or the direction that the business should be taking. So in that line of thought, what have you learned about feedback?
giving it, taking it, and not taking it personally.
Sarah (35:42)
Yeah, so I always thought I was pretty good at feedback in the corporate world. I would really sit down with my team and talk about how I gave feedback and how I expected feedback. But when I reflect on that, it's very much a me-me kind of situation. Whereas what I've established is everyone takes and receives things differently. And we should, to an extent, allow for that person
to be influential on how we give and take feedback. And what I would say is you and I give a lot of feedback and I would say give it early, give it fast and we're both pretty open with direct feedback. So that's a good thing for us. And I think it's just trying not to overthink it and just give it. But that's very much our relationship being able to do that.
with clients and so forth that obviously has to be thought through a lot more and I guess managed an expectation kind of outcome.
Fiona (36:58)
you have become better over the course of the year in terms of how quickly you're willing to give that feedback. I remember early days you would probably sit and mull on something for a lot longer before you would bring it to the table and say, I think there's something here.
you know, like, look, problem, problem, and sort of point it out. And that's probably just a tribute to the way that we've been working together and learning about it and figuring out, okay, because we had that discussion a long time ago on one of the podcasts where you ruminate beforehand and I ruminate afterwards. And so I think that you've become more confident in just having the conversation, which is cool.
Sarah (37:42)
Mm-mm,
yeah, it is great.
Fiona (37:48)
Yeah.
Sarah (37:50)
One year from now, Fi, what do you hope we're celebrating and what do you hope we've learned to do better as a business?
Fiona (37:57)
good question. I'm going to throw this back at you afterwards. So get ready. So celebrating, celebrating the growth of our organisation not that we want to have a lot of people on board, but I would like to see more people joining us. So we have one or two β behind the scenes who are working with us. But I would like to have that in a more permanent β state. And
What do I hope that we've learned to do better as a business?
I think one of the things that you and I agree that we struggle with is the volume and velocity of the work that we do. And so I would like to see that we've found our groove in how we both operate in that space in a fair way.
Sarah (38:47)
Yeah, okay, so back at me, straight back at me. Yeah, yeah. So on that second point, I think just leaning into that streamlining, we've got templates and we've got frameworks, but I think they need to be firmed up as we grow and as we expand. And like you said, we don't wanna be a big empire, but we see the need to have kind of almost like that marketplace plan that we had, pulling in the best people.
Fiona (38:49)
Yep. Over to you.
Sarah (39:15)
as and when we need them and having those templates and that structure to work to. And then I also think, I'd like to be celebrating our friendship as well, because I think that's grown amazingly over the year.
Fiona (39:32)
Yeah, for sure. And I think can't wait to celebrate with you at TC next year when we meet up there and hopefully get to do some podcasting with lots of the Tableau community.
Sarah (39:44)
Fi, thank you for being so honest and open about this first year. I know some of those questions weren't exactly comfortable, but I think that's what makes this valuable.
Fiona (39:56)
Absolutely. And honestly, if our mistakes or lessons can help even one person avoid the same pitfalls or feel more confident in taking that leap, then it's worth the vulnerability. which reminds me, we have a new Tableau user group that we have set up this year, the Consultants and Freelancers Tableau user group. We're starting out in the APAC region, but we do want to go global as well. So please join us on the user group. If you go to usergroups.tableau.com.
and site look for the Consultants and Freelancers tug. Make sure that you register and then you'll get all of the updates from us, but we will actually be pushing out all of our videos on the Data Fam channel as well.
Sarah (40:40)
So for everyone listening, if you're considering starting a consultancy, especially in partnership, here are the key takeaways from today. Choose your partner carefully and have the hard conversations early. Set expectations with clients from day one. Be prepared to pivot, but stay anchored to your core mission. Build in public, community is everything. And remember, it's okay not to have all the answers immediately.
Fiona (41:09)
And if you got value from today's episode, please like, subscribe, and most importantly, share this with someone who's sitting on the fence about starting their own thing. Or share it with your consulting friends who might relate to some of our stories. Misery loves company, right?
Sarah (41:24)
But also success loves community. We've learnt that this year more than anything.
Fiona (41:33)
Before we go, we'd love to hear from you. What do you want to know about starting a data consultancy? Or which episode was Sarah under the influence? Drop us message on LinkedIn, shoot us an email, hello at dubdubdata.com or leave us a comment if you're watching on YouTube. Your questions might inspire our next episode.
Sarah (41:53)
And if you're curious about working with us or want to chat about your own data challenges, head to dubdubdata.com We've got our booking links in the show notes or just reach out and say hi.
Fiona (42:06)
Next time we're back to our regular format with another incredible guest you won't want to miss.
Sarah (42:12)
Until then, stay curious, keep asking the hard questions, and thank you for being part of our journey here. on UnDUBBED
Fiona (42:21)
where we're unscripted, unscensored, and undeniably data. See you next time.
