How to Build a Work Style Where You Choose Your Clients, Command Monthly Retainers, and Work 12-15 Days Per Month

(Without Starting From Scratch or Becoming a Consultant)

If you're a senior professional with 10+ years of experience trading all your time for one employer's agenda, keep reading.

You've built real expertise. You know you're valuable because you've delivered results in organizations that desperately needed what you know. And yet you're undervalued despite your experience. You're making good money but not making the impact you could. The Sunday dread doesn't go away.

Here's the truth they don't tell you: Your expertise is worth more than any single employer can pay you for it. Not because employers are cheap. Because one organization can only use so much of what you know. 

They need you full-time, but they only need your strategic wisdom 10-15 days per month. The other half of your time you're filling a seat. Attending meetings. Managing politics. Playing the game.

What if you could deliver 80% of the value in 10% of the time and do this for multiple organizations? That's the Portfolio Executive model. Not consulting where you find problems, solve them, and leave. 

This March, I'm running a free 3-day intensive that teaches you exactly how to build this. No theory. No motivation. Just the methodology I've used for twenty-three years and taught to hundreds of professionals making this transition.

Let me be clear: This training is completely free. At the end, I'll invite you to join the Portfolio Executive Growth Academy, my year-long implementation program. But even if you don't join, you'll get tremendous value from these three days if you show up live.

By Day 3, you'll have your positioning, your pricing framework, and your roadmap. Within 90 days, you could have your first retained client.

March 17-19, 2026 | 6:00 PM UK / 1:00 PM EST

When You Show Up Live, You'll Learn How To:

Position yourself so clients seek you out, not the other way around. Stop applying for jobs. Stop chasing recruiters. Learn how to make it easier for the right organizations to buy you.

Command £2,000-£5,000 per month per client through monthly retainers. Escape the day rate trap. Price responsibility and outcomes, not hours. The exact framework for structuring deals that continue month after month.

Build 4-6 retained relationships while working half the time. The math that actually works: 80% of full-time value, 20% of the cost, in 10% of the time. I'll show you how this plays out in practice.

Have the diagnostic conversation that demonstrates expertise through questions. Not by claiming you have solutions. By asking questions so good they trust you have the answers. The exact questions I teach every portfolio executive.

Activate your hidden network without asking for jobs. Your suppliers and clients from corporate days become your prospects. How to reconnect and build pipeline from relationships you already have.

Take responsibility for a function without being trapped full-time. The distinction that changes everything. Portfolio executives don't deliver projects. They ensure the right things are done and they're done right. Month after month.

I'm Charles McLachlan and I've Been Living This Since 2002

My journey took me through technology startups, a visiting professorship at University College London, international consulting, and corporate partnership at a global firm. I achieved what most would call remarkable success. And with each achievement, I felt more trapped.

Then came my biggest failure. A business I built with my partner worth tens of millions, destroyed overnight. The majority shareholder shut it down. I got zero. Three years of work with dozens of staff. Gone.

Later, I became partner at a big international firm. Dream job. American regulators shut the firm down. I spent a year making people redundant.

Was I a failure? You could tell it that way. Or you could see it as expensive education. I learned that people-for-money businesses require different investment than software products. I learned how to make people redundant with dignity. I learned what really matters when you lose everything.

Today, I run FuturePerfect. I advise leaders across multiple organizations. I teach at university level. Most importantly, I have complete autonomy. I choose my projects, my schedule, my clients.

When I started this journey at forty-two, I wasn't thinking about one transition. I was thinking: What work style will still serve me at fifty? At sixty? At seventy, if I'm still capable? I wanted three things. Only fee-earning three days a week. Work with multiple clients at once. Build something sustainable until I'm unable to work.

That was 2002. I've lived this for over two decades. I've worked with more than a hundred professionals making this transition. I've seen what works and what doesn't. The Portfolio Executive model isn't theory for me. It's how I've lived for twenty-three years.

This March, I'm teaching you the exact framework that makes this possible. The training is free. At the end, I'll invite you to join the Portfolio Executive Growth Academy for ongoing implementation. But these three days stand alone. You'll leave with clarity on how to build this work style whether you continue with me or not.

This Training Is For You If:

✅You have 10+ years professional experience. This model works because of your wisdom. The expensive mistakes you've made. The patterns you've seen. If you're early career, you're not ready yet.

✅You're currently trading all your time with one employer. Full-time role. Decent salary. But you know your expertise could create more value if it wasn't limited to one organization's agenda.

✅You want multiple clients, not another job. This isn't about finding a better employer. It's about building a portfolio of retained relationships where you choose who you work with.

✅You can commit three evenings to learning this properly. March 17-19, 6:00 PM UK/ 1 PM EST. If you can't invest six hours, you're not serious about changing your situation.

This Training Is NOT For You If:

❌ You're looking for passive income. Portfolio Executives work strategically, but they do work. You're taking responsibility for functions. This isn't a get-rich-quick scheme.

❌ You need guaranteed income immediately. Transitions take time. Most people take 6-12 months to build sustainable portfolios. If you can't handle uncertainty, stay employed.

❌ You want someone else to do the work for you. I'll teach you the methodology. You have to implement it. Build the relationships. Have the conversations. Do the work.

❌ You're looking for employment opportunities. This is about building a portfolio of clients. If you want another job, this isn't for you.

Your 3-Day Transformation Journey

  • Tuesday, March 17 | 6:00 PM UK / 1:00 PM EST

    Discover the five-dimensional niche framework that makes you buyable without making you cheap. Why doing anything for anybody means you do nothing for nobody.

    You'll Learn:

    • Job Title Dimension: What function you take responsibility for

    • Life Stage: Startup vs. scale-up vs. optimize—choosing organizations ready for you

    • Sector Selection: Why you're not limited to your past experience

    • Size Considerations: Headcount categories that determine viability

    • Geography Design: Build the lifestyle you want, not where work exists

    Outcome: Clear positioning that makes the right clients recognize you immediately.

  • Wednesday, March 18 | 6:00 PM UK / 1:00 PM EST

    Learn how to position yourself as a wisdom worker, not an information provider. Mine your career for golden threads and hidden gems that create your distinctive value.

    You'll Learn:

    • The Career Mining Exercise: Document every role since age 15 to find your wisdom

    • The "I Learned That" Framework: Turn expensive mistakes into sellable insights

    • Why Consultants Are Obsolete: And why portfolio executives aren't

    • The Question-Based Approach: Demonstrate expertise by asking, not claiming

    • The Diagnostic Conversation: Structure that leads to retained relationships

    Outcome: A LinkedIn profile and story that positions you as irreplaceable, not interchangeable.

  • Thursday, March 19 | 6:00 PM UK / 1:00 PM EST

    Discover the three-part prospecting methodology that doesn't require cold calling. Activate your hidden network and escape the day rate trap.

    You'll Learn:

    • Hidden Network Activation: Reconnect with suppliers and clients from corporate days

    • LinkedIn Sales Navigator Method: 100 targets systematically down to 30 prospects

    • The Pain-Finding Questions: Uncover where it hurts, not just the problem

    • The Diagnostic Offer: Structure the engagement that becomes a monthly retainer

    • Monthly Retainer Framework: Why you never quote a day rate

    Outcome: A systematic approach to building 4-6 retained client relationships.

What You Get When You Register (Free):

✅ Three Live 60-Minute Training Sessions
 March 17-19, 6:00 PM UK / 1:00 PM EST with Charles McLachlan

✅ The Complete Portfolio Executive Framework
 Five-dimensional niche definition, wisdom worker story structure, diagnostic conversation questions

✅ Real Transition Examples
 Actual situations from professionals Charles has coached—how they positioned expertise, what worked, what didn't

✅ 7-Day Replay Access
 Can't make it live? Replays available for one week (but live includes interaction you can't get from recordings)

✅ Your Roadmap
 Exactly what to do after training ends, week by week, no guessing

✅ Invitation to Continue
 At end of Day 3, option to join Portfolio Executive Growth Academy—year-long implementation program, weekly sessions, $197/month, no lock-in

 FAQs

  • A: Partly. At the end, I'll invite you to join the Portfolio Executive Growth Academy, my year-long implementation program where we meet every Wednesday to implement what you're learning in these three days. But even if you don't join, you'll get tremendous value from this event if you show up live. The training stands alone.

  • A: Consultants find problems, deliver solutions, leave. Portfolio Executives take responsibility for a function month after month. You're ensuring the right things are done and they're done right. Ongoing relationship, not project-based.

  • A: Absolutely. Many people build their first 1-2 client relationships while still employed, then transition once they have £40K-£60K in retained revenue.

  • A: Replays are available for 7 days. But live includes real-time Q&A and problem-solving you can't get from recordings. Show up if you're serious.

  • A: It depends on your function, sector, and how you price. Most charge £2,000-£5,000 per month per client. Four clients at £3,000/month equals £144,000 per year working 12 days per month. Six clients can generate £150K-£300K depending on pricing.

  • A: No. The model works globally. Sessions are timed for UK but replays are available. I have people in the US, Canada, Europe, Middle East doing this.

  • A: It's my year-long implementation program. Every Wednesday at 5:00 PM UK, we meet for an hour. I teach one piece of the eight-key framework. You get homework. You implement. The community gives feedback. You refine. Over 52 weeks, you build a sustainable portfolio of 4-6 clients.$197 per month, cancel anytime. I'll explain more at the end of Day 3.

The Decision You're Actually Making

You're not deciding whether to attend a free training. You're deciding whether to keep trading all your time for one employer's agenda or build something different.

Every Sunday evening you dread Monday is a signal you're ready. Every meeting that wastes your expertise is an opportunity lost. Every day you stay in a role that doesn't fit is a day you can't get back.

The Portfolio Executive model exists. Professionals are living it right now. Earning £150K-£300K working 12-15 days per month. Choosing their clients. Taking responsibility for functions without being trapped.

The only question is whether you'll be one of them.

This training shows you exactly how. Not through inspiration. Through implementation. Not through theory. Through proven frameworks I've used for twenty-three years.

March 17-19. Three evenings. Your blueprint for the work style you actually want. Completely free. And if you want to continue implementing with me after that, I'll invite you to join the Academy where we build this together over the next year.