The Portfolio Career: Multiple Skills, Maximum Impact

The world of work is rapidly changing, and one of the most exciting trends emerging is the portfolio career. If you've ever felt trapped by the traditional 9-to-5 model or found yourself daydreaming about combining multiple passions into your work life, this might be the career revolution you've been waiting for. If you'd prefer to listen to the podcast click below...

What Exactly is a Portfolio Career?

The concept isn't actually new – it was coined by British management philosopher Charles Handy in the 1990s. Handy predicted a fundamental shift away from lifelong employment with a single company toward something revolutionary: having multiple roles and income streams that actually fit who you are.

Rather than moulding yourself to fit one rigid job description, a portfolio career allows you to tailor a variety of roles around your diverse interests, talents, and passions. Think of it like a financial investment portfolio – instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, you diversify across multiple streams of income.

My Accidentally Perfect Portfolio Journey

Let me share how I stumbled into my own portfolio career. After 20 years in Digital Product Innovation, I left corporate three years ago to coach full-time. I thought that was all the change I needed, but about a year in, something was missing.

Then I was asked to coach water polo at my kids' school – something I'd been wishing I could monetise for years. The joy I felt was incredible, but I was still frustrated with constantly having to seek new business in my coaching practice.

That's when I discovered an opportunity with a global organisation providing career transition coaching. They handle all the client acquisition – I just focus on what I love: pure coaching.

Here's how my portfolio currently looks:

First, I run The Inkling Effect, my own career coaching business, working directly with individual clients. This gives me complete creative and strategic control.

Second, I freelance as a career coach for a global career transition organisation. This provides steady income without the pressure of constantly seeking new business.

Third, I coach water polo at local clubs and schools. This draws on the same core strengths – team building, strategy, and helping people reach their potential – while feeding a lifelong passion.

What's beautiful about this mix is that each stream reinforces and enhances the others. My corporate coaching work keeps me sharp on current workplace trends, my private practice allows me to go deeper with individual clients, and the sports coaching keeps me grounded in practical leadership.

The Key Benefits

1. Flexibility and Control

You work when you want, where you want, choosing projects that align with your values and lifestyle. For me, this means being available for my teenage kids while still pursuing meaningful work.

2. Financial Security Through Diversification Having multiple income streams means if one client or stream disappears, you're not starting from zero. Many portfolio professionals actually earn more than in traditional employment because they can charge premium rates and leverage their expertise in multiple ways.

3. Personal Fulfilment

This might be the most important benefit. You get to design a career that truly reflects who you are, exploring multiple talents and passions simultaneously.

How to Get Started: Four Approaches

1. Moonlighting

Start small with a side hustle while keeping your full-time job. This is the lowest-risk approach. Explore freelance platforms or join communities like The Portfolio Collective to connect with other portfolio professionals.

2. The Anchored Approach

Build your portfolio around one primary source of income – your anchor. This could be a part-time job or regular contract work, then add satellite careers around this core.

3. Rejigging Your Current Situation

Could you compress your five-day week into four days? Negotiate remote work? Go part-time to create space for building your portfolio? Don't discount keeping your current job with more flexible arrangements.

4. The All-Out Jump

Some people reach their limit and decide to jump completely. This can work with careful planning and adequate savings, but I never recommend jumping without a clear plan.

What It Takes to Succeed

Portfolio careers aren't for everyone. Based on my experience coaching others, certain strengths make success more likely:

Essential Strengths:

Ability to manage varied workloads and multitask effectively

Strong self-management and organisational skills

Clear understanding of your value proposition

Networking and business development confidence

Resilience and financial planning abilities

Realistic Challenges to Consider:

Irregular income patterns

Increased administrative responsibilities

Need for professional insurance and benefits planning

Tax considerations for multiple income streams

Potential for overwork without clear boundaries

Your Portfolio Career Self-Assessment

Complete these sentences to uncover your yearnings:

"If only I could..." - What do you dream about doing for work but dismiss as impossible?

"I wish I was able to mix..." - What combination of activities would energise you if you could do a little bit of each?

Don't worry if you've never had these thoughts before – you might have trained yourself not to dream this way. But if something is stirring as you read this, pay attention to that feeling.

The Future is Portfolio

I believe we're seeing a fundamental shift in how work functions. The rapid pace of technological change, lessons learned from COVID about remote work and flexibility, and the growing desire for work-life integration are all driving this trend.

Companies are also recognising the value of accessing specialised skills on a project basis rather than maintaining large permanent workforces, creating opportunities for portfolio professionals.

Your Next Steps

A portfolio career isn't about being scattered – it's about being strategically diverse. It's about honouring all the different aspects of who you are and finding ways to monetise them while creating both financial security and deep personal fulfilment.

Start with:

• Understanding your unique strengths and value proposition

• Testing ideas without quitting your current job

• Networking strategically with others living portfolio careers

• Planning financially and building savings

• Validating market demand for your income stream ideas

The key is to start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.

Your perfect portfolio career is out there waiting for you to design it.

Ready to explore if a portfolio career could work for you?

Book a free Career Strategy call below, to map out your first steps toward portfolio career success.

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Personalised private 1:1 coaching 

Transforming teams via tailor-made coaching programs  Work is being reimagined... The question isn’t if change is coming—it’s how you’ll navigate it. The future is yours to define.

That’s where I come in. Through a powerful blend of Strengths, Executive, and Career Coaching, I help professionals not just adapt, but thrive.

The workplace is transforming.

With 59% of employees quietly disengaged and 18% actively seeking an exit (Gallup, 2023), job dissatisfaction is at an all-time high.

You already have unique talents—sometimes, they just need to be uncovered.

With the right coaching, skills and knowledge you can turn those talents into strengths, fueling the confidence to embrace career shifts and workplace change with clarity and purpose.

Empowering you to design your work future.

I’m Binny Langler, your lead coach, dedicated to helping individuals and teams thrive. Founder & Director of The Inkling Effect, with over 20 years of experience coaching professionals to discover and apply their unique strengths to create more

fulfilling and meaningful work.

A certified Executive, Gallup Global Strengths Coach & Career Change Coach - with a Masters of Entrepreneurship & Innovation.