What each demands, how each pays, and who thrives in each
Today marks the first Tuesday in twenty-six years when no meeting is scheduled, and three messages are waiting in your inbox here in Columbus. One comes from a former CEO in Dublin who wants you as a fractional chief operating officer, two days a week. A recruiter from a board search firm writes that your name "came up" in conversation, while a former vendor offers to pay you for a candid read on what their customers really think. You are 56. For the first time, you are not weighing which job to accept. You are deciding what sort of working life you intend to create.
What every route expects from you
Fractional work draws on your hands-on operating skill. You lead a meaningful function on a part-time basis for a Central Ohio company that is not yet ready to hire you full time. The pay resembles a salary with the benefits stripped away, more than you expected and less than you once made. This fits people who crave the work itself and have little tolerance for corporate maneuvering. The danger is that two contracted days slowly stretch into four, even though the arrangement is still labeled part time.
A board seat calls for sound judgment paired with the discipline to hold back. You study dense materials, weigh in only when it counts, and remain accountable for choices you never personally made. Public boards pay a retainer and often equity. Private and nonprofit boards, including many in Dublin, Westerville, and Worthington, often pay modestly or not at all, and a first seat usually comes from that group. It fits those who can let a chief executive be wrong in Columbus or Dublin without rushing in to take over. Its risk is that the search can run for years.
Advisory work rests on who knows you in Central Ohio and what your name carries. Every quarter, you must win the business before you can perform the work. Fees arrive project by project, so earnings swing widely, and the most profitable engagements tend to come from clients who already trust you. This is best for people who genuinely enjoy making the pitch. Its risk is that you become the entire sales department, and that department never gets a week off.
The turning point
Over time, it becomes clear that the three messages do not lead to three separate doors. They represent three revenue streams, and former executives who do well after leaving the corner office rarely rely on just one of them. Fractional work covers your expenses during the first year. Consulting projects build the visibility that prompts the board recruiter to reach out again. Once a board seat is secured, future fractional offers start arriving at your door instead of requiring you to pursue them. The meaningful decision is not which path to pick but which to begin with, and the sensible answer is whichever someone will pay you for this month.
Why this reaches past your own case
According to Forbes, as reported by Black Enterprise, women founded 44% of new businesses in 2025, a rise from 29% in 2019. Many of these ventures are second careers, launched by women who realized the corporate ladder had run out two rungs early. A market that pays for executive judgment by the day is not a second-rate option. It is a real market, and Central Ohio, with its Fortune 500 headquarters and growing employer base, has plenty of buyers for it.
Key lessons to remember
1. Answer the fractional email first. Request a written scope of work and a daily rate, and make your position clear: "Two days a week means two days. What do we do when it becomes three?" The way they answer reveals what kind of client they will be.
2. Approach the board search as a project that unfolds over two years. Accept the first seat that teaches you something and gives you a story worth telling, even if no one is paying you for it. Boards in Worthington or Newark usually favor people who have already held a seat on a board. Local chambers and women's business groups, such as the Westerville Area Chamber Women in Business or the Bexley Area Chamber Women in Business, are good places to meet the people who can open that first door.
3. Accept the former vendor's offer, and send the invoice before you send the slide deck. Your first consulting client determines the going rate, and every client after them will be expected to pay it. Free resources like SCORE Columbus or the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Columbus State can help you structure rates and contracts before you sign.
Three messages, three revenue streams, all on one Tuesday. The calendar is blank, and for the first time in twenty-six years, you get to decide what fills it.