For professionals

Your expertise, on your terms.

Vibrant Blue is building a collective of experienced independent consultants. Not a staffing agency, not a franchise, not a corporate umbrella that tells you how to work. A professional home for people who have spent careers developing deep expertise and are ready to put it to work on their own terms.

If you have spent years in a leadership role and are curious about what independent consulting looks like with some structure and support behind it, this page is for you.

Start the conversation Read the FAQ

Vibrant Blue is intentionally selective. We are building a small, high-quality network, not a large directory. Here is what the right person looks like.

You have significant professional experience and could step into a leadership role tomorrow -- but that is not what you want. You want to apply your expertise on your own schedule, to challenges you find interesting.

You are curious about independent consulting but are not sure where to start. The idea of hanging out a shingle alone feels daunting. Having a professional framework and a peer group sounds better.

You take professionalism seriously. You understand that operating as an independent consultant means representing yourself -- and anyone you are associated with -- in every engagement.

You are willing to do the work of developing your own opportunities. You are not looking for a placement agency. You want support when you need it and independence the rest of the time.

Your background is in a field where senior expertise has real value to clients -- energy, infrastructure, project management, technology, operations, or adjacent domains where experience matters more than titles.

You are at a point in your career where you are thinking about what comes next, and the answer involves more autonomy, more interesting work, and less organizational noise.

You are genuinely interested in being part of a collective, not just using one. The network works because professionals with different backgrounds support each other -- filling skill gaps, offering perspective, and referring work when a client's need falls outside your lane. You are as willing to be a resource to others as you are to draw on them.

The network is still small and growing deliberately. If several of these describe you, a conversation is worth having -- even if the timing is not quite right yet.

"I started Vibrant Blue in 2018 as a side venture while I was still working full time. It sat mostly idle for years. In 2025 I made it my full focus -- and found that the skills I had spent a career building were exactly what clients needed."

Vibrant Blue was not built on a business plan. It was built on the recognition that experienced professionals -- people with deep expertise and real leadership backgrounds -- are exactly what organizations need, and that the traditional full-time model is not the only way to deliver that value.

The transition from employee to independent consultant is manageable when you are not doing it completely alone. That is the experience Vibrant Blue exists to support. Andrew did it. The professionals already in conversation with the network are exploring it. The structure exists to help you do the same.

Andrew Johnson — President & Chief Consultant, Vibrant Blue  |  View full bio →

The relationship is straightforward. Vibrant Blue provides a professional framework and support structure. You provide the expertise and the initiative.

What Vibrant Blue provides

  • A professional profile and presence Your expertise is presented on the Vibrant Blue website, giving you a credible professional home that clients can reference.
  • Client relationship facilitation When you identify an opportunity you want to pursue, Vibrant Blue helps structure it, handles the client-facing contract and billing, and coordinates the engagement so you can focus on the work.
  • A professional peer network Access to other experienced professionals in the collective. As the network grows, so does the potential for cross-referral and collaboration.
  • Business coaching support Coaching services are available through Second Star Advisory, an affiliated firm. Particularly useful for professionals navigating the early stages of independent consulting.
  • Honest guidance If an opportunity is not a good fit or something needs to be worked through, Andrew will engage directly to help find a path forward.

What you bring

  • Your expertise and reputation The work itself is yours. Vibrant Blue is a framework, not a substitute for deep professional knowledge.
  • Your own opportunity development Consultants in the network are responsible for identifying and cultivating their own engagements. Vibrant Blue facilitates -- it does not source work on your behalf.
  • A commitment to professionalism Every engagement reflects on the network. The standards that protect clients also protect every professional in the collective.
  • A formal partnership agreement The relationship is defined by a signed Independent Contractor Agreement that covers scope, expectations, and terms clearly for both parties.
Questions about the specifics -- onboarding, insurance, billing, how engagements are structured -- are covered in detail in the Professionals FAQ.

The network is small and growing intentionally. These are the professionals already in the Vibrant Blue collective or in active conversation about joining.

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

President & Chief Consultant

20+ years in PMO design, project leadership, and energy infrastructure. The original proof of concept for what Vibrant Blue makes possible.

PMO design Project leadership Energy infrastructure Regulatory strategy Leadership coaching
View full bio →
In conversation

Procurement & Sourcing Specialist

Utility sector — joining the network soon

Senior professional with deep utility and infrastructure procurement experience, contract risk allocation, and large-scale RFP development.

Procurement Sourcing advisory Contract risk Utility sector
In conversation

Project Management & Data Specialist

Utility sector — joining the network soon

Experienced project management professional with a utility background in program leadership, data analysis, and operational reporting.

Project leadership Data analysis Utility sector Operational improvement
In conversation

Senior Platform Engineer

Technology infrastructure — joining the network soon

Senior DevOps and platform engineer with a decade of experience building Kubernetes platforms, multi-cloud infrastructure, and event-driven data systems at scale.

Cloud infrastructure Kubernetes DevOps automation Platform engineering

Profiles are kept anonymous until a formal partnership agreement is in place. Full profiles are available on the For Clients page.

Start the conversation

Let's talk about where you are.

No commitment, no obligation. If you are an experienced professional who is curious about independent consulting and what the Vibrant Blue framework might offer, a conversation is the right first step.

Tell us a little about your background and where you are in your thinking. Andrew reads every inquiry personally.

✓ Your message has been sent. Andrew will be in touch within a couple of business days.