Before we dive in, I want to make it clear just how long Mary and I have been connected. Over the years we’ve swapped countless emails, hopped on more Zoom and Clubhouse calls than I can remember, and even recorded podcasts together. Despite all that interaction, we still haven’t managed to meet face to face—something we’ve promised to remedy in 2026. That personal history matters because it means this piece isn’t some random write‑up; it’s coming from a place of genuine respect and friendship.

The Wisdom Economy Is a Blue Ocean

If you’ve ever woken up at 3 a.m. thinking “there’s got to be more to life than selling my hours,” you’re not alone. By the time most of us hit our forties we’ve been through enough launches, layoffs and life‑curveballs to fill a bookshelf. That mix of scars and successes is what Mary Henderson calls your “internal inventory”—and it’s the raw material of a booming wisdom economy.

Mary isn’t some armchair theorist. She’s an Aussie who’s spent the last decade turning seasoned consultants and corporate refugees into trusted authorities. In our chat she laid it out bluntly: the market for commoditised info is dead. You can download a how‑to PDF in seconds. What people will pay for, though, is your lens—how you turned chaos into clarity in your own career and personal life.

Unpack Everything (Even the Messy Bits)

Mary’s first exercise is brutally simple: write down every skill, story and lesson you’ve picked up, from boardroom wins to heartbreaks. When she works with clients she doesn’t let them hide behind job titles. Lost a business? Jot down what you learned about resilience. Changed industries? Note the transferable skills. Battled through a divorce or illness? There’s a reason people sit up when you tell that story; it’s where your wisdom lives.

Only when you spread all those pieces on the table can you see the macro problem you’re equipped to solve. Maybe it’s helping burnt‑out executives reclaim their health, or guiding engineers into leadership without losing their geekiness. Whatever it is, it should feel like the sum of your life’s work.

Build the Foundation Before You Decorate

Here’s where Mary’s approach diverges from the “just build a course” crowd. She refuses to let clients slap together random offers. Instead, she helps them distil a signature solution—a framework that solves that big hairy problem. Think of it like pouring the concrete for a house. Only after the slab cures do you add rooms, paint colours and furniture. The courses, workbooks and group programs come later; they’re expressions of the core framework, not the other way around.

That framework becomes an asset in itself. It’s the difference between being a freelancer with a menu of services and owning an e‑learning company someone might want to buy.

Promise Outcomes, Not Trivia

As Mary put it, “information is out of fashion.” Clients aren’t hiring you for a data dump; they’re betting you can get them to a promised land. That means three things:

• Name the destination. What transformation do you deliver? Increased revenue? A published book? A calm mind? If you can’t articulate the promise, neither can your marketing.
• Know your avatars. Forget micro‑niches; think in terms of archetypes you can help. A framework that teaches CFOs how to productise their expertise might also work for head nurses or retired athletes.
• Map the journey. Show people the stages they’ll move through. Mary’s clients see a clear path from inventory to signature solution to commercial product.

When you design around outcomes, you liberate yourself from one‑off gigs and free PDFs. You become the guide, not the guru.

Ready to Tap Your Vein of Gold?

Mary’s philosophy isn’t for dabblers. It requires the courage to mine your past and the patience to build something sturdy. But if the idea of owning an asset instead of just a job appeals to you, start with your inventory. Watch our conversation above to hear Mary tell it in her own voice, and explore her programmes at Mary Henderson Consulting.

In a world drowning in content, wisdom—yours, battle‑tested and packaged well—is a rare commodity. The sooner you treat it like an asset, the sooner the market will, too.