Dorm room
to 35+
contractors.

James Leary started JL Consulting from his dorm at the University of St. Thomas — spending 14 to 16 hours a day cold-emailing contractors between classes, then skipping the classes.

The first clients started seeing results, and the choice got obvious fast: he dropped out and never looked back. No investors, no agency playbook — just relentless outreach, systems that worked, and contractors who told their friends.

The business runs on the same intensity today. A hard cap of 25 active clients at a time, so nobody becomes a line item. Ten-minute responses, from James, not an account manager. And one rule that predates the company:

“Help people the best you can — even the ones who aren’t a fit to work with you.”