When your business is built on your expertise, people asking to “pick your brain” is part of life.
But your time is valuable — and limited.
As Queen Joseph, Founder of Project Pro Consultants, says:
So how should you handle these requests?
There’s no universal answer. One of the best parts of running your own business is getting to set things up in a way that works for you.
We asked successful founders, entrepreneurs, consultants, and coaches how they handle this, so you can see different approaches and decide what’s right for you and your business.
In this guide, these experts share:
Their go-to replies to pick-your-brain requests (with example responses)
Whether they charge for these meetings (and how they decide)
Tips for structuring and pricing consultations
How they set boundaries to protect their time
How to respond when someone asks to “pick your brain”
Someone slides into your DMs or cold emails you asking if you have time for a “quick chat” so they can “pick your brain.” Do you:
a. Send them a link to your booking page
b. Tell them your hourly consulting fee and invite them to book a paid session
c. Point them to helpful resources like your blog or newsletter
d. Ask for more info
e. Give a flat-out no
Like most questions, the answer depends on a lot of factors, like your availability, what they’re actually asking you for, and whether they could be a potential client.
The good news: you don’t have to handle every request the exact same way. But having a general idea of how you’ll reply helps you field these inquiries more efficiently and comfortably. Here’s what the pros have to say:
Gather more info before agreeing to meet
Most of the pros we talked to ask for more information before deciding whether to hop on a call with someone. Not every brain-picking request is the same, and asking follow-up questions can help you determine what specifically they want your help with: mentorship, networking, feedback on an idea or project, consulting, or just an opportunity to pitch you something they’re selling.
You might even be able to answer their question with a link, referral, or quick text response — no meeting needed.
Brand strategy consultant, educator, and coach Melinda Livsey starts with a simple question: What’s on your mind? “That way I can get an initial sense of what type of info they're looking for instead of assuming they want (or need) to talk to me for hours about their business,” she says.
Queen takes a similar approach: “I respond with a question to get a sense of their needs and what they want to discuss. Based on their response and who they are professionally, I may send them a meeting link.”
Asking for additional info up top also helps you structure a productive, valuable conversation if you do end up meeting.
“People can be unsure of what they need assistance with, so having a clear goal to the ‘brain picking’ helps,” says Tim Lorent, Founder of Campfires.dev, a coaching platform for developers. “Otherwise it’s just a back-and-forth between different topics and I don’t end up giving them a clear outcome with tips and steps.”
Red flags to watch out for
Sometimes “can I pick your brain?” is a sales pitch in disguise. But how can you tell? Keep an eye out for vague language and buzzwords.
“It’s been my experience that folks who reach out with vague requests to pick my brain either want free advisory or they’re trying to sell me something,” says Leslie Venetz, Founder of The Sales-Led GTM Agency.
“Be on the lookout for ‘I just want to get to know each other a little better’ or ‘I want to explore synergies,’” says Liam Darmody, Founder of Liam’s Brand Stand. “In my experience, those are just ways that unoriginal sales people try to pitch you something on the call.”
What about discovery calls?
If the person reaching out is a potential client, it may make sense to have a free introductory discovery call with them instead. “Discovery calls are when a potential client wants to learn more about my services and tell me about their project pain points,” says Queen Joseph. Rather than offering advice or solving their problem on the spot, the goal of a discovery call is to figure out whether you’re a good fit for each other.
“A discovery call is all about me getting to know the potential client, their goals when it comes to personal branding, and what's currently standing in their way,” says Phoebe Parke, Social Media Coach. “I'm asking in-depth questions in the first half, and then I'm going through the Parke Social Personal Branding Programme in detail in the second half — and at the end of the call we'll see if we're a good fit.”
So how do you know whether to schedule a discovery call vs. a one-off chat? Again, the wording of the request is often your first clue.
“A discovery call usually happens when people reach out with language like, ‘Hey, we’re curious about your work, we’re looking to bring someone on to help us with XYZ, we’re looking to get XYZ done, can you help with that?’” says Rachel Bicha, B2B Content Strategist.
Set up separate Event Types for discovery calls and brain-picking
If you use Calendly to schedule meetings, you can set up different Event Types: customizable templates for your most frequent meetings, like discovery calls and pick-your-brain chats. When someone books a meeting with you, Calendly automatically sends a calendar invite with all the details.
Create a free discovery call booking link for prospective clients, and a paid “pick my brain” booking link for one-time consults or advising. (We’ll dig into setting up paid meetings more in a bit.) That way, you’ll always have the right link ready to share.
Should you charge people to pick your brain?
Like deciding to take the call in the first place, choosing whether to charge depends on a bunch of things — how much free time you have, who’s asking (a peer, a mentee, someone in your network, a total stranger), what kind of support they’re looking for, and how much prep or follow-up is involved.
Because of all that, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Here’s how the pros we talked to handle it:
Option 1: Always charge (and protect your energy)
Some people charge for these calls across the board. This decision usually comes from experience: too many requests, not enough time. Charging is less about squeezing out every billable minute and more about protecting their energy.
Phoebe created paid advice calls after realizing she was giving away far too much via DM.
“I used to dread seeing this message in my DMs; it would fill me with panic,” she says. “Being a people pleaser meant I was of course going to say yes, which often led to me giving in-depth, personalized advice and sending over my resources — basically, consulting for free. And then I thought, 'I wonder if I can give this advice out in a way that makes sense for me and gives the person the in-depth personalized advice that they need on a call.”
“It's a win-win. I get paid to give advice, and people get the advice they need and personalized attention from someone who has done it already. If you're someone people come to for advice, I'd definitely consider setting up something similar in Calendly.”
“Do you have clients wanting to pick your brain about something? Great! That means your thinking is already being valued,” says Melinda, who reached a similar tipping point. “I had so many requests to meet for ‘brain picking’ and help that I decided to put some boundaries around it and create a way for people to get the help they need — and for me to be compensated for it,” she says.
For both Phoebe and Melinda, charging isn’t about saying no. It’s about offering a clear, thoughtful way to say yes.
Option 2: Sometimes charge (depending on the context)
Others take a more flexible approach.
"If it’s someone I know, I’m usually happy to do a [free] coffee chat to chat through specific questions or topics," says Rachel. But when someone's looking for deeper guidance or support, she leans toward a structured, paid option. “If I didn’t, I’d spend all day letting my brain be picked like a guitar string."
Queen charges for most of these calls, but she’s also intentional about showing up for early-career professionals.
When strangers reach out looking for advice, Leslie also charges them via a paid booking link. “Using a paid ‘pick my brain’ link makes it extremely easy to reply, offering them time on my calendar — and if they don't see the value, good riddance,” she says.
That said, Leslie still reserves time each week for unpaid coffee chats with people in her network and broader community. She stays connected without letting those conversations take over her calendar.
Liam’s approach is less about setting a firm policy and more about evaluating each conversation to make sure it’s a good use of his time. He lets people book free meetings with him through his Calendly link — but sometimes decides, once a meeting is on the books, that it should be a paid consultation instead of a free chat. He uses custom booking form questions to help him make that call.
"If I don’t like the answers they give, I’ll sometimes email them to follow up and ask more specific pointed questions, reminding them that my calendar slots are typically reserved for paying or potential clients," says Liam.
Use booking page questions to get aligned before you meet
As Liam pointed out, asking a few questions when someone books with you can give you a clearer picture of what they’re looking for and how to structure the conversation.
Try asking:
• “What would you like to focus on during this meeting?”
• “What’s the number one problem you’re hoping to solve?”
• “Is there any background information you’d like to share?”
Getting this context in advance helps you come prepared, and helps attendees clarify their own goals for the call.
Option 3: Never charge (and keep it accessible)
Only one person we spoke to said they never charge for pick-your-brain chats: Tim Lorent. As an experienced developer and coach, Tim offers Free Developer Growth Calls designed specifically for early-career developers and those breaking into tech.
“I truly believe that career advice should be accessible to everyone, regardless of time, experience, and especially budget," he says. “The developer community is a wonderful place to be a part of, but it can sometimes feel a bit exclusive: expensive courses, coaching, books. I offer paid options as well, but I realize it might not be in everyone's budget.”
His approach was shaped by his volunteer work with HackYourFuture, where he teaches and coaches people with a refugee background to become web developers. And while he hopes the Developer Growth Calls build trust and lead to coaching signups or book sales, that’s never the expectation.
“I’ve had people respond with ‘life-changing experience’ and ‘you gave me back my fire.’ That’s honestly worth more than money! Sure, I hope that people are convinced of my value and will buy the book after the call or sign up for coaching, but the premise is and always will be: free advice. No strings attached.”
How much to charge for a paid pick-your-brain call
There’s no one right way to price or package a pick-your-brain session, but most people we spoke to try to keep it simple. Their pricing reflects the time, depth, and format of the conversation.
Some people started low, then raised their rates when demand increased
Your pricing doesn’t have to be set in stone. Phoebe started out charging £30 for 30 minutes — an easy, round number that felt approachable. After seeing positive outcomes and consistent demand, she raised her price.
“I was testing it out as a new service and didn't really have anything to compare it to, so I went by what my local hairdresser was charging: £1/minute!” she says. “Over time, as I got more experience and had great feedback from people who said they had implemented my recommendations and were seeing great results, I raised the price.”
Melinda took a similar approach, starting with a number that felt reasonable and increasing it after seeing that people were willing to pay.
Others set pricing based on the length or depth of the meeting
For Queen, a casual 30-minute call is priced differently than a deep-dive strategy session. “I'll charge anywhere from $50 to $150 based on the time and depth of the conversation,” she says. “For example, 30 minutes for $50. For a deep dive into specific project questions, $150 per hour.”
Not everyone sticks to 30- or 60-minute meetings. Liam breaks his standard rate into smaller increments, which gives people a way to book shorter calls without the formality of a full engagement. “My hourly rate is $300. I charge in 15-minute increments of that,” he says. “If they want to chat really quickly for 15 minutes for $75, I’m fine with that.”
How to set up and structure paid calls
Rachel uses Calendly and Stripe to let people book — and pay for — 30- or 60-minute consultations.
To book more of these paid consults, Melinda suggests embedding your Calendly booking page on your website, so you can easily direct people to book time with you instead of managing requests manually.
“Set up a page on your site where people can sign up for a consulting hour with you and charge them for it. I love using Calendly for this. Next time someone asks you to pick your brain, you can offer them that option.”
Set up paid meetings with payment integrations
It’s fast and easy to integrate Calendly with Stripe or PayPal and collect payments right from your booking page. Connect your Stripe or PayPal account, set up payments for your “pick my brain” Event Type, and share the booking link.
People pay for the meeting as part of the booking process — no extra invoices or payment links. Plus, requiring a deposit or full payment ahead of the meeting helps reduce no-shows and weed out time-wasters, so you can focus on connecting with people who value your time and expertise.
Tips for setting boundaries around your time
How do you make sure you still have time and energy for your paying clients and the work that grows your business? The people we spoke to use different strategies, but they all emphasize the importance of offering time in a way that’s intentional and sustainable — whether that’s reducing unpaid meetings, limiting your availability, or directing people to other channels.
Tim has refined the format of his Free Developer Growth Calls to stay focused and efficient. He uses a timer, follows a clear structure, and sets expectations about follow-up communication. These adjustments help him protect his time without making the conversation feel transactional.
“I’ve also fine-tuned the format, slides, and presentation so I don’t waste too much time on details. What also helps is mentioning that the 30-minute free call is not the only time they can reach out to me: they’re always free to send me a message on LinkedIn, email me, or book another call. That usually makes sure that people don’t try to get even more time out of the call.”
Liam often offers his time for free, especially if the request is casual or a one-off. But when someone keeps coming back for more, he knows it’s time to set a firmer boundary.
“There are sometimes serial offenders who always ask me questions or want free advice, and eventually I just tell people they need to use a paid Calendly link to book time with me,” he says. “But usually I’ll give them some help first before doing that, just because I think karma has a way of finding its way back to you.”
Leslie limits her unpaid coffee connects to four hours per week:
“I love connecting one-on-one with members of my community but I realized those meetings were taking over my calendar. Since I am committed to a 4-day work week, I knew I needed to reevaluate my priorities and time allocation. As a result, I updated my coffee connect availability [in Calendly]. Now I hold a maximum of 4 hours per week for this type of activity.”
Setting guardrails around her availability via Calendly also helps Leslie avoid false urgency. “I often get folks that reply letting me know I don't have availability for six to ten weeks and asking if I can squeeze them in faster,” she says.
“I ask them if what they need to discuss is urgent and the answer is no 90% of the time ... folks just operate with a sense of false urgency that I reject. So even for the unpaid sessions, using a calendar link still helps me reinforce my calendar boundaries.”
Even people who offer paid consultations can need boundaries around their time. For Phoebe’s paid advice calls, she asks the person booking to set the agenda and take notes. That way, she avoids lengthy prep work and can move on with her day as soon as the session ends.
"I can put the time slots I'm available in Calendly and I don't have any preparation or follow-up work to do, so I just show up ready to answer, and I can put other meetings or focus time right after the call ends.”
“They can ask any question at all relating to personal branding on social media and I'm an open book — from which tools and templates I use to my workflow to how I source my clients,” says Phoebe.
Use availability settings to enforce your boundaries
Calendly gives you control over when and how often people can book with you. Availability settings can prevent your calendar from becoming overrun with pick-your-brain chats, so you have ample time for client meetings and deep work.
You can:
• Set specific hours for these types of calls (like Tuesday afternoons only)
• Limit how many pick-your-brain meetings you’ll take per day or week
• Add buffers between meetings to protect your focus time
You get to decide what works for your business
If you’ve ever felt unsure about how to handle a pick-your-brain request, you’re not alone.
These conversations feel tricky because they are tricky. But at the heart of it all are people and relationships. And those relationships — with clients, collaborators, peers, and your broader community — are often part of why you started doing this work in the first place.
In this guide, you’ve heard from founders, consultants, coaches, and entrepreneurs who’ve found different ways to handle these requests. Some charge. Some give time freely. Many make case-by-case decisions based on their bandwidth, who’s asking, and what they’re asking for.
There’s no hard-and-fast answer here — it’s yours to decide! Whatever approach you choose, the goal isn’t to get it perfect. It’s to create space for the work, relationships, and impact that matter most.
Ready to turn "pick your brain" requests into paid meetings?
Simplify scheduling and get paid for your time with Calendly.
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