Self-Compassionate Professor

Dr. Emily Benson will leave behind her academic career in May/June of this year and begin working full-time in her growing career coaching business. In this episode she explains how her coaching business began, how she finally knew it was time to resign from her faculty position, the challenges of working in academia when you are a creative person, how she plans to say goodbye to academia in a healthy way, and the challenges of mid-career transition. Emily and I also chat about how, as HSPs (Highly Sensitive Persons), we crave meaningful work. We also discuss the importance of listening to our bodies. 

Dr. Sara Branch tells an open and honest story about reaching burnout as a tenure-track faculty member, including the challenges she faced in navigating intense mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion as well as depression. Sara describes having lost herself at that time. But Sara's life changed dramatically in 2018 when she left academia and found herself again. The joy and freedom she now feels is tangible in her voice during this conversation. She urges listeners to think about their values and decide whether or not their personality is a good fit for academia. 

Dr. Alissa Ackerman describes the healing power of finding her own personal voice within her academic work—a change that facilitated deeper connections to her research, her students, and herself. Having built deeper connections, Alissa found herself better positioned  to offer healing to a wider public audience and ultimately, able to create much greater healing impact in the world than she was able to do with her standard academic voice. She imparts that wisdom to listeners, asking them to get really still about what they want to do, notice whether or not their goals are congruent with the space they find themselves in, and accept responsibility to make necessary changes. 

After having earned tenure, left academia, and built a wildly successful company (the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity), Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore retired three years ago at the age of 45. In this episode, she shares her deep wisdom about how she grew into a life grounded in purpose and health: pausing every year to reassess her life and ensure that she's on track to fulfill her own definition of success, working to let go of her entrenched childhood fears around financial insecurity, and willingly embracing a life free of attachment to particular identities and roles. In this episode, you'll hear and feel the unwavering commitment she has to living up to her own potential and helping others to do the same.

Dr. Natalia Bielczyk tells the story of feeling burned out in her PhD program. And in an effort to rest and regain a sense of interest and excitement in her work, she decided to take a year off. In that time, she allowed herself to explore and engage her non-academic interests. This time investment led her to the career in which she now finds herself--a career she very much loves. For those who are struggling to feel a sense of ease and clarity in their academic careers, Natalia advises to watch your mental patterns and expectations, learn how to read people, and know that life does not have to be difficult. In the end, Natalia urges academics to be brave and if academia isn't working for them, try other career options because, as she notes, we only have one life. Find Natalia's offerings for early-career PhDs transitioning to industry at her website: https://ontologyofvalue.com/

Allison Otto, a career coach at Vanderbilt University Career Center, specializes in finance and investment banking recruiting. She shares her journey into career development and the importance of utilizing campus career services. The dartboard strategy for networking is introduced, highlighting connections with inner circles and cold outreach. Allison emphasizes reframing informational interviews to encourage genuine dialogue. She also discusses the crucial habits for a successful career transition and shares inspiring student success stories.

Dr. Andre Marques-Smith explains the absolute necessity of engaging with your passion throughout life: staying focused on the things that nourish your passion, noticing when your passion starts to wane and when it does, assessing the situation and making decisions that will open up new paths of passion once again. He talks about his changing interests over the course of his life and how he has easily let go of old habits in order to embrace new and emerging interests. Dr. Marques-Smith argues that we will achieve only mediocrity if we stay in a place after our passion dissipates and that moving on is essential despite fears and sunken costs.   

Last week, in Episode 38, we heard from Dr. Jacob Kashiwagi, who discussed the components of good mentorship and leadership. In this week's episode, we hear from one of Dr. Kashiwagi's mentees, Dr. Jake Gunnoe. Dr. Gunnoe talks about how to be a good mentee, how to find a mentor, how to navigate the relationship, and he explains the many benefits of seeking out mentors. Few of us have had a mentoring relationship as deep and as enduring as the one Jake and Jacob have had, but, as Jake explains, a mentoring relationship doesn't have to look any certain way. It simply needs to be helpful and in that way, as Jake discusses, "greatness is your back pocket." Find Dr. Jake Gunnoe on LinkedIn and reach out to him via email at jake.g@leadaz.org. Also, check out Leadership of Arizona's YouTube Channel.  

Dr. Jacob Kashiwagi describes his model for success, including finding a mentor, listening, making mistakes, and getting out of your own head. The model he lives that led him to creating a successful course at Arizona State University as well as building a successful nonprofit business came from his father's academic research--research he applied practically to managing his own home and children. Growing up, Jacob watched the effects of living the model on his family and now, in his organization, teaches these principles to others. Email him at team@leadaz.org or find him on LinkedIn. Also, check out his books, "No Influence Mentoring" and "In Search of Truth" as well as Leadership Society of Arizona's YouTube Channel.  , 

Dr. Vicky Sherwood describes how she started down an academic career path without ever making strategic decisions about where she wanted to go. Having earned her PhD and completed a post-doc, Vicky says she was "hell-bent on becoming a professor," yet over the course of her academic career, she carried an ongoing and nagging sense that she should explore other career possibilities. Eventually she left her job as a tenured professor and now speaks of her present career in freelance medical writing as ever-changing and always in process. Dr. Vicky Sherwood offers great advice to others who want to leave. Check out her blog called, "Biomed Badass" and find her on LinkedIn.