Self-Compassionate Professor

So much great advice in this episode! Dr. Marissa Floyd picks up where she left off in Episode 13 and tells us about why she loves her job and why she loves working in Costa Rica. She also offers advice to others who want to create their own career opportunities. This is Part 2 of a three-part series. We'll get an update from Marissa in the next episode. 

In this episode--a three-part interview series--Dr. Marissa Floyd drops some serious wisdom about how to create your own alt-ac career opportunities. Her recipe? Weave together your academic research with an outside internship and boldly seek out people and companies who can help you do exactly what you want to do. This interview is truly inspiring.

Dr. Gloria Walker is an expert in career reinvention. While she helps others to reinvent themselves, she also has had three major career reinventions of her own. In this episode, she describes how with each change, she becomes clearer about who she is and what she cares about. She even discusses how her latest career has helped her to rediscover her intuition after having had it previously beat out of her by culture. "Everything changes and that's OK" is her guiding mantra, which as she explains, keeps her grounded. If you're in the midst of reinvention, this episode is for you. 

Because pandemic weirdness has taken over, I found that I needed a self-compassion break this week. Most of us need one right now so in this episode, I offer instructions about how to take a self-compassion break. My instructions are based on research in the area of Mindful Self-Compassion. 

In this episode, Dr. Erin Willer, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Denver, draws on Stephen Cope's book, "The Great Work of Your Life" to discuss how it shaped her own career journey as an academic. One of my favorite questions she asks in this episode is this: "What is this doing for my heart and soul as opposed to my vita?" This is a question all of us should be asking ourselves. Enjoy the interview!

In the trailer, I tell my own career-wellness story, explain how self-compassion has changed the shape of my own career, and describe my vision for the Self-Compassionate Professor community--a place where, above all, faculty, grad students, and those in altac careers feel supported by others to take counter-cultural career paths. #careerwellness #selfcompassion #happyhealthyfulfilled  

In this episode, Natasha Thomas-Jackson and I talk about her balanced and truthful way of navigating life and career. As a social justice advocate, she says, “...social justice is internal and external. It’s psycho-spiritual as well as socio-political...All of my work, at its root, involves healing… healing ourselves, homes, communities, political system, and our world…My why is that I’m in love with people. I want all people to be free and my tools are love and truth.” In this episode, Natasha offers tangible strategies for healing ourselves and our world. PLEASE listen! It will make you a better person. 

In this episode, Shawna discusses how she lives by her own rules and how she created her own career in her own way! In this episode, we talk about the flexibility and freedom she's been able to create and how she's stayed resilient during the hard times. Unlike most, Shawna doesn't abandon her own needs, values, and happiness in pursuit of culturally-defined rules. This is a great episode!

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Ginger Moran, former Professor of English Literature. She describes her transition from an academic career to creating her own own career, involving writing, coaching, and entrepreneurship. Ginger emphasizes the challenges of living your dreams, but she also emphasizes the pain of living a small life.