Mrs Mummy PhD®

What would your Scholarly Mama® life look like if you made one tiny decision this week?

Not a big overhaul or dramatic uproot. Just one small, intentional decision.

In this episode, I'm breaking down how tiny decisions can create big impact—and why you don't need permission from anyone to start.

If you've been paralysed waiting for the perfect time to change, this will land differently.

Listen here, listen now.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

REFLECTIVE REPLAY!

Are you feeling stretched thin between your PhD, your family, and everything in between? In this episode, we’re diving into why filling your own cup first is essential—not just for your well-being, but for your success as a Scholarly Mama® leader.

We’ll talk about:

• Why filling your cup first isn’t selfish—it’s leadership
• How imposter syndrome and guilt hold us back from stepping into our full potential
• The power of setting boundaries and reclaiming your identity
• A simple exercise to help you start prioritising you

If you’re ready to stop running on empty and lead with confidence, tune in now and take the first step toward leading yourself well!

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

In this episode, Dr. Janelle Chase-Mayers (aka Dr Jay) shares her inspiring story of juggling motherhood and a PhD journey through grief, all the way to starting her own mental health consultancy business. 

Discover how her insights can empower Scholarly Mamas to prioritise self-care and authenticity while navigating life's challenges.

Resources & Links

• Dr Jay's Re-Engineering Wellbeing Consultancy
• Connect with Dr. Jay on Instagram

This episode offers a heartfelt exploration of juggling academic pursuits with life's emotional realities, inspiring overwhelmed mother scholars to nurture resilience, authenticity, and wellness.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

You said no to something this week.

And you've been replaying it in your head ever since. Wondering if you were being difficult. Questioning whether you should have just said yes. Feeling guilty for protecting your time/energy.

Here's what no one tells you: That discomfort? It doesn't mean you're doing it wrong.

In this episode, I'm breaking down why boundaries feel so uncomfortable for high-achieving mothers—and why that discomfort might actually be the sign you're finally choosing yourself.

You'll discover:

• The real difference between selfish and self-led (and why you've been confusing the two)
• Why the guilt you feel when setting boundaries is proof you still care—not proof you're wrong
• The one question to ask yourself before setting any boundary (it changes everything)
• How to sit with the discomfort without letting it control your decisions
• What I learned when I quit full-time work and felt like I was disappointing people

This one's for you if:

• You avoid setting boundaries because they feel selfish
• You worry that protecting your capacity makes you difficult or uncommitted
• You've been trained to say yes your entire life and you're tired of it

Fair warning: This episode won't make boundaries easier. But it will make them clearer.

And sometimes clarity is all you need to finally choose yourself.

Listen now.

If you'd prefer, you can read the related blog post here.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

You're running on empty. Going through the motions. Stuck in a relentless cycle where every task feels like obligation with no space left for you.

And you're starting to wonder: Is this just my life now?

No. It's not...

In this episode, I'm breaking down the four myths that keep mother scholars locked in survival mode. The beliefs that make you think you're stuck when you're actually just one shift away from something different.

You'll hear:

• Why "I don't have time" isn't the real problem
• The myth that keeps you saying yes when you mean no
• What happens when you shift from "I can't" to "I haven't yet"
• How to recognise the doors in walls you thought were fixed

This isn't about doing more. It's about seeing clearly what's actually keeping you stuck.

If you've been running like this and wondering how/when it'll easier, this one's for you!

It's time to become HER again... the version of you before the world told you who you should be...

Tune in now.

You can also read the related blog post here.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

What if quitting… isn’t failure?

What if the thing you’ve been told to push through, stick out, or prove yourself in is actually the very thing keeping you from the life you want?

In this deeply personal episode, I share a decision that surprised even me: I quit... Not because things weren’t working. Not because I couldn’t handle it. But because success, at least the way I was pursuing it, had become too expensive.

In the years after my PhD, I began to drift into living by default, finding myself lost in the pursuit of it all. Doing what looked right. What sounded impressive. What I thought I should be doing.

But recently I asked myself a different question: What would it look like to quit living my default and to start living by design again?

The answer required courage... and a series of powerful quits.

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the things I’ve chosen to walk away from, why letting go felt so difficult, and how good it feels to become her again... the version of my that became lost in the juggle-struggle. If you’ve ever felt guilty for wanting to step away from something that no longer fits, this conversation is for you.

Because quitting isn’t always giving up. In some cases, it doesn't even require walking away...

But sometimes, it’s the most honest act of self-leadership there is...

Tune in now.

You can also read the related blog post here.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

Last week, we talked about the outsourcing trap and how delegating everything doesn't always create the space you think it will.

This week, we're continuing this conversation. And I'm sharing something that might challenge how you've been thinking about help, efficiency, and what actually creates capacity.

Because here's the truth: outsourcing isn't the problem. The pace is. And if you're outsourcing to maintain something that was unsustainable in the first place, you'll stay burnt out — just more efficiently.

So what do you protect? And what do you let go?

In this episode, I'm walking you through the three questions that helped me see the difference between outsourcing that creates presence and outsourcing that just keeps me running.

Because presence can't be outsourced. And once you know what to protect, everything shifts.

Listen now.

You can also read the related blog post here.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

You got the help, or hired it. You delegated everything you could.

And you're still exhausted.

Here's what no one tells you about outsourcing: on its own, it doesn't create the space you think it will. It just lets you keep up with a pace that's burning you out — more efficiently.

In this episode, I'm talking about the pattern I've been seeing with burnt-out mother scholars: the more they outsource, the less present they become. Not because outsourcing is bad, but because they're using it to maintain something unsustainable.

This is Part 1 of a 2-part episode...

This one's for you if you've outsourced all the help, optimised everything, and still don't recognise your own life.

Part 2 drops next week where we continue this conversation.

Tune in now.

You can also read the related blog post here.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

You slowed down. You created clarity. You can finally see the road ahead.

But then you're faced with the question: are you on the right road?

Sometimes burnout isn't about doing too much — it's about doing the wrong things entirely. And that exhaustion you feel? Your body trying to tell you something you've been too busy to hear.

In this episode, I'm sharing the moment I had to choose between looking successful and actually living. And what happened when I made an unpopular decision to realign... the ripple effect surprised even me.

This one's for you if you look successful on paper but feel heavy deep inside...

Fair warning: once you see the misalignment, you can't unsee it.

Tune in now.

You can also read the related blog post here.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.

Have you ever felt like you're doing everything right and still the path ahead seems so uncertain?

In this episode, Dr Michelle shares her experience of driving to work on a familiar road when the sun hit her eyes and she lost all clarity. Despite being a skilled driver, despite knowing the route, she couldn't see a thing. And what happened next taught her something profound about self-leadership.

If you've been moving too fast to see where you're actually going, this one's for you.

Listen now to discover why clarity doesn't come from trying harder or adding more to your plate — it comes from slowing down.

You can read the related blog post here.

Send me a text message.

Support the show

Want more?

1.  Check out the Mrs Mummy PhD® website.
2. Book your free SEED call.
3.  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest or TikTok.
4.  Join the newsletter family at Scholarly Mamas® - The Letter
5. Check out my Doodle Dozen® children's book series

These are our journeys of becoming.

Disclaimer: All views are my own. Nothing shared on this podcast should be considered a substitute for medical/clinical advice or mental health support. Please seek assistance from a qualified professional who can help you if you are struggling or in need of advice/intervention.