Self-Compassionate Professor

In this episode, Mildred calls me for an informational interview. We have never talked until now, yet she graciously agrees to be recorded. The information she's seeking is different than one might seek in a traditional informational interview. She's not wondering if my career path is right for her nor is she trying to understand what my daily work life looks like. She hasn't done any "homework" before our conversation. She just wants to feel connected to another person who has made the journey she wants to make and she wants the story about successful career transition to anchor her. She has big questions: What was the transition like? How long did it take? Do you have regrets? How do you move when you feel stuck? Next week, Mildred and I will debrief this week's "informational interview."

An Associate Professor at University of Georgia, Dr. Rebecca Shisler Marshall introduces herself not just by academic title, but also as "a life coach, a Reike practitioner, a mindfulness instructor, and a Shamanic practitioner." In this episode, she explains feeling powerfully drawn to integrative wellness work and after some years as an academic, she finally surrendered to a wonderfully unique career path--a path that was paved with self-compassion, self-care, a surrender to a deep and powerful calling, and an absolute willingness to step fully into her integrity. Dr. Marshall blends together all of who she is in order to create a career that fits well.  

In this episode, Dr. Dan Olson-Bang, Director of Professional and Career Development at Syracuse University, discusses his own journey out of academia after earning his PhD as well as offers expert advice to PhDs who are currently seeking their own alt-ac opportunities. In this discussion, Dan emphasizes the need for PhDs to recognize their own employability and viability, explains how to get beyond the fear of networking, and describes the necessity of figuring out what it is you like and value. 

Former professor, Dr. Beth Godbee, joins me for the first episode of Season 2! Dr. Godbee describes how to live life and career in process: open to imperfection, mindful of our bodies' messages, and grounded in the process of ongoing decision making based on personal commitments. She discusses her move from professor to entrepreneur, her discomfort with our productivity-based culture, and the ongoing need for emotional literacy and social justice work. This episode demonstrates that a good life is always messy. 

Carolyn Mackey discusses how she realized her work in higher education was harming her mental and physical health and how she made the decision to walk away. Influenced by her training in entrepreneurship, Reiki, and A Course in Miracles, she created a career that gave her peace and a sense of freedom. In this episode, Carolyn reminds us to keep it simple, to recognize when we're making decisions out of fear, and to stay open to ideas and opportunities that might seem strange at first. If you feel stuck, confused, or hopeless about your career, you'll find this episode inspirational.  

In this episode, Dr. Lenwood Hayman, Associate Professor of Behavioral Health Sciences at Morgan State University, describes to me the essential practices of love, self-love, self-examination, and meditation as he creates a career focused not on competition, self-interest, and perfectionism, but on compassion, listening, interdependence, and love. So many insights! 

Today, I offer a "compassionate breathing" meditation from the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. It's been a tough week, a tough month, a tough year. The racial justice revolution and pandemic are calling us to pause. This is my way of pausing. And if you need to pause and offer yourself some self-compassion, you're invited to meditate with me. I also unexpectedly gift you with a cameo from my noisy family  upstairs. LOL.