To all my peers landing faculty jobs:

I hope you are the change in academia.
I hope you respect and care for your trainees.
I hope you improve professional development.
I hope you fight the system, instead of justifying it.

This is what I would have done.

Over the past two years, I've talked to 100s of PhDs who have left academia.

Fewer than 5 regretted leaving. Most would have left sooner if they only had the resources and support to change careers.

What does this say about academia?

Top 5 advantages that PhDs have outside of academia (save these for your next interview):

1. We know how to teach ourselves.

Every PhD has a story (or five) of how they had to learn a new topic in a few days. We know how to teach ourselves with minimal supervision - we were…

Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Emma Dench said only wealthy students should pursue graduate degrees.

Seven months ago, I started a job I knew virtually nothing about. Here's how it's going today:

My PhD is in Developmental Psychology - I studied babies for over a decade. Today, I am a human factors engineer at a medical device company, building technology to assist orthopedic…

You knew leaving academia would be hard.

But you didn't know it would be like this.

You've listened to all the advice. You've deleted pages of publications, presentations, and awards from your CV in order to make a resume. You've applied to jobs where you're qualified.

You…

In 2024, I've helped 10 PhDs land non-academic jobs in < 90 days. Here's how they did it:

1. They adopted a growth mindset 🌻
2. They learned to love LinkedIn (it's the best).
3. They were proactive and built a strong network.

Leaving academia doesn't need to be so hard.

14 realizations from my 14 day social media break:

1. Work can wait.

2. My business is a marathon, not a sprint
3. My career is a marathon, not a sprint.
4. My life is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. I need to give myself permission to rest.
6. I need to recognize all my…

Does your professional life align with your values?

Or, have you lost sight of what really matters?

Last October, my partner wrote me this note. It feels so long ago now - before the Seattle rain came rolling in, and I decided that my winter hobby would be creating a business.…

In academia, I always pushed myself past my limits.

It's not easy to accept (or honor) my limitations.

I've always struggled with attention and motivation. My solution: pack my schedule so full of work so that I couldn't procrastinate. This 'solution' was encouraged in academia…

The past 2 years have been a journey: leaving academia & unexpectedly becoming a content creator, engineer, & CEO in the process.

Though it all, my goal has been the same: to support PhDs in their own journeys out of academia.

I have lots of surprises in store for May 🌻

There is so much heartbreak in my DMs.

PhD students, post-docs, professors - bright & capable people, completely broken by academia. Scared to speak out about what they've experienced.

I wish things were different. I have no idea what to do.

If you're a professor wanting to leave academia:

1. You are not alone.
2. Check out the Compassionate Cohort: a peer support group for professors navigating the logistics & emotions of leaving academia. Next meeting is 3/29. DM me for more info.

RSVP: t.ly/ALqBU

PSA for all PhDs:

7 beliefs that helped me leave academia:

1. PhDs are expert learners. I can learn anything.
2. My skills are more valuable than my degree.
3. I have all the power to rewrite my story.
4. Quitting does not mean that I failed.
5. If I'm struggling, then I'm growing.
6. No job is…

Your biggest job search challenge is your mindset:

- 'I'm over/underqualified for non-academic jobs.'
- 'I'm bad at interviewing/networking/etc.'
- 'I'm a failure for leaving academia.'

Overcome these limiting beliefs, and you can easily climb down from the ivory tower.