Libsyn Directory

276: [Leadership Series] Avoid Being Sucked Into A Leadership Vacuum

Release Date: 07/01/2025

296: [Mid-Career Series] Using Navigate to Plan for Full: Client Case Study with Michelle Espino (Re-Release BONUS)

Academic Writing Amplified

When you reach mid-career in academia, it can feel like you should have everything figured out. But often, that’s when the real questions begin. In this episode, I sit down with Michelle, a mid-career scholar and second-round participant in our Navigate program, to talk about what happens after tenure and how she’s redefining success on her path to full professorship. Michelle shares how Navigate helped her regain her sense of freedom, recalibrate her time and energy, and reconnect to her purpose as a scholar and leader. If you have considered applying to Navigate or if you...

295: [Mid-Career Series] Leading for Legacy (Re-Release EP 105)

Academic Writing Amplified

After tenure, it can feel like everyone is depending on you, from students to your junior colleagues, your co-authors, and even your family. In this episode, I explore what it really means to lead for legacy at this stage in your academic career. Leadership isn’t about taking on more work or moving into administration. It’s about how you show up for others while also taking care of yourself. I’ll share how to lead in a way that sustains both you and the people who look to you for guidance. Then, I break down why it is okay to focus your energy on your academic mission and...

294: [Mid-Career Series] What Academic Leadership Really Means (Re-Release EP 94)

Academic Writing Amplified

Have you been told to “step into leadership” on your campus, only to realize what they really meant was taking on more admin work? In this episode, I’m breaking down one of academia’s biggest myths: that leadership and administration are the same thing. They’re not, and understanding the difference can transform how you approach your academic career. As part of our Mid-Career Series, this episode explores what real leadership looks like beyond the tenure track. I share what I’ve learned about leading without losing yourself to bureaucracy and why leadership is less about...

293: [Mid-Career Series] You Don’t Have To Do The Mid-career Burnout (Like Everyone Else In Academia) (Re-Release EP 182)

Academic Writing Amplified

Are you feeling stuck, unmotivated, or wondering what happened to the joy you once felt in your academic work? You’re not alone. Today, I’m tackling one of the most common and least discussed challenges in the scholarly journey: the mid-career slump. This episode is part of our Mid-Career Series, where I am exploring what it really takes to thrive after tenure. If you’ve hit that milestone and expected relief, only to feel even more frustrated and overwhelmed, this conversation is for you. I unpack how the academic system sets you up to sprint toward tenure, pushing yourself harder and...

292: [Mid-Career Series] What Got You Tenure Won’t Get You to Full (Re-Release EP 97)

Academic Writing Amplified

My Mid-Career Series is all about redefining success after tenure and building a career that feels as meaningful as it looks on paper. In this segment, I share one of the hardest truths about the academic journey — what got you here won’t get you there. I explore how the habits, priorities, and systems that helped you earn tenure may actually hold you back from becoming a full professor or advancing in new directions. If you’ve been feeling like you’re working just as hard but not making meaningful progress. Or, if you’re wondering why your post-tenure years feel less clear than the...

291: [Mid-Career Series] Why You’re Still Exhausted After Getting Tenure (And What To Do About It) (Re-Release EP 96)

Academic Writing Amplified

Many post-tenure professors find themselves more exhausted than ever, despite achieving what they thought would finally bring balance. In this segment of the Mid-Career Podcast Series, I unpack why you’re still so dang tired and what you can do to reclaim your energy, focus, and purpose in your academic career. I’ll dive into what exhaustion really looks like for scholars who’ve spent years pushing toward tenure, only to find that the same habits and overbooked schedules have followed them into the next chapter of their careers. From managing others’ fires to working without time for...

290: [Mid-Career Series] I Got Tenure And Then This Happened (Re-Release EP 90)

Academic Writing Amplified

When you finally receive that long-awaited email announcing tenure, you expect it to change everything—less stress, more freedom, and the chance to finally pursue the big dreams you’ve been putting on hold. But what happens when the reality doesn’t live up to the hype? In this episode of the Mid-Career Series, I share my own post-tenure story. From the anticlimactic certification letter to the realization that tenure didn’t automatically bring clarity, impact, or balance. Instead, I found myself stuck at the top of the promotion ladder in the middle of a financial crisis, still...

289: [Mid-Career Series] 5 Myths About Your Post Tenure Career (Re-Release EP 49)

Academic Writing Amplified

Earning tenure is often treated as the finish line of an academic career—but what if it’s actually the start of a whole new set of challenges? This episode is part of our Mid-Career Series, where I discuss what life really looks like post-tenure. Too often, scholars expect tenure to mean lighter workloads, more freedom, and clearer direction. In reality, many find themselves juggling even more demands with fewer guideposts for what comes next. I unpack five common myths about the post-tenure career stage and reveal what’s really waiting on the other side of promotion....

288: [Mid-Career Series] What Does “Mid-Career Academic” Mean? (Re-Release EP 63)

Academic Writing Amplified

I am excited to kick off the brand-new Mid-Career Podcast Series, where I dive into the realities of academic life after tenure. Mid-career is the longest stretch of the academic journey, often 15 to 20 years, and while it brings stability and experience, it can also feel like uncharted territory. Many academics discover that the freedoms they imagined post-promotion are replaced with heavier workloads, shifting priorities, and the lingering question of what’s next. In this first episode, I lay the groundwork for what mid-career really looks like and why it matters. I’ll talk about...

287: Hot Take: Stop Rewriting Your Grants And Write Papers

Academic Writing Amplified

What should take priority in your academic career right now: rewriting grant proposals or getting your papers published? In this episode, I offer a hot take that might make you pause—and rethink – how you’re spending your precious writing time. Grants are, of course, essential for research. They fund our projects, sustain our labs, and provide the indirect costs universities depend on. But in today’s climate—especially with the instability of many federal grant programs—pouring endless hours into resubmitting proposals may not be the most strategic move. At the same time, your...

More Episodes

Are you constantly being asked to do more than your role requires because others around you aren’t stepping up? You might be getting pulled into a leadership vacuum.

In this final episode of the Leadership Series, I define what a leadership vacuum is and explain why so many mid-career academics—especially those in middle-management roles—get pulled into these gaps. Whether you’re a department chair, PI, or program director, it’s easy to start taking on responsibilities that aren’t technically yours, particularly when leadership above you is weak or absent. I share how to recognize the vacuum, why scholars are especially vulnerable to it, and, most importantly, how to set boundaries that preserve your energy, time, and mission-driven focus.

If you’ve ever felt overextended in your academic role, this episode is for you. Learn how to define your position and hold your boundaries with clarity and confidence.

For full show notes visit scholarsvoice.org/podcast.

We’ve opened the waitlist for our next cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap®. Check out the program details and get on the waitlist here.

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Our 12-week Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap® program helps tenure-track womxn and nonbinary professors to publish their backlog of papers so that their voice can have the impact they know is possible. Get on the waitlist here!
Cathy’s book, Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing is available in print! Learn how to build your career around your writing practice while shattering the myths of writing every day, accountability, and motivation, doing mindset work that’s going to reshape your writing,and changing academic culture one womxn and nonbinary professor at a time. Get your print copy today or order it for a friend here!
If you would like to hear more from Cathy for free, please subscribe to the weekly newsletter, In the Pipeline, at scholarsvoice.org. It’s a newsletter that she personally writes that goes out once a week with writing and publication tips, strategies, inspiration, book reviews and more.

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