Libsyn Directory

304: Meeting Goals Mid Career - Featuring Dr. Filomena Garcia

Release Date: 01/27/2026

304: Meeting Goals Mid Career - Featuring Dr. Filomena Garcia

Academic Writing Amplified

Many early-career academics believe that once they secure tenure, the pressure eases, writing gets easier, and work magically fits into a reasonable workday. In this episode, I explain why that belief doesn’t hold up and how to take control of your career before a major milestone or promotion. Tenure is an impressive achievement. While it is a big step in your career, it doesn’t automatically undo years of overwork, binge-and-bust work patterns, or unsustainable writing and publishing habits. That’s why I invited Dr. Filomena Garcia to join me for a candid conversation about her...

303: Writing Through Career Pivots And Transitions - Featuring Dr. Lauren Woodard

Academic Writing Amplified

What happens when your research agenda is disrupted by forces completely outside your control? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Lauren Woodard, an assistant professor of anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, for a thoughtful conversation about career pivots, research transitions, and writing through uncertainty. After a year marked by funding instability, forced pivots, and shifting academic priorities, this conversation feels especially timely. Lauren shares her experience overcoming major transitions in her career and inspired...

302: The 3 Biggest Mistakes When Trying to Publish Your Backlog of Papers

Academic Writing Amplified

Are you committed to making 2026 an academic writing year? In this episode, I share information on the upcoming Navigate cohort, my 12-week writing and publishing program for academics who are ready to finally move their backlog of papers toward submission, without burnout. If you’ve been telling yourself that you just need more time, more motivation, or fewer collaborators to publish consistently, this episode challenges those assumptions. I walk you through the single biggest mindset shift that unlocks publication progress, the most common mistakes academics make when trying to...

301: Welcoming 2026 as a Writing Year

Academic Writing Amplified

What if 2026 wasn’t the year you tried to do everything, but the year you finally did the thing that most aligns with your academic mission statement? In this episode, I’m officially inviting you to make 2026 your writing year. I’ve been planting this seed for a while now, especially as we collectively move through ongoing funding uncertainty and career volatility. Today, I want to slow down and really explain what I mean by a “writing year,” why so many scholars are choosing this path right now, and how you can begin making this shift in a practical and sustainable way. I walk you...

300: Powering Down 2025 And Welcoming 2026

Academic Writing Amplified

Today we’re celebrating a milestone: Episode 300. Instead of doing a big party episode, I wanted to share a more grounded, honest reflection as we wrap up 2025, a year that has been one of the most professionally disruptive years for academics. This episode is all about wrapping up, embracing seasonality, and entering winter break with a mindset of restoration rather than burnout, guilt, or the urge to “catch up.” If you’ve been feeling behind, overwhelmed, stretched thin, or like your writing has been pushed into the margins of your life, this is for you. I walk you through the...

299: Scaling Research Without Grants

Academic Writing Amplified

2025 has been a year of funding uncertainty in academia, and I know many of you have been asking yourself how to keep your research moving forward when grant opportunities are unpredictable. Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on a mini-lesson from my Round 2+ Navigate program: Scaling Research Through Writing. I make the case for why 2026 should be a writing year for you. I walk you through how writing and publishing help expand your research’s reach, deepen collaborations, and even enhance your mentorship. I also share practical strategies for working with grad students,...

298: Confronting Feelings Of Shame, Fear, And Guilt About Writing

Academic Writing Amplified

Guilt, shame, and fear around academic writing show up far more often than we admit. And for many academics, those emotions become so intertwined with our identity that even seeing the phrase “making time to write” can trigger a full-body “Nope!” I was reminded of this last week during the National Women’s Studies Association conference in Puerto Rico. The conference was beautifully integrated with local scholars, activists, and artists, creating a powerful space for community and reflection. What surprised me most, though, was the range of reactions people had when they...

297: Cathy’s Holiday Book Review

Academic Writing Amplified

The holiday season is here, and what better way to celebrate than with some great books? In this special 2025 holiday book review episode, I’m sharing some of my favorite reads from the past year, plus one highly anticipated pre-order for 2026. Reading has always been a way for me to pause, reflect, and explore worlds beyond my own, whether through nonfiction that deepens understanding of our shared humanity, literary fiction that transports you across time and place, or romance and fantasy that just makes your heart smile. I’ll give you a quick overview of each book, why it...

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...

More Episodes

Tenure is an impressive achievement. While it is a big step in your career, it doesn’t automatically undo years of overwork, binge-and-bust work patterns, or unsustainable writing and publishing habits. That’s why I invited Dr. Filomena Garcia to join me for a candid conversation about her experience as a mid-career academic and why she chose to join Navigate.

Filomena and I discuss her journey navigating institutional change while parenting three young children, and her realization that “being mid-career” wasn’t enough to give her the academic life she wanted. You’ll hear how she used Navigate to gain new skills, publish stalled work, and take back control of her time, without relying on nights and weekends.

If you’re mid-career and realizing that “more experience” isn’t the same as better systems, this episode will help you rethink what’s possible.

For full show notes visit scholarsvoice.org/podcast.

We're receiving applications for our next cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap®. Check out the program details and start your application process 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. Apply 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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