Your Words Unleashed

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Feeling the weight of the upcoming semester? You’re not alone. In this listener's choice episode, I explore why so many academics head into fall already exhausted—and how you can change that. 
I share a simple but powerful three-step approach to reduce your teaching load without sacrificing student learning. You’ll hear why it’s essential to put your own priorities at the center of your semester planning and how a few intentional choices now can save you from burnout later. 
Whether you’re facing large classes, heavy grading, or endless course prep, these strategies will help you reclaim time for your own well-being. If you’ve ever wished you could teach less but still feel good about it, this conversation will show you that it’s not only possible—it’s necessary.
Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

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Academic writing often asks us to keep ourselves out of the story. Memoir asks us to do the opposite.
In this episode, I talk with sociologist and intersex scholar-activist Georgiann Davis about her new book, Five Star White Trash, a research-driven memoir that weaves together personal narrative and sociological analysis. We discuss what it means to write about deeply personal experiences as an academic, how memoir can help readers understand larger social issues, and why storytelling can be a powerful form of scholarship.
Georgiann shares her journey from middle school dropout to professor, the challenges of writing openly about family trauma and identity, and how sociological concepts helped her make sense of her own experiences. We also discuss audience, accessibility, and the possibilities that emerge when scholars move beyond traditional academic genres.
If you've ever wondered what memoir can offer that other forms of academic writing cannot, this conversation provides a thoughtful exploration of the connections between lived experience, research, and public scholarship.

Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

Send us Fan Mail
Many academics postpone thinking seriously about money until they have a "real job." But the habits and systems you build long before that point can have a significant impact on the choices available to you later.
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Emily Roberts, founder of Personal Finance for PhDs, about the financial challenges that graduate students and postdocs often face. We discuss scarcity mindset in academia, the relationship between money and personal values, and why financial literacy is about much more than budgeting. Emily also shares practical strategies for building financial awareness, preparing for career transitions, and creating structures that support long-term goals.
This conversation is especially useful if you're trying to make career decisions while navigating the uncertainty of academia today.

Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

Send us Fan Mail
Many academics reach a point where they start wondering whether they can continue doing this work in the same way for the rest of their career. But even when those questions start surfacing, leaving academia can still feel almost impossible to imagine.
In this episode, I talk with my friend Dr. Saher Selod about her transition from tenured professor and department chair to Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU). We discuss the emotional reality of leaving academia and the fear and uncertainty that often comes with it. We also talk about how burnout, institutional change, and shifting priorities shape one's decision to explore something different.
We also talk about how academic skills translate into policy and nonprofit work, what it means to make research more accessible and publicly impactful, and why many academics underestimate the value of the work they already know how to do. This is a conversation about career transitions, but also about identity and rethinking what meaningful work can look like beyond the academy.

Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

Send us Fan Mail
What helps some academic authors finish their books while others remain stuck for years? In this solo episode, Leslie explores the question she has been pondering throughout her coaching career: what truly creates writing success? 
Drawing on her experience working with hundreds of scholarly authors, she challenges common assumptions about productivity, motivation, and time management. 
Leslie shares a practical framework for understanding why writing progress often stalls and what allows authors to keep moving forward despite busy schedules, competing demands, and inevitable setbacks. If you're working on a book manuscript, this episode offers deep insight and a fresh perspective.
Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...