Your Words Unleashed

Send us Fan Mail
A lot of graduate students—especially those who are first-generation or come from underrepresented backgrounds—enter academia without really knowing how it works behind the scenes. So many expectations are unspoken and timelines can feel fuzzy. A lot of what shapes success is never clearly explained.
In this episode, I’m talking with Dr. Yvette Martinez-Vu, the founder of Grad School Femtoring, about how to navigate grad school with more clarity and support. She shares her own journey through academia and how it led her to support first-gen, BIPOC, and non-traditional students in the work she does today.
We talk about:
-the “hidden curriculum” of graduate school
-why so many students struggle with all the ambiguity
-and what faculty and institutions can do differently to better support them.
Yvette also speaks to the importance of values, community, and sustainable ways of working—and how confidence often grows when expectations are clearer and you can actually see your own progress.
So whether you work with graduate students or are in grad school yourself, this conversation will give you a new way to think about support, structure, and what sustainable progress can look like.
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
Turning a published article into a book chapter can feel daunting—but it’s also one of the smartest ways to build momentum on your manuscript. In this episode, I walk you through how to repurpose your existing work without simply copying and pasting. You’ll learn how to rethink your article as part of a larger narrative, clarify its role in your book’s overall argument, and shift your writing to engage a broader audience beyond your subfield.
I also address common concerns about self-plagiarism and how much previously published material you can realistically include in a monograph. Finally, I share practical revision strategies—what to cut, what to expand, and how to reshape your structure—so your chapter feels cohesive, compelling, and purposeful.
If you’re ready to stop starting from scratch and make meaningful progress on your book, this episode will give you a clear path forward.
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 PhDs who are considering careers beyond academia struggle with a simple question: how do you explain what you do to people outside your field?
In this episode, I talk with David Mendes, host of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, about science communication, career transitions, and how PhDs can start telling clearer stories about their work and their skills. David shares how his own experience navigating life after the PhD led him to create a podcast that highlights the many different paths researchers take beyond academia.
We discuss why academic training often makes it difficult to communicate with broader audiences, how storytelling can help researchers explain their work more effectively, and why building relationships outside the academic bubble is so important. David also offers practical advice on networking, especially for introverts, and how small, authentic conversations can open doors to unexpected career opportunities.
If you’re exploring possibilities beyond academia, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at how to broaden your perspective, communicate your work in new ways, and start building connections beyond your department.

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
As political attacks on colleges and universities accelerate across the United States, what’s happening in higher education is increasingly a warning sign for democracy itself.
In this episode, Leslie speaks with Alison Gash, Professor and Department Head of Political Science at the University of Oregon, about coordinated efforts to undermine academic freedom—from curriculum bans and anti-DEI policies to broader attempts to weaken critical inquiry. Together, they examine why universities have become such a central political target, and what is at stake when spaces devoted to evidence, debate, and learning are constrained.
The conversation also explores how faculty, students, and education leaders are responding through collective advocacy. Alison shares how networks like We Are Higher Ed emerged, why letter-writing campaigns have become a powerful organizing tool, and how community-based resistance can counter the isolation that authoritarian systems depend on.
Listeners interested in learning more or getting involved can explore the resources and advocacy efforts at We Are Higher Ed.

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
Have you achieved a lot in your academic career — but something still feels off? In this episode, I explore the identity shifts that often hit academics in mid-career, especially around getting tenure.
Drawing on Arthur Brooks' provocative Atlantic essay on professional change, I unpack why purpose naturally evolves over time — and why that's nothing to fear. I talk about the post-tenure slump no one warns you about, the quiet fear of becoming irrelevant, and why academia's narrow definition of success can leave mid-career scholars feeling stuck.
I also dig into the different kinds of intelligence and how that distinction can help you stop seeing change as decline and start seeing it as evolution.
If you've been wondering how to make your career fit who you are today, this episode is for you!
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 ...