The Royal Society says that “A PhD is an advanced and respected research qualification” and I agree!
They also suggest that PhDs should ‘consider the wide range of careers open to them upon completion’. I also agree! The more that I considered leaving academia the more I realised that we don’t have access to resources to make it happen.
My goal with The Leveraged PhD is to give you the resources and confidence to use your PhD to its full potential, whatever that path is.
The idea behind The Leveraged PhD is to help you use your PhD to its maximum advantage thereby gaining more from your PhD than you put in (and I know you put a lot into your PhD).
Hi there! I’m Mel Bruce founder of The Leveraged PhD. I earned my Doctorate of Philosophy in Marketing in 2013.
I taught at a university in Australia for a few years while completing my PhD and for a year afterwards. Then I moved to the USA and taught as a Visiting Professor for a year, I then got tenure track position which I started in 2015. After 4 years on the Tenure-Track, I realised it wasn’t going to be the right path for me and quit. I hedged my bets and spend one last year in a visiting position to ensure that leaving what the correct path for me.
I’m now a business coach for eco-minded entrepreneurs and co-own a sustainable giftware company.
Academia burnt me out and the culture of publish or perish in paywalled journals made me feel like I wasn’t doing anything useful with my life. What started as a side hustle while in academia has grown to be my full-time career. My businesses allow me to change the world and make me feel fulfilled in a way that academia increasingly did not. In 2020 after 6 years as an Assistant Professor I quit my academic career and became a full time entrepreneur.
Looking to fast track your business or personal brand? Check out my business coaching and/or personal branding course.
If you want to check out others who are living their best lives through businesses, side hustles and non-academic careers then take a look at the Friday Feature interviews on this blog.
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Life is about evolution and growth. This blog is no different. Here is the story so far.
I originally started this blog in 2017 for professors, administrators, and staff of colleges and universities who wanted to overcome the challenges of international educational experiences and create more opportunities for all students to participate in a life-changing international experience. As I created content I soon realised that my most popular posts were about how to build a personal brand for academic and non-academic careers and side-hustles. Therefore, I switched up the focus of my blog in January 2019. In May 2019 I rebranded from The Professor Is Out to The Leveraged PhD.
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