Un-Paradigmed
Welcome to Un-Paradigmed.
A quietly rebellious space for unraveling the rules we didn’t know we were living inside of and exploring what becomes possible when we notice and/or stop following them.
This podcast was formerly The Sequel to a PhD Podcast and still holds those past episodes to honor the evolution of the body of work. Moving forward, you’ll find something a little different: noticing and naming the structures we operate within, genuine curiosity and questions without clear answers, and a more spacious conversation about leadership, self-trust, and the cultural stories we’re ready to outgrow.
Podcast relaunch with new episodes coming soon!
Hosted by Shirley Markant, PhD — coach, thinker, paradigm-unraveler. Learn more at www.shirleymarkantcoaching.com.
Episodes
28 episodes
Episode 26: On Building a Body of Work
In today’s episode, I explore the idea of shifting from viewing our jobs and careers as linear paths or defined identities to seeing them as part of a larger body of work that we have freedom to build and shape in whatever direction we want thr...
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Episode 26
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21:56
Episode 25: How to Move Forward Through Overwhelm (Even When It's Good Stuff)
Summary:In this episode, we dive into a mindset shift that can make a big difference when tackling tasks that feel overwhelming or hard to start. Even when we're excited and inspired by new projects and ambitions on the horizon, that...
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Episode 25
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23:14
Episode 24 - Unexpected Micro-Moment of Joy: Metaphor from Outside the Shopping Mall
Summary: In this quick and fun episode, Shirley shares a surprising moment from her day that brought a little dose of joy. She dives into how this unexpected sight led to some deeper thoughts: What if we all embraced being different and ...
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Episode 24
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8:09
Episode 23: Back at It – A New Direction for the Podcast
Episode Summary: Hey everyone! After a year-long break, I’m back, and the podcast is taking a new direction. Originally, this show was all about helping scientists who were thinking about leaving academic research, but life changes, and ...
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Episode 23
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7:53
Episode 22: The World We Want
Welcome back to the podcast!In this season, we're digging into exploring how to figure out what we really want, which can be a challenge for so many of us. Today, I'm sharing my perspective on why what we want matters as well as my rece...
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23:24
Episode 21: Returning to "What Do I Really Want?"
Welcome back to the podcast for the start of Season Two!I’m excited to be back with you! Today, I’m returning to orient around the question we often have for ourselves of “What do I really want?”. You would think that this question of w...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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16:53
Episode 20: What Can I Strip Away?
Welcome back to the podcast!Today, I'm talking about how the question of "what can I take out of my life?" can help us focus on living our values, as well as how this relates to my personal approach to the summer. I also talk about my p...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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8:43
Episode 19: The Whirlwind of Realignment
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I talk about my perspective on how overwhelm from the numerous components that require our attention when making big changes in our careers can contribute to that scary feeling that happens w...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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27:40
Episode 18 - Reflections on Startup Pharma: My Favorite Job, the Question of Regret, and Uncovering Our Values From Past Experiences
Welcome back to the podcast!In this slightly nostalgic episode, I look back on my favorite role in bench science at a start-up pharmaceutical company! (And some slightly comical and absurd moments in the role I held prior to the start-u...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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29:58
Episode 17 - Staying Curious: Dr. Kristine Averill's Path From Plant Scientist to Somatic Mindfulness Coach
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I'm delighted to chat with Dr. Kristine Averill, who shares her inspiring story of transitioning from a successful 15-year academic career in Plant and Crop Sciences to become a passionate So...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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27:28
Episode 16: A Nap is Not Enough: The Space In Between as an Essential Component of Rest
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, we talk about REST. Giving ourselves permission to rest (which can be a challenge due to our conditioning, particularly coming from academia), dissociating rest from an expectation for it to ...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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28:18
Episode 15: From Preclinical Research to Clinical Applications and Entrepreneurship with Dr. Sierra Simpson
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I enjoyed chatting with Dr. Sierra Simpson, a PhD scientist with a background in investigating the connections between the microbiome and addiction. Sierra shares her story of how she moved a...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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36:06
Episode 14: When the Impact of Our Work Gets in the Way of Making Change
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I explore how thinking about the impact of our work can help guide our decision-making as well as hold us back when we're feeling nudged towards making changes. We talk about possible ways to...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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24:23
Episode 13: Dream Constraints: Breaking Free to Become More
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, we explore the relationship between allowing ourselves to dream (i.e., imagining our wild and outrageous ideal) and becoming even more of ourselves. We go through a few factors relevant to sc...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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24:48
Episode 12: The Icky, Sticky, Slippery Steps of Starting Something New
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I share a previously recorded episode that I almost deleted because I felt it wasn't perfect, until I remembered that sharing even the incomplete, imperfect ideas is part of how we co-create,...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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16:59
Episode 11: Navigating Outside Our Comfort Zones and Becoming More of Ourselves
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I talk about some thoughts-in-progress that have been on my mind recently around the connection between moving out of our comfort zones and the question of "how do I want this to feel" while ...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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17:14
Episode 10: From Academic Faculty to a Conservation Company and Creative Pursuits with Dr. Emily Dangremond
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I'm delighted to chat with Dr. Emily Dangremond, a PhD ecologist with an interest in plants, climate change, and conservation. After earning her PhD from UC Berkeley, doing a postdoc at the S...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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36:10
Episode 9: Testing the Imperfection Hypothesis
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, I share a new project that I've been working on and what has been holding me back from letting people know about it. We talk about how this situation relates to testing the hypothesis that we...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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18:00
Episode 8: Getting Quiet
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, we talk about what it means to get quiet and how giving ourselves permission to expect nothing of ourselves frees up the space to allow insight and new ideas in. I share my mini-story of how ...
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20:19
Episode 7: What it Means When Our Goals Change
Welcome back to the podcast! In this episode, we talk about: Why it can feel like failure when the original goal (or the path to achieving our goals) no longer feels right. How any goal a...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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16:17
Episode 6: Journey from PhD to a Successful Consulting Business with Bryan Quoc Le
Welcome to the first guest episode of the Sequel to a PhD Podcast! Dr. Bryan Quoc Le is a food scientist, food industry consultant, and author of the book,
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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34:14
Episode 5: Already Living the Dream
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, we talk about: My personal story from the past two years of shifting my approach to work and what I want to do.How a recent moment of stress flipped around and becam...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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23:19
Episode 4: A Framework to Approach Career Shifts When You're Not Sure What You Want to Do Next
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, we talk about: Why looking at job postings is not the right place to start when thinking about career change choicesA three-part framework for exploring what's next ...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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22:52
Bonus Episode: Why Less Than 100% is More Than Okay
Welcome back to the podcast!In this bonus episode, we talk about: Reframing what's actually happening when you show up with less than 100% effort, and why these phases are critical to get to where you're heading
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Season 1
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10:20
Episode 3: My Favorite Super Simple Tool to Actually Do That Overwhelming Thing
Welcome back to the podcast!In this episode, we talk about: A super simple technique for making progress on that big, overwhelming, or intimidating thing you really want to doReal-life examples of how I use thi...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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17:45