From the Catwalk to the Commencement Stage with Dr. Felicia Clark
Dr. Russell Strickland [40:34]
Wow. And when’s the book coming out?
Dr. Felicia Clark [40:39]
So um, I have a prototype already written, we’re going to launch I’m launching a blog called “Goddess Conversations” coming in at the end of September. And the app is called Girl. It’s an app for black women. And it’s I love the tagline. It’s “An app for black women built by black men who love their mamas.” So even though it’s a woman’s outreach, you know, it’s certainly very man-friendly. And we appreciate the men who are helping us, you know, take this step. So that will launch at the end of September. And I’m going to build up my audience to a number that I know in my head that I don’t want to say, and then I’ll launch my book, but the books already ready.
Dr. Russell Strickland [41:23]
Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, well, it’s always right. You got to put a deadline out there. And that’s when the books ready. Right.
Dr. Felicia Clark [41:31]
Right. So yeah. Thank you, Dr. Strickland. And again, I’m blessed, you for being there. Because I wouldn’t have finished without someone to really hold my hand and, you know, walk me down. The the doctor, the doctoral aisle, right. And so that’s what you’re doing. And it’s so needed. And if anyone’s out there on the fence, or you’re at home paying tuition every semester, because I did and not not moving forward, just reach out and get help. I mean, we kind of are we we’ve been so rewarded for working alone, when we get to this step. And then you have to work alone on some level, because everyone’s research is different. But what you don’t have to do is be alone.
Dr. Russell Strickland [42:20]
That’s right.
Dr. Felicia Clark [42:20]
You need a support structure.
Dr. Russell Strickland [42:22]
Yeah. So one of the things I’ve noticed is a lot of doctoral students have this hero complex, and that being strong means like, Atlas, with the world on your shoulders. And I think being strong is being able to say, hey, listen, I don’t know how to do this yet. Let me reach out for some help. Because that’s who’s really strong, right? Somebody who’s not worried about somebody, how they going to be perceived, or what somebody’s gonna say about them, but just they’re going to say, hey, I don’t know how to do this yet. And “yet,” I think it’s an important word, it gives you hope and optimism, as opposed to I don’t know how to do this, and you’re hanging your head down. But, but recognize that that’s, that’s what a student is, is a person who doesn’t know how to do this yet. So don’t worry about that. That’s not a that’s not a sign of weakness is the fact that you were growing. And you talked about that growth earlier. That’s so important. So yeah, thank you for saying that. And to everyone who, you know, if you’re going through this process, do find your help somewhere. You know, Dr. Clark found hers I found mine going through this process. And then of course, we offer it to students, but but wherever you have to look, find your help somewhere, because it’s very, very difficult to do it alone. Almost impossible. You need help.
Dr. Felicia Clark [43:31]
Okay, can I make one more comment? Because I made some notes. And I didn’t say this. Is that okay?
Russell Strickland [43:36]
Go for it.
Dr. Felicia Clark [43:36]
Um very, very key to me graduating quickly was my chair was never my professor. She had a vested interest in me graduating. So my chair wrote books on anxiety. And then my area is math anxiety. So by me graduating and us working together, it opened up a field for her and math anxiety.
Dr. Russell Strickland [44:01]
Yeah. And that’s something that it’s not always going to work that way. But you do want to try if you can find committee members, that if they don’t have a vested interest in you graduating, at least they understand and they can appreciate the that that’s your goal is that you want to graduate as soon as possible, because some chairs don’t share that goal. They think it’s supposed to take a long time. Mine took six years, yours is gonna take six years. No, that’s not fair. That’s not true. If your goal is to graduate quickly, make sure that your professors the committee that you’re working with, they understand that goal, and they agree with it. You know, not to say that it’s their goal as well, but they can appreciate that is your goal, and they’re not gonna stand in your way. That’s what you need. So, anyway, again, Dr. Clark, I want to thank you for being here because I mean, so much wonderful insight on this journey and how it works and then the rewards that come after. I appreciate all that. tell folks if they wanted to reach out to you, you know about you have math anxiety or about, you know, these beauty standards or anything that we talked about, and they just want to continue the conversation, what’s the best way for them to get in touch with me.
Dr. Felicia Clark [45:10]
So on my website is drfeliciaclark.com and I have a contact form there on my website. That website is all about my body image coaching platform. As far as mathematics, I don’t have a website for that. I just meet people, I’ve done it for years, and they just call you and put you on a team. But I do educational audits, I read the budgets for organizations. If people need to downsize, I look at their spending habits versus their goals and recommend cuts as far away from the core of their core values, so that they kind of don’t feel it as best as I can do that. So that’s been popular since COVID. And then I write a standardized math test. And yeah, the textbook,
Dr. Russell Strickland [46:01]
And you know, if you don’t, you can’t take notes right now. Just go to our website at DissertationDone.com/blog. And you can find Dr. Clark’s episode there will list all of our contact information and her TED talk and see what we can do to link to the book as soon as we can. We’ll do all that stuff. So you can find how to how to reach out to Dr. Clark that way.
Dr. Felicia Clark [46:25]
Well, thank you, Dr. Strickland, I appreciate it.
Dr. Russell Strickland [46:28]
Yeah, absolutely. So I want to thank you once again, and I want to let everyone else know that, you know, I want that today’s episode has been brought to you by Dissertation Done. So we’ve talked about this dissertation process, if you’re facing it, in the middle of it, whatever you need help, guidance and support. If you want to talk to us about how to get it, DissertationDone.com/done is where you go. If you’ve gotten through that stage of your life, and you want to be a published expert, you know, like Dr. Clark is so excited about her book. You’ll find out about how we can get you from the blank page to being a published author as soon as possible. And we can have a conversation three chapters at DissertationDone.com/book. So that’s how you can reach us. Dr. Clark is at DrFeliciaClark.com. And again, thank you so much for being with us today.
Dr. Felicia Clark [47:18]
All right. Thank you so much for having me. It’s wonderful conversation. Thank you so much.
Dr. Russell Strickland [47:22]
And everyone else, I hope you have a wonderful day and go out and live your unconventional life.
Outro [47:33]
This has been An Unconventional Life. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, subscribe now to keep getting inspirational stories of unconventional lives as soon as they’re released. Until then, go out and live your best unconventional life.
