Caribbean Woman's Education and Career

Ijeoma Kola 0:00

Welcome to the Cohort Sisters podcast . Dr Shelley Ann Gadjadar , i have to first and foremost congratulate you on the new addition to your family . Congratulations on becoming a first time mama You know that isn't about itself and accomplishment on top of all the other amazing things that you're doing . So would love to congratulate you there .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 0:21

Oh , thank you so much , and congratulations to you too on your second bundle of joy , thank you , thank you , thank you .

Ijeoma Kola 0:28

So would love to just get to know you a little bit more . Feel free to let us know you know who you are , where you're from , a little bit about who Shelley Ann is outside of the doctor And we're going to get to the doctor . But we'd love to just get to know you and where you're from , where you currently live and just a little bit about , kind of like , your hobbies and anything else you'd like to share .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 0:49

Perfect . So thank you so much for having me and holding space with me . So you would probably hear the accent . I am a Caribbean woman from Trinidad and Tobago , born and bred there . I currently reside in Atlanta with my husband and my beautiful baby . I am a brave woman . I am a woman that is very dedicated to furthering the mission and the self actualization of women , particularly high performing , aspirational woman . In terms of the things that I really deeply enjoy , i deeply enjoy holding space with others , helping others feel seen and research . Like I'm a deep lover of books , i'm a deep lover of research And I've used that to really create a life that I can actually say is my ID life and a table where I coach and I consult others , consult with others and kind of breaking free from working in a nine to five and working within institutions and more doing so on my own terms .

Ijeoma Kola 2:01

I love , i resonate with all that . Yes , girl , do it on our own terms . That is the name of the game . This life will not drag us down . We have to make it what we want it to be . So I absolutely I mean , i already know you've already had you as a speaker and co-exist as an absolutely love the work that you do , the coaching that you provide . We're definitely going to link the recording to the past workshop that you've done with us in the show notes so that folks can get a little bit of , just a little bit of a sneak peek of the amazing work that you do through all the work that you do with Alpha Institute . So let's talk about the doctoral degree . So what is your doctoral degree in ? from what school and what did you research ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 2:45

Great . So I'll try to make this bite size as possible , because we all know that we can get a bit lengthy with this . So , to keep it simple , my doctorate is focused on PhD in management research , and we're just going to put it as that PhD in management research . I graduated from King's College London . I graduated in 2021 . I crossed the stage in 2022 , actually submitted in 2020 . But then we had a COVID and so many things were just put on hold , so I was only able to finally graduate or graduate and then , like , really walk across the stage in 2022 .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 3:33

My focus in my PhD research was on the triple helix model And , for those of you who don't know what that is , that is where we focus on partnerships that include universities , industry and government . We see a lot in the space of business that more universities are collaborating with . Industry and government is noticing this by seeing universities as a very important stakeholder to regulation , to innovation in particular , and also to the way that we do business . I was interested in this topic because I came from a background of law and I just felt , like you know , we as researchers are people that occupy a very hybrid space . We can do so many things and we're not necessarily stuck in just one kind of arena And I decided to kind of look at how our academics really crossing knowledge bridges and creating a bit more of a legacy when it comes to intellectual autonomy and venturing outside of the university to do that . So that's how I came up with that research .

Ijeoma Kola 4:56

Okay , yeah , that is really interesting . I'm kind of curious about you know you mentioned a law background , yes , so I feel we got to start there . Yes , when you pursued law , did you think about practicing law , like , talk to us about the law educational background to management , business management , phd , because those seem I mean , you explained it a little bit but they still seem a little different . So I'm curious about the thought process .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 5:24

Yeah , so my first professional stint was in law and it wasn't really a stint . I mean , i spent four years as a practicing attorney . I was a criminal prosecutor , so I practice criminal law . For four years I worked for the government of Trinidad and Tobago , which is where I'm from . I prosecuted predominantly murders . I did that Monday to Friday , every single day . Sometimes I'll have eight cases at once . Yep , there's a lot of work to be done when it comes to crime and criminal prosecution and the Caribbean . I did that for four years and then life , life situations happened . I basically lost my mentor at the time , who was also a criminal attorney . I lost her very unexpectedly and very violently . She was assassinated And that is what pivoted my entire career .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 6:24

I decided I no longer wanted to be in a profession the way . I did not see a future for myself and I started over . And starting over means that I no longer wanted to be in the field of law . But I knew that I loved research . I was always very good at research .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 6:41

When it came to legal submissions to a judge , i mean , my research was spot on and I said you know what ? I will take that love for research and I'd go and do my masters in business . You can't go wrong with a business degree , right ? So I said , okay , let me do my masters in business . When I did my masters in business , i went to Edinburgh , scotland , to do that And I did a really great thesis which ended up becoming a published piece of work . And when I realized that oh my God , i could be published in a four star journal , i realized you're onto something . Research is your thing , you enjoy it , you can do it for long hours , and I think the next plausible and kind of expected step was then a PhD , and I was really excited about going into a PhD . So my love of research is what and of course , my career pivot is what then moved me into business and academia .

Ijeoma Kola 7:39

Yeah , thanks so much for sharing about that journey . So you mentioned a master's degree in Scotland . You did your PhD in London . You now live in the US . You have been nearly all over the world . Can you talk a little bit about your experiences as an international student and doing training in Toronto and Tobago , doing training in Europe and then now living in the US and building your business and building your business and building your life here ? Can you just talk about some of the intricacies that you've observed along the way ? Did anything stand out in terms of being educated in the Caribbean versus being educated in Europe , versus working and living in the US now ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 8:17

Yeah . So I would say firstly that as a Caribbean woman and shout out to my Caribbean people but as a Caribbean woman , i think , coming from a small island , i mean , we have 1.2 , 1.4 million people back home And I would say that when you come from a small island , you really have a resilience factor . It's like you know how to make something out of nothing , and it's because we just learn how to do that because that's a form of survival for us . So for me , when I was going to school and growing up in the Caribbean , it was really about how can I make something out of nothing , how can I use everything that I have and be resourceful ? How can I be innovative even if I didn't feel innovative ? How can I see beyond the waters and see beyond the shore that I was on ? How can I dream big ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 9:03

So for me , being a Caribbean woman growing up in the Caribbean , i was always challenged to like , again , just do what you can with all that you have available to you . So that was the first thing . I then took that character and that character piece and I really implemented that when I went over to Scotland Now Scotland . I've never been there before , i knew no one . I literally took my savings and I just left because I was ready to like start over , and the ability again to just make something out of nothing really saved me in that time when I was in Edinburgh . It taught me how to dive deep into a field that I knew nothing about . I mean , i had years of experience in law , zero experience in business , but I just believed that , you know , i can make something really good out of this . So I trusted myself , i trusted my gifts and I really became a sponge like really immersing myself in the experience and learning as much as I can And then being able to like take up space in Edinburgh . That then led me into my PhD in a big city like London . So when I got to London I was already very confident because I made it in Edinburgh . I got my thesis published in a four star journal and I just had like all of the confidence that was needed to maneuver a system that I would say on record is very elitist .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 10:29

I went to a Russell Group University which is very similar to like an Ivy League university in the US and Russell Group universities , which are like the Oxford's and Cambridge . They do not have very high representations of women of color or even on senior leadership teams . You rarely see senior leaders that are of color or lecturers that are of color . So when I got into the PhD cohort , i was the only student of color doing a PhD . It was only until I started to advocate for diversity , and inclusion is when , in the second and third year is when I had more students of color .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 11:11

So with each step that I took in the different countries , it really like prepared me for where I was going with my career and what was needed for me in that moment and in that season . And the biggest lesson that I've learned wherever I've gone is that you matter , your experience matters , your voice needs to be heard and it's okay to trade in your likability for your authenticity And like , if I can tell anybody that who's listening , don't be afraid to trade in your likability just so that you can authentically speak your truth , because as a woman of color in academia , it is so very needed and we need to see it and hear it .

Ijeoma Kola 12:00

Yeah , wow , that is such a powerful little . write it on your post-it note , put it on your laptop . You don't trade your likability for authenticity . I absolutely love that , and I think that when you think about being one of the few , one of the only , and all the pressures that that comes with the pressure to not only work to represent ourselves well but to represent , like all of us collectively well it can lead to people kind of feeling smaller , kind of keeping their thoughts and ideas to themselves , not to ruffle any feathers in the goal or with the goal of being likable , and so I love the sentiment of screw being likable .

Ijeoma Kola 12:41

make sure that you're bringing your authentic self , because that is what is going to continue to make you feel like you can continue in the program as being yourself . So that's such great suggestions , such a good piece of advice . Why King's College London ? I know it's a Ivy League comparable school , but as you were thinking about where to study , what was it about that specific doctoral program that stood out to you , where there are mentors , faculty advisors in that program that were interesting ? how did you know that it was the right choice for you ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 13:12

Yeah , so great question . I think , when you're focusing on where you should really nest for your PhD program , it comes down to who you want to work with , because a large part I mean all of the PhD experience really is who your supervisor is and how are they going to support you along the way .

PhD Program Challenges and Successes

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 13:34

So for me , when I was choosing a school , it really came down to is the subject expert or somebody as good as the subject expert there ? And I remembered when I was looking at schools , the good thing is is the subject experts was at Kings , and not only was the subject expert at Kings , but Kings already had a very big reputation for creating innovation in this space of healthcare , and I was looking at healthcare as my context , because universities really contribute to innovation through healthcare . So when I saw that they already had an ecosystem and a network within the industry and they had the subject expert in the field , it was a no brainer for me , almost . So that's how I went ahead and chose the person And , of course , speaking to other students as well , what was their experience like working with that supervisor ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 14:34

What was their experience working within the cohort ? And all the reviews were really positive And to me it was like this is it . This is definitely it .

Ijeoma Kola 14:45

Oh , i love that . So talk to us a little bit about the journey during the program . What were some of the successes , the high points , and then also what were some of the challenges , if you could recall , just like one or two successes and one or two challenges , that you faced throughout the journey ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 15:00

Yeah . So I would say one of the biggest high points for me in my PhD journey is finally being seen and feeling seen as a black minority PhD student that really wanted to be a lecturer . I remember when I got into the program and those first few weeks , let alone few months , i felt extremely out of my league . When I looked at all of the lecturers , not one of them looked like me . When I looked at the students , no one looked like me . The pictures within the university halls , the spotlight it did not represent what I looked like And I really felt like I needed to do something about this , because I have three to four years here , right , so no one wants to walk through all ways that just don't feel like you belong .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 15:59

So to me , my first big success was really challenging and advocating for more diversity and inclusion to be seen , and that led to the business school actually erecting pillars on every floor of the business school which spotlighted minorities and persons of color , and I was one of them included . I have a huge picture of me standing next to my picture , right on the floor where my room was for my PhD cohort , and finally I just felt like , yes , i am seen , and not just me , but so many other people . So that was like a huge , monumental moment for me to just stay . The pillars still up , my face is still there , and so many others , and it's just testimony of what can happen , what can really happen for us when we advocate for our cause . Sometimes it's your only cause , but it's so many others as well , too , that are not saying anything .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 17:01

So that's the first thing . And then the second thing was doing so well , working so well in my first year that I ended up with a full scholarship for my PhD . When I went in , i had a partial scholarship , i did not have a full scholarship , and I was going to fund the rest on my own . My two . Ladies and gentlemen , this is Pounds right Pounds .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 17:28

And I remember I did so much of good work from being on so many committees , helping the school with so many initiatives , driving the conversation of diversity and inclusion , that there comes a point where your voice can no longer be ignored , your presence can no longer be ignored . And I remember when I got the letter from the PhD program manager I cried so hard because I was literally saving every penny I had to be able to fund this PhD . So when they gave me that full scholarship , that was just another moment of you know again , so important to advocate for you Challenges was always having to deal with microaggressions , and I think this isn't talked enough about . But there are very subtle microaggressions , particularly in the UK context . It's like they call it banter , so it's like little condescending remarks that might be made and everybody can laugh it off and stuff . But it is microaggressions and it happens a lot in very formal settings . So it becomes hard to address it because you're in a formal setting . So that was the first one navigating microaggressions and really saying no to things when I feel like it's a breach or it's disrespectful . And the second challenge I would say is understanding that I would not come out with a bunch of friends at the end of my program And I think that's again something that isn't talked about enough .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 19:06

Sometimes we think , oh well , we're in this program . Everyone is doing the same thing . I'm going to leave here with five , six , seven friends . I left with one . I left with one friend . And why ? Because the PhD journey is so isolating . It's very hard to find people that you can connect with And to connect with for so long You change . You get in there very excited And then by your third 40 years you've changed . So to me it was just accepting that it's OK that this journey is going to be isolated And it's OK to just have small but very meaningful friendship groups .

Ijeoma Kola 19:44

Yeah , well , that's actually such a good point . It's something that I haven't thought about for myself , because you're right , i think the general progress of doctoral programs you're in your coursework , so everyone is seeing each other regularly , especially if you started a program in a cohort model where a bunch of you started at the same time . But once you go off and do your own research , it's so hard to maintain those relationships . And yeah , i'm now thinking oh , how many friends did I come out of after the eight years I spent , or seven years I spent in my PhD program ? That's so real .

Ijeoma Kola 20:18

I don't know if people often I don't know if I've heard someone say that they want to go get a doctoral degree as a way to get friends . I don't think anybody's trying to do that , but it is so good to know . Right , like you are the wrong thing to do . But it is good to know that you might not come out with that many friends And not to say that you're doing anything wrong .

Ijeoma Kola 20:42

That's really just the nature of the way that doctoral programs are shaped . They are very much an individual enterprise . You're doing your research independently . You know you might have some input from your advisors here and there , but once you're beyond coursework , you have to be really intentional about creating relationships with other students in your program . When you were talking about the success of getting going from a partial scholarship to a full scholarship , girl , i love that for you , but I also don't want the people thinking that if they are doing all of the departmental labor of organizing and advocating that , all of a sudden they're going to get funding , because I feel like that's not always the reality .

Ijeoma Kola 21:21

So I do think it . I want people to take away from that story that your funding can change And so whether that means that you need to be intentional about forming relationships with faculty who do have money . If you are only partially funded or not funded at all , just because you don't have funding in one year , that doesn't mean that you can have you can't have funding in a subsequent year . But I also don't want folks to like now just start doing all sorts of additional unpaid service labor , especially for these organizations , or rather institutions who fundamentally like don't care , because some of them say they care on paper and some of them really just like are never going to change . I just don't want folks like thinking that if they now start organizing .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 22:00

No , I 100% agree . Yeah , because sometimes the universities also expect for you to take initiatives which should be on the agenda of the university on your shoulders And I could talk more about that later . But it's very important that if you are doing the extra work , it's because you do it for you first . Do it for you first , because that's where the joy is And everything else comes second , And if you feel like you know what this is a job , then you should be fairly compensated Absolutely .

Ijeoma Kola 22:28

Absolutely Yes . Double time , double time Yes . So I want to talk about your progression into your post doctoral career journey . You mentioned a little bit earlier that you envisioned yourself as a lecturer initially , so at what point did that change for you ? You're currently not a lecturer in the traditional sense . You do educate in your own individual way , which I'd love for you to talk about that as well , but would love to know at what point did you , either during the program or shortly after the program , realize actually I want to do things a little bit differently . Can you just speak to how your post-doctoral career emerged ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 23:07

Yeah , that's a really good point of introspection for me , because it happened in waves . It happened in waves . I don't think there was just one thing that happened And I was like , ok , i definitely don't want to be here . I think it happened in waves .

From Academia to Entrepreneurship

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 23:22

First wave was having to publish , the pressure of publishing and publishing as often as possible . That was something that was always a concern for me . When we had symposiums , like our doctoral symposiums and stuff , conversations around publishing would come up And I'd always feel just a little bit like uncomfortable with it . So that was the first kind of indication that I'm not sure if this might be the right fit . What also came up for me as well is recognizing that there was a particular type of rubric when it came to how we assess our students , what we teach our students And I'm a huge believer in free thinking and giving students the opportunity to critically think for themselves as well . So intellectual autonomy and that opportunity to really speak from a place of experience and speak from a place of authenticity , i felt was a bit compromised or sometimes completely in conflict with the way that we approach education . So that was a red flag for me as well . And then when COVID came along .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 24:34

At that time I was writing up my PhD And I recognized that education in itself is a very isolated journey , but it's also even more isolated when you don't have the physical element to it and the community around you . And it depends so very much on the community , the populace . What does it look like , the demographics of it , and I just felt like that is sometimes those are things out of our control as lecturers . We don't say the types of , we don't say OK , we need the students because we are not enrolling them . That's the higher heads that do that . So ultimately , you can want a particular type of student profile or student demographic within your classroom , but you may not have that .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 25:23

So those were things that just kind of made me realize that I was in a system And when I left law . I left law because I was in a system and I felt trapped by a system And I played with the system and I didn't see any type of real way that I could further the system if I was in it and at the bottom of the totem pole And I just felt like this was a law of vision 2.0 . And that's when I just said , after COVID , after submitting my PhD . That's when I decided that I would pursue a different path , and that was entrepreneurship . At that time , i also would have given up an opportunity to lecture , and that's when , really , i decided to step boldly into entrepreneurship and create my own path as an educator .

Ijeoma Kola 26:22

Yeah , so that's such a great segue . Let's talk about that path . So I don't people . I don't know if they'll be able to see this , but your name is showing up as Dr Shelley and Gadjadar Go bravely . So talk to us about what Go Bravely is . what a Dismantled Community ? what is the educational and coaching work that you do ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 26:42

Yeah , so I am . I have a business , a coaching and consultancy business , which I actually started when I started my PhD . So I was in my first year of my PhD and I started my business , which is called Alpha Stute , and Alpha Stute is a coaching and consultancy which focuses specifically on high performance coaching , getting people to perform more optimally by using management strategies . This is why my PhD is in management , using management strategies , and also we focus on getting students into top universities , whether that's in the US or the UK . Now , when I decided to launch the business , it really was because I saw that there were so many people that were super smart and wanted to experience international education , but just did not know how to go about writing a new university application , a personal statement asking for scholarships or funding , and I mean I went through it right . So I said this is a great way for me to use my experience and , you know , pay it forward In terms of Go Bravely . Go Bravely really is a mantra that I live by and it's the personification of who I am . Right . Leaving everything that I know in law and recreating my identity and my life was a testimony of me going bravely into the unknown and into my ideal timeline And through that , through that mantra , i've been able to build my business .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 28:21

I've been able to create a woman's mentorship community of 200 plus women from around the world And every month I teach a mentorship class focused on either career , business or education .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 28:34

And I also have a healing circle at the end of each month where we just sit girl to girl and we talk about just the challenges that , you know , women face , especially as aspirational women , high performing women , alpha females , women that want to take up space , not dim their lights anymore . So this is where that work came in . And you know , just today I was saying how grateful I am to be able to take my PhD and to take the 15 years of academia that I have spent , you know , and enjoyed , and really bring it into a forum where people can digest it and it tastes good and it's attractive and it feels accessible and it doesn't feel like they have to pay a pretty penny to be able to access the information And we can talk and teach on non traditional things And people can choose how they want to be educated and people could choose the topics they want to spend time on , you know . So through my business , i've been able to really create more choice in how people approach education , and I mean I absolutely love it .

Ijeoma Kola 29:40

Yeah , you're doing such amazing work . I am going to go completely off script right now because you use the term alpha female and realize that . Well , first of all , i said alpha Institute before , is not it's absolutely okay , but it is a play , you're right .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 29:59

it's somewhat right because it is a play on the word alpha Institute , alpha astute . We just brought it together , slapped it together .

Ijeoma Kola 30:07

It's a good brand name .

Balancing High Achievement and Soft Life

Ijeoma Kola 30:10

But I'm curious if you have seen any pushback So I know that there's been , i think , especially post COVID arrived of narrative around like women moving away from the alpha , you know , like independent woman identity , more into like the soft life , soft girl space . So I'm just kind of I just want you to talk about a little bit . Yeah , have you kind of seen any pushback , whether in your community or outside of your community , or people being uncomfortable with this idea of being a high up performing , high achieving woman ? Yes , especially , you know , in the light of you recently , not too long ago , got married , you just had a kid , you're a business owner .

Ijeoma Kola 30:55

I , you know , i identify very strongly with a lot of those similar shared identities . But I know that there are some women who feel like , especially black women , who feel like , well , i'm doing all this high achieving but I , you know , can't find a partner , or I , you know , the streets are the ghetto . So I'm just kind of curious if you've kind of seen or heard any discussion around moving away from the I offer identity to the soft life identity . Hopefully that question makes sense .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 31:25

Oh no , this actually makes absolute sense And it's a topic that we talk a lot about in my mentorship community with the ladies . You know . Um , one of the things that my mentees really talk about with me and commend me on is a very good handle and balance of masculine and feminine energy . You know , and for those of you that don't really know about masculine and feminine energy , masculine energy is the doing energy , it's the actions energy is where the will power is , it's where the to do you know , going out there and doing things and the feminine energy is that soft life , it's that resting in your femininity , it's that feeling moving with emotions .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 32:03

And for me , as an alpha female , you know I get questions a lot about well , how do you balance these two , you know , and can they even coexist ? And my answer to that is absolutely 100% Yes , you can have both . You know , just because I'm high performing does not mean that I'm not soft life in either , right ? So I would like to go on record and say I'm doing both . You know , i am really going into my high performance and , you know , achieving all of my goals , but I am also resting in my feminine and creating that as a lifestyle , not just as a routine or not just not just as something that I aspire to , but actually as how I live my day to day , and because I have been able to to live in that way , the life of my life is the testimony and it tells the tale . So , in terms of pushback , no , i think what I've seen is a lot of people being inspired by how do you do it .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 32:57

You know , one of the things that I recently shared on my social media is don't soft life yourself out of your goals Integrate . You know , i don't want to say that again Don't soft life yourself out of your goals , integrate . And that's the . That piece of integration is what I don't think we're seeing people teaching on . You know , it's like you need to have one or the other And we continuously tell women this you need to have your children .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 33:22

You need to have children instead of your career . You need to have your career instead of your family . And I'm saying no , no , sis , you can have both , but you have to be okay with recognizing that when you have both , it's not going to be how you think it's going to be , and it's okay for some things to be sacrificed to find a balance that feels good to you . So soft life thing in my life , in my reality right now may not look like being on in a five-star hotel or at a vacation spot every month . It can look like me in the backyard with my baby on the grass , chilling , blowing bubbles . You know what I mean . So it's like we have to find what soft life means for us while we go after our dreams and our goals and don't feel like we have to pick one or the other .

Ijeoma Kola 34:09

Yeah , i love all of that , especially because we just like my idea of a good time Recently is like buying a little thing for my son to use . I just like bought him a little octopus pool last weekend , put him in the backyard and I was just like this is happiness , like this is the life I live now . Come on , now , that is my soft life . So I love that re-painting and you know , this idea of it doesn't have to be either or It can be both , and you are definitely a testament of that . So I appreciate you leading by example and then teaching others as well . So we'd love to , as we start to wind down , we'd love to ask you one of two questions that we ask everyone that we have on the Coercises podcast . The first one is what is one thing that you would do differently , if any , during your doctoral journey , if you had to do it all over again ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 34:58

Yeah , one thing that I would do differently . I would say And I know that this may sound maybe a little bit cliche , but I would really remind myself that I belong here . My first year I did not feel or believe like I belonged in that spot that I held , and I think maybe that's one of the reasons why I was doing so much , because there was a silent part of me that was really trying to fit in and really trying to be a part of this community that I felt so disconnected from . And if I am to consider it all over again , i think it would be you know what you belong and act like I belong because nobody else has this spot but me . So it's just maybe affirming myself more and saying that this is my spot , i deserve this spot , i am worthy of this spot . I belong here Because I didn't affirm myself until very later on and I wish I would have done that sooner . Yeah .

Ijeoma Kola 36:19

And so , as we close out , what is one piece of advice that you have for prospective or current black women and non-binary doctoral students ? I know that you've dropped tons of gems throughout this recording , throughout this episode , but I would love to know one final lasting piece of advice that you want to share .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 36:37

Yes , activate your activism . Activate your activism . Don't wait for somebody , some committee , some stakeholder to come in there and advocate for you . Advocate for yourself really going there and be an activist for what you believe in and get the word out . I think when it comes to us again , as black minorities , we sometimes feel like the story that we want to tell is so small and so minute . Who is going to care ? This isn't big enough to be on their agenda . This isn't big enough to be on their budget , this isn't big enough to be a priority . But sometimes , when you speak up and you make it big , it then becomes big for them because you are part of their ecosystem and you are part of their storytelling as well . So for me I would say definitely , go in there , don't be afraid to activate your activism and know that again , there is a sense of belonging . You are part of the ecosystem and your voice matters .

Sharing a Radiant Accomplishment

Ijeoma Kola 37:50

You definitely have to send us that picture that you have of yourself next to . I'm envisioning it , and I have to say it for myself because I think that is such an amazing accomplishment as you said for yourself , but also for everyone , black and non-black , who is now going to be walking through King's College London seeing your beautiful radiant face on the wall and being able to be inspired by that . So definitely send us that picture so that we can share it with our community . and thank you so much , dr Gadjadar .

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 38:21

Oh my gosh cute . Okay , we need a high res . All right , i'm going to send you the high res .

Ijeoma Kola 38:32

Please do , and thank you so much for joining us today on the Coercises Podcast . Is there anything else that you want to share that I might not have covered ?

Shelly Ann Gajadhar 38:40

No , that is it . Just to continuously tell the listeners go bravely , go bravely , go bravely , go bravely . You got this , you know , and your next level is already there . Just step into it and go , do the damn thing .

Ijeoma Kola 38:55

Yes , wise words to leave us on . Well , I appreciate your time . Thank you again . Coercises is an online global network empowering black women pursuing doctoral degrees by providing resources , mentorship and community . For more information , please visit Coercisescom .