Serina Patterson, PhD

@VaninaMadeleine Happy Holidays!

@_serinap wonderful so beautiful...

We're all snowed and iced in here at the farm after record-breaking temperature drops this week. That's okay, though. We're all cozied up and enjoying some much-needed down time. Happy holidays! ❄️🎄😊

@cjcornthwaite The experience has been the opposite for me. Academia was easy. Running a small startup and building a pathway to sustainable profitability is incredibly challenging.

One of the most disorienting parts of leaving Academia is discovering your value. Many of us go from feeling like an idiot failure who needs to be managed to being viewed as a competent leader who should be in charge of stuff.

@empathywarrior I hope you are able to find some good medical support. Navigating the medical system is exhausting. Hugs ♥️

@empathywarrior True. In many ways, it's a difficult situation because friendship is often founded on certain roles and when things shift you can't be there the way you once were. I'm still searching for answers to my mystery illness too and very thankful for Jes. Support is everything.

A wild thing is that you can tell multiple doctors that you still cannot work after months (because screens), you suddenly had to stop driving, cannot leave the house alone...and nobody, not one person, asks about things like housing/food security, income, etc. #TheVertigoDiaries

@empathywarrior I'm so sorry to hear this! Here's hoping you have some answers soon ❤️

Went to the ER yesterday when I couldn't bear pain and vertigo anymore. Things got worse in past two weeks. Good news: no brain tumour or artery issues in my neck! Bad news: I'm still extremely incapacitated. Good news: will be seen by Rapid Access Neurology. #TheVertigoDiaries

@lukemaynard @cynehelm Congrats on your success! I imagine starting and running a press takes quite a bit of grit and tenacity 🙂

@_serinap I don't know if you're following @Cynehelm Press, my side-hustle in publishing, but it may be relevant to this topic AND your medievalesque bookly interests. (okay, its BOOKS may be… its website, which is only "medieval" in terms of its current obsolescence, maybe not so much.)

You'd be surprised at how many people with PhDs start a business. In the course of running my subscription box, I've talked to 100s of other founders and several of them held PhDs in everything from biology to social policy. We're everywhere and still working to make a difference

@ellisnilsson Thank you! 😀

@_serinap And congrats on setting up Earthlove, etc!

My PR agency is drafting up a description for Earthlove as well as a short/long bio and my ten years in grad school amounts to basically one line as a point of interest 🙃 #postac #postaclife

@ellisnilsson Just one, but it's fine. The Middle Ages is a talking point, but all in all no longer relevant to my current project. The PhD still has value, though 🙂

@_serinap Wow. Surely 2 points at least?!

I'm proud of my path so far. How about you? Were you called out for certain traits that are now considered a strength? #postac 4/4 (numbering is weird -- not used to this whole tweeting thing 😉)

Now they are not frowned upon, but rather things to hone and cultivate. I could not have founded a startup without being strategic, bold, enthusiastic, and entrepreneurial or strive to be successful and serve my members. The goal posts have changed and so has the audience. 3/4

During grad school I was called too calculating, too enthusiastic, too bold, & too entrepreneurial to be an academic. That I had too much gravitas, or not enough. One prof said my writing was only good enough for a lay audience despite having published eight articles + a BOOK 1/3

@ThatEricAlper POGS

Tea is the superior caffeine delivery mechanism

@WillDurocher earthlove.co

@WillDurocher It's my eco wellness subscription box. Been running it for a few years and thought it was time to get the name trademarked 😊

After waiting seven months, I just got the long-awaited email from the US Patent and Trademark Office. I need to fix one small detail and then "Earthlove" is officially trademarked! 😀

@VaninaMadeleine Thank you! 😀

@_serinap Congrats and successful continuation!