Neurodivergent and Burnt Out? Why Freelance Editing Might Fit Your Brain Better than a 9-5 Job Does

Neurodivergent and Burnt Out? Why Freelance Editing Might Fit Your Brain Better than a 9-5 Job Does

After a Yale University Press internship where a supervisor told her she had "a strange brain," and six months of applications with zero interviews, Hannah Bartlett stopped trying to fit into a system that wasn't built for her. She launched a freelance editing business instead—and has doubled her income every year since. In this episode of the Leaving Academia podcast, Hannah shares what it's like to build a business as a neurodivergent, disabled editor—and why freelancing can fit your brain in ways a traditional job never will. We discuss: 🧠 How posting about neurodivergence and disability on Threads became Hannah's #1 client source 🧠 The communication boundaries that protect her energy ("book editing is not an emergency") 🧠 How email templates and inquiry forms eliminate the dread of client communication 🧠 Why her autistic directness is a strength clients seek out—not something to hide 🧠 How to unlearn academia's validation trap ("I don't need an A in freelance editing") If you've been struggling to find a job that's a fit, this conversation will show you it's the environment that's the problem—and that you can build one that truly works for you. 🎧 Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and share this one with an academic who needs it. Resources Mentioned: ✅ Episode 89 with D. Scott (chronic illness, health insurance, and freelancing) ✅ Hannah's website: https://www.hannahbartlettediting.com/ [https://www.hannahbartlettediting.com/] **Check out Hannah's website for a link to the Writers’ Self-Care Guide and the upcoming Editors’ Self-Care Guide. ✅ Hannah's Instagram and Threads: @hannahbartlettediting ✅ Editor's Tea Club: https://www.editorsteaclub.org/ ✅ ACES: https://aceseditors.org/ ✅ Beeftext (free PC app for email templates): https://beeftext.org/ Want to end burnout and become an academic editor or coach? Go to AcadiaEditing.com/map Intro: Disability Pride Month + meet Hannah Bartlett 1:52 Hannah's path: pandemic college and the MFA plan 2:42 The Yale University Press internship 3:24 "You have a strange brain" 5:37 Hundreds of applications, zero interviews 6:59 Landing the first clients: communities and free edits 8:31 Why Threads works: marketing that fits your brain 12:21 Vulnerability as marketing 16:41 Full-time work vs. freelancing while neurodivergent 20:42 Doubling income every year (and the AI question) 23:09 "Book editing is not an emergency": communication boundaries 24:58 Email templates and systems that kill the dread 30:08 Neurodivergence as a strength 35:40 Advice for new freelancers: community and listening to your body 41:40 "I don't need an A in freelance editing" ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

This Bait-and-Switch Keeps PhDs Overworked and Underpaid (and What to Do About It)

You did everything right—the degree, the publications, the cross-country moves—and academia still didn't deliver the flexible schedule, job security, or financial comfort it promised you. In this episode, I walk through the five promises academia made to every one of us, exactly how each one got broken, and the part nobody tells you: running your own editing or coaching business delivers every single thing academia promised but never provided. In this episode, you'll hear: ➕ The 5 promises academia made (flexible schedule, job security, financial comfort, intellectual freedom, meaningful work)—and why the system was designed to break them ➕ Why the "you can only be a professor" story is a lie built to keep you underpaid and overworked ➕ How the risk of starting a business compares to the risk you already took getting a PhD (spoiler: your business can't be defunded) ➕ Real numbers: how I went from $45K as an agency contractor to $100K+ with 55 private clients working just 30 hours a week ➕ Two detailed examples of academics who turned skills they already had into editing and coaching businesses charging $75–$100/hour ➕ Why the identity shift—not the skills—is the hardest part of leaving If this episode hits home, subscribe so you never miss a weekly episode, and share it with a colleague who's been facing these same broken promises. Want to end burnout and become an academic editor or coach? Go to AcadiaEditing.com/map 1:00 You did everything right—so where's the payoff? 3:11 Promise 1: The flexible schedule 4:50 Promise 2: Job security and the tenure dream 5:56 Promise 3: Financial comfort 8:43 Promises 4 & 5: Intellectual freedom and meaningful work 10:25 The story that there's only one path for a PhD 14:12 Reality check: The laptop on every vacation 17:52 Reality check: A job market in crisis 19:34 Reality check: Frozen salaries and second jobs 22:30 Reality check: Where did the freedom go? 25:29 You're not stuck—your skills can move 28:47 How your own business keeps promise 1: your calendar 30:54 Real security: your business can't be defunded 34:33 The money: from $45K to $100K+ at 30 hours a week 42:20 Two real examples: editor and coach 45:34 The identity shift—leaving is choosing yourself ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Group Coaching or 1:1? How to Choose the Right Path Out of Academia

You know you're ready to leave academia. What you don't know is whether you need a program with a syllabus and a group cohort, or one person in your corner helping you move at your own speed. Here's the thing: BAE (my group program) and 1:1 coaching aren't "better" or "worse" than each other. They solve different problems. One gives you structure and community. The other gives you speed and total focus on your specific situation. For example: One of my 1:1 clients retired from academia this spring. No website, no cohort, no waiting until our program resumes in September. We spent a month together defining her niche and building her offer—moving at her pace, not a syllabus's pace. Two weeks after her website went live, she'd landed $8,000 in committed coaching clients. A month in? She'd secured $16k in contracts—almost entirely from the academic network she'd spent decades building. That's what 1:1 coaching is built for: fast, focused, built entirely around you. In this week's episode, I walk through exactly how to know which path—group or 1:1—is right for you. If you have questions, reach out. If you've been waiting for the "right" timing or the right amount of courage to reach out to people who already know you—this episode is your roadmap to move forward. 🎧 Watch the full episode and subscribe for new episodes every week. Resources Mentioned: 🐦‍🔥 Free 3-day workshop July 13-15, 11am-12pm ET — register at AcadiaEditing.com/live Interested in 1:1 coaching? Email Paulina: paulina@acadiaediting.com BAE September cohort — AcadiaEditing.com/map 01:26 My client: from academia into coaching 03:22 Activating her academic network for trust and referrals 05:10 Why she skipped the wait for the next BAE cohort 06:37 From niche to launched website in one month 07:37 The numbers: $1,000 and $2,000/month, $8K in two weeks ($16k in 4 weeks) 10:02 Yes, Paulina does 1:1 coaching too (and what it looks like) 13:48 BAE by the numbers: 2 years, 9 cohorts, 120+ members 16:02 Reason #1: Pace — group syllabus vs. your own speed 20:33 Reason #2: Life happens — flexibility when things get hard 23:54 Reason #3: Group dynamics — community boost vs. overwhelm 26:25 Reason #4: Time zones and scheduling realities 28:42 Who thrives in BAE's group program 35:09 Who thrives in 1:1 coaching 40:31 What working together 1:1 actually looks like 46:15 Paulina's own story: from burnt-out professor to founder 50:03 Wrap-up: free workshop July 13-15 and how to reach out ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

$10k Months as an Editor? The Exact Homepage Structure I Used to Hit This Major Revenue Goal

Your website is losing you clients before they even scroll down. If your editing or coaching website leads with your credentials, your degree, your publications—you're doing it backwards. And it's probably costing you inquiries you don't even know you're missing. In this episode, I'm breaking down the StoryBrand framework—one of the most effective marketing approaches in the world—and showing you exactly how to apply it to your homepage so it converts visitors into paying clients. Here's what I cover: 📖 Why your website is not about you (and what it IS about) 📖 The 7 sections every academic editor or coach needs on their homepage 📖 What goes in the "hero section"—and why you have 3 seconds to get it right 📖 How to write to make your ideal client feel like you're inside their head 📖 The formula that builds trust without humble-bragging 📖 Why you should never list your services before you've done this one thing first 📖 Testimonials, bios, and contact forms—done right This is the exact framework I used to build my editing website when I was ready to stop editing for agencies and start working with private clients. It took me to my first $10K month—and it's what I teach every student in BAE. 📄 Download the free website wireframe: https://acadiaediting.com/homepage 📌 Resources Mentioned: Marketing Made Simple, by Dr. JJ Peterson and Donald Miller: https://amzn.to/4vvIk1W Building a StoryBrand, by Donald Miller: https://amzn.to/3QYq8yQ Free website wireframe PDF: https://acadiaediting.com/homepage WordPress (affiliate link): https://automattic.pxf.io/c/5804942/1919834/22744 Like and Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! 0:35 – Welcome & episode overview: What we're covering today 2:00 – Free resource: The website wireframe (acadiaediting.com/homepage) 3:30 – The provocative truth: Your homepage is not about you 6:30 – What is StoryBrand? Donald Miller's framework explained 10:00 – The core premise: Your client is the hero, you are the guide 13:30 – Yoda, Gandalf, and the 7 steps of the hero's journey 17:00 – Section 1: The Hero Section (above the fold) 20:30 – Writing your one-liner and subheading 24:00 – Your photo and CTA button: Why both matter more than you think 28:30 – Section 2: Pain Points—copy that makes clients feel seen 33:00 – Section 3: Empathy & Authority—"I get it, and I know how to help" 37:30 – Section 4: The 3-Step Process (removing friction) 41:30 – Why you should NOT list your services here 45:00 – Section 5: Testimonials (even before you have paying clients) 49:00 – Section 6: Your Bio—short, human, and not a CV 52:30 – Section 7: The Contact Form (and why "how did you hear about me?" matters) 56:00 – Practical writing advice: Google Doc first, platform second 58:30 – Choosing your website platform + domain name reality check 60:30 – Recap, action step, and BAE enrollment details ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

"I Can't Leave, I Need the Insurance": How to Leave Academia and Freelance With a Chronic Illness

Is the fear of losing your health insurance keeping you trapped in academia? This worry keeps a lot of chronically ill academics stuck in jobs that are making them sicker—and the premise is worth questioning. In this episode, Paulina talks with D. Scott, PhD, JD, a former academic who developed a chronic illness during a postdoc at the University of Edinburgh and slowly realized the tenure track wasn't survivable for their body. Instead of forcing themselves into another job for the benefits, D. chose their health, moved back to the US, and built a freelance academic editing business that's now in its sixth year and booked through December. D. gets honest about the stuff nobody explains: ⚕️ how to research which states give you real support, ⚕️ why freelancing gave them more flexibility than any "stable" job ever did, ⚕️ how they pace work around an unpredictable body, and ⚕️ why raising your editing rates matters most when you physically can't work more hours. In this conversation, we also cover: 👉 Why the fear of losing health insurance is more workable than the worst-case stories suggest 👉 How to schedule and book clients when your energy isn't guaranteed 👉 How to stop assuming clients think about money and deadlines the way you do 👉 The chronic-illness and disability editor communities that make this work less lonely If you've been telling yourself you're stuck because of your health, you absolutely have to listen to this episode. ▶️ Hit subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation. To work with D., get in touch here: dscottedits.com For more on building a freelance editing or coaching career after academia, visit AcadiaEditing.com/map Resources Mentioned: 📌 Northwest Editors Guild — monthly "Editors with Chronic Illnesses, Disabilities and Neurodivergence" Zoom call (open to non-members; sign up through the Guild's website calendar): https://www.edsguild.org/meetings-events/ 📌 LGBTQ Editors Association — Slack community with a dedicated chronic illness, disability, and neurodivergence channel: https://lgbtqeditors.org/ 📌 Resources to research marketplace options and health insurance brokers: https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/state-indicator/state-health-insurance-marketplace-types/ https://www.healthcare.gov/find-local-help/ Timestamps: 00:00 Why chronic illness and freelancing comes up so often 04:30 D.'s path: the PhD, Edinburgh postdoc, and getting sick 09:00 Letting go of the tenure track 13:30 Researching states, Medicaid, and choosing New Mexico 18:00 Landing as the pandemic hit, and why editing was the plan 22:30 The health insurance reality: Medicaid, marketplace, and brokers 27:00 Choosing health over career and a new relationship to work 31:30 Scheduling around an unpredictable body 36:00 Money mindset: boundaries and raising your rates 41:00 Finding your people: chronic-illness editor communities ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.