Your Unapologetic Career® Podcast

230 Preparing for the Season You Say You Want: Dr. Kemi Doll on Academic Writing Amplified

In this week’s episode of Your Unapologetic Career, Kemi brings you an encore conversation with Cathy Mazak of the Academic Writing Amplified podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/academic-writing-amplified/id1478044381] about her new book, A Terrible Strength, and the journey of moving from physician, researcher, and professor to debut author.  Kemi pulls back the curtain on the writing and publishing process, from developing the book proposal to finding the right agent, building a writing team, protecting time to write, and preparing for the full-time work of promoting the book.  This conversation is a grounded look at what it means to bet on yourself, prepare for the season you say you want, and trust that big dreams are worth the hard work they require.  Check out Cathy’s podcast: Academic Writing Amplified [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/academic-writing-amplified/id1478044381]    Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775526/a-terrible-strength-by-kemi-doll-md-mscr/]   Text Dr. Kemi directly. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1729958/fan_mail/new]

229 {ENCORE} How Hypervigilance Can Ruin Your Career

Being "First, Only, Different" in academic medicine and public health forces us to stay incredibly sharp. We have to remain alert just to ensure we aren’t shortchanged on resources, pay, or structural support.  But over time, this defensive mindset creeps into areas where it doesn’t belong.  When you are constantly on guard at your institution, you naturally start fixating on what everyone else is doing with their research, funding, and careers. It is an exhausting trap.  In this encore episode, Kemi breaks down why this happens and how staying in survival mode is quietly derailing your peace of mind and your progress toward a sustainable career.  Applications are now open for the July 2026 cohort of Get That Grant®.  The wait is over! If you've been thinking about joining us and are ready to get clear on what matters most for your career and build a strategy that reflects that clarity, now is the time. This is our final cohort before 2027. Apply here. [https://airtable.com/appdc1X7nzb66kfHj/shrcUFEBxcsUdq2sw]  If you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series [http://www.kemidoll.com/foundations]: www.kemidoll.com/foundations. [http://www.kemidoll.com/foundations]  Mentioned:  New England Journal of Medicine Article: Structural Solutions for the Rarest of the Rare — Underrepresented-Minority Faculty in Medical Subspecialties [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms2003544] Text Dr. Kemi directly. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1729958/fan_mail/new]

228 Doctor to Doctor: A Black OBGYN Reacts to A Terrible Strength with The Lady Parts Doctor

In this week’s episode of Womb Wisdom, we bring you an episode with Dr. Stephanie Hack, MD/MPH, FACOG - host of The Lady Parts Doctor Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lady-parts-doctor/id1613851502] - who spoke with Kemi about reading her new book and her reaction as a Black woman and an OBGYN. They cover uterine cancer, Black women’s health, and the importance of advocating for better medical care.   The conversation challenges the "strong woman" archetype that leads to ignoring symptoms, offering advice on how to truly listen to one’s body and demand quality care.  Check out Dr. Hack’s podcast: The Lady Parts Doctor [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lady-parts-doctor/id1613851502]     Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775526/a-terrible-strength-by-kemi-doll-md-mscr/]     See Dr. Kemi on tour:   Dr. Kemi is on book tour —bringing this conversation directly to our communities through live readings, real talk, and fantastic co-hosts!!  If she’s coming to your city, come be in the room. Bring someone you love.  ➡️ View the full tour and get tickets [https://kemidoll.com/book-tour/]  Text Dr. Kemi directly. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1729958/fan_mail/new]

227 {ENCORE} Nonsense Disguised as Early Career Advice

In this encore episode, Kemi looks at the nonsense fed to early-career faculty in academic medicine and public health, especially women of color, passed off as good advice. While most of it is just harmless chatter, some of these comments actually do damage. They stick with you, get under your skin, and hold you back. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of these toxic tips, consider this replay your reality check and your reset button. Let’s dive in.  Applications are now open for the July 2026 cohort of Get That Grant®. Apply here. [https://airtable.com/appdc1X7nzb66kfHj/shrcUFEBxcsUdq2sw]   If you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series [http://www.kemidoll.com/foundations]: www.kemidoll.com/foundations. [http://www.kemidoll.com/foundations]  Text Dr. Kemi directly. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1729958/fan_mail/new]

226 Womb Wisdom: Your Excellence Is Not Enough: Dr. Kemi Doll on Madame Speaker Says

In this episode, Kemi sits down with Magogodi oaMphela Makhene of Madame Speaker Says [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-kemi-doll-your-excellence-is-not-enough-on-black/id1814213243?i=1000767012758] for a conversation that will reframe everything you thought you knew about excellence, authority, and who gets to tell your story.  They get into why working hard and letting your work "speak for itself" is quietly costing you, and why brilliant women who stay silent about their intentions get written out of their own story. Kemi shares what she finally stopped doing that unlocked her authority, what it actually cost her to build in public, and why fearlessness is a scam and what to do instead.  She also takes us inside the journey behind her book, A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing, a science-backed, deeply personal framework to help all women, especially Black women, recognize their body's signals, unlearn the normalization of pain, and demand the equitable, life-saving care they deserve.  If you've ever made yourself smaller so someone else could be more comfortable, this one is for you.  Share it with a womb sister you love.  Check out the interview on Madame Speaker Says, [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/madame-speaker-says/id1814213243] Dr. Kemi Doll: Your Excellence Is Not Enough. On Black Women's Health, Authority & Building in Public [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-kemi-doll-your-excellence-is-not-enough-on-black/id1814213243?i=1000767012758]   Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775526/a-terrible-strength-by-kemi-doll-md-mscr/]    See Dr. Kemi on tour:   Dr. Kemi is going on a national book tour this May and June—bringing this conversation directly to our communities through live readings, real talk, and fantastic co-hosts!!  If she’s coming to your city, come be in the room. Bring someone you love.  ➡️ View the full tour and get tickets [https://kemidoll.com/book-tour/]  Text Dr. Kemi directly. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1729958/fan_mail/new]