Power Your Research w/ Dr. Sheena Howard

Charge Your Worth: Financial Freedom for Academics

• Dr. Sheena Howard

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What if you’ve been undervaluing your expertise all your life? It's time to break free from the traditional academic model and start charging what you're truly worth. Join us as we confront the long-standing beliefs around self-worth and financial compensation in academia, and explore how a mindset shift can lead to significant financial freedom. Through relatable anecdotes and our own viral journey advocating for higher speaking fees, we offer a roadmap to confidently charge at least $3,500 for a one-hour talk. 

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@drsheenahoward | Power Your Research

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you're already some sort of assistant professor, associate professor or even tenure, and what that really means is you've probably been undercharging yourself for five to 10 years.

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And so if you've already been undercharging yourself for five to 10 years, that means you need to put an end to that season in your life, because you already have built up the proof.

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You need to be able to charge at least 3,500 for a one-hour talk. I don't want my work to be stuck behind an academic paywall. I want to leave a legacy, I want to reach my potential and I want to change lives. This podcast, power your Research, is my attempt to help the smartest people in the world do that very thing. My hope is that you use the lessons I share to make more money than what your higher ed job can ever pay you. I've done it, my clients have done it, and so can you. My hope is that you'll apply what you learn here and one day join the Power your Research program where you can work with me one-on-one. So I'm going to go off on a little riff here for a second, because some people show up to coaching calls with me, and one of the first things I work with my clients on is mindset, and particularly mindset around making money and your value in terms of making money. Academics have a big problem with this because we are trained in academia to give our knowledge and our intellectual property away for free or in honorarium at really no cost, right? So giving things away for free and because we are trained in this way, it's very hard for us to unlearn this so that we can get financially free from higher ed, which is increasingly laying faculty members off, decreasing opportunities for tenure and negatively impacting particularly women in terms of what we are being paid and the opportunities that are available to us those that have PhDs. And so one very serious mindset issue that I'm seeing is when people show up to calls with me and they say things like I'll never be able to charge $3,500 for a speaking engagement, there is nothing someone can teach you, tell you, show you or implement on your behalf if you truly do not believe that you deserve to make more money for speaking engagements. I promise you there is nothing someone can teach you If you truly, in your heart of all hearts, believe that doing a one-hour talk, you should only be paid $500 or $1,000 for. And so that's why, in the Power, your Research program.

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We start out with mindset. We show you evidence of other people that are making way more on speaking engagements, and, unfortunately, the people that are making way more on speaking engagements are often not the people with PhDs like you and I, and so I need you to believe in yourself. I need you to reimagine a different possibility for yourself. I really need you to believe that, just because the last 10 years you've been doing speaking engagements for free or under a thousand dollars, that that is what your next 10 years has to look like, because it doesn't. Most of the people that come to me have already been. 10 years has to look like, because it doesn't Most of the people that come to me have already been. You're already a some sort of assistant professor, associate professor or even tenure, and what that really means is you've probably been undercharging yourself for five to 10 years. And so if you've already been undercharging yourself for five to 10 years, that means you need to put an end to that season in your life, because you already have built up the proof. You need to be able to charge at least $3,500 for a one-hour talk, and this is where coaching comes in. You need to see for yourself that other people have done it, that people just like you have done it, that people just like you have been in the position you are in and they decided to create a different future for themselves, and that is what I want for everybody watching this video.

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I am not bothered by people saying things like oh, you know, that's not going to, that's you know. A couple of years ago, I went viral on Twitter for a video hey, if you have a PhD, start charging more for speaking engagements. I teach that you charge $3,500. And I went viral and the comments from people that look like me were terrible. Right, oh, I would never work with you because I charge what I charge for speaking engagements. Hey, everyone, real quick. I don't run any ads on this podcast, so I have to rely on word of mouth. If this podcast has helped you in any way, please share it with a friend and follow me, dr Sheena Howard, on LinkedIn, where I give more free content on building your brand as an academic. If you tell me you came to my LinkedIn from the podcast, I'll make sure I accept your request. Let me tell you, I am a member of a lot of spaces. I am a member of creative spaces with people who don't have PhDs, and it bothers me that those people who are not subject matter experts charge three times, four times, five times, sometimes 10 times, what my academic brothers and sisters are charging. And so that's the ramp. That's the ramp.

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I need you to believe in yourself. I need you to believe in yourself. I need you to believe that the future can be different if you make different decisions and believe different things. Just because you have gotten X, y and Z for the last 10 years does not mean that the next 10 have to be that way. You should think about your life in seasons.

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And so, even when my friends who are in academia ask me hey, can you come talk to this group of students for free? Can you come to this event for free? The answer is unequivocally no. And it's not. There's just. This is not an emotional decision. Okay, there's nothing. I don't have to feel bad about it, because for an entire decade, I said yes to every single speaking opportunity, whether I was being paid or not, low bought or not, until that season is over, and I don't have to feel bad about moving into this season.

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Okay, and I see other people staying on this path of not charging what they're worth. And you know what happens to those people Burnout happens to those people, stress happens to those people, because I can promise you that when you do a speaking engagement and charge what you're worth, it feels better. It feels better for you mentally, and do you have to work your way up to charging more? Maybe, but if you've been doing speaking engagements for like five years and undercharging, no, it's time for a new season. It's time for a new season for you. Your speaking engagement rates don't have to be emotional. You're putting too much emotion in there. Oh, but this is my colleague. They were in my cohort when I graduated. They used to be my mentor.

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None of that matters, because what you are trying to do is get free. You are trying to get free, and you will not get free by undercharging yourself for the rest of your professional life, and so I hope this reaches the person that needs to hear it. I really do. I hope this is helpful to some of you out there. If you need to talk about this on a call with me, you can jump on a free 30-minute call with me. Use the Power Year Research link.

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If you're an academic, you have a PhD, you have a master's degree. I will walk through the nine-step system with me. Use the Power Year Research link If you're an academic, you have a PhD, you have a master's degree. I will walk through the nine-step system with you to help you, teach you and show you how to increase your visibility, authority and income without the expense of a publicist, without the expense of a PR agency. I've never used a PR agency. In fact, I've had PR agencies tell me they don't want to represent me, and that's fine, because that means nobody gets a cut out of what I'm building over here. I hope you have an amazing day. I hope to see you on a call, thank you.