Grad School Femtoring: Inclusive Grad School Stories, Personal Development, and Productivity Tips for First-Gen BIPOCs · A podcast on thriving in graduate school for first-generation BIPOC students, offering insights on academic success, career development, mental health, and navigating diversity and inclusion in higher education.

339: Pause and Play: On Cultivating Curiosity and Care in Your Career with Naseem Kapdi

·49 min·3 clips

Nassim says the real work is the micro steps, not the "overnight success."

"What brings me joy?" Naseem Kapdi treats the question like something you can use, not something to frame on a wall. Burnout had already made the cost clear: work can swallow the room you need for yourself. Rest still feels strange. She talks about the pressure to keep giving to other people, especially when centering yourself has been trained out of you. The conversation does not turn self-care into a shiny routine. It stays looser and more livable. Journaling might be one word, one sentence, or whatever you can get down that day. Perfectionism has no real job there. That small practice helped her notice what still pulled her attention after burnout in a previous role. Reading came back into focus. She remembers being a reader, joining summer reading programs, and how much libraries mattered as spaces that felt open and alive. Writing came back too. During the pandemic she returned to creative writing after a long stretch away, and a writing group gave her somewhere to put the anxiety and doomscrolling. The host keeps circling career through curiosity and care. The point is not to squeeze more output from yourself. It is to build a career that feels authentic and intentional. Here, career sounds quieter and more attentive: step back, notice your capacity, see what has been neglected, and let joy count as information. Burnout, journaling, reading, writing, and rest do not sit in separate boxes. In her story, they are the way back to intention. The advice lands gently, but it is not vague. Slow down long enough to hear what still interests you, then let that matter when you choose what kind of work can feel authentic.

As heard by us

A reflective career conversation about curiosity, care, rest, and self-trust.

At its best, this episode treats career growth as a practice in attention rather than performance. It stays close to the ways burnout can blur judgment, then turns toward habits that actually hold up: journaling, making room for joy, and putting self-care at the center instead…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want career advice that makes room for rest, reflection, and output.

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