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.

362: Client Spotlight: Dr. Jeanette Villanueva Padilla on Finishing a Doctorate with Intention

·41 min·2 clips

Time management became energy management, and Dr. Jeanette says that shift helped her finish the doctorate.

1. Grad School Femtoring: Inclusive Grad School Stories, Personal Development, and Productivity Tips for First-Gen BIPOCs centers this episode on Dr. Jeanette Villanueva Padilla finishing a doctorate with intention. 2. Dr. Yvette Martinez-Vu hosts Dr. Jeanette Villanueva Padilla, a first-generation college graduate from Southern California, Senior Budget Manager for MBA programs at USC Marshall School of Business, and a mother of two who completed both a master's and doctorate. 3. The episode asks how a non-traditional scholar can finish a doctorate while working full-time, parenting, and protecting emotional capacity. 4. Dr. Jeanette says she started her graduate journey in 2020, finished her master's in May 2022, got her doctorate acceptance in July 2022, and started in August 2022. 5. She explains that she found Dr. Yvette's podcast and Instagram during the end of her master's program and felt comfortable with the messages and content. 6. Dr. Jeanette says she came to coaching with fears, ideas, and a 'fear of the unknown,' but wanted the doctorate 'in the long haul.' 7. She describes her doctoral life as a 'kaleidoscope' of responsibilities, including being a mom, a wife, and a student. 8. Dr. Yvette and Dr. Jeanette talk through the difficulty of starting projects when no one has taught first-gen students how to begin work like a literature review, proposal, or qualifying exam. 9. Dr. Jeanette says the coaching helped her prioritize deadlines, timelines, and the right way to start tasks. 10. She notes that returning to school after '15 plus years' felt exciting and intimidating at the same time. 11. Dr. Jeanette names imposter syndrome, especially around reading, writing, and learning later in life, as a recurring pressure. 12. She says Dr. Yvette kept reminding her that her perspective had value and that she was 'where I need to be.' 13. Dr. Jeanette says one of the biggest shifts was learning to think more broadly about her experience in class, including seeing patterns involving K-12 backgrounds and different learner groups. 14. She recalls being the oldest student in her master's program, with classmates mostly '35 and under,' and calling herself the 'auntie' and the mom in the room. 15. Dr. Jeanette says a professor told her she seemed like the 'EDD type,' which helped her see herself differently even before she believed it. 16. She says financial adjustments, family support from her husband, and investing in coaching were part of making the doctorate possible. 17. Dr. Jeanette describes a women's group, breath work, sound bath, music, and short walks as tools that helped her reground during stressful stretches like the literature review. 18. She says the coaching centered time management, but the real lesson was managing energy, capacity, and the seasons of family time, work time, and study time. 19. Dr. Jeanette says this conversation would help first-generation parents, working professionals, and older doctoral students who need practical support and reassurance. 20. Dr. Jeanette may not be the right fit for listeners who want a purely academic discussion without personal reflection, coaching, or self-care strategy.

As heard by us

Doctoral completion here depends on support, not self-erasure.

This episode treats finishing a doctorate as a test of capacity, not just ambition, for someone balancing full-time work, parenting, partnership, and the role of being the emotional center for others.

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Why you'd press play

Jeanette's path to finishing a doctorate while work and family kept pulling.

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