Grad School Femtoring: Inclusive Grad School Stories, Personal Development, and Productivity Tips for First-Gen BIPOCs

In this solo episode, I share the top eight episodes to listen to if you're applying to graduate school. The episode list I have curated is intended to demystify the process and empower you to make informed decisions at every step from creating your grad school list, to requesting letters of rec, to writing your essays, interviewing, and accepting an offer. You'll also find out which is the most p...

This week our special guest is Amanda Peña (she/her) who discusses the topic of advocating for yourself in grad school. Amanda Peña is an entrepreneur and master’s student at USC’s Iovine and Young Academy where she focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence for underserved groups, particularly building tech for women and people of color. She has expertise in brand strategy, storytell...

In this solo episode, Dra. Yvette shares essential information you need if you're thinking about starting an academic podcast. She covers the topics of coming up with an idea, thinking about the structure, identifying tech, considering recording and hosting options, creating cover art, coming up with a title, and more! Follow me on your favorite social media platforms: Instagram , LinkedIn , YouTu...

This week our special guest is Marisol Ibarra (she/her) who discusses the topic of adulting and life after college as a first-gen professional. Marisol Ibarra is the founder of Here Comes the Sun Podcast, where she helps first-generation students, college graduates, and professionals navigate the things that schools don’t teach. By day, Marisol is a legislative director who helps draft policy for...

In this episode, I share strategies for creating a dissertation writing timeline. The dissertation writing timeline is valuable to have because it can serve as your anchor as you write your dissertation; it will help you keep your long-term goals in mind especially when it’s so easy to get lost in the details. If you’re a grad student and don’t have a step by step timeline from now until your fili...

This week our special guest is Jacqueline Banegas-Abreu (she/her) who discusses the topic Navigating an Ed. D. and a Higher Education Career. Jacci is the Associate Director of the Community College Transfer Opportunity Program at New York University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Leadership and Innovation from New York University with a research focus on the transitional experience o...

In this solo episode, I share some updates on my life since I moved to Portugal last year. You’ll hear more about what my transition has been like since I left my full-time academic job in California to pursue a virtual coaching business. I share how my Mexican immigrant parents—and especially my single mom— shaped my journey, what a day in the life of an academic coach looks like, and the life le...

This week our special guest is Dr. Gloria J. Santos Acevedo (she/they) who discusses the topic of managing relationships with advisors. Dr. Santos Acevedo obtained a PhD in Psychology from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León and is a professor of education at an online university, an anti-racist educator, an activist for women's rights, a certified sex counselor, an organic percussionist and a flam...

In this solo episode, I share with you my top six budgeting strategies to help you meet your financial goals. I share these strategies because I know first-hand what it’s like to struggle with making and then sticking to a budget when you're a first-generation student from a working-class background who was never taught the basics of financial literacy. You’ll learn how I define a budget, differen...

This week our special guest is Shania Montufar who talks all about how she has managed pandemic-related grad app complications. Shania is a Sociology student and McNair Scholar at Truman State University and is in the middle of her graduate admission decision process as we speak. In this episode we discuss: What she did when she found out some programs weren’t accepting applicants. Her GRE-related...

In this solo episode, I share some strategies for how to secure funding if you're interested in working with an academic coach like me. This episode includes how to secure funding for one-on-one coaching, how to secure funding for a workshop or speaking engagement, sample language you can use when asking for funding, and what goes into our coaching fees or how we set our rates. If you're intereste...

This week our special guest is Dra. Lorena Marquez of @doctorahood who shares all about doctorahood and all of its brown mujer magia. Dra. Lorena is a first-generation Chicana feminist and scholar practitioner. She’s also the Director of Cal State LA’s Cross Cultural Centers and the creatress of #dinnercondoctoras. In this episode we discuss: What doctorahood and brown mujer magia mean and why the...

This week I have a bonus solo episode where I discuss the topic of getting organized, setting up organizational systems, and creating standard operating procedures. I talk about what they are and how you can create or modify your own systems to work smarter and not harder. I discuss examples in my own life of how I organize my workload, which includes a combination of organizing my files, writing...

This week we had Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios share what it’s like having a career in politics while getting her PhD in higher education leadership. Jeannette is a Latina, full-time mom, wife, councilwoman, district director, and grad student pursuing a doctorate degree. In this episode we discuss: How she got into politics and her reflection on her 20 years of experience. The importance of learning...

I’m thrilled to have Christina V. Rodriguez from @latinaswithmasters as our guest speaker this week. She shares her insights all about housing and funding in master’s programs. Christina is a multicultural and equity-minded marketer and educator with a commitment in creating equitable opportunities for Women of Color in business, housing and academia. In this episode we discuss: Her first-gen educ...

Our guest speaker this week is Adriana Jaramillo who shares her insights on taking a gap year, facing rejection, and reapplying to grad programs. Adriana is a first-gen Chicana who earned her BA in Psych with minors in Chicanx Studies and Education after transferring to UCLA from Santa Monica College. She’s currently reapplying to master’s programs in educational policy with an emphasis in higher...

Check out the latest episode of the Grad School Femtoring Podcast which covers the topic of financial literacy for first-generation college students. This episode features Ana and Jeremy who are a first-gen married couple on the path to financial independence and who are committed to spreading their knowledge of financial education among BIPOC and mixed immigration status communities.  In this epi...

I’m thrilled to release an episode all about personal brand design and the business of personal development with a very special guest, Dr. Lauren Mason Carris. She’s my first guest of 2022 and also happens to be a former femtor/mentor of mine. Dr. Lauren Mason Carris is a first-gen Jew-tina who is also the VP of Learning Design at Penny AI, a global SaaS tech company. In this episode you’ll learn...

This week’s episode is all about why and how to invest in yourself, in your growth, in your goals. Specifically, this episode covers: investing in yourself via coaching, the difference between coaching and femtoring, my experience working with coaches as a grad student, my coaching and types of support I offer, 3 free ways to invest in yourself this year, and I also add in a few personal updates t...

Check out my latest episode, where I share my year end reflection in what is my first recording while living abroad. The big focus of this episode is on the importance of dreaming, resting, being proud, and being grateful. Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you reflect on your year: Where were you a year ago? Where are you now? What are you most proud of this year? What are you most grate...

Check out our latest episode, with our special guest, Dr. Ces’Ari Garcia-Del-Muro from the Latinx Education Coach, who shares all about how to prepare for academic writing during the holidays. In this episode, she shares valuable insights, including: what it was like growing up multigenerational with a gang-affiliated family in Baldwin Park, CA, recognizing the changing family dynamics many first-...

In our latest episode, our special guest, Brandon Quintana—a biology master’s student at CSUF— shares how he went from losing 10K of funding to gaining 75K! In this episode, he shares valuable insights, including: what happens when you lose your grad funding because it’s contingent on one grade, the issues of merit scholarships that don’t account for disadvantages and inequities in academia, how t...

This episode features our special guest, Jeannette Marroquin, a 25 year old DACA scholar, professor, and business owner who shares all about what it means to follow your gut unapologetically.  Tune in to hear more about: her experience moving to a new country as a young child, navigating school and work as a DACA recipient, how following her gut has led her to seamlessly switch career paths, and w...

This week I’m privileged to share a vulnerable and intimate episode with our special guest, Dra. Diane Nevarez, who shares her experience being a Chicana PhD lecturer. Tune in to this episode to learn about what it’s like: teaching as a contingent professor with no insurance, while on government assistance, and while unable to afford rent in California, being a Chicana mother-scholar resisting the...

This week, I have a very exciting and insightful episode with a guest who I instantly connected with, Stephanie Santos Youngblood, who discusses the topic of informal mentorship and mentoring neurodiverse students. Tune in to this episode to hear all about: what informal mentorship is, the impact that campus service workers have on first-gen students, things to consider when mentoring neurodiverse...