Success In Science Career Coaching

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Success In Science Career Coaching

Providing career services to STEM students; from picking a career and career planning to application

06/18/2026

My 5-year plan took 3 months.

I recently received a card from one of my business mentors that said: "Cassie, remember that five-year plan? You are a complete rock star..."

I immediately started laughing.

Six years ago, I had a very carefully crafted plan. I was going to start my business in five years — when my kids were both in kindergarten. It felt responsible. It felt realistic. It felt safe.

Except that five-year plan turned into three months.

And here's the wild part: the goals I had set for myself over five years? I accomplished many of them within the first few months of launching.

Since then, I've had the privilege of coaching more than 150 scientists and speaking to thousands through universities, national societies, and NASA.

It made me wonder: how often do we underestimate ourselves? How often do we set goals that feel attainable because we're afraid of disappointment, failure, or looking foolish if we fall short?

I'm not saying your goals should be unrealistic. But I do think they should require you to stand on your tippy toes a little bit.

Because sometimes the thing holding us back isn't a lack of ability. It's the assumption that our growth has to happen slowly.

✨ Where might you be underselling yourself? And what would happen if you gave yourself permission to dream just a little bit bigger?

06/17/2026

One of the things I love most about working with scientists is watching the moment they realize they have more agency over their careers than they thought.

Many of us are taught to focus on building technical expertise—and that's important. But very few of us are taught how to intentionally shape our professional identity, communicate our value, and make career decisions that align with who we are and what we want.

That's why I was so excited to spend an evening with trainees at the Birth Defects Research and Prevention annual meeting talking about professional branding.

Because the opportunities that come your way aren't just influenced by what you know.

They're also influenced by what you're known for.

✨ Comment "BRAND" below if you'd like to learn more.

06/16/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions I see in STEM is that if you're unhappy in your career, it must mean you chose the wrong field.

But often, that's not the case.

You may just be in the wrong role or wrong environment.

I’m curious, which sign resonated with you? Let me know your number(s) below—or send me a DM if you want to keep it between us. 😊

06/15/2026

Years of training can start to feel like a trap if you let it.

You picked your field and you went deep. And somewhere along that journey, a voice crept in saying "I've invested too much to pivot. I'm stuck in this lane."

This is one of the most common things I hear from scientists considering a career change.

The fact of the matter is that depth creates options. The analytical rigor, the problem-solving, the ability to communicate complex ideas… those skills don't belong to one industry. They travel across multiple.

The scientists who successfully transition reposition their training, not abandon it. The same skills that make you a good researcher make you valuable in consulting, policy, science communication, product development, and beyond.

Your PhD isn't a cage. It's a credential that can open more doors than the ones you were initially shown.

You can be deeply specialized and have a wide range of paths available to you. These aren't in conflict.

📩 Curious what your options actually look like? Send me a DM. I'd love to help you think it through.

06/14/2026

Some careers show you the results over decades. Product development shows you within your lifetime.

In this clip, Food Scientist Karen Thang shares what it felt like to see her first product on a shelf and why that moment confirmed she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

There's something powerful about work that gives you tangible proof you're on the right path.

💬 What was the moment that told you you were in the right field? Share it in the comments.

🎧 Want to hear more of my conversation with Karen? Listen to the full conversation on the Diverse Routes Podcast — available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.

📺 Want the full episode? Watch on Patreon for $5 — your support helps keep this podcast accessible and ad-free. We are grateful for your support.

06/13/2026

📰 Today's Science News: Scientists just completed Schrödinger's 100-year-old color theory and it changes how we understand human vision.

A team at Los Alamos National Laboratory used geometry to formalize how we perceive color differences, building on work Erwin Schrödinger started in the 1920s.

Here's what they found:
→ Hue, saturation, and lightness aren't cultural or learned; they're built into the math of color perception itself
→ The research fixed a major gap in Schrödinger's model: he never formally defined the "neutral axis" (the gray scale from black to white) that his entire framework depended on
→ The team also corrected how the model handles color shifts under changing light intensity
→ Their approach required moving beyond traditional mathematical models, which is itself a significant advance

The colors you see aren't just in your head. They're encoded in the geometry of how your visual system measures color differences.

💬 "These color qualities don't emerge from additional external constructs such as cultural or learned experiences but reflect the intrinsic properties of the color metric itself." — Roxana Bujack, Los Alamos scientist

A more precise model of color perception could improve photography, video, scientific visualization, and color technology across many fields.

📖 Read the full article here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260606015140.htm

06/10/2026

Most STEM students are taught to think about careers in terms of familiar job titles:

👩‍🔬 Scientist
👨‍⚕️ Doctor
👩‍🏫 Professor
🧪 Lab Technician

But the reality is that the STEM career landscape is changing faster than ever.

Many of the roles featured in this video were either extremely niche or barely on students' radars a decade ago. Today, they represent exciting career paths that combine science with technology, communication, business, policy, and design.

The challenge is that you can't pursue opportunities you don't know exist.

That's why career exploration is about so much more than scrolling job boards. It's about understanding your interests, skills, values, and priorities—and then identifying careers that align with them.

Sometimes the right career isn't one you've ruled out.

It's one you've never heard of.

👇 Which of the careers in this video would you most like to learn more about?

📩 DM "COACH" if you'd like help exploring your STEM career options.

06/09/2026

The most valuable thing you bring home from a conference isn't always the science.

Sometimes it's the people you meet.

Here are 3 ways to turn your next research conference into a career opportunity.

👉 Swipe to learn more.

P.S. It’s conference season! What conference(s) are you attending this summer?

06/08/2026

I fired my Master's and PhD advisors...

Not because they weren't exceptional mentors.

In fact, I still have a wonderful relationship with both of them and continue to seek their advice from time to time.

But eventually, I outgrew their lived experience.

Both had spent their entire careers in academia. They taught me how to think like a scientist, design research projects, write manuscripts, mentor students, and navigate the academic world.

Then I decided to explore opportunities beyond academia.

And for the first time, I needed guidance from people who had actually gone where I wanted to go.

I needed mentors who had worked in industry.
Mentors who had built businesses.
Mentors who had successfully navigated career transitions of their own.

I didn't replace my academic mentors.

I expanded my circle of mentors to include people with firsthand experience in the paths I was considering.

Because mentorship isn't about finding someone who has all the answers.

It's about finding people whose lived experiences align with the questions you're asking.

A mentor who has never left academia may not be the best guide for leaving academia.

Not because they're bad mentors.

But because sometimes, the next chapter of your career requires a different guide.

06/07/2026

Every experience in your career is an experiment…and the data is always useful.

In this clip, Food Scientist Karen Thang shares how an internship in product development became the experiment that confirmed exactly what she wanted to do. It wasn't just about the work. It was about testing a hypothesis about themselves and getting a clear answer.

Not every experiment gives you the result you hoped for. But each one tells you something.

We're curious… what career experience taught you the most about what you actually want to do? Drop it in the comments below.

🎧 Want to hear more of my conversation with Karen? Listen on the Diverse Routes Podcast — available wherever you get your podcasts (Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and more).

📺 Want the full conversation? Watch on Patreon for $5 — your support helps keep this podcast accessible and ad-free. Thank you so much!

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