The Sisterhood
A monthly coaching membership for women in academia
Does any of this sound familiar?
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You’re excited to get stuck into research, but you’re also mindful of finding a good work-life balance and making time for much needed downtime.
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You suffer from “magpie syndrome” - bouncing from one shiny research project to the other without ever getting things through the other end of the pipeline.
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You’ve tried every productivity and planning tool out there and have one hundred notebooks, but you still feel scattered, chaotic and all over the show.
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You’re on the edge of burnout – you’ve spent the year being the go-to personal therapist for your students and running the department. You want to create some time for research but you have no energy.
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You’ve read all the time management self-help books and the generic advice – usually written by a bloke – that are so quick to tell you why you are failing at sorting your life and career out.
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You’re tired of being told to just be more confident or put yourself out there, or not worry about what others think – it doesn’t help.
If any of these statements leave you wondering if I have a camera in your office then keep reading. You’re in the right place my friend.
Women in academia, I know how you’re feeling
You’ve tried everything. You start trying to implement a daily writing practice and get off to a good start - but it doesn’t stick. By Thursday you forgot, or Very Important Meeting got requested in your calendar and you promised to write later but didn’t. Then you gave up.
You’ve read the books and listened to the podcasts about how to get organised but you feel more confused than ever, trying to piece together how to juggle your teaching and admin and life stuff, leaving no time for research.
You wonder how long you can stay in academia, in this job you worked so hard for, if this is what life is like.
You wish someone would just take the accountability out of your hands, and guide you through a custom built series of modules for academics, and that you had a way you could just ask questions when you need to.
Imagine if…
… your writing and research practice to be fun, light and easy. That you could feel confident and actually enjoy your job, and that this summer can be relaxing. Imagine all of this whilst being part of a community where you could ask for advice on coaching for things you’re stuck on and build up a regular writing practice in an accountable space.
Perhaps you see the sending off of that long overdue article that’s been weighing you down for years
Maybe you choose to take a long ruminating walk in the middle of the day without the guilt, or a cinema trip in the afternoon once a month
Picture having the space to spend each morning luxuriously dedicated to your writing, rather than it being a nervous scramble to fit into the week.
You know exactly what you should be working on at any given time and feel at ease with how you spend your day, clocking off at 5 (or earlier) for a relaxing evening doing something fun or chilled.
But how, tell me…?
You’re ready to change things, but you’re not convinced, you’ve got questions!
“I’ve tried daily writing practices before and they don’t work for me. How is what this community offers different?”
“You don’t understand, I have had this paper in my drawer since 2007. It’s been too long, it is embarrassing and it will never get out there.”
“I have read every organisational technique there is, been there, done that, bought the post-its (and notebooks and highlighters). It never works. Why is this different?”
I know, there can be a lot of questions and confusion if you’re starting to get coaching or joining a programme like this for the first time. But the thing is, without an accountable community, this kind of stuff is 100 x harder.
It can be easy to make some critical mistakes, get off track, and never end up at the finish line. Without guidance and support, it can be difficult to make any progress at all!
That’s why I’ve created my coaching membership The Sisterhood.
My clients say…
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“I am finding these sessions so useful - I can identify with almost everything that the other participants are bringing to discuss. It is almost more helpful just watching than being coached myself.”
— Rita, Senior Lecturer
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“Coaching gave me the permission I needed to spend the time that I needed on getting things in order. I would not have spent this much time on it otherwise, or would have felt bad for doing so.”
— Caitlin, Lecturer
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“I’m getting better at noticing thoughts and thought patterns. Feeling generally more on top of things.”
— Renata, Senior Lecturer
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“I just felt that I belonged in the group and it was reassuring to be with other people with similar experiences.”
— Fran, Professor
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“Not checking emails til lunchtime has been a big game-changer for me.”
— Philippa, Professor
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“I feel much more confident about how I present myself as an academic”
— Kim, Professor
Life before…
You start your day with some chaotic firefighting in your email inbox, trying to solve the student problem, the staff disagreement or the marking issue
You’re doing your research in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed, or at the weekend instead of going out and enjoying yourself
You’re doubting your career choice - you’ve always dreamed of doing this research but instead you’re spending your days doing email, admin and comforting crying students instead of developing your world-leading research
You change your to do list system every 4 months because the previous app didn’t work
You resentfully come into campus more days than you’d like because you feel guilty, even though the travel adds hours to your day.
You have the grant or big project win, but you’re avoiding doing some of the objectives because you have no idea where to start and don’t know how to project manage it for the best.
Life after…
You start each day with calm planning and meditation, followed by a two hour block of deep work, a long walk, luxurious lunch, and the afternoon prepping lectures and crunching through some admin.
You clock off early having completed your goals for the day by 3pm and spend the final hours getting your nails done and mentally brainstorming your new research project.
You are no longer down for feeling guilt and anxiety about saying “no” to things you don’t want to be doing.
You’re seeing towering momentum in your research productivity, sending off drafts left, right and centre, resurrecting old abandoned data and having constant ideas for new grants.
You feel calm, confident and accomplished in your expertise, which translates into your writing – not only the style, but the way you feel about writing.
You actually like your job again.
What you’ll get…
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Monthly webinars
Decision making, managing your research pipeline, perfectionism, confidence – all of this and more is lined up for the monthly webinar series.
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Live coaching
Struggling with procrastination? A difficult colleague or boss? Bring it to the monthly live coaching session and get coached by someone who’s spent 100s of hours helping women like you get great results.
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Writing groups
Monthly co-working spaces on Zoom where we get together and get shit done! Dreading reopening the project? It’s so much easier with a room full of women in the same boat.
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Supportive online community
Connect with other members, make friends, ask for coaching and easily access previous webinars and course content
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Book Club
Every couple of months we get together to discuss a book on writing, productivity or feminist self-improvement.
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Writing retreats and sprints
Held a few times a year, two-day writing retreats and week-long sprints to make progress on your article, book or grant.
Bonuses
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BONUS #1
Guest lectures and webinars, including live session and webinar with Dr Holly Turton, Clinical Psychologist and women’s mental health expert (and my sister).
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BONUS #2
Back catalogue of webinars on topics like people pleasing, perfectionism, planning your future and much more become available each month you stay in the group.
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BONUS #3
DIscounted access and first dibs for coaching services, including Reclaim Your Time, my signature group coaching programme, 1:1 live and voicenote services and more.
Group coaching
Testimonials
Options…
Monthly membership — £68
Pay by the month, cancel anytime
Annual membership — £680
Gets you two months free!
You’ve got two choices here…
You can keep trying to do the regular writing thing, get organised and talk kinder to yourself on your own and hope things will be different this time
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You can delegate that to me, join the writing challenges and start seeing progress on your work, bring your problems to group coaching and start feeling better about the job you worked so hard for.
Think about where you want to be six months from now.
Do you have a step-by-step plan on how to get there?
It all starts here
I’ll see you on the inside
What if…?
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And this will be the case forever unless you start to take control and create space in your schedule. There is no “better when…” — if not now, when?
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You wouldn’t believe the number of emails I get from women in academia worried that they don’t have the right job role, the right background, speak the right language, based in the right country, at the right career stage or at the right time of life for coaching programmes. If you are a woman in academia, either actively working at an institution, looking for a job or recently finished an academic role, you are welcome here. Reach out on hello@danielleturtoncoaching.com if you’re not sure.
I use an inclusive definition of women and welcome trans-women, genderqueer women and non-binary folk who are significantly female-identified.
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I get you (and if you can claim it back from your employer then all the better – some people have success with this) but the thing is, this isn’t really about work. It’s about buying you back time in your life. I will be teaching you methods to drastically cut down the time you spend working. Time is money, and career investment from your side can pay off in terms of salary in the medium term. This is the way I look at “work” things that I pay for out of my own pocket, like writing retreats and my own coach.
Philippa — Professor, on Reclaim Your Time
“I loved this - it was a great programme and I loved meeting other women in similar experiences. I wish I could do the group sessions all over again.”
Ceri — Senior Lecturer, on Reclaim Your Time
“I don't remember the last time I had a real conversation with other people about experiences of work. It was good to listen and to talk.”
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Step 1: Enroll in The Sisterhood
Enroll on a monthly basis and cancel anytime, or an annual basis and get 12 months for the price of 10!
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Step 2: You receive an email with all the details
Log in information, next webinars and live calls and answers to common questions
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Step 3: You get access!
Dive into the community chat, explore previous webinars and subscribe to the calendar so you know exactly what’s next.
About me
Hi I’m Danielle and I’ve made it my mission to eradicate overwhelm and overwork from the life of academics, particularly the women I work with.
I started running writing groups for women 8 years ago after struggling to find space to carve out time for research as a new lecturer. I quickly realised that most women are in the same boat because a) we take on a disproportionate amount of teaching and admin when compared to male colleagues and b) we suffer from perfectionism and thinking something is never good enough to send off. More and more women started attending my writing and planning sessions, and when I found coaching, I knew this was the answer to taking this work to the next level. Soon I had a few clients that I was helping with setting boundaries, getting papers sent off and finding joy in writing , but I knew so many more people could benefit from this.
I created this membership because I want coaching to be more accessible to all price points and believe everyone can push back on overwork and enjoy their careers with the right guidance and support.
I’m excited to see you on the inside!
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Coach for academics, Senior in Sociolinguistics, mum of toddler, writing group lead for 8 years. Feminist time coach, approaching productivity from a new perspective.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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We launch on 1st July but enrollment is open on a rolling basis. You can join anytime and dive right into the material and live calls.
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There will be roughly 1-2 hours a week of live calls or writing groups but everything is optional and everything but the live coaching is recorded, so you can catch up at a time convenient to you. There is no such thing as being behind. You can also install the app and listen on the go if you're pressed for time.
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Monthly is £68 and annually is £680 (saving you 2 months worth).
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This is a community, so a bigger group, and rather than a set curriculum we have monthly webinars on a variety of topics (not just time management).
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Cancel anytime. To ensure everything goes through properly, give three working days notice before your renewal is due. You are welcome back anytime!
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If you don't like it, let me know and I'll refund your last month, no probs.