I'm a former assistant professor turned stay at home parent & entrepreneur.
I no longer actively update the blog but there's plenty here to keep you busy if you're interested in building a sustainable career in academia, or if you're just generally curious about my academic journey!
This includes time as a graduate student (master's and PhD), project coordinator, and tenure track faculty member. I believe creating a sustainable academic career (whatever that looks like for you), one that allows you to enjoy work and life, is possible!
Want to know more about how we can work together? Check out my planning course and digital products.
*Update: I’m not currently offering coaching services. However, if you’re an academic entrepreneur in need of VA services, let me know! You can find out more about my VA services here: https://www.jillhoffmanphd.com/.
And, if you want to see what I’ve been up to lately, you can check out my new blog, Life, Budgeted. My writing has always circled around the intersection of work, family, and the practical details of daily life. Lately this has expanded into the realm of personal finance.
successfully navigating two graduate programs (MSW and PhD)
starting a family during my PhD program
navigating the academic job market while pregnant
defending my dissertation 6 weeks postpartum (and then moving across the country for my new faculty position)
landing a tenure track assistant professor position after my doctoral program
raising a young kid as an early career faculty member (still currently in the thick of this one!)
navigating the tenure track while pregnant
using reflection to grow, develop, and strengthen my teaching practice
teaching in a variety of settings (in-person, online, distance)
publishing numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and presenting at national conferences, as well as local community meetings
working with multiple collaborators from various institutions and community settings
surviving major family crises during my doctoral program and time as an early career faculty member
quitting my tenure track position and exiting academia
leaving most evenings and weekends for myself and my family
Want to know more about me?
Here’s the abbreviated version of the life and times of Jill Hoffman, PhD.
AT SOME POINT IN 1984 OR 1985… GOTTA LOVE THE CARPETED BATHROOM
I was born in the mid-80s to an interracial couple (I’m black and white) who were both government lawyers in D.C. While I went back and forth on what my future career might be… paleontologist? vet? doctor? I knew from an early age that lawyer was not on my short list of careers.
Fast forward to the late 2000s when I graduated from Temple’s MSW program and joined the workforce in Philadelphia. After about 2.5 years in a job that I was less than thrilled about I started searching for other opportunities. All of the things that seemed interesting required a PhD… so I decided that would be my next step. After 3 years on the job, and meeting my now-husband, Mike, I headed back to school to get my PhD in social work at Ohio State. Mike and I packed up the car and our cat and moved one state over, to Columbus, OH where we lived for 5 years.
OCTOBER 2011
SEPTEMBER 2016 - FIRST MONTH ON THE TENURE TRACK
During year 5 in Ohio, we welcomed our daughter, Ellie, into the world. She arrived 6 weeks before I defended my dissertation and 4 months before my first day on the tenure track. After graduation we packed up the car once again, now with two cats and one kid, and moved 2,000+ miles west to Portland, OR. We arrived in Portland on September 1, 2016 and I started my tenure track position two weeks later.
