60. Self-trust with Dr. Cathy Mazak
After two years unpaid leave from her position as a full tenured professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. Cathy Mazak is about to finally exit the academy. Her once side hustle is now a thriving business where she earns much more money than she ever earned as a professor. In this episode, Cathy argues that academic work is actually more risky than entrepreneurship because at the university, your paycheck depends on the financial health of the university system. She also talks about the unique set of skills each of us has and that it doesn't matter what container we practice those skills in: university, nonprofit, government, own business, etc. Being a professor is not your identity, she explains. It's just the container in which you happen to offer your gifts to the world. Cathy also discusses the importance of self-trust in building a business and how for women, it's a challenge because we have been socialized to mistrust ourselves.