Podcast
Your Unapologetic Career® Podcast
Hosted by Kemi Doll · EN
Are you ready to become the CEO of your career? Join Kemi Doll – physician, surgeon, researcher, coach, and career strategist – as she guides you on the journey to transform your academic life, so that you can channel your ideas, passions, and skills into a successful and nourishing career. In each episode, she’ll be taking a deep dive into one CORE growth strategy so you can gain confidence and effectiveness in pursuing the dream career in academic medicine that you worked so hard to achieve. Tune in for an always authentic, sometimes a little raw, but unapologetically empowering word. Learn more at www.kemidoll.com.
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
232 Book Tour Reflections - Audiences, Surprises, and the Problematic Tour Narrative
4d ago00:23:54Tap to summarizeFresh off her 11-city book tour, Kemi is looking back at the personal revelations and unexpected lessons she gathered along the way. With the upcoming Essence Fest and Martha’s Vineyard Black Book Festival stops, she unpacks why real-world audience connection matters just as much as hitting sales numbers. In this conversation, Kemi answers listener questions from Instagram about how she navigates talks with everyone from patients to clinicians. You will also hear about the tour's most surprising, healing moments. Ultimately, this episode shows the power of designing intentional experiences and nurturing your professional passions. Listen now for Kemi’s real-world advice on building meaningful connections in your own career journey. Mentioned Episode 230 - Preparing for the Season You Say You Want: Dr. Kemi Doll on Academic Writing Amplified Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing Join the waitlist for the January 2027 Get That Grant® cohort: www.kemidoll.com/gtgwaitlist. If you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series: www.kemidoll.com/foundations. Text Dr. Kemi directly.
Transcribe →231 {ENCORE} How to Use Procrastination Effectively
2w ago00:31:31Tap to summarizeIn this encore episode, Kemi challenges the hustle culture belief that you have to work yourself to exhaustion to succeed. Instead of a typical productivity lecture, we are looking at how to use strategic procrastination to your advantage. Procrastination gets a bad reputation, but it can actually protect your creativity and reduce unnecessary stress. This is not an excuse to put everything off. It is about knowing exactly when to wait so you can break the cycle of last-minute panic without dropping your high standards. Tune in to learn how to handle talk slides, abstract submissions, and SOPs without sacrificing your sanity or your standards. Applications for the July 2026 Get That Grant® cohort have been extended through Tuesday, June 23 at 11:59 PM PST. If you've been considering GTG, this is your final opportunity to apply for the July 2026 cohort. Participants also receive immediate access to Writing for Excellence: Persuasive Scientific Writing, Kemi's newest training for writing clear, persuasive, and competitive grant proposals and manuscripts—giving you a repeatable process you can use throughout your career. Submit your application here. Not quite ready? Join the waitlist for the January 2027 cohort: www.kemidoll.com/gtgwaitlist If you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series: www.kemidoll.com/foundations. Text Dr. Kemi directly.
Transcribe →230 Preparing for the Season You Say You Want: Dr. Kemi Doll on Academic Writing Amplified
3w ago00:46:05Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode of Your Unapologetic Career, Kemi brings you an encore conversation with Cathy Mazak of the Academic Writing Amplified podcast about her new book, A Terrible Strength, and the journey of moving from physician, researcher, and professor to debut author. Kemi pulls back the curtain on the writing and publishing process, from developing the book proposal to finding the right agent, building a writing team, protecting time to write, and preparing for the full-time work of promoting the book. This conversation is a grounded look at what it means to bet on yourself, prepare for the season you say you want, and trust that big dreams are worth the hard work they require. Check out Cathy’s podcast: Academic Writing Amplified Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing Text Dr. Kemi directly.
Transcribe →229 {ENCORE} How Hypervigilance Can Ruin Your Career
4w ago00:55:26Tap to summarizeBeing "First, Only, Different" in academic medicine and public health forces us to stay incredibly sharp. We have to remain alert just to ensure we aren’t shortchanged on resources, pay, or structural support. But over time, this defensive mindset creeps into areas where it doesn’t belong. When you are constantly on guard at your institution, you naturally start fixating on what everyone else is doing with their research, funding, and careers. It is an exhausting trap. In this encore episode, Kemi breaks down why this happens and how staying in survival mode is quietly derailing your peace of mind and your progress toward a sustainable career. Applications are now open for the July 2026 cohort of Get That Grant®. The wait is over! If you've been thinking about joining us and are ready to get clear on what matters most for your career and build a strategy that reflects that clarity, now is the time. This is our final cohort before 2027. Apply here. If you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series: www.kemidoll.com/foundations. Mentioned: New England Journal of Medicine Article: Structural Solutions for the Rarest of the Rare — Underrepresented-Minority Faculty in Medical SubspecialtiesText Dr. Kemi directly.
Transcribe →228 Doctor to Doctor: A Black OBGYN Reacts to A Terrible Strength with The Lady Parts Doctor
Jun 200:34:56Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode of Womb Wisdom, we bring you an episode with Dr. Stephanie Hack, MD/MPH, FACOG - host of The Lady Parts Doctor Podcast - who spoke with Kemi about reading her new book and her reaction as a Black woman and an OBGYN. They cover uterine cancer, Black women’s health, and the importance of advocating for better medical care. The conversation challenges the "strong woman" archetype that leads to ignoring symptoms, offering advice on how to truly listen to one’s body and demand quality care. Check out Dr. Hack’s podcast: The Lady Parts Doctor Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing See Dr. Kemi on tour: Dr. Kemi is on book tour —bringing this conversation directly to our communities through live readings, real talk, and fantastic co-hosts!! If she’s coming to your city, come be in the room. Bring someone you love. ➡️ View the full tour and get tickets Text Dr. Kemi directly.
Transcribe →227 {ENCORE} Nonsense Disguised as Early Career Advice
May 2600:41:43Tap to summarizeIn this encore episode, Kemi looks at the nonsense fed to early-career faculty in academic medicine and public health, especially women of color, passed off as good advice. While most of it is just harmless chatter, some of these comments actually do damage. They stick with you, get under your skin, and hold you back. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of these toxic tips, consider this replay your reality check and your reset button. Let’s dive in. Applications are now open for the July 2026 cohort of Get That Grant®. Apply here. If you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series: www.kemidoll.com/foundations. Text Dr. Kemi directly.
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226 Womb Wisdom: Your Excellence Is Not Enough: Dr. Kemi Doll on Madame Speaker Says
May 1901:08:35Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Kemi sits down with Magogodi oaMphela Makhene of Madame Speaker Says for a conversation that will reframe everything you thought you knew about excellence, authority, and who gets to tell your story. They get into why working hard and letting your work "speak for itself" is quietly costing you, and why brilliant women who stay silent about their intentions get written out of their own story. Kemi shares what she finally stopped doing that unlocked her authority, what it actually cost her to build in public, and why fearlessness is a scam and what to do instead. She also takes us inside the journey behind her book, A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing, a science-backed, deeply personal framework to help all women, especially Black women, recognize their body's signals, unlearn the normalization of pain, and demand the equitable, life-saving care they deserve. If you've ever made yourself smaller so someone else could be more comfortable, this one is for you. Share it with a womb sister you love. Check out the interview on Madame Speaker Says, Dr. Kemi Doll: Your Excellence Is Not Enough. On Black Women's Health, Authority & Building in Public Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing See Dr. Kemi on tour: Dr. Kemi is going on a national book tour this May and June—bringing this conversation directly to our communities through live readings, real talk, and fantastic co-hosts!! If she’s coming to your city, come be in the room. Bring someone you love. ➡️ View the full tour and get tickets Text Dr. Kemi directly.
Transcribe →225 {ENCORE} The Consequences of Aligning Your Career with your Value
May 1200:17:44Tap to summarizeWhen your career starts to feel like nothing more than a never-ending to-do list, it’s a clear sign that you’ve lost the lead. It’s draining to feel like you're just checking boxes instead of building the life you actually wanted. In this encore episode, Kemi looks at exactly how that shift happens and why it feels so hard to break out of. She shares some practical, real-life ways to help you take the wheel again and find your footing so you can finally reclaim control of your career. Coming soon: Applications for the Get That Grant® July 2026 cohort will open to the waitlist. Join here: www.kemidoll.com/gtgwaitlist If you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series: www.kemidoll.com/foundations. Text Dr. Kemi directly.
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224 Womb Wisdom: A TERRIBLE STRENGTH IS HERE
May 500:26:35Tap to summarizeIt’s publication day! Today, Kemi is celebrating the release of A Terrible Strength and taking a moment to reflect on what it took to bring this book into the world. From the emotional weight of writing and deciding what stories to tell, to navigating a new industry and the impact of success on relationships, she shares what was hard, what mattered, and why it was all worth it. She also breaks down what this book actually is, who it is for, and why it is meant to create a true before-and-after in how we understand Black women’s health. This is not just a book launch. It is an invitation into deeper awareness, better care, and a different level of responsibility for how we show up for ourselves and each other. If you haven’t heard the first two parts of this series, you can go back and listen to: Episode 222: Journey to A Terrible Strength Part 1 Episode 223: Journey to A Terrible Strength Part 2 Mentions: Dr. Sharon Malone This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley Episodes mentioned: Episode 100: Unapologetically Vulnerable: Kemi's Interview Part 1 Episode 101: Unapologetically Vulnerable: Kemi's Interview Part 2 Order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing See Dr. Kemi on tour: Dr. Kemi is going on a national book tour this May and June—bringing this conversation directly to our communities through live readings, real talk, and fantastic co-hosts!! If she’s coming to your city, come be in the room. Bring someone you love. ➡️ View the full tour and get tickets Text Dr. Kemi directly.
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223 Womb Wisdom: Journey to A Terrible Strength Part 2
Apr 2800:25:21Tap to summarizeWith book launch just 7 DAYS away, Kemi is taking us deeper into what happened after the book deal for A Terrible Strength. In part 2 of this 3-part series, she shares the emotional ride of landing a major publishing deal, the support system that helped her write the book, and what it looked like to move from ideation into execution. This episode offers an honest look at traditional publishing, long-term creative work, and what it takes to stay committed to a vision big enough to change lives. Mentions: Harmony imprint Jane Jones Episodes mentioned: Episode 190: What Book Covers Reminded Me about Leading While Learning Pre-order Dr. Kemi’s Book: A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing See Dr. Kemi on tour: Dr. Kemi is going on a national book tour this May and June—bringing this conversation directly to our communities through live readings, real talk, and fantastic co-hosts!! If she’s coming to your city, come be in the room. Bring someone you love. ➡️ View the full tour and get tickets Text Dr. Kemi directly.
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