My mission is to inspire and empower early-career PhDs to make the most of their money. I engage with graduate students and postdocs through my Personal Finance for PhDs seminars, coaching, and websites, Personal Finance for PhDs and PhD Stipends. I launched Personal Finance for PhDs shortly after my PhD defense in fall 2014.
My passion for personal finance is rooted in my experience as a grad student, and I speak and coach from the position of a more experienced and knowledgable peer. When I first started in graduate school, I knew that living well on a grad student stipend would be quite challenging, so I continuously learned and refined my money management strategies throughout my PhD.
I started blogging about personal finance in 2011 (Evolving Personal Finance) and launched PhD Stipends and Grad Student Finances (the predecessor to Personal Finance for PhDs) in 2014. My websites opened up dialogues with other grad students and I began informally coaching many of my peers on their finances. I also volunteered for three years with Personal Finance @ Duke and a community-based personal finance class. I delivered my first seminar on personal finance for graduate students in fall 2014 and started creating educational products for my business in 2015.
I received a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University in 2014 and a BS in physics from Harvey Mudd College in 2007. I live in Seattle, WA with my husband, Kyle, who also holds a PhD from Duke University, and our two children.
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