A smart business person would keep their secrets. Here’s why I don’t.
On January 29, I’m hosting a free call – 3 Steps to Your Dream Academic Business – where I’ll teach the exact three-step framework I used to build a six-figure academic editing business. I’ll show you examples of real academics who’ve launched successful businesses (from developmental editing to subscription boxes to workshops). I’ll walk you through how to identify your niche and craft an offer that solves real problems for your ideal clients. And I’ll share the first steps you can take, even if you’re still in an academic job, to land your first paying clients.
I’ll teach all of this for free, and I won’t gate a single thing behind “buy my course to learn more.”
If you’ve been trained in academia, this probably sounds bizarre. Maybe even suspicious.
I get it, I was the same way too.
The Scarcity Mindset Academia Drilled Into You
Think about how you’ve learned to work in academia.
There are far more qualified candidates than tenure-track positions. Grant funding is intensely competitive. Your colleague’s publication can mean fewer slots in the same journal for you.
So, you learn to protect your strategies. You don’t tell other job candidates what you learned in the interview. You guard your grant application methods. You keep your edge close.
This isn’t paranoia. It’s rational survival in a zero-sum system.
But here’s what I learned when I left: business doesn’t work that way.
What Changes When You Stop Thinking About the Competition
There aren’t five editing clients. There are thousands. Tens of thousands, actually.
When someone in my program, Becoming an Academic Editor (or Coach), lands a client, it doesn’t reduce the number of clients available to another student. When 75 people learn my framework and start successful businesses, it doesn’t diminish mine.
Members of our community refer clients to each other. We collaborate on projects. We share opportunities. Someone else’s success creates more opportunities, not fewer.
In 2024 I earned $107,000 as an academic editor. My website literally says “not taking new clients” because I’m booked out. And I’m still teaching this framework for free because someone else learning it doesn’t threaten that.
What The Call Actually Is (and Isn’t)
“3 Steps to Your Dream Academic Business” isn’t a teaser or a sales pitch disguised as teaching where I hold back the important parts and say “join my program to learn the rest.”
The call has the actual framework:
- Dream: How to identify who you want to serve and what problems you’ll solve
- Build: Examples of services you can offer (editing, coaching, workshops) and how to price them
- Grow: How to put yourself in front of people who need your help (even though marketing feels terrifying)
Everything you’d need to start.
Why? Because the information isn’t the barrier.
The Real Barrier Isn’t Information
You can Google “how to become a freelance editor.” There are too-many-to-count blog posts about marketing and LinkedIn optimization. The information exists.
What stops most academics isn’t lack of information, it’s their mindset.
Academics need to believe that their skills are valuable outside their university. I’ve found we need to be told it’s okay to charge money for work we used to do for free. Academics need permission to want something different than what they were trained for, and they need permission to start before they’re ready.
That’s what happens in the call that Google can’t give you. When you’re in a room with 47 other academics who are all thinking “wait, I could actually do this?” something shifts.
When I ask “who are three people you could send a warm email to?” and the chat fills up with names, you realize: This is real. Other people are doing this. Maybe I can, too.
When someone asks “but won’t picking a niche limit my opportunities?” and I show them it doesn’t, that’s permission to be specific instead of trying to appeal to everyone.
When someone asks “what should I charge?” and I tell them actual numbers, that’s permission to stop undervaluing their expertise.
The framework is just information. The permission is what makes people act.
What Happens After People Learn the Framework
After the call, people fall into three groups:
Some do nothing. They watch the replay. They take notes. They think about it. They’re not ready yet, and that’s okay. Maybe they will be in six months. Maybe never. Either way is fine.
Some DIY successfully. They take the framework, build their website, apply to agencies, or land clients. They figure it out on their own using the free resources. This is wonderful. I’m genuinely thrilled when this happens.
Some want community and accountability. They know the steps but need support to actually see results. They want feedback on their resume. They want to workshop their niche with someone who understands academic transitions. They want to be in a cohort with 19 other people who are doing this alongside them. That’s what BAE provides.
All three responses are valid, and my call serves all three groups.
I’ve never been able to predict which group people will fall into. Some people who I think will join BAE don’t. Some people whom I never expect to see again email me six months later saying they’re ready now.
So I give away the framework to everyone, because I don’t know who needs what or when.
The People Who’ve Done This
Nikki tried to become an academic editor years ago. She applied to editing agencies and took their tests but failed every time. She decided it meant she wasn’t good enough and gave up.
When she joined Becoming an Academic Editor in July 2024—our very first cohort—she had sample editing tests to practice with, step-by-step guidance on how to apply, and someone reviewing her resume. Most importantly, she had support when things didn’t go perfectly.
Nikki isn’t a bad editor. She never was. She’s a fantastic editor who just didn’t know how to land clients. The difference between failing and succeeding wasn’t her skill. It was having someone say “that’s normal, here’s how to fix it, try again” instead of doing it alone.
Lisa Anthony is a tenured computer science professor at the University of Florida. For years, she’d been helping colleagues and former students apply for NSF Career Grants for free. She won the grant herself the first time she applied, so people kept asking for her advice.
When she joined the program in January 2025, she realized she could turn that expertise into a workshop. We worked together to structure it: 8 sessions over 16 weeks with three pricing tiers. When she opened enrollment, the first seat sold within two hours.
It’s the same expertise she’d been giving away, but with a different frame: a structured workshop people pay for.
Chris McRae is a full professor in communication and performance studies who created something completely different: a physical product called “Creating Curiosity Box.” It’s a monthly subscription where he sends prompts, tactile objects, and materials to help people break through writer’s block.
He could have spent a year perfecting it. Instead, he set an arbitrary deadline—September—and announced it publicly on LinkedIn to force himself to launch. He started with just 21 boxes on Etsy. His first sales came from strangers, not just friends and family.
Three people. Three completely different businesses. Same framework.
They didn’t need more information. They needed structure, permission, and someone to walk them through turning expertise into income.
Why This Matters to You
If you’ve been following me for months, reading the blog posts, listening to the podcast, consuming all the free content but not taking action—the information isn’t your problem.
You probably already know enough to start. You know academics can become editors and coaches. You know the pay is better than adjuncting. You know you need a resume and a LinkedIn profile and some warm connections.
What you might not have is permission. That’s what you’ll get in this call.
And I’m giving that away for free because academia took enough from you already.
Come to the call
If you leave with just the framework and never work with me, I’ll be thrilled.
If you take the steps and build a successful business completely on your own, that’s a win. If you realize halfway through that you need community and join us later, that’s a win. If you decide this isn’t for you and stay in academia, that’s also a win because you made an informed choice.
The only losing move is staying stuck because you think you can’t explore your options.
That’s why I’m giving it to you right now.
The call is on January 29, 2026.
Bring your questions. Bring your skepticism. Bring your fears about whether this could actually work for you.
And I’ll show you exactly how I built a life where I work 25 hours a week, earn six figures, and take six weeks off in the summer to sit by the pool with my kids.
Not because I’m special. Because I stopped waiting for permission and started taking steps.
You can, too.