Yesterday we talked about the Scaffolding pillar of being a Black woman with a doctorate. Today I’ll remind you of all the pillars and talk about our next pillar: Edifice.
Foundation: You’re in the thick of it — ABD, dissertation mode, survival mode. This is your pillar. Connect with sistahs who are right where you are.
Scaffolding: You’ve defended — now you’re building. Book projects, academic writing, and carving out your scholarly identity are the work of this pillar.
Edifice: You’re navigating leadership and figuring out who you are in that role. This is where you build your leadership identity — on your own terms.
Inheritance: You’ve stepped into something new — a department chair role, a directorship, an unexpected transition. This pillar is about leading what you’ve inherited. Or leading what you’re creating with inheritance in mind.
Legacy: You’ve had a full career and life — and now you’re thinking about what endures. The work of this pillar is for senior leaders, administrators, and trailblazers who are building something that outlasts them.
Edifice.
Edifice is about building your leadership identity. That means that all of us on this doctoral journey are in the Edifice pillar. There is no point when you aren’t building your leadership identity. While this pillar is for everyone, it speaks most specifically to the sistahs who want to lead with intentionality, on their terms, and not lose themselves in the process. For sistahs who want to define their leadership instead of having someone else define it for them.
Sometimes playing the game, giving the response they want, shrinking yourself so you don’t seem like to much, is easier than showing up in the fullness that is gloriously you. Doing so may make people comfortable, but it takes a toll on you, your leadership, and your legacy.
When you don’t show up as yourself, people miss out.
Let me say that again. When you don’t show up as yourself, people miss out.
They miss out on good ideas, on friendship, on learning from different perspectives, on creative genius, on laughter, on love, on light. The world is a little dimmer for everyone else when you don’t let your light shine.
Throughout your life and career(s), you will get the chance to lead, and what you build through your leadership becomes the edifice that people know you by. It’s imperative for you to build an edifice that represents you and not one that restricts you. You must manage teams, negotiate institutional politics and personal proclivities, and combat aggressions (micro- and other) while staying true to yourself. It’s hard to do this, especially on your own.
You need someone who understands your journey. Someone who can witness your situation. Someone to give you unbiased feedback. Someone to nurture your ideas. You need some sistahs. You need women who look like you, who know where you are, and who have made it to the other side.
You need Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey (SDJ).
Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey (SDJ) is a community of Black women from ABD through wherever your doctoral journey takes you where you can be yourself and give and get what you need. In our community, you can drop the mask you wear every day, relax, and breathe. Fully. Deeply. Finally.
The doors of the SDJ community open on July 1, 2026. Join by June 30, 2026 for a discounted membership for as long as you stay in our community.
Join today at the link below and share this with a sistah you know who is also on the journey.