Ep. 7 - Kate Earnhardt - Emerging Voices

Meet Kate Earnhardt—academic advisor at the University of Nebraska Omaha, Roman-history superfan, and proud cat mom to the incomparable Frank N Beans. Kate shares how a NACADA webinar on her second day in the job lit a fire for professional development, why advising adult and contemporary learners feels like solving a joyful credit jigsaw, and how a recent ADHD diagnosis reshaped her practice and her advocacy for neurodivergent advisors and students. We also dive into her Emerging Leaders Program journey, bold goals for building community, and the hill she’ll die on: take your lunch break.

In this episode:

• Tough-love meets big-sister energy: Kate’s “advising chameleon” approach
• ADHD myth-busting and practical ways to design an ecosystem that works
• Inside UNO’s Division of Continuing Studies and the art of puzzle-piecing credit
• ELP milestones, Region 6 shoutouts, and turning a talk into a workshop

*Emerging Voices is a spinoff of the Adventures in Advising podcast!

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Transcript

Matt Markin  
Hello and welcome back to Emerging Voices, a series interviewing the leaders within the NACADA Emerging Leaders Program. My name is Matt Markin from Cal State, San Bernardino, and hosting with me is...

Bri Harvie  
Hi everyone. I'm Bri Harvie from SAIT up in Calgary, Alberta.

Matt Markin  
Yes. And today, Bri and I get to interview Kate Earnhardt. Kate is an academic advisor too at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, a role she started in May of 2021 on her second day as an advisor, she went to her first nakato webinar, and has been hooked ever since, on all it has to offer. Kate's educational background includes a BA in history and anthropology from Uno and an MA in ancient history from King's College London. Currently, Kate is back at her alma mater, advising adult and contemporary learners in un O's division of continuing students, while her first love will always be ancient Roman history, she's found a calling serving and advocating for the amazing adult learners on unos campus after finally receiving her ADHD diagnosis in 2024 at the age of 36 Kate also has a passion for educating others on the joys and challenges of being neurodivergent, how to empower and support neurodivergent academic advisors and advocating for the acceptance of neurodiversity in the higher educational landscape. When Kate isn't advising, advocating or rattling off history Fun Facts she could be found with a Roman to see book in hand, hunting down her or hunting down new to her, Boho trinkets, hanging out with her best friend or best cat friend, Frankin beans, or plotting her return to rainy London. Kate, welcome.

Kate Earnhardt  
Hi. Thank you.

Matt Markin  
And usually our first question is actually to ask you about your background, but I feel like our first question really should be to tell us more about your cat friend, Frank N Beans.

Kate Earnhardt  
Yes, that so that's my cat daughter, Franklin. Her Christian name is Frank N Beans, or also known as Frankfurt, Bubby, Boobert, all sorts of names, but yeah.

Matt Markin  
so, and I know Brie has maybe a cat friend as well.

Bri Harvie  
Bri is a zoo, yeah. So we have two dogs and two cats, and I you like you call your cat bubby. That's what I call our latest dog, whose name is Arlo, so it's not even a little bit close, but he's Bubbie or lovers or Arlo Barlow. And we also have bones, whose Christian name is bone, Zia Jacobson, but we call him bones. And then we have our two and new our two cats, but Frank and beans might be the cutest cat name in the world.

Matt Markin  
I think we might have to have another episode. Yeah, we'll just talk about all our pets that that we have or have had. So Kate, tell us more about expand upon your bio. Tell us more about your origin story in higher education.

Kate Earnhardt  
So I so I started college at the ripe old age of 17, and that's kind of where I found myself. I was pretty shy as a kid, very reserved and very in my shell. And then when I got to college, I kind of blossomed and found myself, and so I kind of realized then that's where I wanted to be, some way, shape or form in like an educationally higher educational landscape. So my dad is retired now, but he was a public school teacher, and my sister, my little sister, eventually became public school teacher, and so that was kind of where I thought their trajectory was going. That's where my mom was kind of scooting me, and I was like, I'm not blessed with those skills to be able to handle public school students. So the dream was always to become a history professor and then, like, keep going with my ancient history. Now I'm just a part time historian and full time academic advisor, so after I was done with my master's degree, had to come back home to Omaha and eventually got a job at my alma mater and landed into academic advising, and I was like, Oh, this is my forever home. This is where I'm going to be. I love it. So that's, that's, that's a real short spiel on the origin story. Real short.

Bri Harvie  
I love it. It's great. And I, yeah, I feel like you and I are like soul sisters, because I had a very similar journey. I also my in my first degree. My minor was Roman archeology and history. So like you and me, we're gonna, we're gonna have an offline chat. I would love to poke at it a little bit and find out you mentioned you got a job at your alma mater. What was the first job? We've talked to a lot of people, like, nobody wakes up and is like, I want to be an academic advisor when I grow up, but we all somehow ended up here and are happy here. So what was your What was your gateway job?

Kate Earnhardt  
So my gateway job here at UNO was I was a staff assistant. And I was a staff assistant for about a year and a half. I got that job in January of 2020, and so it was about what six weeks later, everyone said, bye, bye. Like, go home, don't come back. And even though this is my alma mater, like, I, you know, that was eight years after graduating, and even though I kind of, like I said, I blossomed when I got to college, I also was the student that, like, I went to school and then I went to work and then I went home. So I didn't really do much, like extracurricular, so I didn't really have like connections on campus. So when I got that job, and then we had to go home, like the only person I knew was my boss, and that was the only person I talked to, because I worked in a very small office where she and I were the only two full time employees in that office. And I kind of actually said in my interview with her, I didn't really realize at the time that maybe you shouldn't say this in an interview to a different like position, but I kind of said like, oh, I would love to become an academic advisor one day. And so even though I said that, and I presented job interview for a position that had nothing to do with academic advising, that's what got my foot in the door, and then I saw the job opening for the position I'm in now, and I kind of thought to myself, Okay, I my imposter was telling me, you, you, you're not. They're not going to hire you for this job. But I just had to tell myself, like you're doing yourself a disservice. If you don't at least try, like the answer is no if you don't try and all you can like you are asking a yes or no question. At the very heart of it, you're asking if you can have this job, they might say no, and that's fine, but they did not say no. They said yes, and and I just kind of like fume like, took off from there, and like, really took to it. I really love the population of students that we that we advise in my department, and it's just been like, now I know everybody on campus. Now it's the opposite.

Matt Markin  
Oh, that's awesome. And tell us more about, like, the division of continuing students. I know not like every institution has a division like I know, like school I work at, we don't have a division of continuing studies. So tell us more about so tell us more about that. And kind of like your responsibilities as an academic advisor II?

Kate Earnhardt  
So Division of Continuing Studies, it's, I think, one of the oldest degree programs on our campus. It, it it essentially began think what God I think like 80 years ago now. And it essentially began as like the night school for grown ups, and has since evolved to be kind of like online programming still catering to adult and contemporary learners. So contemporary learners being, you know, maybe they are traditional age students, but they need to be completely online. We also have a big population of military connected learners, so people that are veterans or they're active duty military members. We have big population of those students so, so that's who we advise, mainly adult learners, mainly people that they started school as a traditional age student, and then life happened, and then they had to take a bunch of time off. And now they're now, they're my age, 37 that's how old I am. I had students that are, you know, in their 50s, 60s, coming back to school because they they started in the 70s, and they have to take that, take much time off, and now they're, I want to do this for me, and I'm coming back. So have a lot of students like that. I've had people come back. I mean, I. Seen transcripts. I saw a transcript once that was from the 50s, and I but, like, so I was like, Ooh, this is so cool. Like I because the historian, to me, was like, I want, oh, how can we make this work? And so a lot of what we do is puzzle piecing credit together. It is very rare, very rare, when we have a student that has no credit at all. I mean, I, I personally have seen this four times, and I get real nervous. I'm like, What do you mean? Like, there's nothing for me to play around with and like evaluate and look at. So we kind of are able to puzzle piece things together and make like a jigsaw puzzle, and lot of critical and creative thinking. So we can take this thing and that thing and marry it together, and then do this here and do that there, and make sure you get an upper level class over here, and, boom, you've got your bachelor's degree. So that's a lot of what we do, and a lot of what I do in in my degree program, we also help a lot of students that maybe they're stuck in their current program at at UNO or there, maybe there's a hurdle they just can't get past a lot of times. Maybe it's like a math requirement they just cannot get past it, or like a world language requirement. They're just not taking to it, and they just can't they just can't get past it at all. So we can welcome those students to our program and then help them still stay on the track that they want to be on. They wouldn't necessarily get the degree, like the name of the degree that they were getting before, but they can still do what they want to do. So that's what we do in our Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies degree program. That was a bit more of a bit of a long winded answer for you.

Bri Harvie  
I am here for it and it's it's so interesting as we've been doing this series talking to different people about the different nuances of each institution, because, like Matt said, not every institution has a department of Continuing Studies, and it's just been a really interesting learning experience hearing about those little pockets of uniqueness, uniqueness, we'll call that. We'll pretend it's a word. I'd love to hear more if you're open to sharing. So when you think about your advising practice, looking at the difference between talking to a 17 or 18 year old versus somebody in their 50s, or even with a transcript from the 50s, the process is going to look different, because, like you said, you have to kind of puzzle together some credit. But how do you change your approach to the conversation when you're working with those two different age groups?

Kate Earnhardt  
That's a good question, do I? I, I? I know that I do. It's probably really subtle. I think that's a little bit of the ADHD coming in, though, is that I kind of don't know how to not be authentically me, especially now that I'm learning how to unmask and like not, not try to appear quote, unquote normal all the time. But I I might talk to, I might talk to a more traditional aged learner in a way of, like, for me, it's a little bit easier to maybe give them tough love if they need it. I kind of tap into that, like, big sister mentality, because my sister is eight years younger than me. We're besties, and I love her so much, and she's gonna be listening to this. So, like, shout out to Hannah. Love you so much. So we're besties and but I grew up, like, very parentified, and so I I have that like, big sister gene in me, so I kind of tap into that, like, big sister mentality. And so I can give them a little bit of tough love if they need it, but they know that it's coming. Hopefully they know that's coming from a place of like, true concern, love, like, I want to do, I want to be here for you, to help you, but you also have to help yourself, but maybe with a more grown up person, like, when it's someone that's older than me, then I'm Like, then I'm also a little sister, because my brother is also eight years older than me. So I'm sometimes I find myself balking and I want to defer to them just as like you're older than me. I want to give you that inherent like, respect that you give someone that's older than you. I But I also might you see, you don't have to give them tough love because they've been through like they're like, school is not the hardest thing I have ever done, like they're like, I've raised kids, I've had a job for 20 years, like I've taken care of parents like a. Lot of them come back and they're like, oh, this was so hard when I was when I was 18, 19, 20 years old. But now, like, get give me all the classes. I can 21 hours. I can do it all in one semester. And it's easy for them, so I don't have to hand hold them as much, but also sometimes you do have to hand see it's really you have to tailor it to almost every person, because every learner is different. Every student is different, no matter what age bracket they're in. So I'm kind of like an advising chameleon, which that's going to go in my bio now.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, I think that's a nice way to put it, yeah. And you know, it was also in your bio, it's mentioned that you have a passion for educating others on not only the joys but also the challenges of being neurodivergent, and how to empower and support neurodivergent academic advisors as well as students. So I was wondering if you could share potentially, like, what are some maybe common misconceptions that people might have about someone who is neurodivergent? 

Kate Earnhardt  
My God, I would love to answer that question. So I so I actually, I made a presentation on this. I presented this at our regional conference, region six. And not to be braggadocious, but I did win Best of region for that presentation. It is a huge passion project for me, I will, hopefully, if we can get funding, be presenting that at annual conference in October. So like, there, there's my little plug for that. But cop, like, seriously common misconceptions about ADHD, in particular, because there's neurodivergent as an umbrella term. There are as many people as there are. That's how many ways you could be neurodivergent. But ADHD in particular, the huge like very common misconceptions, common myths about it are it's, it only happens to boys, that it is a childhood disease, and you grow out of it and it's ADHD is just being too hyperactive and bouncing off the walls. So it does not happen to just boys. It happens. It can happen to literally anyone. It is a neurodevelopmental disorder. So it happens in utero. There's links, there's there's a theory that it is genetic. And as I say in my presentation, if you've met Jim Earnhardt, my dad, it is genetic. Yes, that man's got some kind, some kind of something. So thanks dad for the for the ADHD. So, but there's no cure for it. You do not grow out of it. You to be kind of morbid about it, like you were born with it. You will die with it. It's all a matter of, as my therapist says, creating your ecosystem and having that ecosystem work for you, as opposed to like you working for the environment around you, things like that. And ADHD is truly not just being like bouncing off the walls. You can be ADHD and be completely silent and still, and all the hyperactivity is happening in your brain. So it's these myths kind of came into fruition because ADHD presents in boys and in men a lot more hyperactive than it does in women. Women tend to present and not to be like gender binary about it like this is just the language we have, but women tend to present more inattentive, and so like the daydreamer, the the person that is there, they're constantly forgetting things and absent minded. And so this myth came into being because little boys who are hyperactive are the most disruptive in classroom environments. So it's easier to diagnose them, and because it's so disruptive, and like you know, from an early age, like that child has ADHD, and we need to help them, but the little girl or the little boy, because boys can present as inattentive as well, but the child that maybe is more inattentive, like me, you don't notice it, and you don't realize until a lot of times for women, especially until later in Life, when things start adding up and you're like, oh, that's why I've always been like this, and that's why that's why my mood can change really quickly, and that's why I get really sensitive to like injustices I hear, and that's why I'm really sensitive to rejection. And maybe it's not imposter syndrome, maybe it's just the ADHD that's always been. Are messing with me. So I should also say I am not a therapist. I just go to a lot of therapy. So I if I'm saying stuff wrong, please don't correct me, because I will cry. Okay? Thank you.

Bri Harvie  
Thank you so much for sharing. I appreciate that. And I have another question, a follow up question, thinking a little bit kind of about that generational gap too. I know when I have conversations with boomers and up basically, or even some of the older Gen Xers, a lot of them, a lot of the languages, this wasn't around when I was a kid. It's like peanut allergies. These weren't a thing, and it's we just toughed it out, and now that there's more awareness, we are hearing of more people like yourself that are being diagnosed at a later age. I would if you're willing to share. I'd love to hear how this has influenced your advising practice. Because you said you were diagnosed in 2024, I think nearby out said, so that's very recent history. How have you had to adjust? Or how have you chosen to adjust your advising practice, knowing this about yourself and helping build, like you said, that ecosystem of what works best for you?

Kate Earnhardt  
Yeah, so I started, like a lot of women, I started suspecting during the pandemic, because we all had a lot more time to kind of do a self inventory and to think about ourselves a little bit. And I started seeing all these things. And I was like, wait, I do that. And I was like, I don't have ADHD, though, because, because, like, I can sit and listen to lectures, and I went to school. And then I started to realize, like, learning about and I was like, oh, but, but you do this and this and this and this and this, and that's ADHD girl. So I actually had my doc. I when I started suspecting, and I had gone to my doctor, she said, she said, and I quote, you can't have ADHD, you finished your master's degree. And I was like, I don't know. That's how those works, though. And also I didn't have a job, and, like, my only responsibility was going to school. And also, you don't know what I had to do to, like, I had to get extensions, and I was pulling teeth and like, all this and that anyway. So when I there was years when I was advising that I was suspecting, but I wasn't in therapy for it like to help me kind of learn and unlearn things. So it's only been maybe with like since I got my diagnosis, because that's how long I've been seeing my therapist. And a lot of what we talk about is ADHD things, is kind of unlearning how to not put myself first, and learning how putting myself first is how I help students and how I help people. So one of the common practices for a lot of advisors on campus and in my office is essentially like, no turnaround time between appointments. Some they'd be like, 15 minutes, and I was like, absolutely the hell not like, there's no way, because I gotta finish my note. And that is pulling teeth with me. Advising Notes make me want to become violent, not really. That's just how I say it. But advising notes are really hard for me to do. I have to trick myself to do them every single time I have to send the follow up email, I gotta go fill my water bottle up. I gotta go talk to this one person. I gotta answer this email. You can't do that in 15 minutes. And so I was I instituted for myself 30 minutes. There's no way that I can not have 30 minutes in between the the the appointments, and it was not met with any pushback, which I was happy about, but I would have advocated for myself, like there's just no way, like you can't make me do this. I also disclose pretty much in every meeting I have that I have ADHD, because my most pronounced symptom, my most noticeable symptom, is when I can't find my words. That started happening in grad school actually, like, and I was like, Oh, my God, I have a brain tumor. I'm dying because, like, I couldn't find my words. Like, it's casual. So I when I can't find my words, and I start like, I essentially just kind of go non verbal, and then I have to pause for a while and and I'm like, my brain is telling me rock, but like, the word is clock, like, and I have, like, I'm trying to make these connections. I tell the student I have ADHD, this is my most noticeable symptom, and almost, and a lot of them will go, Oh, me too. And so that it makes me feel better to disclose to people, because I want them to understand me. But it also helps. I have found that it has helped me to become. I'm closer to a lot of my students, and it is for me, maybe this is not, wouldn't be easy for everyone, but for me, it's an easy way to connect with them, and I think a lot of them then can know that I am, hopefully a safe person for them to be around, and a safe person for them to open up to. So those are some of the things that I've incorporated into I used to get really nervous about it, about disclosing. I still kind of get nervous about it with older students, because I it's maybe it's me being a little judgmental. I'm just worried that they wouldn't understand it as much. But they do. They do and and I don't always disclose to students if I kind of feel like this is not relevant, or it wouldn't be met with, like it would not be met the way I want it to be met. So those are just kind of things that I do in my practice to help me and to advocate for myself so that I can have the energy to advocate for other people. Oh, also, take your lunch break. If you never take if you don't take your lunch break, I'm going to come for you. Okay, I'm going to call the FBI, alright, you have to take your lunch break. I always take my lunch break so I can just have some time to, like, turn my brain off, listen to some music, play a little game on my phone. Like, just help myself. Re-regulate. Go on a little walk. Walking really helps to re, like, regulate your nervous system. But if you don't take your lunch break, I will come after you. There.

Matt Markin  
I said it. Anyone that's listening, please take your lunch break. Yes, like Brie was saying, yeah. Thank you so much for sharing this. I mean, I think it's a lot of great tips and just kind of being vulnerable to share your story. I think is fantastic that you're doing that. I think it's just wild, though, to be told that, no, you can't have ADHD because you got your master's degree. I think that's absolutely wild that that happened. Wow. But switching gears, you know, I was kind of looking at your bio, and, you know, when we were reading it earlier, and I was interested to know more about, you know, is it your second day? You could then do a NACADA webinar, and then that's what hooked you. I know probably like, for me, I would have been, like, so nervous, like, I just started as an advisor. Now you're having me do like this NACADA webinar and watching it. What was it about, starting out as an advisor, doing this Nakata webinar, that was like, Yep, I see myself being in this field?

Kate Earnhardt  
Yeah. So the only reason I know that it was my second day was because a few years ago, my office put together a packet, an award packet, for me to nominate me for the one of the global awards the best new advisor I did not win, which is voter fraud, by the way, okay, I'm saying it now. It's all that matters. Was that I was nominated. Okay? That was actually a huge confidence boost. I was so excited. I've never gotten nominated for an award like that. Anywho. So in the nomination packet, my supervisor wanted me. She was like, when did you start, like, doing the kind of things? And we have, we went back in time on the calendar. And she was like, so you're so you were hired the day, but you started in our office the day before you did this first webinar. And I don't remember, I don't remember which one it was. I don't really remember how I've figured it out, maybe one of my office my new office mates was like, Hey, you should check out NACADA while you're like, training and professional development is my jam because, because of the ADHD, I really like learning new things. It's, it's, it's a novelty motivator for me. So I really like learning new things. And because I was in this new in this new role, and I'm like a little sponge, I really, I just love learning things. And I thought, Well, I'm gonna, like, check out this stuff. This can be supplemental to the things I'm learning from the people in in my office. And this can teach me about this thing and that thing. And there's a there's whole advising philosophies, and you can make a syllabus and you and you can do this and that and and it was really fascinating to me, because I never would have thought something like NACADA existed and and I just really loved all of the supplemental things that you can do with NACADA. And so I Oh, God, I can't remember. What was it two years ago, three years. Ago, I don't know time means nothing, especially for a historian, especially for an ADHD or especially for an ADHD historian. So time means nothing. It's made up. But how many years ago I did the mentoring program in Region six ramp, and loved it, and one of my goals was, I'm going to apply for ELP when it comes back. So I had my eye on that for years. The first annual conference I went to was Portland, and even before then, that was 22 girl, I don't remember. It was some year. And even before then, I have my eye on ELP. And I met Amy core thank at the at our regional meeting at port in Portland. And she was she said, Have you ever thought about ELP? And I was like, actually, yes, I don't think I would ever get accepted, but it has been on my radar. And she was like, it's on pause right now. But like, you should, you should check it out. Girl, when I tell you I have that tab open checking back all the time, like, when is ELP going to start back up? When's it going to start back up? And when it started back up? That was at the tail end of my ramp mentorship. I loved ramp. I love my my ramp mentor, Kelly pastilly, shout out to Kelly. And one of my goals was, I'm going to apply for ramp. And she was a really big help to that. I applied for it. I was like, I'm not going to not gonna. There are people I can't somebody that might even be somebody like one of the mentors in our class right now was like, I had to apply three times. And I was like, I was like, her, she had to apply three times, like, they're not gonna let me in. Like, I'll apply again, and and then they let me in. That was so then, of course, my imposter said, Oh, that's because only 12 people applied like that. That has to be why. But I have been assured that's not true, but, but, yeah, it's been like this whole big hand in hand relationship of like, starting advising and always having, like, something in NACADA in the back burner. I'm also the Nebraska liaison for Region six as well, which is also great, because I love our steering committee. Shout out to all of them too.

Bri Harvie  
That's great. And I love the all the shadows, but I still love the shout out to PD in general. I think it's so important, and it's one of those, like, if we don't take it upon ourselves to learn new things, then it's really easy to get stagnated, because a lot of the work that we do can be repetitive in nature. And so kudos to you for doing that right out the gate. Now we're less than a year into ELP, but I'd love to hear a little bit more about how your first year has been going. What have your goals been how are your goals or your goals being met? Have you already like, check, check, or are you like, Absolutely not. We're going to lead them into year two. How is ELP going for you, Kate?

Kate Earnhardt  
I think it's going really well. Sarah, Howard is my mentor. I really like her a lot. I think we vibe really well. She's really easy to talk to, and it's just been really great getting to connect with her. So the goals for year one i i met, I did three of them, and I kind of did it in a sense of like, what's a really easy one, and I, and to me, I don't remember what they are now, because ADHD is not letting me remember right now, I want to say it was, I want to Say it was like do another presentation at at annual and maybe it was that one. So I wanted to do one that was like, this is super easy and it's attainable, like, quickly, and that will help me, kind of, like, check this off and, like, get that dopamine hit that that ADHD is always chasing. Then I wanted to do one that was maybe a little more long term. And that one was write an article for academic advising today. That one I have not met yet, but more on that to come. And then my then I wanted to do like a big, lofty one. So I was like, this is like, almost like my pipe dream goal. And my pipe dream goal is to now I know that this one might have to get reworked quite a bit, or maybe even, like, scrapped, I don't know, but because the advising communities, like it's getting completely revamped. But what I wanted, what I would love, is to create an affinity group, or, like, an advising community for neurodiverse. Advisors. I think there's a lot of need for it. And just based off of doing the my presentation, just the one time at regionals, like it was, it was really affirming to me and gratifying to me to hear so many people say this made me feel seen. This made me feel so like, like, like, not so alone. I thought it was only me that dealt with these things. Thank you so much for saying these things. And it I was like, This is why I wanted to do this presentation, so that people it's so easy for us to get shut behind our doors and like, stuck in and like, you don't talk to anybody, you don't see anybody all day. And I was like, This is why I wanted this presentation to let people know that, like you, are not alone. We there are so many of us that that live with this and deal with these things, and I think that that could be a huge boon to NACADA, but I know so, like I said, that was my lofty goal. Might might be like a, like a, like a three year plan, a five year plan or something. But so obviously that one's on back burner, but kind of working towards the article, because, as one of my former colleagues at UNO. Katie Larson, she now works at Creighton in Omaha, which, weirdly, I only ever see Katie when we're at conferences in different cities. But we live in Omaha. So Katie, if you're listening like, love you boo. So Katie Larson was the first person that always told me, like, if you've done the work of a presentation, you've done the work of an article, you just need to, like, finesse it and form it into an article. So Sarah's gonna help me with that. We've got like, deadlines in place, which, like ADHD ers love a deadline. So we've got things in place for that. And kind of what my presentation goal has turned into, is potentially turning that presentation into, like a workshop. So that might be like, that'll be like a new goal in year two. Is because my present, it got right up to an hour. I was like, there's no time for Q and A so I think, I think there are ways I could turn into a workshop so that we can make more tangible, like, more I guess I should say more time for like, learning about how to incorporate tips and tricks to mitigate challenges we feel and and how to advocate better for ourselves. So that's kind of how things are going in year two. So my only personality trait is having ADHD. So that's like, we're all like, all of my goals are aligned with having personality traits, having ADHD, being a Roman historian, those two things.

Bri Harvie  
And Fran N Beans.

Matt Markin  
Yes, but here's another thought too. Like, if you know you have it as a presentation or concurrent session, thinking about expanding it out to a workshop, maybe it's also, I mean, you're within region six on the steering committee. Potentially, there's like, I know they don't call them webinars for the regions, but whatever that is called, maybe there's a that could be a topic to have for Region six, but then any anyone in any other region could be invited to that as well. So now it gets it out to the masses in another way. So something else to consider with that too. But another EOP question is like, you know, you've talked about your goals, year one, possible ones for year two. Kind of the ones even after that, let's just say someone is interested in applying. You know, you kind of talked about, like, Oh, I thought I wasn't going to get accepted, especially if, like, you know, other individuals applied three times. What's your advice for someone that is interested in applying, and maybe even just starting out? Because I not that you remembered, like, the like, the questions that were asked, but they were kind of really, kind of deep dive into, like, who you are and what you represent, what your interests are. What's your advice for someone starting out, even wanting to apply and even getting started on their application?

Kate Earnhardt  
Yeah, so I actually one of my co workers, we had breakfast a couple weeks ago because she wanted to learn more about ELP. And I think she's been advising for a little, actually a little longer than I have. And so she was kind of asking questions like that, like, who's allowed to do it, and this and that. And I was like, there are people like in my class that are assistant directors and directors of advising like it's not I kind of tried to dispel, not the myth. What's the word my brain is trying to say you're seeing this is you're seeing ADHD happen right now the um. Uh, kind of like misnomer, I guess is a good word of it's to develop your leadership skills. Like, yeah. In a way, it is to develop your leadership skills, that's a byproduct, but it's to develop your leadership skills within Nakata, like your leadership potential within Nakata. And so it's like, Yeah, you like, I think you have to be a member for like, a year, two years, like, something like that, like, maybe, maybe that. I was like, I think that used to be a rule, but maybe they scrapped it. I don't know. I was like, but there are people that have been advising for a decade and are in ELP. So I was telling her, I was like, if, if you want to start out, like small, like I was, like ramp region six, advising mentoring program, like ramp is a great place to start, and then you can kind of get your feet wet, and then go from there. I think, with the application, I kind of actually thought of it as, like my grad school application, and like my letter of intent, where, and like a cover letter of sorts, like you, this is the only time I will talk about myself in capitalistic vocabulary, but I am like, you're a product. You need to sell yourself so, like, you know exactly what you've done. You know why you should be included in this. Tell them, like, be braggadocious. Like, like, brag on yourself. So, like, I had opened up my resume, because it gets hard for me to kind of think of myself in terms like that, of like, well, well, I kind of get like, Well, yeah, I've done that, but like, like, look at yourself the way, like an outsider would look at you. And so I opened up my resume, and I was like, Well, damn, I have, according to this, I have done a lot, so I kind of use that to remind me, like, okay, these are the things that I've done. This is why you want me in your program. And so I kind of tell people like that, like, you need to market yourself. You know why you want them to pick you tell them so, like, in my application, like, I actually, like, I called out NACADA a little bit. I was like, you want me in your program, because I'm an advisor for adult learners, and they are woefully underrepresented in higher ed in NACADA as well. And I was like, case in point, I did a presentation on adult learners at regional the room held 75 people, and there were 72 people in it, so at a regional conference. So people want to learn about adult learners, so I called them out. And I kind of think that that little bit of tough love maybe helped me a little bit. So I tell people like don't be afraid to brag on yourself. Don't be afraid to tell people your accomplishments. Um, because they want people like that to be in their in their programs.

Bri Harvie  
Absolutely, and I am. I'm 100% stealing braggadocious, because that is outstanding. But it's, it's this whole idea, and you've talked a few times about imposter ism, and I know a common technique for countering imposter ism that is, talk about yourself the way you would want your best friend to talk about you, or the way you would talk about your best friend. And like you said, you open your resume and you're like, resume and you're like, Damn girl, I've done a lot of stuff. How would your best friend sell you? What are the things that they would say about you? Because it's you are great and you have done great things, and it's hard, I think, for a lot of people, and I think particularly for women, it's hard to really internalize those accomplishments and see them for what they are. And so sometimes it takes just that shift in your brain of, how do I perceive this? And am I downplaying it because it's mean, because I'm uncomfortable and I want to hide like, no, no, no, no, it's no big deal. It's fine. Everybody's done this that no celebrate yourself like you would celebrate your best friend in our last kind of few minutes here, we have probably time for a couple more questions. But what are some things that you think so you talked about your advising community, what are some things that you think other advisors could get out of being in an advising community or an affinity group or some kind of connection opportunity for other advisors, or even people who want to just learn more about advisors who are under that giant umbrella of neurodivergence.

Kate Earnhardt  
Oh, my God, I people could get so much out of it. I I don't even know where to start it. So I'll say this, so we have an academic advising council on my campus. It's so it's every advisor, and then everybody that might even just be, like, tangentially involved in advising. And we try to monthly. We meet monthly the third Thursday of every month, I think, at the end of the towards the end of the day. And we, what we try to do is we try to always have like, a little social afterwards, and maybe like, five people show up, and I, and I don't think it's because we people don't want to go. Is because people feel like they can't step outside of their office for an hour. They don't have time to do it. They've got, they've got 15 emails to answer. They've got seven appointments tomorrow. They can't they don't have time. I'll talk to you guys. When I talk to you guys, and the socials are self care, because it's allowing us to it's allowing us to be in community with each other. And maybe we're just, we're just shooting the breeze, and we're talking about whatever, maybe we're letting off steam. And talking like this thing really frustrated me. And like, listen to this, like my, like my director did that, you know, like you're, you're just letting off steam. And that is really important when we are in the profession that we're in, because it's high turnover, it's it's high stress, it's a million amount, like million pounds of emotional labor. And I think a lot of people think that advising is just what classes do you want to take? Advising is also I got kicked out of my house. I don't have food. I am experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, I am undocumented, and I'm afraid I'm going to get deported. And you're like, having to hold it together while the student is in your office and trying to be strong for them, and the second they turn around you, like, just dissolve into a puddle. Or maybe this is the first time you've met a kid, and they just like, trauma dump all over you. And then you're like, so what major Do you want to declare, you know, so it is really important for us to be in community with each other and to know that we can rely on one another. Because that will, I think that will directly impact turnover rates. I think it directly impacts job satisfaction. Advising is also highly collaborative, so like, I make it my mission to know as many people as I can, because especially in my degree program, I have to know a little bit about a lot of every kind of program on campus, because our degree program is so individualized and creative. So I know this person, that bird, that everybody, and if I'm like, I feel like we're going to be friends. Let's go to lunch and like, let's make time to be in community with each other, and think about it. And like, help each other. We're going to be friends. Having advising communities, I think, is really important. It's just that we have to tell people like there actually is time in your day to prioritize this, because prioritizing this is prioritizing yourself, and you cannot serve people if you have nothing even to give yourself. So that's my millennial socialist soap box, and I will stand on it also braggadocious, I think is a thing that Donald Trump said. So I say it to be like to like dunk on him, just to make it clear.

Matt Markin  
Well, building community and collaboration, I think that's a great way to end this interview. Kate, this is great. I mean, it's been great for Ray and I to talk to you and get to know you a lot better as well. And you shared a lot of great tips. I think listeners will appreciate so thank you so much for joining us today.

Kate Earnhardt  
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Bri Harvie  
Thanks, Kate.