Have you thought about starting a podcast?

Allanté Whitmore, PhD started the Blk + In Grad School podcast on her phone, a podcast created to encourage and inspire people of color in grad school. It’s since grown to over 160 episodes with a new season on the way.

Discover Allanté’s journey as a podcast producer and host. It’s all in this featured interview on The Social Academic blog.

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Meet Allanté

Jennifer: Hi, everyone. This is Jennifer van Alstyne. Welcome to The Social Academic featured interview series.

Today, I’m speaking with Dr. Allanté Whitmore. We’re gonna be talking about podcasting, which is something a lot of you have been interested in. I’m excited for you to be here today.

Would you please introduce yourself? Just let everyone know who you are?

Allanté: Absolutely. Jennifer, thank you so much for having me on the podcast. We’ve been internet buddies for years now which is kind of amazing. So excited to be here.

So hi, everybody, my name’s Allanté Whitmore, PhD. I recently completed a joint PhD in Civil Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University where I studied autonomous vehicle policy research.

On the weekends, and in the wee hours of the night, I built a podcast and community called Blk + In Grad School. There I chronicle my experience as a black woman pursuing a PhD in Engineering. I also interview other graduate students and early career professionals about their graduate experience. With the whole hope of

• Motivating
• Inspiring
• Providing tips and tricks
• Mindset shifts

for graduate students to get through their journey.

Jennifer: Oh, I love that. What a good podcast topic. It’s also gonna help so many people. It’s one of those things that those resources are gonna be valuable to people again and again for years to come.

I’m not a big podcast listener, but I love the episode that you did about decorating your apartment on a grad school budget. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, so many good tips. And I’m a big thrift storer. I really enjoyed that.

I love that you interview a lot of black women and really give them a platform to share their stories and their advice.

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Allanté started a podcast to create the resource she needed in grad school

Jennifer: What inspired you to start a podcast?

Allanté: Yeah, absolutely. Honestly, my own experience through grad school.

Prior to going to Carnegie Mellon, I finished my master’s at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. And I did undergrad at North Carolina Agricultural Technical State University which is a historically black college [HBCU].

The transition between my undergraduate experience and grad school was very jarring.

A lot of people maybe assumed because I moved from an HBCU to a predominantly white institution…the academic rigor was the same.

It was the social pieces and some of that kind of hidden curriculum around how one navigates themselves as a graduate student that I really wasn’t knowledgeable about.

I really stumbled through my 1st graduate school experience. I didn’t know I was supposed to show up to Friday coffee to connect with my professors. I wasn’t really involved or engaged in a way that was beneficial to me as someone who’s aspiring a profession and career.

When I left, I finished my master’s, I went and worked in Detroit at the McNair Scholars Program at Wayne State University. I led that program. If you’re not familiar with McNair Scholars, it’s a program that helps 1st generation low income students go to graduate school. There, I got all this professional training around grad school readiness and retention in graduate school.

Coupled with my own experience in my professional training, I just felt when I decided to go back to graduate school…There was so much I wished someone told me that had nothing to do with the technical or academic skills we need to be successful. I think a lot of us have that already.

It’s just like, oh yeah

• You’re supposed to go to Friday coffee.
• This is how you manage a meeting with your advisor.
• Here’s how you kind of work through those stickier situations where we may not have a safe space to ask those questions at our university.

That is how Blk + In Grad School started. The whole idea was what I wish someone told me. The research I wish I had when I started back in 2012.

Jennifer: Oh, I love that. It sounds like what you went through in your experiences helped inspire you to create this beneficial resource for everyone who is going through it now. And who may be advising students who are also going through this journey.

You said earlier, ‘hidden curriculum.’ In grad school, especially if you’re not from an academic family, if your parents aren’t PhDs. Especially if you’re from a low income household…There are these kinds of hidden curriculum things that no one’s gonna tell you unless someone like you creates resources around it. I love that you’re welcoming that community and starting that conversation for so many people across the country.

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Getting started with podcasting in grad school

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Jennifer: Now how did you get started podcasting? A lot of people are like, ‘Oh yeah, I wanna have a podcast.’ But what was the process for you like when you were getting started and hitting the ground running?

Allanté: Oh yeah, absolutely. Now, I would not recommend my path [laughs].

Jennifer: That’s good to know too.

Allanté: This was 5 years ago. Okay? When you could start things on your phone. I swear y’all, for those listening, I literally grabbed my phone and put the mic as close to my mouth. If you go back to like the first 10 episodes they’re terrible because it’s literally me on my blow up mattress because I didn’t have a bed yet. I had just moved to Pennsylvania.

I maybe did a little bit of light editing on my computer. But it was literally stream of consciousness. That’s how I started Blk + In Grad School.

Then I upgraded to my computer. The next 20 episodes are me huffing into the computer.

Then I finally invested in a mic and the quality improved.

I started to invest in editing and started to think about crafting stories.

I started interviewing people around the 20th episode as well. I was like, “Oh, this could be really good to bring in more perspectives, more experiences.” It was a very organic growth that happened from the start.

I would not recommend starting with your phone anymore. We have really great inexpensive mics that you can get started.

Jennifer: That’s so cool that it really was this project and you’re like, ‘I’m gonna do it. Even if it’s on my blow up mattress with my phone in my hand. I’m going to create this.’

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What type of content creation is right for you?

Allanté: Oh gosh. Another transparency moment for me: I actually hate writing. Right? [Jennifer laughs.]

I’m an engineer. I’m an engineer through and through where I wrote quite literally what was exactly needed to get this PhD. And technical writing is way different than creative writing. I definitely feel more comfortable writing for research.

In my life prior to being in graduate school, I’ve done a number of entrepreneurial pursuits. One of them was a blog. Hated it.

Tried vlogging, hated it. I wasn’t able to keep up with it.

And so what I love about podcasting is that I was able to be consistent. It was low pressure for me as someone who’s kind of on the go. Even now, I just left the gym. I have a hat on. Like, Jennifer looks beautiful. Eyebrows done, lipstick. I put lipgloss on and got here. And podcasting takes that pressure away from me.

Jennifer: It does.

Allanté: Yeah, so I can create consistently. And I’m not really worried about the visual…I love podcasts. I kind of started to realize the power of podcasting and having someone in your ears. And the intimate moment of listening to someone else’s thoughts or hearing their perspective.

It just felt like a very natural fit because I had tried other forms. They weren’t really for me. And in this one, I was able to make stick.

Jennifer: Yeah. So your podcast listener yourself. And you tried blogging and didn’t enjoy it.

I really like the things you said about how it allowed you to really be consistent. That is so important when we’re creating something new. When we’re creating this kind of new project that is going to take an unknown amount of time.

Really, when we’re starting out, that idea of consistency is something that a lot of people don’t think about.

And when professors tend to approach me and they’re like, ‘I wanna start a blog. You know, I’m excited about this.” And I talk with them a little bit about some of the things that go into it. And how much work they might have to do in order to get things up and running. And they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I had no idea.’

Finding a budget for a podcast editor

Jennifer: Was there anything that was really surprising about the podcasting process that you learned once you kind of got into it?

Allanté: In my 2nd year of my program, I moved into a cheaper apartment because I really was enjoying Blk + In Grad School. I knew I needed to be able to put a little money towards it. As a grad student I was earning nothing. But I was like, ‘Okay, I can now carve out $100-$200 a month toward an editor.’ That was the 1st thing I invested in to take that off my plate.

It’s very time consuming and I’m grateful to my [podcast] editor who’s like one of my best friends, Stephanie. I’m also very fortunate to have a best friend who is an editor, right?

Jennifer: That’s wonderful.

Allanté: Yes! I’m very grateful for her. I told her, ‘Hey, I’m doing this project. Here’s what I can afford right now.’ And as Blk + In Grad School grew, I was able to do some increases in her pay. She was also a very supportive person.

You can look in at Fiverr, you can look in at Upwork. You can do a bunch of things to delegate if you know there’s a piece of the process that you simply don’t wanna do. Or, that you don’t have the time to do.

Editing was the piece that I think I very quickly realized this is a time suck for me. That it would actually harm or decrease my productivity or consistency if I’m the person responsible for editing.

Jennifer: That is so smart. It’s really nice that you figured out the piece of that puzzle where if you send this off and get some help with it, that’s what’s gonna allow you to actually produce more. And put more energy, the kind of energy you want into this project.

I love that you chose to change your lifestyle in order to actually put more energy into this and more finances too.

A lot of people don’t realize that some money may have to go into the kind of upkeep or creation of a project like this. I really appreciate your transparency with that.

Allanté: Absolutely.

How starting a podcast has impacted Allanté‘s life

Jennifer: Now, you must have made that decision because it was impacting you in some greater way.

I’m curious, what kind of impact has the podcast had on your life? Or, your online community?

Allanté: So many amazing things have come from Blk + In Grad School. I genuinely was just creating something I wish existed. Right?

From that I have had speaking engagements at universities across the country, which is really exciting. Especially during the pandemic, I was able to do a lot since it was virtual.

Jennifer: That’s great!

Allanté: Yeah, it blew my mind. Right?

I’ve done campaigns. I’ve dabbled in the influencer space as a result of Blk + In Grad School, representing the graduate lifestyle to an extent.

Jennifer: Oooh.

Allanté: It’s very interesting.

I don’t fully take on the identity of an ‘influencer.’ It feels awkward. But the reality is that it’s a stream of income that has been helpful.

Especially when I was finishing up my PhD in the last like year or so. It was really like, ‘Okay, this is actually bringing in income,’ sponsorships.

Lastly, my community. In 2019, I started The Scholar Circle. It’s a community for folks in grad school. It’s an accountability and coworking community. We meet 3 times a week for a total of roughly 8 hours over those 3 sessions. We work together. We get things done.

In the membership community, there are a host of resources to help you through your graduate journey. That also became a piece that I didn’t anticipate growing. I will also be honest, that was very hard to grow. That took time. And even still, it takes time to readjust and attract new people. That is a task, but it’s a labor of love.

All of these different things have kind of cropped up.

I also have merch.

There’s just like so many different kinds of new streams of income that helped me support the podcast so I didn’t have to be the one putting the money into it.

Jennifer: Oh, that’s amazing. So, you’ve created streams of income that are associated with the content that you create, this podcast. And that helps you support the creation of the podcast.

Allanté: That’s right.

Jennifer: If The Scholar Circle, that kind of co-working and accountability sounds great to you, check that out.

Jennifer: One thing that I love about your Instagram and your online presence is that community feel is really there as well. When you’re talking about how you are picking up some sponsored and campaigns for some influencer type things that makes total sense to me. Because the audience that is already following you, the people that are connected with you, they wanna see more content about grad school.

They wanna see more of that lifestyle and what you were going through as well. I love that you were a great representative for them and that companies were able to work with you for that kind of thing.

Allanté: Yeah, thank you. I mean that totally came left field. [Jennifer laughs.] And it’s still so funny nowadays because I realize it is a lucrative option. And recognizing that Blk + In Grad School is also very niche.

There’s a really interesting balancing act that happens there. It’s been very helpful. It’s like, ‘Okay, now I actually have a substantial amount of money I can support. Now I can get more resources. I can now pay someone to help me with The Scholar Circle.

So it all goes back into serving the community. I’m grateful for it.

But I also don’t wanna start spamming the community, right? So there’s like a balance.

Jennifer: Yeah, right.

Allanté: Exactly.

Jennifer: There is a balance. And I’ve never seen anything that looks even remotely like SPAM from your accounts.

Allanté: Yeah. [Laughs.]

Jennifer: You’re always so thoughtful with the content that you share. And actually you’re a great example when I’m talking to other grad students about what they might wanna post on Instagram. I often direct them to your account. I say, “There’s all sorts of things you can do. You can help people. You can talk about your own experiences. And this isn’t a great example for you to check out.”

So I love your Instagram. And oh my gosh, spammy? Definitely not [laughs].

Allanté: That makes me feel better.

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The Grad School Success Summit

Allanté: I started that the Grad School Success Summit the 1st year of the podcast. That was the event I used to help attract people to Blk + In Grad School.

Not just current grad students, but also other folks in the academic content creation space. That’s how I think I first reached out to you, Jennifer, was to be a speaker.

Jennifer: That’s right. That’s totally right.

Allanté: Yeah. It was really a way for me to kind of tap into the community of content creators who we are supporting the same community.

But then also let new people know ‘Hey, there’s this resource available. You know, it might vibe with you.’ If not, I always share a bunch of other resources that might be a better fit.

This year was the 5th Summit which blows my mind.

Jennifer: Wow! 5 years. I mean that’s really amazing.

Allanté: Thank you. It blows my mind. That is definitely the staple event I have every single year. It’s always helpful in building my email list. That’s my main email list building activity for the year. I really enjoy it.

Those 3 days are intense but really, really fun.

Jennifer: They’re fun. It sounds like it’s something that helps build your list. That helps more people learn about Blk + In Grad School and The Scholar Circle.

How does it help the community? What is the Grad School Success Summit? And who should go to it?

Allanté: I think everyone has the academic skills. I’m really not super concerned with folks having the academic skills. I think if you got into grad school, you’ve got them.

But it’s the social bit. It’s the financial wellness. It’s the emotional wellness. Physical wellness. Creating a personal brand. Right? Building community. All of those other pieces of the grad school experience that universities don’t feel fully responsible for.

I feel like we try our best to create an environment where you can get some tips. You can get some information. Some resources and motivation around any of those topics so you’re a more well rounded graduate student. Not just a brain, you know, doing research day in and day out. And doing homework. And doing readings.

So helping grad students think about what do they want their year to look like? Beyond their academic goals. And how they’re gonna take care of themselves to carry them out is really the impetus behind the Summit.

Jennifer: I love that.

Is there somewhere people can watch the replays if they missed this year’s Summit?

Allanté: So yeah! You can totally watch the replays at GradSchoolSummit.com. That’s for the most recent year, the 2022 Grad School Success Summit.

If you wanna watch any year before that so 2021-2018, they replays are all available on my YouTube.

Jennifer: Excellent! Great.

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Leaving academia (and talking about it online)

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Jennifer: Well I’d love to hear what you’re up to now. Congratulations on finishing your PhD.

Allanté: Thank you.

Jennifer: I know that you’re in a new job. So I’d love to hear a little about it.

Allanté: Yeah, absolutely.

So, I have left academia. That was honestly so stressful to actually admit on the internet. I don’t know why.

I just feel like there’s this assumption, even my own inner feeling that we’re supposed to go onto a tenure track position.

I had a really great opportunity at a national energy security organization. We look at transportation policy as it relates to reducing our dependence on oil. I am now the Director of the Autonomous Vehicle Policy Research Center there. 

Jennifer: Exciting!

Allanté: It’s really exciting! Yeah! It’s really exciting work. I get to do exactly what I’ve always wanted to do, which is stand between technical folks (so automakers in this particular expertise I’ve built) and policy makers to communicate what’s happening on that side. See what’s happening with policy. To help create policy. And my emphasis on equity informed policies, so how do we make sure that things are good for everybody.

Jennifer: So that they’re accessible. 

Allanté: Yeah, yeah. It’s exciting.

Jennifer: I love that! Now, since you were kind of anxious about talking about it online, what kind of reaction did you get to announcing you were leaving academia?

Allanté: All resounding ‘Good for you’s [laughs].

Jennifer: Yay! [Claps.] So if you’re also leaving academia, or thinking about it, it is okay to talk about online. A lot of people are gonna cheer you on.

Allanté: Yeah, that’s right. That’s right.

There are some folks who were like, “Oh, I think you would have made a great professor.” And it doesn’t mean that part of my life is absolutely not an option, right? But yeah.

Mostly we get it. It’s hard out here.

Finishing grad school after the peak of the pandemic, so the academic job market was something I just wasn’t really in a place to even do at the time. I was like, ‘I just wanna figure things out if I need to. But I’m very [emphasis] happy with my position.

Jennifer: It sounds like you’re exactly where you wanna be. Right in that place with policy and the automakers themselves.  So that’s so cool.

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TikTok is Allanté’s favorite social media platform

Jennifer: One thing that I wanted to be sure to ask you about is what is your favorite social media platform? You do have a big online presence. You’ve got multiple websites. You’ve got your Instagram, your YouTube. Which is your favorite?

Allanté: TikTok! [Laughs.] Where I’m not at.

[Jennifer: laughing loudly] That’s so funny! Why do you like TikTok so much?

Allanté: I love TikTok. I have a very irreverent sense of humor and I feel like TikTok is full of all of the, like, just wild and kind of wacky stuff. I thoroughly enjoy that.

Jennifer: It fits your personality.

Allanté: Yeah, yeah. There’s things on there. I’d create a page…But I enjoy consuming TikTok. I haven’t gotten to where I wanna contribute too much.

Jennifer: Well you’re a creator in a lot of different areas. You don’t need to create on every platform. Especially the ones you enjoy consuming the most. [Allanté nods her head.]

That’s really fun to hear about when you have so many social media platforms.

Keeping her online presence updated

Jennifer: How do you manage all of that? Like you have multiple websites. You got the social media. That’s a lot to keep track of.

I have a pretty good system with the podcast. Right now, the podcast isn’t on YouTube. I only have like the Summit on YouTube. When I first started, I did a couple of webinars. So they’re there.

My YouTube is pretty tame. That keeps it very manageable for me where I’m only adding 6 new videos a year for those 3 days that we have the Summit.

Jennifer: Nice.

Allanté: Now as far as the websites, everything from the podcast goes to the website. Once I create a podcast episode through my podcast provider, I then link everything: the show notes, all of that. I’m pretty much just repurposing all of that written content and putting it into a blog post on the website. That keeps it very easy to maintain and pretty low maintenance.

Now the social media piece, that’s where probably the bulk of my content creation energy goes. Because you have to create things all the time.

I more recently took a break because I was writing my dissertation. Honestly, so much life has happened since I finished my PhD. Even like us recording is getting me back into the groove of content creation.

Jennifer: Right.

Allanté: What that looked like before was, ‘Okay, I have this episode that’s gonna go out. I only need 2 more pieces of content around the post with the podcast every week. So that’s kind of how I managed it and kept it very low maintenance for me. Like, I can create 2 more pieces of content.

Jennifer: It sounds like you have a good system.

Allanté: Yeah, I do. Thanks.

Jennifer: I like that your system is all based around the podcast. And figuring out what needs to be shared, where it needs to be shared, and when. Right? That’s the multiple posts part. But it sounds like you have a system in place.

I love that you took a break during your dissertation. And even afterwards. Taking a break from social media is so important, especially for our mental health and well-being. It’s great that you shared that as well.

Need a break from social media? I have an blog post to help.

A tip for starting your new content project

Jennifer: Now, is there anything else that you’d like to add that you wanna be sure to talk about during this interview? I’m having so much fun.

Allanté: I know! Me too.

Only thing I’d say, for anyone who is starting out. The advice I give everyone, and this is what I did when I started the podcast…

Before you go live, create 5-10 pieces of content.

Jennifer: Oooh. Why?

Allanté: 1: you’re practicing the consistency of creating the content and making it a part of your schedule. Even if that means you’re sitting and bashing it. It’s like, ‘Okay, this is how long it takes me to make 5-10 episodes. Or 5-10 videos. 5-10 blog posts, whatever.

Then you can schedule those anchor pieces of content over those 10 weeks, 5 weeks, what have you. If it’s every other week, now you’ve got 20 weeks worth of content if it’s biweekly that you’re producing content.

You get to kind of mess up too. Those very 1st episodes, I don’t listen to. Because they’re not great! But, I got to figure out so much with those first few episodes. Then I could reassess and create some direction. And decide if I like it.

I think all of those bits are really important, 1: with building an audience, and 2: figuring out what works for you and your flow. And making sure you can stay committed to something you said you were going to do.

Jennifer: You have to like it. Right? It’s a big project. It takes a lot of energy and maybe even some finances if you want to get into it. So liking it is important [laughs].

And I’m glad you had a topic you were passionate about. And that you put all this energy into. Because you created something amazing.

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A new season of Blk + In Grad School

Jennifer: What is next for Blk + In Grad School? Will there be a new season?

Allanté: Yeah! Literally, I recorded an episode yesterday. It’s so exciting. I definitely wanna hit 200 episodes. We’re at 165 right now. So I know the goal right now is okay, hit 200. And then we will reassess again.

[Allanté and Jennifer laugh.]

Allanté: But I’m definitely wanting to serve the community. I’m open to what that looks like. I think there might be time for a new voice. There might be time for a different approach. I’m really open to what’s needed from me.

And also balancing my life post-grad school. Right? My time is different. I actually travel a lot for work. Figuring that out has been really interesting.

Jennifer: You’ve changed your lifestyle to work with this podcast. And now you’re even maybe changing the podcast to fit with your lifestyle.  And what the community is hoping for in the future.

Thank you so much for talking with me today. Dr. Allanté Whitmore, this has been a joy! We’ve been internet buddies for a few years now.

Allanté: Yeah!

Jennifer: I’ve been involved with the Grad School Success Summit. And so I’m so excited that you came on The Social Academic today.

Allanté: Oh, so happy to be here, Jennifer! Like literally means the world to me.

And make sure you link your session from the Summit in the show notes.

Jennifer: Oh! Good idea. I wouldn’t have even thought of that. But I did talk about social media and how to talk about yourself online in grad school. So I’ll link that below as well. Thanks so much!

Allanté: Thank you.

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Bio for Dr. Allanté Whitmore

Allanté Whitmore, PhD (@BlkInGradSchool) is a proud Detroit native. She earned her bachelors in biological engineering at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, and her masters’ in biological and agricultural engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned a joint PhD in Civil Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University in 2022.

Allanté’s research focused on uncovering the environmental and social implications of autonomous vehicle technology. She used computer modeling to test different ways in which shared autonomous vehicles and shuttles might be used in public transit systems, with the aims of improving transit access and equity in public transit systems and reducing the transportation sector’s contribution to emissions. Allanté is now the Director of autonomous vehicle policy research at a transportation policy research organization. She continues to create knowledge to inform future policy on shared mobility that ensures physical and environmentally equitable access to transportation.

In her free time, Allanté hosts a podcast, Blk + In Grad School where she chronicles her experience getting her PhD, providing encouragement and tools for women and people of color to successfully navigate the graduate-education journey.

Connect with Allanté on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @BlkInGradSchool.

Find more resources for graduate students on The Social Academic blog.

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