I’m going to talk about how I started working at @Youper_ai in case it’s helpful for others thinking about career possibilities. 1/

I got my PhD from UCLA in clinical psychology where I worked with Michelle Craske (who is as amazing or more so than everyone says). I got the best research training and I loved research. I published over 30 papers and got hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding. 2/

I was on the job market looking for faculty positions at top R1 universities. But something gave me pause about being a faculty member. 3/

I love data and discovery and making a difference in people’s lives. I love being creative and taking projects to completion efficiently. And academia felt so HARD. Getting grants is HARD. Getting participants is HARD. Getting papers published is HARD. As a result, it’s SLOW. 4/

On top of all that, you’re hired to teach (psychology) or get grants (psychiatry). Notice that neither of those is actually research. So research is like a side project. 5/

Amazing discoveries come from academia, and science is undoubtedly extremely valuable. But I thought it would be interesting to see what else was out there. 6/

So I turned down my “dream” faculty offers for a job at @Youper_ai. The hardest part is getting over the idea that you’re doing something less prestigious and important. This is not easy and it takes time. But if you can pass that mental block, a lot is possible. 7/

At @Youper_ai, I get to do everything that I love. I analyze data, make clinical science discoveries, publish papers, develop and test treatments, and most of all, help A LOT of people, fast. 8/

And what we do is hard, but not because of grant funding or slow publication processes or splitting focus between a million things. It’s hard because the problems are hard. So I get to focus on the problems, not clearing roadblocks just to even start thinking about them. 9/

Also, I am part of an amazing team! @diegodottac @ThiagoMarafon @josehamiltonmd @netowp @dasilvadaniels @fabio @christian @tammy. They are brilliant and innovative and we work together instead of me working in a silo on my own things. 10/

That’s my story (so far). If you got to the end of this, thanks for reading. #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #DigitalHealth #Mentalhealth #sciencetwitter #altac #Careeradvice