Owning Your  “Main Character Energy” with Heather Brod

Heather Brod is back on the Faculty Factory Podcast this week for a look at finding and owning your own "Main Character Energy," a concept borrowed from internet culture that has very real implications when taken to heart by faculty. "What I've learned is that main character energy, at its core, is about agency. It's about how you are writing the script of your own life and not being a supporting character in your own life story," Heather said. Heather is a prolific executive coach and consultant. Prior to branching off on her own to go into coaching full time, Heather was Executive Director at the Center for Faculty Advancement Mentoring and Engagement with the Ohio State University's College of Medicine in Columbus. Heather digs into why so many faculty members struggle to answer a deceptively simple question: what do you want? Working through this concept of main character energy with them is about identifying their values, their non-negotiables, and the type of impact they actually want to make throughout their career.  For more information about Heather and her work, please visit the website of Heather Brod. Along with the voice of the Faculty Factory Podcast, Kimberly A. Skarupski, PhD, MPH, Heather is the co-author of The Insider's Pocket Guide to Navigating a Faculty Career in Academic Medicine, which was published in 2024 by Springer Publishing Company. The book aims to outline a pathway to achieving a rewarding and prosperous career in academic medicine.