The PhDone program has completely transformed my approach to my PhD work. The range of tools provided—from the Notion template and one-on-one mentoring to intensive writing labs and supportive community chats—has propelled my progress. I've accomplished more in the past month than I did in the entire last semester! I would wholeheartedly recommend this program to anyone working on any type of PhD project, at any stage. It’s a game changer!

As I navigate the final phase of my PhD, the PhDone Program has been an absolute gift. The group catch-ups provide a supportive space to share struggles, exchange advice, and improve goal-setting, while the co-writing sessions help establish productive writing habits. Most importantly, the mentorship— Polly’s generous and kind guidance—has been invaluable in building my confidence, clarifying my thinking and helping me to take deliberate action.

I’m incredibly grateful for the PhDone community and for Polly, Khalia, and Kaelyn, who have created such a fantastic program. It arrived in my life at exactly the right time, and I already see significant improvements in my progress and my regained enthusiasm for the PhD.

This little community has been a place of support and affirmation. A safe place to come as we are and help each other with all of the messiness that is being a scholar in this time and climate. Especially as a woman.

There is something about being in a study group with the PhDone cohort that is just ours, its a space to be there for one another. I am in Kristy’s Brainstorm and Write because I know she is on a deadline and she was there for me in the middle of my Chapter 3 deadline. It’s like we’ve got each other and we are cheering each other on!

“Writing this dissertation before PhDone felt completely overwhelming. Now, I can' hardly put it into words. It is a group of people sharing the load. And having the PhDone Notion template helps me keep on track. I never thought I could be as organized as I am now. On the one hand I have the community but on the other I have been given the tools and I can’t tell you how successful I have been because of it.”

One of the greatest gifts of PhDone has been how invested I have become in my fellow PhDone community members! I am celebrating their wins and cheering them on through their challenges all over the world, and it's truly incredible that during a time when the world, and certainly academia, can feel dire, that we can come together in community to help one another further important research that matters.

If you are struggling through deadlines, feeling abandoned by an advisor, nervous about revisions, wrestling with challenging life circumstances such as illness, lack of funding, or lack of support - PhDone provides a compassionate community of like-minded souls to help you through. Khalia and Polly have given me practical strategies, listening and empathetic ears, and peace of mind as I approach the finish line of my dissertation, and knowing I have the PhDone community to cheer on even the smallest wins has been immeasurable.

Meeting with PhDone coach, Polly Hember, has not only given me some peace of mind and patience with myself and my process, but she has also helped me "pay it forward" by modeling empathy, grace, and warm-yet-accountable support to my own students.

I think the biggest thing is that the PhDone community just makes me feel seen and understood. Before I joined, I felt like I was all alone. I seriously doubted if I could even finish my dissertation. Polly, Khalia, and the other members have all been so supportive: validating my worries and helping me remember to celebrate my successes. The study sessions have been essential in carving time out of my insane schedule to work on my diss. I’m making solid progress, and I feel really proud of where I am right now.

What makes PhDone so special is how it turns one of the most isolating experiences, doing a PhD, into a connected, structured and playful experience. For two years, I had been writing entirely on my own at home, trying to navigate doing a PhD without proper guidance, support, following my research leads almost by intuition and then trying to push through the writing process, and blocks, with pure grit and willpower. Which of course, backfired and took all the joy out of the entire process. Joining the PhDone community changed that completely.

Working with Polly has just been transformative. Her feedback and reflections help me see what really matters and keep me connected to the purpose behind my project. When telling my boyfriend about PhDone and Polly, he once said, “So she does what your supervisor should be doing?”, and honestly, yes. Traditional supervision focuses on the final text, but PhDone supports the process: the mindset, structure, and self-compassion that make the writing possible in the first place.

For me it's the ability to work closely with peers who are in the same stages in this process as me. While the larger Accepted Society is amazing, the closeness of the PhDone group, and having the support of Khalia and Polly, and the others who are a little further along to offer advice and help cheer each other on is a lifeline on those harder days when the deadlines are looming and we're up well past our bedtimes.

The people at the heart of the community are undoubtably the most precious aspect of PhDone. This network is comprised of warm, authentic and resilient researchers which makes the co-working space somewhere you organically gravitate towards, whether you are in a phase of success, challenge or maintaining consistency. The cohort upholds unmatched empathy, counsel and spirit which is infectiously energising – in a way that differs from other spaces where hyper-productivity or success metrics are the celebrated commodity. PhDone holds space specifically for you, within which you can share specifics about your subject – the thing you are passionate about and draws you into the practice of research, not only focus on the process.