Making Meaning: Work/Life Transitions
The following post is a replication of an article I wrote for the Editorial Freelancer’s Association’s (EFA) 2025 spring “Freelancer” e-newsletter. Ultimately, the 2025 spring edition of the “Freelancer” will published and distributed sometime later this spring. *Note that while the article is aimed at EFA members and advocacy of the organization, I suggest that it also speaks to a broader existential concern about unexpected or unwanted life changes that can, initially, knock us off-course while opening our hearts and minds to new possibilities and more productive ways to make meaning of life/work challenges.
Making the Transition:
From University Educator to Freelance Academic Editor
By Sheryl J. Lieb, PhD
Those of us who have passionately identified with a specific career role and purpose can be especially vulnerable to the disruptions brought on by unplanned and unexpected changes that require us to fundamentally shift gears, goals, and our very notions of who we are and what we do. This happened to me as the result of an unplanned career change, leading to my experience of transition from the role of a campus-based, university educator to that of a self-employed, home-based freelance academic editor.
My Story
I completed my doctoral work (PhD, Educational Studies/Cultural Studies) at a large university in 2015, one of several state-supported, higher education institutions within my state’s university system. As a result of this rich experience, I had developed strong feelings of attachment and commitment to my university. It became my second home, and I was set on obtaining a teaching position there. Although I interviewed for a number of positions after receiving my PhD, I did not land a teaching position for two years. Therefore, I turned to academic editing which, at the time, I viewed as “back-up” work until I would ultimately secure a teaching position. Fortunately, as a newly minted PhD, I had a strong and viable network of university-based individuals—professors, colleagues still working on their doctoral dissertations, and graduate school staff. Through this network, I was able to gain clients seeking academic editing and writing support. While I achieved some early success as a new academic editor, my mind remained set on being a teaching professor. I finally achieved that goal as of the 2017-2018 academic year, having received an offer from a program director with whom I had networked previously. Needless to say, I was elated!
When I first started teaching, I still took on some editing projects. However, as my role in the department expanded to include advising functions and instruction of additional courses, I moved further away from the role of academic editor as I increasingly committed myself to my identity as a university educator. That said, by the end of the fall 2022 semester and heading into the 2023 spring semester, my colleagues and I learned that our department was one of many departments and programs designated for elimination due to extensive, university-wide budget cuts. Essentially, my work as a university educator would end with that spring semester. In fact, the department was fundamentally dismantled. Our director retired, and all other staff positions were eliminated, save for one that was retained for an additional year to help wind down the program’s closing process. Then, she was gone as well.
Still determined to stay at my university home, I was able to secure an administrative position in a department funded by a federal grant. Without going into the sordid details, I lasted two months in that position. During those two months, I found myself facing a dramatic moment of self-reckoning whereby I had to determine if staying in this position would be worth compromising my professional values, my personal integrity, and my overall well-being. Ultimately, I had to come to terms with my personal truth. After two months in the role of Associate Director, I resigned the position. At the same time, I began to visualize my next steps while completing my work notice. Organically, I envisioned revitalizing my work as an academic editor and writing consultant with a new sense of excitement and a real commitment to being a full-time freelancer.
Challenges of Career Change and Transition
The transition from university-based employment to the independent workspace of a freelancer was not seamless. The abrupt change in my career journey evolved into a stressful stage of transition. Being self-supporting, I had to work to meet my financial responsibilities; and, I needed to work for my psychological well-being. Realizing that I had tethered my identity and self-worth to the role of university professor, I worried about who I would become without that work role to affirm my sense of identification and place. Leaving my campus home emerged as an initial experience of loss and disconnection from my former campus community. That said, I eventually replaced that sense of loss and disconnection with a home office and frequent work sessions at various coffee shops where I have been able to develop and sustain communities of professionals, acquaintances, and friends. In turn, upon committing myself—emotionally, physically, and intellectually—to this renewed career focus as an academic editor, my sense of pride in this important and meaningful work deepened. I also realized a more profound stability within myself in terms of being true to my professional and personal values. Furthermore, I experienced the positive energy of letting go and moving forward on my career path without forsaking my passion for the academic life; instead, realizing that I could channel that passion in another way.
Moving Forward with EFA
Interestingly, and due to what I choose to interpret as karmic timing, I learned that the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) Conference would be taking place late August 2023, in Alexandria, Virginia. Coinciding with my departure from the university, I instinctively knew that I needed to attend, viewing this opportunity as a serendipitous event that could positively energize my transition from university educator to independent freelancer. Interacting with a broad spectrum of both new and veteran editors, I learned so much! Moreover, I felt fully welcomed as a member of the EFA tribe. From that point on, I have not looked back. I have established my editing niche as a comprehensive academic editor (developmental, content/line editing, and copyediting) of qualitative dissertations and proposals, journal articles, academic books and book chapters, and other academic products. In fact, the role of dissertation coach evolved as another component of my services as the result of nurturing attentive and supportive working partnerships with my clients.
Ultimately, I was able to maintain my passion for doing intellectual work and strengthening my writing/editing skills with a sense of identification and place that felt and continues to feel especially authentic to me. And I am grateful. First, I am gratified to be able to work—independently—with doctoral students, professors, and other academic writers on a variety of fascinating topics. Second, I have found that the editorial freelance space inspires a sense of self-empowerment with which I can choose to do work that is personally and professionally meaningful. At the same time, it is important to be mindful of the challenges and responsibilities of the editorial freelance space—the importance of self-discipline, timing of jobs/meeting deadlines, handling the business side of things, and maintaining the ethical principles that editing work requires. As I move forward in this independent workspace, I will continue to ground my academic editing and coaching services in the following principles that I had established from the start: (a) development of positive and trusting editor/client relationships; (b) maintenance of regular communications with clients on editing processes and progress; (c) adherence to principles of transparency and integrity, especially when making recommendations to clients; and (d) commitment to the growth of my knowledge and expertise in the field of academic editing, writing, and coaching.
While your journey toward professional and personal independence as a freelance editor will certainly have some bumps and detours along the way, you can productively navigate the path with clear purpose and commitment to your goals and future success. Join the EFA, and take advantage of its educational opportunities and other benefits that come with membership. Get involved by volunteering on committees through which you will gain knowledge, experience, and an outstanding network of editors and friends. In my case, I joined the EFA at the start of my career transition from academia to the world of freelancing. In doing so, I relished the feeling of belonging in the freelancing world—taking advantage of educational opportunities, volunteering on committees, and now serving as a member of EFA’s board of directors.
Final parting thoughts ... Believe in your skills, hone your skills, and know your purpose. Represent the value and meaningfulness of the work we editors do to elevate the visibility and value of human thought and imagination through the written word.