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Mrs Mummy PhD

Journeys of Becoming...

About

Michelle | Mrs Mummy PhD

Hi, I’m Dr Michelle Gibbs – it’s so lovely to see you here!

I am the creative mind behind Mrs Mummy PhD®, Founder of Scholarly Mamas® and Author of Doodle Dozen®. I am married to my high school sweetheart and together we have three sons.

In my post-PhD era, I enjoy combining my knowledge, skills and experience to positively impact the experiences of patients & healthcare professionals through research and continuous learning in clinical practice. 

Mrs Mummy PhD®, however, comes from a place of lived experience and was created to help Mamas with/doing PhDs, to achieve their ambitious career goals without sacrificing themselves or the family life they love! 

If you’re like me and juggling many balls in real life (i.e. working hard toward your goals but also wanting to live your life with purpose and enjoy it to the full with those you love) then you are definitely in the right place.

My hope is to inspire you through the challenges you face in your own similar journeys, as you create your own legacy too!

A Love for Learning

I am a high-achiever, always have been and likely always will be. 

With 5 degrees, including my PhD, I unapologetically enjoy learning and intellectual stimulation. And as a researcher with a clinical background, I also enjoy the application of that knowledge to create innovation in healthcare and clinical practice.

However, early on in my career, I married my high-school sweetheart and we started a family together, becoming parents to our three wonderful sons – our three ‘son-shines’… our heartbeats!

Michelle | Mrs Mummy PhD

Redefining Success

While career building taught me how to be successful in one aspect of my life, becoming a wife and mother taught me how to blend the many hats I wore, purposefully.

However, throughout my career journey so far, I’ve witnessed so many ‘successful’ people missing out on the precious moments that make this life worth living, sacrificing themselves with lives in shambles beyond all the accolades, accomplishments and achievements. So, with a family to love and one wild life to live, I decided that this was not going to be my story!

I realised that purposeful success on my journey required a bold change in my thinking regarding what success in life was truly about.

I’m not saying you should not set goals for yourself. In fact, I’m a huge fan of having lofty goals and pursuing them boldly. I believe that, as mothers, we deserve to pursue and achieve our goals – no matter how big they are or what anyone else thinks about them…

But there is a hidden danger of focusing so much on reaching those goals or that perceived ‘destination’ that we don’t even stop to enjoy the journey. Instead, we risk burning out, not reaching our goals and losing what matters most… 

When we seek to discover a deeper purpose in the journeys of becoming whatever or whoever we want to be, then we can better serve every dimension of our lives in a purposeful and fulfilling way. 

This is how you achieve real success, Mama…

This is how you go from the overwhelm and disillusionment of the juggle-struggle, to overflowing with peace and purposeful success. 

And here on my platform, I help ambitious Mamas who are juggling all the things, to become unstoppable with less hustle and more harmony.

In this little corner of the internet, we are changing the juggle-struggle narrative that so many of us experience as ambitious Mamas, with a little grit and whole lot of grace. 

Let’s journey with purpose!

Join the journey!

I’ve created a space where other Mamas like you, who are feeling stuck in the throes of the juggle-struggle, can ditch the overwhelm without sacrificing what matters!

This evolving space is for intelligent, ambitious Scholarly Mamas® who want to elevate their lives with purpose, blending career ambition with present motherhood.

If this sounds like the kind of supportive space you need, then check out Scholarly Mamas®!

Also check out my shop with exclusive merchandise designed to empower Scholarly Mamas® like you to wear your whole selves purposefully!

If you want to begin living a more purposeful Scholarly Mama® life, then you are in the right place!

This Is Me…

Before you head off, just for fun, here are a few things I’d love you to know about me:

  • I grew up on the Caribbean island of Barbados. 
  • Growing up, I literally lived 5 minutes from the beach! Talk about the good life eh!
  • I married my beloved secondary (high) school sweetheart. My best friend, my soul mate.
  • An early bird? Oh yes, that’s definitely me. Give me early mornings over late nights any day!
  • Please don’t talk to me when I’m hungry… instead pray for your girl 🙂
  • I love fruit (and all things fruity). What’s that? Smoothie, you say? Yes please!
  • I love deep, meaningful convos! (I can talk even more than I can write, just ask my husband, haha!)
  • I enjoy walking outdoors, especially in the summer time, with my husband and our boys!
  • Family is everything to me, hands down! Home drums beat first here 🙂
  • I enjoy gardening too, because I think it’s when I do my best thinking.
  • I try to have an attitude of gratitude in all things, but accept that I’m still a work in progress!
  • Please keep it 100% real with me – I’ll definitely do the same for you as authenticity is one of my core values.
  • I am a believer and Jesus follower, Amen.

So when I’m not working, I enjoy spending quality time with my husband and our three boys as co-executive of our busy household, blogging, podcasting, or sharing my children’s book series!

Let’s Connect!

If you want to follow me on social media, I’m on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Threads, Bluesky and Pinterest. I’m easy to find as I’m @mrsmummyphd on these platforms but I’m usually most active on Instagram.

If you would like to read my blog, you can start here.

Please also feel free to tune into my podcast!

Can’t wait to see you inside Scholarly Mamas®! 

Remember, these are our journeys of becoming! 

Until next time, I’m sending you all the love and gratitude your heart can handle!

Best wishes, 

Michelle - Mrs Mummy PhD

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Meet Mrs Mummy PhD®

Hey Mama! I'm Dr Michelle Gibbs and this little corner of the internet exists to help ambitious women like you, achieve your lofty goals without sacrificing what matters most. If you're juggling a family, career, scholarly journey and everything else in-between, then this space is for you! It's time to flourish on purpose, with less hustle and more harmony. So Mama, are you in? Fabulous! Let's begin. These are our journeys of becoming :-)

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It’s the becoming, the growth, the evolution…👇🏽

This kind of freedom is priceless✨

To know oneself, to know one’s worth, to be able to embody grit & grace without the grind, to have clarity of purpose, to transform one’s PhD Motherhood journey it into something incredibly purposeful and beautiful… they offer the kind of joy that no one can take away.

So the next time you feel like you can’t do this without unpardonable sacrifice or without losing yourself in the process, remember that you can still pause to BE and success can still be yours regardless of the many other hats your wear.

Mama, these are our journeys of becoming 🦋
Growing up on a tiny Caribbean island, I had big d Growing up on a tiny Caribbean island, I had big dreams as a little girl, but there were no guarantees because options were limited.

Fast forward several decades and that little girl moved countries twice, married her high-school sweetheart, became an RD with 5 degrees, including her PhD, and had 3 amazing sons (+2 angel babies).

But it wasn’t all a walk in the park…

My PhD was the hardest thing I’d ever done, especially as wife and mother. Honestly, there were many moments I wanted to give up — nights when the weight of it all felt heavy, and the finish line felt out of reach. I often questioned if I could really see it through…

But then… there was him… My husband, my anchor, my ride or die guy — the quiet strength who held me when I wanted to let go. When I doubted myself, he reminded me who I was. He carried what I couldn’t, so I could keep pursuing my career dreams.

And then there were our 3 boys — their laughter, their little voices, reminding me why I started in the first place. They were my reason… my strength… my heartbeat through it all.

There were tears, prayers, and moments of doubt — but love kept me steady, faith kept me grounded, and family gave me purpose. I realised that love and ambition aren’t opposite ends of the spectrum, but they’re threads that can weave together into something extraordinary.

Because at the end of the day…
what is success if you have no one to share it with?

That PhD began as my dream — but it became our journey. Built on faith, held by love, and made real by the people who never let me forget why I began. 

So if I could go back to childhood me, I’d let that little island girl know that though it wouldn’t be easy, her dreams were 💯possible. I’d let her know that these will be her journeys of becoming 🦋

Tag all the @scholarlymamas who need to know that their dreams are possible too!

#scholarlymama #mrsmummyphd #journeysofbecoming #phd #scholarlymamas #phdmama #purposefulsuccess
If you’re in the throes of PhD Motherhood, this If you’re in the throes of PhD Motherhood, this message is for you! 

Keep going Mama, cheering you on all the way to Dr [you]!

Secret to success: being intentional about your Scholarly Mama life!

Sometimes being intentional looks like taking breaks for rest, recovery and recharge. Sometimes it looks like embracing the new and shelving what isn’t working for you any longer. Sometimes it’s embracing the stillness of deep work or quiet reflection. 

Here are three questions to ask yourself when you’re in the trenches of the juggle struggle:

1.	What does success look like for me in this season, and am I giving myself permission to embrace it?

2.	What can I release — habits, expectations, or pressures — that no longer serve the woman I’m becoming?

3.	Where can I create small pockets of stillness to reconnect with my purpose and joy?

Which of these questions resonates with you most right now? 

Drop your thoughts in the comments — and tag another Scholarly Mama who needs to hear this today.

These are our journeys of becoming 🦋
"I met myself..." These were Dr Noni's words afte "I met myself..."

These were Dr Noni's words after an 8+ year PhD journey—one that led her from rejection and redirection to unexpected transformation.

This latest episode (Episode #121) is a powerful reminder that the academic path isn’t just about degrees or titles—it's a journey back to oneself.

If you’ve ever felt like your story doesn’t “fit” the traditional academic mold, this one is for you.

Remember, these are our journeys of becoming 🦋

#SelfDiscovery #PhDMotherhood #ScholarlyMama
What happens when your dream of academia meets the What happens when your dream of academia meets the reality of motherhood—and somehow, both lead you back to yourself?

Tune into my guest episode this week with a Zimbabwean-born academic, Mama, and creator who’s walked an extraordinary path: from being rejected by master’s programmes to earning two undergraduate degrees, securing a prestigious scholarship, and finally finishing her PhD after 8+ years—all while raising her daughter.

We get into the hidden struggles of finishing a PhD as a Mama, and how the long academic journey became, more than anything, a journey back to self.

If you’ve ever felt lost in your research, torn between identities, or like you’re carrying too much alone—tune into an extordinary story of a Scholarly Mama’s journey.

Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe, share, and tag a fellow #scholarlymama who needs to hear this.

Remember Mama, these are your journeys of becoming 🦋

#PhDMotherhood #WomenInAcademia #SelfDiscovery #PhDJourney #MamaAndScholar #PhDLife #SelfDiscovery #PhDLife #BlackWomenInAcademia #PodcastForMoms #MotherhoodUnfiltered #ScholarlyMama #PhDRealTalk
You’ve been trying to do it all — be the perfe You’ve been trying to do it all — be the perfect scholar, the present mama, the one who “proves them wrong.”

But experience has taught me that overachieving is not the same as thriving. It’s often survival mode in disguise leaving you on the brink of burnout.

But you can trade hustle for alignment. You don’t have to earn or prove your worth — you already have it within you. You don't have to just survive this journey, you can thrive without sacrificing what matters.

Swipe through the slides for a timely truth check. Remember Mama, these are our journeys of becoming 🦋

#scholarlymama #phdmom #finishwell #academicburnout #overachieverrecovery #authenticscholarship #restisresistance
“Balance” is a beautiful word… but a terribl “Balance” is a beautiful word… but a terrible standard.

For purposeful @scholarlymamas, life isn’t about keeping everything perfectly weighted — it’s about honouring the seasons as they ebb and flow, clarifying priorities, and remembering that you are allowed to matter in the mix.

Forget chasing balance. Let’s talk about rhythms, integration, and just being enough.

Which part of this resonates most with you? 

Share below.

Remember Mama, these are our journeys of becoming 🦋

#scholarlymama #mrsmummyphd #fromoverwhelmedtoenough #podcaster #journeysofbecoming
If you’re a Mama doing a PhD, you’re going to If you’re a Mama doing a PhD, you’re going to want to listen to this episode with Dr Blessing Adeniyi from @thephdrace 

If you’ve listen to it, share your top highlights in the comments! 

If you haven’t yet, listen to Episode 118 on the @mrsmummyphd podcast! 

Mama, these are our journeys of becoming 🦋

#scholarlymama #mrsmummyphd #thephdrace #journeysofbecoming #gradschool #phdjourney #jugglestruggle #success
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