The Rewards (and Challenges) of Running One's Own Historical Consulting Firm (with Scot McFarlane)

Summary

I talked to the river historian Scot McFarlane who runs his own historical consulting firm, the Oxbow History Company. My guest shared how he translated his passion for river histories into work with clients and how he found his niche within this competitive market. It was fascinating to learn about the daily grind of running a historical consulting firm, the numerous challenges involved as well as tremendous rewards. Scot talked about rediscovering the pleasures and the freedom of historical writing for non-academic audiences, helping others see familiar spaces in a completely different way as well as helping organizations connect with people who may be into "environmentalism" yet who care deeply about rivers. We also discussed overcoming the various challenges to building non-academic career pathways while completing a PhD. A very honest conversation, hope you'll check it out.

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Patryk Babiracki

Patryk Babiracki is a historian, researcher and writer; professor & MA student advisor at the University of Texas at Arlington. PhD from Johns Hopkins. Promoter of #AppliedHistory: using historical concepts, frameworks, and methodologies to solve real-world organizational problems.

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