Editors’ Note: This post is part of a special collaboration between The Scholarly Kitchen‘s Mental Health Awareness Mondays and EON‘s I AM EDITOR. United by a shared commitment to the people who have been called to scholarly publishing, this partnership seeks to amplify conversations about mental health, reduce stigma, and nurture a more supportive, resilient, and connected professional community.
Since launching Mental Health Awareness Mondays in 2023, we continue to experience justifications of the importance of providing opportunities to share, learn, support and grow in meaningful ways. Taking the steps necessary to live as the best version of ourselves reflects in the way we are able to show up for work, lead initiatives, collaborate with colleagues, dream big, and operate responsibly. Fortifying our collective well-being as a community is essential to approaching industry threats, especially in times where it seems like we’re being bombarded by an onslaught of disruptive elements.
In his recent post, Haseeb Irfanullah noted that this fortification should consider each role in the value stream of scholarly communication, as the emotional rollercoaster carrying us through research integrity issues, DEIA suppression, AI innovation, OMB (and other) policy pressures that impact our authors, editors, and peer reviewers just as much as those we are in regular Zoom meetings with. This understanding of our broader community makes this collaboration between The Scholarly Kitchen and EON so exciting. It signals the value we see in our expanded communities, reminding us that strengthening scholarly publishing begins by recognizing that we are all part of the same ecosystem, navigating many of the same challenges together.
Today, I share a recent conversation with Caitlyn Trautwein, Managing Editor at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Editor-in-Chief of EON, and founder of I AM EDITOR.
Can you share the professional journey that led you to a career in scholarly publishing?
I knew from a very young age (11!) that I wanted to be a writer. Exposure to The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion right at the start of middle school, plus reading authors from the Golden Age of Science fiction at a very young age, gave me a clear vision of writing books for a living. My very practical, engineering-background father never discouraged my aspirations but also steered me towards the practical side (aka higher chance of employment) of authorship, which was the publishing industry.
My first job was with a small publisher that focused on numismatics, and I ended up ghost writing more than half a dozen encyclopedias on obsolete paper money as well as seriously honing my skills on all aspects of the publication pipeline. During this time, I kept my dream of being an author alive by writing in my spare time; I even had an agent for a while! But after three years, burnout due to the work environment had started to take its toll, so I started looking for other opportunities. My home of Atlanta, Georgia, is not what you would call a “publishing” town, so companies in the publishing industry that were hiring were very few and far between, and remote work wasn’t as established for early career professionals. I had to accept that I may not be able to stay in the book industry.
My twin sister, however, was employed at that time by the American Cancer Society as a journal editor, and she had nothing but excellent things to say about the scholarly publishing field. I started talking to her about the work, the platforms, the peer review process, and I found it extremely intriguing. Not long after deciding to pursue this as a possibility, I was hired by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons as a journal editor for their flagship journal Neurosurgery, and the rest, as they say, is history!
What inspired you to take on volunteer leadership roles within professional societies, and how has that service influenced your personal well-being and mental health, if at all?
When I first entered scholarly publishing, I really felt like I was playing “catch-up” in many ways. Book publishing and journal publishing have some overlap, but the differences outweigh the similarities. I had a lot to learn. I was very lucky and grateful that my employer supported professional development, and my twin steered me towards ISMTE as a good starting point, due to her positive experiences with the society. After my first in-person meeting in 2017, I knew I wanted to get involved so that I could learn more, receive mentorship, and make connections.
I’m a naturally introverted person, but the importance of connections had been drilled into me throughout my high school and college years. I also had several incredible mentors during those times who were deeply formative to my growth. Getting involved with ISMTE allowed me to meet other editors from other journals and societies, publishers, and editorial services, all of whom expanded my knowledge not only of the publishing industry, but of the great community that we editors create.
Serving on the ISMTE North America Planning Committee allowed me to meet amazing experts, including Angela Cochran, who advised me when I first applied for employment with ASCO. Attending the ISMTE NA Event gave me connections with fantastic people who were willing to have conversations with me about burnout and mental health, which in turn led to my personal journey of expanding my understanding of such. Researching these topics led me to have a conversation with Meghan McDevitt and Colin Trumbull, where I pitched the idea of an EON column dedicated to rediscovering the humanity behind the editorial systems we support, and voila — I AM EDITOR was born.
When you launched I AM EDITOR, what vision did you have for its role in supporting and connecting our community?
I wanted an opportunity to be completely transparent with our community. I couldn’t begin to tell you where it started, but I know that somewhere along the line I was taught to mask my true self, with all my quirks and idiosyncrasies, and present only a polished veneer of the truth. Over time I have been able to realize that this wasn’t just an aspect of my professional life but of my personal life, as well. Neurodivergent masking is incredibly difficult to identify after years of unintentional practice. But I was tired of feeling like I couldn’t be, well, me! And conversation after conversation with other editors showed similar struggles, sometimes near identical journeys. I thought, if so many of us are feeling the same way, why are we pretending it doesn’t exist?
When I started I AM EDITOR, I had already been through the burnout process once. I was starting to navigate it again. I was starting to really dig into my neurodivergency and how it affects my life and interactions with the world. I wanted to share my thoughts and discoveries while researching burnout, work-life balance, boundaries, anxiety, mental health, and authenticity. I wanted to invite the expertise and stories of those around me who had helped me to delve into these topics. And more than anything, I wanted anyone reading the column to realize they aren’t alone — that so many more of us struggle with imposter syndrome, or depression, or burnout than we ever knew. Together, we can support each other, and together, we can break the isolation.
What practices, habits, or strategies have you incorporated into your life to support your mental health and maintain balance amid professional responsibilities?
I found what working style works for me, and I stick to it. Everyone has a different way of working that fits their lifestyle or level of neurospicy, and trying to cram yourself into a cookie-cutter is just a recipe for exhaustion, both professionally and personally. For me, that meant incorporating a very strict work-life balance. When I am not working, I am completely unplugged. I have a work desk and a personal desk in my office to limit any temptation of just checking email in the evening. I do not have any work (other than colleague cell phone numbers) on my smartphone. You need time to rest and recover from work so that you can do that work effectively—and if you don’t take that time, you’ll get burned out and then be unable to do the work effectively.
Outside of work, I make sure that I take care of the complicated house plant that is my physical self. It sounds simple, but getting enough sleep, water, exercise, and relaxation time is essential to manage stress levels. Reading Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee was deeply informative to me in overcoming the inability to simply relax that had plagued me for literally decades of my life (this book, and the book club-style webinar that Meghan McDevitt and I did years ago, were also formative to the launch of I AM EDITOR). I prioritize time with my family and friends, time enjoying my hobbies (gardening, fencing, reading), and time away from the desk. I make sure to touch grass. I also made the scary (to me anyway) decision, several years ago, to talk to my doctor about depression/anxiety medication. And I’m so glad I did. I was worried at the time that I’d “lose my edge” if the anxiety went away. I thought that I wasn’t struggling enough to need medication. But what I was really doing was trying to navigate a very stressful, high-pressure world with one arm tied behind my back. If your brain won’t make chemicals naturally, store-bought ones are fine!
A phrase my fencing teammates and I use frequently is, “If you don’t make the time, the time will be made for you.” If you don’t find time to rest, you flirt with getting injured, getting sick from weariness, or — in the case of work — getting burnt out.
What important conversations about mental health, well-being, or professional life do you believe are still being overlooked? How can our community better identify and elevate those discussions?
There is no single solution. Humanity is incredibly diverse and unique, individual to individual, and the idea that there is one right answer to how to work, how to be productive, or how to structure our time is simply incorrect. I love remote work — being able to stay home, not waste time on a commute, and organize my day accordingly helps me to thrive. Others can’t focus at home, or feel isolated, and they need that time to and from the office and in shared space with colleagues. Neither option is better than the other, and both should be available to those who need it. I know I always want to share with others the tips and tricks that have helped me, but I think, as important as it is to ask the question, “would this help someone?”, it is just as important to ask, “how would this not help someone? And how might their perspective be different?”
I think we also may be at a point — or far beyond the point — where we need to talk about burnout not as a possibility, but as perhaps an eventuality. Rather like taking a sick day, the question is not if you’ll need one, but when; and when it happens, how can you shorten the duration of your illness, how can you feel supported while you recover, and how can you get back on your feet feeling bright and ready to go? I have met so many people who have had burnout, or are currently struggling with burnout, that I’m starting to wonder if I know anyone who hasn’t been burnt out. But we’re in the middle of deconstructing societal ways-of-doing-things that were never built with the unique individual in mind. That struggle comes with exhaustion, successes and failures, setbacks, joys, and a lot of work. You’re not a failure if you “couldn’t avoid burnout” — you’re human. And there are so many tools at your disposal to help you find your spark again.
As for identifying and elevating discussions? I believe being transparent, being open, and being willing to listen as well as speak up are the key. We need leaders in our field to share their personal stories so that those who are early in their career can feel empowered to also share. My first-ever boss really set the tone for me on what good leadership looks like, and what authenticity and transparency look like. We need to be constantly evaluating the how and the why, with new voices and new perspectives. When I first started in the professional world, “remote” work for early career positions was a red flag that the job posting was probably fake. It’s completely different now. So what are the new struggles that early career individuals are facing that may not be obvious to those in mid- or senior-level positions? Engaging every voice at every level is the only way we can ensure that we are being totally inclusive in the conversation.
What is one action individuals or organizations can take today to create a healthier, more supportive professional environment?
Flexibility. I am very, very fortunate to work for a society that prioritizes well-being, flexibility, and empowerment. We are trusted to do our work, and do it well — and we are also recognized as adult human beings who have to go to the doctor sometimes, or have last-minute emergencies, or wake up with a migraine and need to start the day later than expected. Juggling work and priorities and deliverables is already a full-time job — having to worry about scheduling a doctor’s appointment with sick leave or getting permission to run an errand that is only doable during “business hours” just adds another level of stress to an already stressful world. I have the flexibility I need to fit my life and work together in a way that allows me to stay nimble, energized, and — even in the most stressful seasons — not burnt out. Some days that means working 9.5 hours; some days that means working 6. I never worry about having appointments or needing to take 30-60 extra minutes in the morning because of a migraine or arthritis pain. I don’t feel, dare I say, looked down upon because I have to ask permission to do a natural adult task away from my work desk. I am trusted to do my work; empowered to do it well with my skills and unique way of doing things; and as a result feel an enormous amount of freedom, ease, and pride in what I do.
