Bonus Episode: Dr. Tondi Mondoloka on Honoring Legacy, Radical Self-Compassion, and Intergenerational Strength

Immediately after recording their first conversation, host Liz Sweigart realized she had held back a key question about the family story behind Dr. Tondi Mondoloka’s dissertation finish line. Rather than let that curiosity go, the two hit “record” again.

In this short bonus episode of Past the Profile, Tondi recounts the spring 2023 crunch to defend her dissertation in time to walk at commencement—while her aunt, the very woman who first told a five-year-old Tondi she would one day earn a degree, visited from Zambia. The discussion unpacks the weight of arbitrary deadlines, the pressure high achievers place on themselves, and the healing power of reframing “I must” into “What else is possible?”

Highlights:

• How an aunt’s early encouragement—and a late-stage campus visit—became a symbolic relay between generations.

• Why Tondi nearly drove herself to exhaustion chasing an external deadline, and how Liz's “breathe and zoom out” advice helped her reclaim perspective.

• A reflection on artificial binaries, option-generation, and valuing progress over perfection.

• The photograph Tondi treasures most: her three-year-old son gazing up at “Dr. Mommy” after commencement.

• A reminder that celebrating each step honors the people who carried us there.