In this episode of Exiting Academia, I sit down with a guest who took a PhD in Rhetorics and translated that training into a role as a Business Intelligence Developer. If you’ve ever wondered whether your humanities PhD can “count” in data-adjacent work, this conversation is meant to show you the bridge: the way you already think—about audiences, persuasion, clarity, and structure—maps surprisingly well onto reporting, dashboards, and decision support. We talk through the mindset shift that makes this move possible: stop trying to replicate your dissertation inside a job description, and start naming your transferable skills in language employers actually use. That means framing research as problem-solving, writing as stakeholder communication, and teaching as user-centered explanation. The big takeaway is that you don’t need a perfectly linear background to land in BI—you need a clear story, credible proof of skills, and a plan for targeting roles. If you’re a grad student or PhD considering industry, I want you to leave with a practical sense of how to position yourself and what to focus on next.