Ivory Tower Inner Fire Summit
Turning Academic Burnout Into Sacred Work
A free, 3-day virtual event to help you alchemize what’s burning down so that you can reclaim the inner fire you thought got smothered under a pile of paperwork.
For those still inside the Ivory Tower and for those finding their way after leaving it
IVORY TOWER
INNER FIRE
S U M M I T
Turning Academic Burnout Into Sacred Work
📅 January 17-19, 2026
A free, 3-day virtual event to help you rise from the dumpster fire of academia with blazing purpose
Watch this video to learn more
Are you a recovering or former academic
who’s wondering what comes next?
You’ve spent years, even decades, chasing the degrees. The grants. The publications. The positions.
You’ve sacrificed your time, your health, and your spirit to meet institutional expectations.
And now?
You’re tired.
You’re disillusioned.
And a part of you is whispering:
There must be something more than this.
You're not broken.
You're tending to your inner fire.
And that’s the first step to stepping away from, or healing after leaving, toxic systems, communities, and institutions.
Does any of this sound familiar?
You feel like a ghost of yourself at work. You've detached. Even your bones are exhausted.
You’re grieving the identity you built inside academia, and maybe walked away, but aren’t sure what else is possible.
You’ve got a metaphysical toolkit (maybe astrology, Reiki, tarot), but it doesn't feel "serious."
You long to do soul-aligned work, but you don’t want to throw away your academic training.
You're not alone.
You're tending to your inner fire.
And you don't have to navigate this in-between space by yourself.
Here's what people are already saying about this summit
"I'm so glad you're doing this. I'm so excited to register. I hope this summit is everything, timing for me is perfect (of course)!"
- Jessica R.
You have created something that people sorely need, Marie. I needed it. Even though I've already restarted my life and have joyous work, working on this reminded me how much pain there was. How sad it all made me. How much it cost me. So I know this experience is going to help me, too.
- Frankie Rollins, speaker
What if burning out is a BEGINNING,
not an ending?
Your dream of integrating sacred + work is possible.
It's your time to:
Discover new ways for your intellect and intuition to collaborate.
Finally see how your academic path prepared you for sacred work.
Feel spiritually reconnected and creatively reawakened.
Find community with others navigating the same liminal terrain.
This is exactly what you’ll experience
at the Ivory Tower, Inner Fire Summit.
A sacred, subversive reimagining of who you are becoming.
By the end of this summit, you’ll…
Stop shaming yourself for feeling burned out
Start seeing your academic path as part of your sacred purpose
Take actionable steps to reconnect with your inner truth
Feel empowered through embodied practices to pursue work that honors your soul
This isn’t just a summit.
It’s a collective movement of sacred rebellion.
Meet the Speakers
Join us for an inspiring virtual event packed with insights, hands-on workshops, and embodied practices, led by leading coaches, healers, artists, and scholars-turned-entrepreneurs who have left, stayed, or reinvented their relationship to academia.
Here's a look at the speakers and topics you'll get to experience.
The Six Stages of Grief As Catalysts for Leaving Academia
Dr. Karen Kelsky
From Ashes to Alignment: Turning Burnout into Energy, Boundaries, Balance, and Brilliance
Dr. Angelika Gulbis
The Gifts of Academic Burnout: Following Your Heart's Calling to your Authentic Life
Nancy Windheart
Nervous System Reset: A Somatic Approach to Burnout and Stress
Izabela Oquendo,
M.S., LPC
Slow Down Rise Up, the Unrushed Scholars Guide to Rest Refusal and Radical Self-Care in an Urgency Obsessed Academy
Dr. Brooke Hofsess
Life Beyond The Tenure Track: Owning All Of Our Gifts...Even The Woo Ones!
Darnise C. Martin, PhD
Broke, Burnt Out, and Bitter AF: Notes from My Self-Paid Sabbatical
Molly W. Schenck
When I Realized the Downward Spiral Was Optional: Reclaiming Calm Through Embodied Mental Fitness
Dr. Lara Wallace
How to Move through your To Do List Intuitively and Still Get Things Done
Katy Peplin, PhD
The Sacred Choose-Between Practice: making your most powerful decisions using tarot and intuition
Dr. Jamie Pei
Magnetize Your Next Step Effortlessly with Human Design
Dr. Marie Gasper-Hulvat
From Overthinking to Insight: Tarot as Your Coach
Erin Heisel, Ph.D.
Sacred Collapse: The Tower Card as a Model of Transformative Breakdown
Mariana Louis, M.A.
Woo Your Way Out: Shifting from Academic Scarcity to a Life of Abundance
Dr. Lauren McClain
Three Ways to Lead From Your Teacher's Heart
Carole Chabries, PhD
Awakening the Quiet Fire, A grounded session of inner reconnection:
Slow Work as Counterbalance to Productivity Culture
Carol LeBaron
The Sacred Everyday: Rituals as Boundaries for Soul-Aligned Living
Tamara Yakaboski, PhD
Meaningful Indigenous Solidarity
Dr. Candace Manitopyes
Burnout As Initiation: Inanna's Seven Gates of Power
Dr. Susan Harper
The God of Permission Doesn't Exist: Writing Ourselves Through Academic Grief and Identity Shape-Shifting
Frankie Rollins
Reimagining and Realigning: The Power of Movement
Luna Muñoz, PhD
The System Exiled You From Your Soul: It's Time to Return Home
Angela Mepham
I Can Handle It: Confidence from the Inside Out
Andi Hess, C.Ht.
Networking Social
hosted by Sara Alepin
Co-Working Session
hosted by Alison Miller, PhD
Panelist: Manifestation Q&A
Dr. Rachel Cabonara
With all these value-packed presentations, this is an event you don't want to miss. Click below to grab your free ticket.
MEET YOUR HOST
Hi! I'm Marie Gasper-Hulvat, an Assistant Professor of Art History and founder of Soul Star Attunement, LLC, where I mix up a spicy cauldron of Human Design, EFT Tapping, tarot, crystals, and other metaphysical magic to help my clients turn their life moments of chaos and disillusionment into sacred opportunities.
In academia, I've done everything "right." I pulled off a fully-funded Ph.D., published and gave talks internationally, earned tenure, checked every box I believed would make me feel like I was worth something.
But under the surface, I was burning out HARD. And though I still haven't outgrown academia, I have now questioned everything it taught me about logic, intuition, and what it means to do meaningful work.
It was when I learned to trust things like energetics, soul guides, planetary transits, and happy accidents, that my healing journey began to take on warp-speed velocity.
Join me and 20+ mystics, misfits, and mentors for a one-of-a-kind event designed to help you step out of the strict rules of academia and honor your intuitive knowing.
If you’re ready to rise from the ashes with the clarity, integrity, and sacred fire of a blazing phoenix, your ticket is waiting.
What to expect at the IVORY TOWER, INNER FIRE SUMMIT
When and Where
January 17-19, 2026 | All virtual, attend from anywhere
Expert Sessions
20+ pre-recorded talks and interviews with 48-hour free access. Deep conversations about integrating intuition, healing academic trauma, and crafting your sacred next chapter.
Live Connection Events
Daily live sessions: Q&As with speakers & orchestrated networking event.
Plus, for pass holders:
Hot seat coaching.
Private Summit Community
Connect with fellow recovering academics, mystics, and sacred rebels in our private LinkedIn group.
Games + Giveaways
Yes, there will be BINGO. And trivia.
And yes, you could win magical prizes from our speakers.
Upgrade for a Fire-Raising Experience
After registering, you’ll have the chance to upgrade your ticket and grab a fire-tested, phoenix-approved all-access pass: ongoing presentation access, VIP status for live events, and bonuses from our speakers!
This is NOT an academic conference.
These speakers have not PAID to participate in this event. And you don't have to pay to attend.
It’s also not here to tell you to quit your job, renounce your degrees, or abandon everything you’ve worked so hard for.
And if you've already left, it's not here to tell you that you should be "over it" by now.
Instead, it’s an invitation to alchemize what’s burning down.
To listen to what your exhaustion is trying to tell you.
To honor the wisdom of your intuition more than the comments of your peer reviewers. Especially Reviewer #2.
To connect with others who also know that intellect and inner knowing aren’t enemies. They’re collaborators.
Because sometimes lightning strikes
the Ivory Tower…
And what rises from the rubble is radiant.
This is NOT an academic conference.
These speakers have not PAID to participate in this event. And you don't have to pay to attend.
It’s also not here to tell you to quit your job, renounce your degrees, or abandon everything you’ve worked so hard for.
Instead, it’s an invitation to alchemize what’s burning down.
To listen to what your exhaustion is trying to tell you.
To honor the wisdom of your intuition more than the comments of your peer reviewers. Especially Reviewer #2.
To connect with others who also know that intellect and inner knowing aren’t enemies. They’re collaborators.
Because sometimes lightning strikes the Ivory Tower…
And what rises from the rubble is radiant.
Got Questions? We've got Answers!
When is this thing happening?
The main part of the summit will happen January 17-19, 2026, with a few pre-summit events on January 16th. You’ll also get access to our private online community right away when you register, so the fun and connection-making can begin immediately.
What are the times? And will there be recordings?
All of the presentations are pre-recorded; at 5 am EST each morning of the 3 days, 7 or 8 presentations will drop, and they will be available for 48 hours. So you can definitely watch at your own pace.
There are also two live events each day: a Q&A panel and a Hotseat Coaching session. The times for these vary from 9am to 4pm Eastern, depending on the day. We'll post replays of both of these live events as soon as I can, and they'll be up for (at least) 48 hours also.
We also have 2 live events on the day before (a kickoff call & networking session) and the day after (a co-working session & closing call). These are in the mid-to-late afternoons, EST. Replays for the kickoff and closing calls will also be posted, but the networking and co-working sessions won't have replays.
What if I can’t attend live?
All the presentations are pre-recorded and available for 48 hours with your free ticket, so you’ll have some time to take your pace with them. That being said, we will have live sessions each day, so if you can block out some time for those, you’ll get more out of the experience because these will be great opportunities for interaction within the summit community.
How long do I have access?
Free ticket holders get 48-hour access for each presentation. If more time is what you need (don’t we all?), you can always upgrade to one of the two all-access passes for extended access (plus some pretty snazzy bonuses to sweeten the deal).
Are the presentations live?
No, they will all be pre-recorded for fewer headaches all around, but there will be dedicated threads in the private group where you can connect with the speakers and ask them questions.
Plus, we will have live sessions each day for networking, speaker Q&A, and coaching.
Will speakers get my email address?
Nope. I’ll add you to my Soul Star Attunement email list when you register, so that you can get event updates and links to the presentations each day. After the summit ends, you’ll continue to hear from me, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
The speakers will have free resources to offer you, and if you sign up for those, they may ask for your email address. But they won’t receive your email address unless you choose to give it to them directly. This is clutch because we all know that inboxes can get cluttered, and we all only want you to be hearing from the people we love to hear from.
Are the videos captioned or transcribed?
Yes! All presentations have captions, and transcripts are available with the upgrade options you’ll see once you register.
Please reach out if there is anything we can do to make sure you can enjoy this event.
I've never been part of academia. Can I still attend?
100% Yes. We are an inclusive, welcoming space. If this speaks to you, please join us!
Although this summit is designed especially for academics and recovering academics, the deeper themes are universal: burnout, identity, meaning, and what comes next. If you’re feeling called to reimagine your work or your path, you’ll be in very good company here.
I already left academia. Is this still for me?
Emphatically YES.
This summit is not only about the decision to leave, it’s about what happens after. If you’ve already stepped away from academia but are still in the process of rebuilding your sense of identity, direction, or purpose, you are exactly who this space was created for.
I’ve got more questions!
That’s FANTASTIC. Don’t even get me started on how much I love questions. (I am an educator at heart ... and in my Human Design!)
Email us at [email protected], and we’ll get back to you.
Get your free ticket and join us for the
IVORY TOWER, INNER FIRE SUMMIT today!
Turn your burnout into sacred fuel.
Reimagine your next chapter.
Reclaim the inner fire you thought got smothered under a pile of paperwork.
Sponsored by
