Hira Javed is a PhD Candidate who created a personal academic website that shares her experience, skills, and thoughtful visual design. We talk about building her website, the 3 questions that introduce her research, and her thoughts for grad students thinking about creating their own space online. You deserve an online presence if it’s something you want for yourself as an academic.

The 2026 Best Personal Academic Websites Contest is open for entries through October 31, 2026! A new blog post will be published with the announcement for you. I hope you’ll consider entering yourself. Please share the contest with a friend whose website you admire. I appreciate you!

Find more interviews in our series featuring winners from the 2025 contest. Thank you!

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In this episode

An academic website in just a weekend? It happened!

Jennifer van Alstyne: Hi everyone. I’m Jennifer van Alstyne. This is The Social Academic Podcast, where we talk about your online presence in higher education. I have a special guest today and I want to say that this is part of our series featuring winners of the Best Personal Academic Websites Contest, which reopens tomorrow. I’m very excited for this interview. This is Hira Javed. She is one of the award winners and she has this beautiful website. I mean, when I’m saying I look at a lot of websites, I look at hundreds of websites each year and here’s this one that I remember. It feels like it has personality. It has visual thought that really, even if I don’t remember everything that she does, I remember this website. I remember that it’s an option. Hira, would you tell us a little bit about how you decided to create a website in the first place? What was your journey like?

Hira Javed: Thank you. First of all, thank you so much for having me. You’re so kind. To be honest, this was a weekend long project and it just happened. I didn’t plan to do it, but I was applying for a job and I got through the interviews and then they called me in for another interview where they wanted to see my portfolio. And I was like, “Oh, I don’t have a portfolio.” And as a designer, I was like, “How do I not have a portfolio?” But you get into these roles where you just don’t think about putting this together. And a lot of my work is proprietary, so I couldn’t share visuals or anything. But I decided, “Okay, you know what? I’m going to create a portfolio.” It started off with, I’m going to create a portfolio. I literally looked up the best hosting sites and then I tried to create with it, but I started with pen and paper just to figure out what’s the story I want to tell, who am I and what are the things I want to highlight. It really started from there. And I just did an intensive two or three days of, “Okay, get something there so I can send off a portfolio.”

Jennifer: When you say that you used pen and paper, were you sketching? Were you brainstorming ideas, all of the above?

Hira: Yeah, basically. And I didn’t even start to sketch out what the website would look like, but I was more interested in the narrative. I did a mind map really. I started with a mind map because I wasn’t sure what skills I wanted to promote, how do I want to tell how I acquired those skills, how I wanted to show that I had those skills. It started with a brain dump of everything. And to be honest, it was the most reflective exercise that I had done in a while to look back at my trajectory, see what I had done, and then be able to tell in a story that somebody who’s potentially going to hire me can look at it and say, “Okay, this person can do these things.”

The homepage and designing with Canva

Jennifer: Tell me a little bit about your homepage. I feel like there’s so many people who, they come back after time in the professional workplace to consider the academic research that they might want to do. And it seems like you’re one of those people who had several roles before you returned to academia. How did you decide to make that really upfront and part of your story on the website?

Hira: I think that the homepage is the doorway, right? That’s the way that people come in. It’s the first impression they get, and I feel like first people had to know who is this person. I started off with the blurb and that took a long time, even though it’s a small paragraph, but to think about how do I want to position myself, what’s my brain to be able to narrow it down to a few sentences. I knew I wanted to have that, but I also know that as somebody who has one foot in academia and one foot in industry, I always struggle with this hybrid identity. There’s different ways to present yourself in both spaces, but how do I bring a hybrid of those together and my website should be able to reflect that. I created a visual, a timeline because really when I was doing that reflective exercise, I was like, “Wow, I’ve had a very loopy and kind of a windy career. How do I show that?” And I wanted to express that in that way, that it’s a journey of reinvention really. I wasn’t sure how certain hiring professionals or whoever will be looking at my website would perceive this windy, loopy career, especially when you’ve tried different things and it makes sense to you because I did this and I did this and this is where I am. But to be able to visually communicate that. I have this signpost that shows, first I did this, then I did this and this is where I am. And now I’m a PhD candidate to be able to quickly show that. And then I broke down by academically, this is what I’ve done. I also have educational experience. This is what I’ve done. I have teaching experience. I listed that and then here’s what I’ve done. Being able to break down that I’m a collection of my experiences and I wanted the homepage to reflect that.

Jennifer: That’s beautiful. How did you make the illustration? Is it something that you designed yourself? Did you adapt something?

Hira: Both. I used Canva actually and there’s lots of great templates. There’s different patterns that you can use. And there’s some things that I can’t really find something, so I might just draw something quickly. But here and there, especially if it was a weekend long project, I don’t have time to design everything from scratch, but I think Canva was really helpful. It was the first time I was using it in such depth. I used it before for making invitations and stuff, but nothing to be able to create your own designs and patterns. I found that super helpful to do that.

Jennifer: I love that. I’m a big Canva fan. I feel like I’ve been a Canva user since pretty close to the start and I’ve been to Canva Create twice. I have a blog post (or maybe a newsletter) that I wrote with all the sessions that I went to at Canva Create that really inspired me this year.

Hira: Amazing!

Jennifer: I haven’t sent it out yet. This is a good reminder. It’s time to get that out in the world.

Hira: This is a useful tool for academics, for sure. Yeah.

Jennifer: Okay. You made the illustration with Canva and it sounds like most of the website happened in a weekend. Is that right?

Hira: Yeah. I used Hostinger and they have some templates. There’s some things that weren’t fitting, but you play around with it. There’s so many tools out there now that make it very easy for you to just put up a website and then you can iterate on it. I think that’s the one thing to overcome is not feel like you have to create something perfect right from the beginning. Just get started, put something out there and then you can slowly fix it as you go along.

Meet Hira Javed

Jennifer: Would you introduce yourself in terms of your academic life? I would love for people to know a little bit more about what you’re up to in your PhD.

Hira: Sure. Yeah. As I mentioned, I have a hybrid identity. Professionally, I’m a service designer. I help organizations design and improve service experiences that meet the needs of customers, employees, and the business. I apply a very systems thinking approach. And then academically, I’m a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and my research is focused on service designers in the public sector and how they work across different communities or practices. Both inform the other. Yeah, I did have a long trajectory of professional experience and I was like, you know what? I really want to try the academic world for a little bit. And my research topics is inspired by what I do professionally as well. Doing a little bit of both and hence I want that just to be reflected in my website.

Jennifer: I feel like it was really reflected. And one of the things that I loved, I’m actually going to switch our screen because I want to show other people what this looks like. On your research page, you share three questions, three questions that help guide your research. How did you come about these three questions? Was it something that took a while? Because I feel like I love this and I don’t see it very often on websites where I think it could be so helpful for people understanding our research better.

Hira: Great question. They seem like three simple questions, but it was a long journey to get to that. Mostly because I had to write my research proposal multiple times and my supervisor [said], “Get a little specific, what is it you’re trying to do?” And by the time I got to my fifth or sixth draft of it, I was starting to feel like, “Okay, this is where I’m offering.” And you know what? As somebody who’s trying to translate what I do academically into my website, so it’s a quick glimpse of what I’m doing, I can’t explain all of that in that. I really had to narrow down, “What are the key things that I’m trying to figure out in my research?” And I think that’s where the questions came up. And I wanted somebody who would also be able to apply this in the practical, in practice, in the industry to be able to know I can see the value of this research. I think, thinking clearly about what is it that I’m doing, and how does that translate into somebody else’s life and why that will be valuable for them.

Jennifer: Thinking not just about other academics who might be seeing this, but also people who are in industry, in the public sector who might be implementing some of the things that your research suggests. Is that right?

Hira: Yeah, exactly.

How did you get your website photos?

Jennifer: Oh, so cool. While we’re here, I want to ask about your photos. You have great photos on the website. Not just photos of you, but you have photos I think of a whiteboard, of teaching or maybe working with groups. Tell me a little bit about photography on your website.

Hira: I have a really amazing friend who’s a photographer and she was so generous and kind with her time because I just needed one or two photos for conferences and publications. I was like, selfies look really weird and I just need a nice photo that’s high res [resolution]. And so I was like, “Can you take a picture of me? ” And she’s like, “Yeah, that’s our day.” We went out of town and she was taking these amazing photos of me. And when they came in, I was like, “Wow, actually this is so professional and it’s going to look really good because sometimes selfies just don’t do it.” I think just having professional photos elevates your brand. That helped. And I think in terms of the other photos, I just like documenting my journey. If I was at a conference, I’d take a quick picture like, “Hey, I did this thing and these are the people I met.” Or when I was teaching, I loved documenting the journey of my students, those activities we were doing in class. I don’t know what they were for, but I just loved documenting and it all came in so handy when I was putting together my website because it’s one way to, one thing to tell people, “This is what I’ve done,” but it’s another thing to show that. Because I wanted to maintain that visual element, but also just another way of expressing the vast majority, vast kind of experiences I’ve had and spaces I’ve been at. I think the photos played a really critical role and I’m glad past me had taken those photos that came in handy. My current me was thanking myself.

Jennifer: I love that. Okay, it sounds like you’re someone who kind of naturally liked taking photos, that you’re someone who when you go to places,you like documenting things. Can I ask a couple of follow-up questions about that? One is what are some of the things that you like to document? Because academics are always looking for ideas, especially if they’re not natural photographers. They’re like, “What do I even take a picture of when I’m at this conference?”

Hira: Yeah. I think if you’re presenting at a session, that’s great to ask somebody, “Hey, can you take a photo of me while I’m talking?” Or when I’m doing it, even when you’re setting up the room or just in the beginning, there’s always one or two people or a volunteer who can help you do that because when you’re in the mode of it sometimes you don’t think about it and also you might not get the best pictures that you want. It’s good to have one or two minutes in the beginning to do that. But also if you’re running a workshop, I love taking photos of the participants in the session because I really want to be able to capture their engagement. With the materials I have and the way the room’s energy is, how do I capture the room’s energy in a photo? Those are great ways to do that. If you’re doing a keynote, turn around and take a photo of you with the audience. It might even seem weird, but I think it’s great that you’re showing that you’re part of this experience. I think that’s always good to keep in mind. How do I capture this experience in the best way possible?

Jennifer: I feel like that sounds really uncomfortable, but that the audience would really like it. Maybe there’s one naysayer who’s like, “I don’t want to be in the photo,” but most people in the audience are like, “Oh, that’s actually a really good idea. I wish I had done something like that at mine.” Okay. Then my next follow-up question is also about photos and that’s, you mentioned that a selfie, it just didn’t look quite right. What helped clue you in that you actually wanted to do a photo shoot with your friend?

Hira: When I was publishing an article and they asked for a photo and I was like, “Okay.” I asked my husband to take a photo of me and he did great. It was good. But you could tell it wasn’t professional. There was something off. I was like, “I don’t know. ” And then there was more and more need for those. I wanted to update my LinkedIn as well and they always asked for high res photos and things like that. I just wanted a friend to take one or two pictures, somebody who knows how to do it, photography really well and then it just turned into a photo shoot. It was 15-20 minutes, but it’s somebody who really knew how to capture your personality and also just what would look good professionally. That’s where it came from because I was like, “I’ll spend some time here doing this and then these photos will be helpful going forward because I always have some need to put photos somewhere.” And you know what? Maybe somebody is really good at taking selfies and it works very well. That’s totally possible and go for it. I mean, I’m just really bad taking selfies.

Jennifer: It sounds like you went beyond a selfie, that your husband actually took a photo for you and even that didn’t feel quite right, which that’s normal. My husband takes photos of me that I’m like, “My photographer definitely could do better.” Now that I’ve worked with both I encourage people to try it out, but there’s so many people that are uncomfortable. Hearing from an experience like yours might make them feel more open to working with a photographer friend of their own or hiring a professional maybe that they don’t know, but they can get referrals for. That’s exciting. I’m glad I asked.

One foot in academia, another in industry

Jennifer: I’m thinking about, there’s so many graduate students who are like you who have a wealth of professional experience and I think there’s a lot of people who feel like they might need to hide that while they’re in academia or they might need to hide their academic life while they’re in industry. I’m curious if you ever felt anything like that and how you navigated that on your website.

Hira: Really good question. I’ve definitely felt like an imposter syndrome when I’m in both places, as an academic and a practitioner where you feel like you don’t really belong in either one really well. And to be honest, to overcome that, I feel like I actually really embrace this being hybrid in between two because both parts of that inspire me and make me who I am. I think in doing the website work really was a place where I had to bring it together because even on LinkedIn you just position your professional self and as an academic, you’re also told to be professional in that space and this is how you position it for that professional audience. But the website is my space. I get to design the house myself and the front door myself so I don’t have to be somebody I don’t feel like I’m not. And I think that helps overcome that barrier where you feel like, “I have to hide my professional self,” because it’s a huge part of me. I feel like that identity was much more dominant until now my academic identity is becoming more mature. And I’m like, “Okay, I feel confident. Yeah, I’m a PhD candidate.” You have to do that in your work, I think, to reconcile the two selves and be okay with that and actually know that it’s actually quite beneficial when you bring the two together. Because that makes you so valuable and the competencies you develop through your whole trajectory, as windy and loopy as it might be.

Website response and agency to tell your story

Jennifer: I’m curious about the response that you’ve gotten from the website. How have people reacted to it or have friends told you what they think about it? Yeah.

Hira: I’ve actually seen some really positive feedback and people are like, “This is really good. Now I actually know what you do.” That’s also one way to share with your family and friends what you do and explain your research that is not going to put them to sleep. But yeah, I think it’s been a good way to reflect and show what I’ve done so far, and also a good way for me to track and keep track of everything I’ve done. Anytime I’m presenting at a conference, I update my website or if I’m going, publishing something update my website. It’s been really helpful and it might not be the traditional portfolio that a recruiter is looking for and that’s okay because you modify things anyways. But I think it’s helpful to have that place where you feel like you can be your whole self and showcase that.

Jennifer: When you say that it’s not a traditional portfolio that a recruiter might be looking for, I really like that because you are not maybe a traditional candidate that they might be expecting. And when the website can help take, I don’t know, some of the weight off of telling that story when they can explore at their own convenience and their own time, it really makes a difference. How does it feel to have this place now that really tells your story?

Hira: It feels good because then I don’t have to go document in my head first of all, because I feel like it’s something out there and I can work, I can constantly update. Someplace I can direct people to if they’re curious about my professional life or they’re curious about my research. Then they go to my research and they go, “Oh, actually, I didn’t know you have all this professional experience as well.” And I think that’s a really important point that you brought up, that if a recruiter doesn’t, they’re looking for that traditional portfolio, then maybe I’m not the right person and that’s okay. I didn’t get that job by the way and that’s okay because it wasn’t right for me and I realized that after. But I think as we were planning the next move or thinking about how do I want to progress further after I’ve done my PhD or do I want to still continue academically, it’s a good repository of all your experiences. And I think it’s good to reflect back on that and be able to say, “Yeah, I can do multiple things. I don’t have to stick to one mold.”

Jennifer: It sounds like you see your website as something that you’ll probably keep for your lifetime or at least your professional career. It’s not going anywhere, is that right?

Hira: Yeah.

Jennifer: There’s some people who feel like the website is temporary, only while I’m in academia or only while I am in this stage of my career or in my life. I really like that you have this approach where it sounds like it’s exciting for you to update because it’s sharing another part of yourself that you cared about.

Hira: Yeah, because it’s part of your personal brand, right? You have to think of everything out there. If somebody wants to know more, the first thing people do is Google. It’s true. A recruiter might be looking at your profile or something. Why not have to control your own narrative and design the way that you want to be known?

Jennifer: I was chatting with a friend who’s also a PhD candidate and she is doing an internship right now in her home city. And one of the things that she said is that, “Oh my gosh, everyone keeps bringing up my podcast. When I’m in school, people aren’t really bringing up my podcast all the time, but I know that they listen to it. But here it’s, I just met everyone and they’re all mentioning my podcast.” It was interesting that online presence was something people were curious about, even to know the intern who’s going to be on their team. I think that it can make a really big difference to have agency in telling your story, even if it’s in slightly unexpected way. She was surprised. It’s a good surprise.

Advice for academics struggling to create their own website

Jennifer: I’m curious if you have advice or tips or maybe something you’ve struggled with when it comes to other graduate students who might be creating their own website. There’s a lot of people who have been maybe dreaming about a website and was wondering if you have any advice for them.

Hira: Yeah. I think one of the struggles that we all experience is not having enough time because there’s so much to do and you always feel like there’s something else, somebody you owe a manuscript to, somebody or something you said would get done. But the advice I would give is that take this as an opportunity for reflection. Carve out that time, even if it’s an hour or two hours, to sit down and think about your journey and how far you’ve come, what you’ve done along the way because it gives you another appreciation for the challenges and experiences that you’ve gone through. I think the advice would be to, don’t even start with your laptop or opening up a website builder. I think start with pen and paper, do some exercise to reflect on your journey, what are the skills and experiences that you’ve collected or the competencies you want to highlight and then how do you want to position yourself, and then go have fun, learn a new tool and mess around with it and see what you can create. But I think the thinking part has to come first because once you have clarity that, because I think that’s what we struggle with a little bit. That clarity of how do I position myself and how do I communicate who I am, what I’ve done, what I’m doing, and the purpose of my research that is applicable in the world. Once that clarity is there, the rest just follows I think.

Jennifer: Is there a question that maybe you asked in your planning process that you think other people might not think about? They might not ask themselves if you don’t share your question with them.

Hira: Okay. Sorry, say that again.

Jennifer: Is there a question that maybe, because you’re a professional, you’re someone who designs experiences and who is really thoughtful about who’s coming to the website. I’m curious if there’s something that you explored or something that you asked yourself in your process you think other grad students might not ask themselves, but they should.

Hira: Okay. How much is too much? Sometimes you also have to, you want to put everything up there and that’s good usually. But there’s sometimes you have to think about, is there certain things that I should let out? If things I’ve done maybe 10 years ago that may or may not be relevant, is that helpful? I think that’s a question to ask is, what is the frame that I want to look within it? Not to say that don’t put everything or don’t take everything out, but you have to be selective in that sense and that goes back to our point of designing your narrative and what do you want to communicate to do that. And even if it’s an opposite, if it feels like there was a very monumental experience in your life that does not feel like it’s completely aligned now, then is there a different way I can position that? Do I want to write a little excerpt about, “Here’s this monumental moment in my life that led to this,” or something like that. Is there another way I can use that as well? What are the experiences that matter? I think that’s probably the key question.

Jennifer: I love it. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you being so open about your website journey. Is there anything we didn’t chat about today that you’d like to add before we wrap up?

Hira: No, that was really great. Thank you so much! Yeah, I was just saying, go have fun, learn new things and go show the world what you can do.

Jennifer: Amazing! Well, for everyone who’s listening, there will be plenty of time to consider your website, even if you don’t have one now. The Best Personal Academic Websites contest opens tomorrow, but it’s actually going to be open for entries until October. We noticed last year that giving people more time to create their website meant a lot more people were able to participate in the contest. And so we are building that in this year. We want to make sure that we give you opportunity to share your website too. Thank you so much for joining me, Hira. This was an amazing interview.

Hira: Thank you for having me. This is helpful. Thank you. Bye.

Jennifer: Alright. Stay on for a sec while we wrap up the stream. Bye.

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