You Have the Degree.
Now Let's Get You Paid for It.
Executive coaching and strategic consulting for Black women scientists who are done being the most qualified, least compensated person in the room.
PhD | NCI/NIH Grant Manager |Program Management | Cancer Disparities Researcher | Certified Executive Coach | AACR Presenter | ABRCMS Speaker | Adjunct Faculty
Who This is For
If any of this sounds familiar, you're in the right place:
Right now, you might be feeling...
✗ You have a PhD and you're still underpaid
✗ You're the go-to person — and the last to be promoted
✗ You've never negotiated a salary because no one taught you how
✗ You're exhausted from code-switching and advocating for yourself in rooms not built for you
✗ You're ready for more — but you're not sure what 'more' looks like yet
By the time we're done, you'll have...
✓ A written career strategy — not just a plan, a roadmap
✓ The confidence and scripts to negotiate what you're worth
✓ A personal brand that works outside your institution
✓ A community of women who actually understand your experience
✓ A coach who has lived this — and built the playbook from it
Meet Dr. Sherette Godfrey
I'm a PhD cancer scientist, NIH grant strategist, and executive coach — and I built Rita Rette Coaching & Strategic Consulting because I know what it feels like to be overqualified, underpaid, and unsure which direction to move in next.
After completing my PhD in Applied Science & Technology, a postdoctoral fellowship at UNC-Chapel Hill's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and years of managing federal grant programs and facilitating large-scale grant submissions for various funding mechanisms, I realized my credentials were not the problem. Strategy was.
I now help Black women scientists build that strategy — through 1:1 coaching, group programs, and organizational consulting. My clients negotiate salary increases, transition out of postdocs, land leadership roles, and build careers on their own terms.
The Decoded
The Decrypted PhD Promoter
PhD Accelerator
A 6-month coaching program for Black women scientists who are ready to translate their PhD into power, pay, and purpose.
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Career strategy and 3-year roadmap
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Salary negotiation — with scripts
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Personal branding beyond your institution
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Leadership presence and strategic networking
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A cohort of women who will be your professional community for life
“Working with Dr. Godfrey was transformative. Her coaching gave me the clarity and actionable strategy I needed to stop waiting for opportunities and start creating them — and for the first time in my career, I actually feel in control of where I'm headed."
~Abigail I. 2024
Health Equity & Strategic Consulting
For pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, cancer centers, and foundations serious about health equity that goes beyond the brochure.
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