An Interview with Cody Arvidson

Dr. Cody J. Arvidson, the founder and CEO of Degree Solutions Group LLC, has dedicated her career to empowering students through personalized coaching, editing, and research services. She specializes in guiding dissertants worldwide through the intricacies of academic writing and has successfully coached about 250 dissertants to successful final defenses. She served as an adjunct professor at multiple institutions, teaching baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral-level courses and participating on dissertation committees. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with minors in mathematics and management from the University of West Florida, a Master of Science in educational administration from Texas A&M University, a Master of Science in counseling psychology from the University of Kansas, and a Doctor of Philosophy in higher education with a psychology minor from the University of North Texas. A believer in lifelong learning, Dr. Arvidson is a member of the American Psychological Association and a certified life and career coach through the Fowler-Wainwright International Institute of Professional Coaching. She is also certified as a personal trainer by the American Council on Exercise. Dr. Arvidson has been married to Mark for over thirty years. He is her number one fan and encourager.

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Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

For a long time, I just called the content that became the book, “Dissertation Success Manual.” However, as I finished writing the book in 2025, I got a bit of humor going and when I submitted the book to Atmosphere Press, it was called “Preparing Holistically for the Dissertation (PHD): The guide for earning the Done Doctorate (EDD)” because I wanted dissertants and students of all fields to see I wrote it for every person doing some type of doctorate: PhD, EdD, DrPH, DBA, etc. All those degrees share a culminating research project, whether it is labeled dissertation, treatise, capstone, or something else. Also, all dissertants go through an equivalent experience. When I met with the developmental editor, Nathan, he said, “Aren’t you really demystifying the process?” I said, “Absolutely!” It took us five minutes to change the title! As a memorial to my dissertation chair, I also wanted the title to have “colonicity,” a term my dissertation chair loved to throw around. Most of these dissertation books focus on survival, but I wanted to emphasize thriving and success. Plus, my book demystifies the entire doctoral experience more than some other books that claim to do the same for the dissertation itself.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

I was giddy and giggly when the first copy of the book arrived! I was all smiles! I am sure I danced and hopped around, too! I felt validated as an expert because reading content rang true to my dissertation achievement.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

Somehow, inadvertently, I became a good writer, but not by my standards—by those of others. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Taylor, drilled into our heads that if we had three errors on a collegiate paper, the professor would fail us. I took her seriously because I was college-bound. Because my dad had been a professor in the 1960s, I started asking him to critique my writing, which he kept doing through my first two years at the University of West Florida because there, I had this awful newly minted PhD in English who berated the class as incompetent and lucky to have been admitted to a university. However, his requirement that we go to the campus writing lab ensured I learned a few new things and showed me I had more skill than their tutors. I realized that professor was just academically hazing us, which gave me the gumption to argue with professors who would inappropriately grade my quality written work throughout the rest of my formal education. At UWF, I also started writing in American Psychological Association style because I was a psychology major. I learned their third edition style guide inside and out by the time I graduated with my first master’s degree. As a result, my colleagues on the job constantly would come to me for help writing and editing reports and proposals. That role continued for me throughout my career. When professors offered to help students publish in journals, I took them up on the offer. Publishing peer-review journal articles boosted my academic writing efficacy. After the dissertation, I typed what I’d learned from my graduate school experience and the dissertation process; twenty years later, that material became the bones of this book.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

My husband and I own Rogue Athletics Gymnastics and Cheer. We opened it because of our gymnast son; men’s gymnastics has taken a beating and is on life support as a collegiate and an Olympic sport in the US in the aftermath of Title IX. Consequently, girls have more access to quality gymnastics programs than boys, even in a large, sprawling urban setting like DFW. We started with just boys’ gymnastics and cheerleading in 2013. Now, our athletics facility offers competitive dance, cheerleading, tumbling, and women’s and men’s gymnastics for North Dallas and the surrounding areas.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

This book is about ensuring dissertants have the tools they need to finish. Only one in three dissertants across all disciplines reach and successfully complete the final defense. In some fields, the completion rate doesn’t reach double digits, and after spending too much money and time pursuing this goal, all dissertants deserve to know the reality of the process so they can feel empowered to advocate for themselves successfully.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Lots of songs speak to the loneliness and challenge of writing a dissertation as well as writing a book about finishing one! I literally had a playlist while writing and this is the list of songs on it:

“Bad Dreams,” Teddy Swims

“Bang!” AJR

“Burn the House Down”, AJR

“Dance The Night,” Dua Lipa

“Don’t Forget Me,” Imagine Dragons

“Enemy,” Imagine Dragons

“Gone Gone Gone,” David Guetta, Teddy Swims, and Tones and I

“Gonna Make You Sweat,” C+C Music Factory

“Good Vibrations,” Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch

“Groove Is in the Heart,” Deee-Lite

“HandClap,” Fitz and The Tantrums

“I’m Gonna Get You (Original Flavour Mix),” Bizarre Inc.

“Inertia,” AJR

“Lightning Crashes,” Live

“Message in a Bottle,” The Police

“Nice to Meet You,” Imagine Dragons

“Pocket,” Rag’n’Bone Man

“Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” Kate Bush

“Sail,” AWOLNATION

“Shadows in the Rain,” Sting

“The Plan,” Teddy Swims

“Things Can Only Get Better,” Howard Jones

“Thunder,” Imagine Dragons

“Titanium,” David Guetta feat Sia

“Too Much Information,” The Police

“Walking on Sunshine,” Katrina & The Waves

“Walking on the Moon,” The Police

“Whatever It Takes,” Imagine Dragons

“Yes I’m a Mess,” AJR

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I want readers to feel empowered after reading any single chapter of this book. Every chapter is meant to represent a roadmap that guides them on how to deal with professors, feel empowered to ask hard questions, and know that they are not crazy. I constantly reassure my clients: “It’s not you, it’s them. They are gatekeepers. Remember, you’re the one they see as trying to jump the fence or pick the gate lock! But they are not willing to open the gate and let you join them on their side of the fence until they have decided they have given up on feeling like they need to keep pushing you ‘to improve your document.’” I envision the perfect reader as ready and willing to try the advice I share, see that I gave good advice, entice the professors to open the gate, and reach the other side with success.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I am currently working on the structure and content of various webinar options for dissertants. I am also ruminating on a book about how people can be N.I.C.E. with others and all God’s creatures. In 2005, I finished National Novel Writing Month, and to this day, I dream of those characters and that universe I created. I genuinely want to return to that fictional world and write more about it.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

I found everyone at Atmosphere Press to be quite pleasant and efficient! If I wasn’t efficient, their efficiency kept my book release on track! I have a friend who published a book on the same day as me, but she chose a one hundred percent self-publishing option and faced at least six months of delays and vendor issues that affected her publication date. Consequently, I am forever grateful for the structure and packages Atmosphere Press offers authors like me, who could get overwhelmed managing every aspect of self-publishing. Atmosphere Press is selective. Nonetheless, I wonder whether, given that I am not employed by a university or a full-time professor, I would have languished and failed to publish by following the traditional process of finding an agent to select my book and promote it to an academic publisher. After that, the agent would have to find a traditional publisher willing to accept my book as valid and valuable. Atmosphere Press’s hybrid option is great for staying on track. As an author in need of help with publicity, social media, and website management, the options to use these services have relieved me of a lot of anxiety.

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