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Between Grit and Grace

The Art of Being Feminine and Formidable

By Sasha K. Shillcutt

Lessons from bossy, caring, fearless, vulnerable, relentless, forgiving, smart, humble women at the top show readers how to fuel strengths, how to be fierce and feminine leaders, and how to nurture their authentic selves.

Women need to know it’s okay to be kind and badass. Between Grit and Grace will show you that success comes when you are comfortable living in the space between grit and grace—grit meaning being resilient and taking charge of your life (socially-acceptable masculine attributes), and grace meaning showing others mercy (socially-acceptable feminine trait). Author Sasha Shillcutt, MD, a nationally lauded, award-winning physician and speaker, will explain how to give yourself permission to disappoint nice people (and know that you are still a nice person anyway). You’ll learn how to stop apologizing for showing your strength and grit, and embrace your grace, too. This is where personal peace lives.

Dr. Shillcutt, taught herself how to be a gritty, grace-filled leader and live authentically. Now, she wants to help other women be brave enough to do the same. Her passion is empowering and encouraging women to be brave enough in their professional and personal lives. She believes women cannot be too brave, too kind, too strong, too smart, too funny, too beautiful, or too authentic.

Using real-life stories—ranging from women in law and medicine to women in education—the book explains how women can be feminine and formidable. Leadership and lipstick are not mutually exclusive. You’ll realize you can be bossy and caring, fearless and vulnerable, relentless and forgiving, smart and humble—and make it to the top. Across the space of ten chapters, you’ll learn how to navigate the forces that have shaped the modern workplace while doing so with grit and grace. When a woman lives authentically—she succeeds.
Sasha K. Shillcutt

Sasha Shillcutt, MD, is a wife, mother, award-winning physician, clinical scientist, national educator, writer, and speaker. A board-certified cardiac anesthesiologist and tenured associate professor, she received a bachelors’ degree in biology from William Jewell College, and her MD degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. After finishing a residency in anesthesiology during which she served as chief resident, she completed an executive fellowship in perioperative echocardiography at the University of Utah Medical Center. She has published close to 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles in professional journals including the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association and contributed chapters to four books. In 2016, Sasha was awarded the national American Medical Association’s Women Physician’s Inspiring Physician Award by her peers.
  • Publisher: Health Communications Inc (August 20, 2020)
  • Length: 240 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780757323478

“In this remarkable book, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt eloquently navigates the rocky terrain associated with being a strong, intelligent and empathic woman. Focusing on grit and grace, she entertains readers with stories that will make them laugh out loud and leaves them with solid advice that they can apply to their own lives. Great leaders do wear lipstick, and in the time-honored tradition of women supporting other women, this book is one that you'll want to pass on to your colleagues, mentees and friends.”

—Julie Silver, MD, associate professor, Harvard Medical School, director of a women's leadership course for physicians, and author of You Can Heal Yourself: A Guide to Physical and Emotional Recovery After Injury or Illness 

“Dr. Sasha Shillcutt is a whirlwind of down-to-earth, commonsense advice for every woman aspiring to be fierce, fearless and forward-looking. She has an innate sense of how to combine being a successful physician, wife, mom, blogger and mentor with an edgy dose of badass empowerment. This book is a prescription to heal what ails all of us!”

—Deborah R. Gilg, JD, retired U.S. Attorney for Nebraska

“Dr. Sasha Shillcutt writes in a style that makes you feel like you are getting great advice from your best friend. She connects in a way that makes you feel like she speaks to your soul. She gets you. She is you. Dr. Shillcutt is a fearless innovative leader and a phenomenal physician, mother, wife, and writer. She balances all these facets with imperfectly beautiful grace. Finding Dr. Shillcutt and joining her tribe truly changed my life in so many ways. I am a better physician mother, wife, and friend because of her brilliance and wisdom.” 

—Brittney Terry, D.O., pediatrician

“Dr. Sasha Shillcutt is uniquely qualified to write on the topic of authentic leadership as a woman. Not only is she a national leader in her field in medicine, but she has also managed to create a group, which has grown to thousands, comprised of women physicians who support, encourage and uplift each other, from all ends of the country. Her authenticity is palpable, and her willingness to be transparent with both her successes and failures as a woman, wife, mother, physician and friend has inspired many of us to reach for heights in our personal and professional lives that we may not have otherwise.”

—D’Anna Mullins, MD, PhD, hematology and oncology

“Dr. Sasha Shillcutt is an extraordinary woman, physician, leader and entrepreneur. Her words are eloquent showcasing both her vulnerability and strength. She has a strong passion for elevating women around her, encouraging them to be their best selves. Her book Between Grit and Grace will be a must-read for anyone who wants to be inspired to be authentic, be visionary and be brave.”

— Rakhee K. Bhayani, MD, associate professor of medicine, Washington University School of Medicine

“Dr. Shillcutt is a true role model to countless women on how to lead authentically. Dr. Shillcutt is a strong, decisive and confident leader. She has united women by sharing her true own opportunities and challenges, and this transparency has served as the nidus for so many women to growth in their own careers, personal life and wellness. Dr. Shillcutt writes from the heart, with such grace, and is wise beyond her years. I have always been inspired when she puts pen to paper, as the resulting product is always inspiring.”

—Amy S. Oxentenko, MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF, professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, gastroenterology and hepatology

“Dr. Sasha Shillcutt has a unique talent for leading women to be their true, authentic self.  As a physician educator, she is strong, well-respected and hardworking. As a wife and mother, she is giving and kindhearted. Despite being a busy physician and mother, she continues to uplift and encourage other women to achieve their individual goals and potential. Using personal narratives, humor and her intellect, Dr. Shillcutt prescribes straightforward, manageable techniques for every woman to discover their inner moxie!”  

—Shivani Mukkamala, MD, assistant professor of anesthesiology, Emory University 

Between Grit and Grace

The Art of Being Feminine and Formidable

By Sasha K. Shillcutt