This article used transformation as the central theme to discuss my doctoral research training in the United States. While a dissertation can be interpreted as an “outcome” of a doctoral program, this article also focuses on the “process” of my personal transformation through perspectives of mentorship, growth, and research development. My dissertation examined art education leaders’ transformational journeys in arts and cultural organizations; the research purpose was to reflect a leadership discourse that inspires could art education practitioners, artists, art teachers, art researchers, and art administrators to transform their self-awareness and advance their professional development as leaders. As discovering and creating transformational experiences are essential requirements for an educator as well as a researcher, this article sought to unpack my doctoral training and dissertation and show how my doctoral studies became critically important in the interplay among my arts learning, personal interests in arts education, and artful leadership in the pursuit of success.