Her Story
About Julia
I started out my career in public relations, crisis, and media, which is a world that I love. My mom, who was a huge inspiration to me and passed away close to 3 years ago, was a journalist and a really big presence in the media world. She was probably the most influential woman to me, and this was really a guiding light for me. I love events, I love marketing, and I've built a career on marketing cross-industry and building a really strong portfolio in both the events world and marketing world. But communications and that brand narrative and telling people's stories is something that I learned from her, and it's something that I've always been super passionate about. When this opportunity at NVA presented itself, it was really just a logical step for me. Meeting our head of comms at NVA really spoke to me - I had the chance to step onto a team with someone who reminded me a lot of my mom with that tenacity, and it's someone who I can grow with and learn from, and really build a career with and around. Throughout my career, I've had the opportunity to have wonderful jobs and some jobs that have been learning experiences. I've worked with some terrific people and some people who I will also call learning experiences. Each experience has really taught me what works for me, what shapes me as a person, and what I will accept and what I will not accept. Everything in my career has really led me to where I am today.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Julia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a lot of hard work, a lot of 60-90 hour work weeks, and a lot of really, truly supportive people in my life who have pushed me to be the best version of myself and really have championed the mentality of you can truly do anything you put your mind to. If you want to accomplish something, do it. There are always going to be roadblocks in your way, and it's up to you to clear them and make sure that if you want something, you go out and succeed and make it happen.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is to be the person that people want to be in the room with when things are complicated, not just when things are going well. What I mean by that is anybody can be there when things are great, anybody can be the voice that people go to when things are 100% positive, but you want to be the person that people go to when there's a crisis. You want to be the person that people can rely on, and that people know as the fixer, and the person that people can trust and go to when things are falling down and things are in chaos. I've built a career out of being a chaos coordinator and really built a career and a mentality of being calm under pressure and being able to thrive when things are really falling apart. I've been through companies that have been in crisis and in chaos, and I've had leaders and executives say to me that one of the things they really admire about me is that I'm able to keep a level head and stay calm when I have so many plates spinning and when things are really hitting the fan.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
For someone looking to get into communications or public relations, especially if they have an interest in crisis, I would say that strong communication starts with listening. You have to be someone who can listen, who can stop, who can absorb like a sponge. Absorb things, take it all in. You can't shape a message, you can't shape a narrative until you understand the moment, the tone, and what's going on, and everybody's perspective. And the only way that you're going to do that is by listening and absorbing it all and taking it all in. And then react and have a point of view. Have a point of view, but stay flexible enough to be changed by better information.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
We're a very lean team currently, and I think the challenge is really knowing how to balance it all and prioritize. You want to give so much of yourself to everyone, and you just have to know when to pull back and know that you have to be able to balance and you can't take it personally. You can't give 100% of yourself to everyone at all times. It's that method of put your own life jacket on first.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in my personal and professional life are integrity, tenacity, having a point of view, adaptability, humanity, and accountability. For me, accountability is your follow-through, owning what you do, taking pride in your work, your appearance, everything that you put forward. From the time that I was little, both of my parents raised me to take pride in everything you do. If you put out a piece of work, from your schoolwork to your work work, everything you do, you take pride in it. It's your follow-through to being the person that others can rely on when it matters.
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