Her Story
About Julie
I've been serving as Public Works Coordinator for the City of Taylor since March 2022, where I manage the Streets and Grounds division. My responsibilities span a wide range, from budget management and procurement processes to right-of-way permitting and serving as the liaison between our Streets and Grounds staff and HR. One of my most significant accomplishments in this role was working with FEMA for about two years following Winter Storm Mara in 2023, ultimately helping the city secure an award of $5.6 million. I coordinated closely with FEMA, the Texas Department of Emergency Management, and Ernst & Young during the audit process. I also coordinate our quarterly utility coordination meetings with companies like Spectrum, AT&T, and various fiber optic providers, manage work orders through our Acela platform, maintain agricultural leases, and participate in hiring processes for Streets and Grounds candidates. Before joining the city, I spent 19 years at ERCOT from 2000 to 2019, where I started as an administrative assistant and worked my way up to vendor manager. While at ERCOT, I earned my Facility Management Administrator (FMA) designation in July 2019 after two years of work toward that goal. Unfortunately, I was affected by a reduction in force at ERCOT, but that transition led me to where I am today. I'm currently pursuing my Project Management Professional certification and plan to take the PMP exam on May 8th. Throughout my career, I've never been one to stay complacent. I'm always striving to develop, learn, and achieve more, which is what drove me to advance at ERCOT over those 19 years and what continues to motivate me in my current role.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Julie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to never giving up. I'm always striving to go up and develop and learn and achieve. I just don't like to be complacent. I like to get education, move up wherever I'm at, and that's what I did at ERCOT for those 19 years, and that's what I'm trying to do now where I'm at. I've done pretty well for working for the government, but once I have this Project Management Professional title or designation, I can probably go a lot of places and make substantially more money, and that's kind of what my goal is going to be at this time.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received came from my very first manager at ERCOT. He was in system planning on the wholesale side of electricity, and he told me when I was doing my resume or something, just in general, that I need to make myself look like I walk on water, because nobody is ever going to do it for me. That's just one thing that has stuck with me through the years.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges for me personally in my field right now are having to do what City Council wants. I don't like to be managed by a council because I'm not accustomed to that. It's really hard for me to get used to that. They don't know what the city's policies and procedures are. They just listen to what the people want, and they want to make themselves look good, so they try to get it done. And a lot of them are uneducated, so that's my biggest struggle. Sometimes I also struggle with dealing with the council and their rules in place.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in my work and personal life are accountability first and foremost, along with honesty, credibility, integrity, and loyalty. I put accountability first because I don't like people who mess up and then try to throw other people under the bus or make excuses. Everybody makes mistakes and nobody's perfect, so if you make a mistake, you need to own it and move on.
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