Align Your Career with Your Values: Strategic Moves with Julia Toothacre

In this episode of the Passionista Project, sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington, founders of the inclusive sisterhood platform, interview Julia Toothacre, the founder of Ride the Tide Collective and host of the podcast 'Control Your Career.' Julia shares her journey from a creative background in art and graphic design to becoming a results-driven career coach. She discusses her unique five-phase coaching process, 'Control Your Career,' which helps professionals align their careers with their personal values. Julia emphasizes the importance of realistic evaluations, identity analysis, strategic planning, action, and habits in career development. She also explores the challenges women face in the professional world, the significance of confidence and networking, and shares insights on current job market trends. The episode highlights Julia's dedication to empowering professionals to take control of their careers.

Listen to the episode HERE.

LINKS

Website

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

ON THIS EPISODE

[00:00] Introduction to the Passionista Project

[00:17] Meet Julia Toothache: Career Coach Extraordinaire

[01:28] Julia's Journey: From Art to Career Coaching

[03:57] The Role of Creativity in Coaching

[05:42] Parallel Lives and Family Creativity

[06:59] Early Career in Higher Education

[08:58] Launching Ride the Tide Collective

[12:32] The Control Your Career Process

[17:44] Aligning Career with Values

[21:36 Navigating the Modern Job Market

[24:44]] Building Confidence for Career Advancement

[26:50] Mindset Shifts for Professional Growth

[28:36] Personalizing the Coaching Approach

[32:19] Challenges Faced by Women in the Workplace

[36:57] Networking Tips for Introverts

[43:14] Career Advancement Intensive Program

[49:07] Final Thoughts and Contact Information

TRANSCRIPT

Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington, the founders of the Passionista Project, an inclusive sisterhood where women find support, purpose, and empowerment. Each episode, we share stories of passion-driven women breaking barriers, and redefining success. Today we're talking with Julia Toothache, a results-driven career coach and founder of Ride the Tide Collective.

Empowering professionals to align their careers with their values through strategic guidance, media recognized expertise, and her podcast control your career. So welcome, Julia Icker. We're so glad to have you here.

Julia: Thank you so much for having me. I've been excited for this episode for the last couple of weeks. I'm glad we get to record it now.

Passionistas: We always love to start our interviews by asking what are you most passionate about?

Julia: Oh, I love this question. So this has shifted for me over the years, but right now, especially with the business that I have, I am most passionate about helping professionals control their career.

And that's why it's my podcast name. That's why I have a program about it, and it's really my tagline. For my business because I want people to know that they can take ownership of their careers. They have more control than just accepting whatever is given to them by a manager or somebody else in their life.

So where does that passion come from? Oh gosh. Okay. This actually, this reaches back into, uh, my career history. I rarely talk about this anymore, but I had a quarter life crisis and that is what really started. I. This whole journey to me being a career coach. So my background is actually in art and graphic design.

I wanted to be an art director. I had all these, these big dreams, and back in the early two thousands to date myself, I. It was, it was just a different field back then. And actually now I'm very glad that I didn't go that route with the technology advancements and all of that. Um, but I realized that I was a creative person, but I didn't want to be in a creative field.

Mm-hmm. So I went back to my university, met with a career coach and said, I have no idea what I'm doing. I feel lost. I, I don't know what to do. And. They career coached me and they used assessments and conversations and all of that. I ended up going back to graduate school and ended up going into career development.

Partially because of my experience with that career coach, but also career coaching just fit me. Really well, it fit my style, it fit how I wanted to impact people. And then I've kept that throughout my career and then into my business. So that's, that's like the short version of, of how I got started through this.

Passionistas: So, um, let's take a step back. You said you were always creative. Were you creative as a kid? What was your childhood like growing up?

Julia: You know, I think that I was to a point my dad was an artist, um, and also did band. I did band. I was a dancer. I am, I would consider myself an artist, but I was not as good as my dad.

I think he had a very natural talent for it. I think I just really appreciate creative endeavors and I immersed myself in them, but it was never something where I came out and said. You know, yeah. This is, this is the path. This is what I wanna do. My husband's a musician, so we're very, like, we're very creative over here.

But I think I, I realized quickly that I didn't want it to be my actual career path.

Passionistas: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Do you think that creativity, um, plays into the way you approach coaching? Do you approach it differently because of that?

Julia: I think so, and it was actually something that through my professional career, was a cornerstone of my own, you know, uh, brand.

My, my brand as a professional. Creativity was right up there. Not only the visual creativity, creativity I had with graphic design. But just my ability to think differently, my ability to problem solve and figure things out, and really create systems and look at problems in a unique way. And then that translates also into my coaching and my coaching style.

I think I really look at people holistically, which a lot of coaches do, don't get me wrong. But in the career coaching space, most career coaches, it's like, oh, I need a resume review, and we edit the resume. Okay, I need a job and we need to go through, and it's very systematic. Mm-hmm. That's not the piece that I like, like to do.

I could do it. I have resources for it. It's really wonderful. But I like the pieces. When somebody comes to me and says, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how to move forward. I feel stuck. Something's going on, and I get to really like dig into that person and who they are. And help them see themselves more positively and then help them figure out a strategy and a plan to move forward.

And I try to do that by thinking outside of the box versus staying in the career development process, so to speak.

Passionistas: Right. That's amazing. You and I have, uh, led parallel lives. You know, it's so funny to hear you describe you, the, the artistic dad. Our dad was an artist, had an advertising agency, amazing.

Fantastic artist. I followed in his footsteps, although I'm not anywhere near as talented as he was, and I too am married to a musician, so it's pretty funny. I was a graphic designer for years.

Julia: I, I will tell you too, the creativity, my husband and I talk about this all the time. It absolutely skipped. US because my son who is seven, and I'm not one of those parents that overhype their kid, believe me, so it's not my way.

But my son is taking piano lessons and both my husband and I realized very quickly. That he picked it up very quickly. He can, he can sort of play by ear like there's a lot of things that we've noticed in him that he and I do not have musically. And then even drawing his drawing ability at a young age, I was like, okay, my dad's coming down like through you or something 'cause I was never like this.

Passionistas: So, um, so let's talk a little bit about your early career. So you were in higher education. Why did you wanna work with students in recent grads?

Julia: I. So my parents were educators and I, I grew up in a school, you know, and it was always around education. They did K 12. And watching that, I knew I didn't wanna go into K 12.

I had explored it initially to be a counselor, like at the high school level and at, at the time that I was going through all this, it was the worst. It was kind of that 2008, 2009. Nine time period. And so people in K 12 were getting laid off left and right. And so working with the career coach, they were like, do not go down this path right now.

This is not a good choice. And so they shared with me, um, a program that actually. Was a master's degree to then work in the college level. And I was like, oh, I actually like this better 'cause now I don't have to deal with parents because I didn't really wanna deal with parents in K 12. And so went into that program, got experience there, and ended up working in higher education for eight years and really.

Enjoyed it. Um, honestly, if life had not happened to me, I would probably still be in higher education in some capacity or something adjacent. I still teach, uh, I teach a career co course in the summer at USC, um, university of Southern California because there's another USC on the East coast. I did not know that.

Passionistas: South Carolina.

Julia: Yeah. So I have to clarify now. Um, so I still try to stay connected to higher education 'cause I really do enjoy it. Um, but yeah, life happened and so I shifted away from that to start my business.

Passionistas: That's awesome. Well, and when you're here and for your summer program, let us know. We. Love coffee. Um, so what inspired you to ultimately launch Ride Ride the Tide Collective?

Julia: So this goes into the life happened story. So, uh, my dad passed away in 2016. Mm-hmm. I had my son in 2017. My mom passed away in 2018. So all three of these things happened within 18 months. Of each other, and I'm an only child, so losing both my parents very close together.

Also becoming a new mom, which was, is a whole, that's like a whole other podcast we could do about that, but. It was a lot. It was, it was a lot of stuff happening at one time. I'm very thankful to the company that I was working for at the time. They were extremely accommodating to my situation. They understood what was going on and how much tragedy I had had in such a short amount of time, but also really great things with my son.

Um, but that experience really jolted. Me and, and even my husband as well. And we went through really a, a values clarification, a clarity session. We, we did a bunch of work to really figure out who are we, what do we want as a couple, what do we want as a family? How do we wanna live? What does this look like?

And I realized, I was like, I think I wanna start my own business, which I never. Would have said, but I wanted to be accessible to my kid. And if you had told me that 10 years ago, I would've laughed at you. I never thought I would be that kind of mom, but I really just wanted to experience him growing up.

I didn't wanna miss it, especially because I had just lost my parents and I was like, I wanna, I wanna be there. I wanna be a staple in his life. And so I felt like starting my business would give me. The flexibility to be able to do that, and it has, and I can't even look back at this point. I'm so grateful for the choices that we've made to get here.

Passionistas: Yeah. And so where does the name come from?

Julia: Okay, so I'm from Southern California, and the beach for me has just always been just a, a peaceful place and a place where I can think differently. I can recharge. I don't know. I mean, for those of you that have grown up around water, I think you just understand that there's something about it and.

I wanted it to reflect kind of the career process without being. Overtly career. I didn't wanna use my name. I, I don't wanna do anything like that. So this idea of riding the tide and kind of riding the tide of life, of your career and how there's so many ups and downs and waves and sometimes the tide is trying to pull you under and.

You have to see, and then how can I be that anchor for people to help pull them back in and help them ride the tide essentially? Um, the collective piece comes from wanting to eventually create a business where I'm bringing in other coaches and other people to really create a holistic experience. Um, not quite there yet, but that's some of the future plans that I have for the business.

Passionistas: That's great. So how do you act as an anchor for the people you work with? Tell us kidn of the process of working with you.

Julia: Yeah, so I think my process is a little bit different and I, I mentioned that earlier. I. You know, career development has this very systematic way that we are trained in how to do it, and it's very much related to a job search, like everything is, is centered around the job search.

The problem with that is our careers encompass so much more than that, and I think when the career development process was created. It really was just a job search. That was what you went through. But now we have career exploration. We have career management, so so many more people need assistance managing their careers because they're not getting support from their manager or their organization.

And then the advancement piece, which would be considered more of that job search process. But it's not just finding a new job, it's is there an opportunity within my organization and all of that. So as I was considering this and starting my business, I was like, this doesn't fit for me. Every time I talk about this process, it doesn't make sense.

So I created my own process. And this is that creative side that we were talking about earlier. You know, I knew that I needed something different. The processes out there also need so many caveats. This works, but only if you're in this situation, in this. Specific socioeconomic status if you live in this city, if you, you know, there's so much that is contingent upon other pieces of us.

So I wanted to create a process that was more holistic and allowed people to really look at their situation. So I created the control your career process. That's the process that I use when I work with clients. I'm not necessarily taking them through every stage of it. But it's my natural coaching process and I turned it into, you know, something a little bit more tangible and specific.

Do you want me to go through it? I wanna make, I know I'm talking a lot, so.

Passionistas: No, that's what you're here for. Go for it.

Julia: Awesome. Okay. So it is five phases, and I'm gonna stay pretty high level with this just for brevity. But we start with realistic reality, which is the most important, and this is where we get to set the stage.

You as the client, tell me what is going on, what is the reality of your situation? And that can mean a lot of things, right? Maybe there's a financial component, maybe there's a mental health component. You know, maybe there's something from your past that we have to work through. Not as a Thera, I'm not a therapist, so we have a line there, but there might be things that I need to know and understand about you that are going to influence your career choices moving forward.

So that realistic reality. Sets the tone for us to understand the lenses that we're making decisions through, and then we talk about your identity. We talk about the identity analysis. Who are you? What do you value? What is your personality? What are your preferences as a person, and how is that gonna impact any choices that you make as well?

And then we create a strategy and a plan. Strategy is really key for me because I think we talk a lot about goal setting and that's fine. Like there is goal setting in this as well, but. The strategy piece of understanding really where are you headed? And there's gonna be a lot of different ways that you could get there.

And we wanna make sure that the strategy that you use on honors who you are and isn't just an arbitrary thing that we pull, you know, from the ether. And then action. I think this is something that a lot of career coaches actually stop. So they give you the goals, they give you all of that and say, okay, good luck.

Go out and, and do the things. You know, check, check off the boxes. I don't do that. I wanna make sure that yes, you have an action plan. But I also am that accountability for a lot of my clients. So what are the barriers going to be to action? What do you think they're going to be? How do we work through mindset issues so that you can move forward as easily as possible?

And then finally, rounding out the stages is habits. Um, I really look at high impact habits for you. What are you already doing? What do you need to be doing in order to get to where you want to be in your career?

Passionistas: Uh, and how long does that process typically take?

Julia: So the program is a a 12 week program.

Mm-hmm. So there is a program specifically for that. However, this is really the natural process that I do as well. And so the length depends on your situation. So what you come to me with, I have programs for all different lengths and situations that I can kind of customize to the client.

Passionistas: That's great. So one of the things that you talk about is aligning your career with that, your values, and I think that speaks to women in our community a lot, who are either working someplace or creating something that, uh, connects to their purpose.

So can you talk a little bit about that part of, of the, your strategizing.

Julia: Yeah, so this is one exercise that I make all of my clients do. It's actually free on my website if you wanna do it as well. Um, but values to me set the tone. They, they set the tone for everything. It's also what we run decisions through.

And so I have clients create a list of their 10 values, like their top 10 values, and then we have the deal breaker values. And so where this comes into play is things like salary. You know, you need to make a certain amount of money, so if you need to make a certain amount of money, then we can let go of all the jobs that don't make that amount of money, and we can let go of it confidently.

Right. Location. This is huge for a lot of people. Um, maybe it's you want to work remote, maybe you would like to be within a certain metro area or a certain city or something like that. That changes our strategy of how we job search, right? And so when I understand those values and when you understand your own values, you now can say no to things you can narrow in.

You can be more intentional around what you're looking for. Because you have that clarity for yourself and it changes. This is the one thing I want people to understand. What you want right now could change. Once you make a transition and you have those things, now you wanna wait a couple months, do that values assessment again, because now you're looking at something else, right?

And so this is a very fluid process that's gonna change regularly.

Passionistas: And do those values also include other, like, um, spiritual values, for lack of a better word? Like you want the, the kind of atmosphere you wanna work in or the kind of principles that, that you want the company to have that you would work for?

Julia: Yes. So there's no limit here. And there are some people that separate career values and. Personal or life values? I don't. I keep it intertwined because a lot of times they're going to be intertwined. If you have a family and you want specific hours or you don't wanna work after a certain time or whatnot.

Then that's gonna be a value for you. Um, speaking spiritually, I have a lot of clients where their faith comes into play, so they only wanna work for a certain type of organization or, and that goes both ways. Either they want an organization with certain values or they want, they don't want an organization with certain values.

And so again, that can also be very. You know, timing oriented. So right now you feel that way, but in two years you might not. And so it, yeah, it takes into consideration everything I'm trying to get to, what are the things that are gonna be the deal breakers for you right now so that we can make some easier decisions.

Passionistas: That's so smart. Um, as someone who hasn't actually like, looked for a job in. Decades. Like Nancy and I are the kind of people that kinda like find the thing or people find us or we create something. I feel like the landscape for looking for work has completely changed. Mm-hmm. And probably that has accelerated over even the last few years.

Like once you get to that stage with people, what advice do you have for like where to begin to actually look for those positions?

Julia: This is a great question and I will say, if you are somebody who has not been on the job market in the last five to 10 years, you need to do some homework. You, you need to do some homework about what is going on right now because it is very different.

And I've been doing this work, I think 14, 13, 14 years now. So I've even seen in that short amount of time. Many shifts within the market. And so when we talk about where to find a job, I'm gonna be a little cliche and say, your network matters and it matters more honestly, the older that you get. So the farther that you are into your career, especially if you're in a higher level position.

Your network will matter more than anything. So make sure that if you are in a space where you're thinking about applying or you know, maybe you've been laid off unfortunately and you're looking for it, you have to really engage those people who have been your champions throughout the years. Reengage with them, connect with them.

You know, do a call, do a zoom, take 'em out to coffee, take 'em out to lunch. Do something because you need to have people who are well connected in your industry or function to be able to go out and kind of be eyes and ears for you in a way. The best opportunities that people get are those referral opportunities.

Um, this is also backed up in recruiters that I've talked to and hiring managers. So on my own podcast, I've done seasons with recruiters. I'm actually in the middle of one right now, and I've done it with hiring managers and everybody will say, you have to, you have to talk to humans. Like, yes, you can blind apply and you can get through.

But with this market right now, those connections are gonna mean more than anything because it's at least gonna get you seen. So that's what I would really focus on. If you do need to apply, make sure that you're applying somewhere that is reputable. I would not use a place like Indeed. Right now. There's a lot of scams, there's a lot of just nefarious things going on over there.

I would look at professional associations, smaller niche job boards, um, for your industry, for your function. Um, I like LinkedIn only because you can see who's actually posted the position. I. But there you have to also be wary on there. 'cause a lot of people are posting fake positions there too. So just take that with a grain of salt.

Um, but anytime that you can niche down as much as possible when you're applying, that's what I would recommend when it comes to job boards.

Passionistas: That's great. Um, you said a magic word a little while ago. Confidence. So how does confidence play a part in career advancement and what's your advice for someone who maybe hasn't been in the jog market forever and like has no confidence going out looking for a job?

Julia: I not to not to promote coaching, but this is actually a great opportunity for coaching. Um, this is one of those scenarios where it is helpful to bring somebody else in if you really lack confidence in yourself, because a lot of times we tell ourselves these stories that might have been based on this minuscule thing that happened to us, you know, 15 years ago or 10 years ago.

And we've now blown it up in our heads and it's killed our confidence. Or we have a manager that really either isn't supportive or maybe doesn't speak our language and is not giving us what we need to feel confident. Like there's a lot of things that lead to a lack of confidence, but this is where coaching is really helpful because you have somebody who is neutral, who does not really have any skin in the game of your life.

And we can help you uncover some of that. Where is it stemming from, you know, what has made you feel confident in the past and celebrate you? You know, the amount of clients I've had when they go through their, their history and what they've done, and I sit there. Flabbergasted by all this amazing stuff that they've done and accomplished.

And they just sit there like, oh yeah, yeah, I did that. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, um, that's a big deal and you need to celebrate it and we need to talk about it. And it needs to become a cornerstone of your story. And they don't realize it because maybe they got some negative feedback at some point, or they have that voice of a parent or somebody in their life that has put them down so they just don't believe in themselves.

Right? And so that's where coaching can can really be helpful in bringing that out of somebody to get them to a higher level of confidence.

Passionistas: Yeah. What are some of the other mindset shifts that you think people need to address a lot of the time? Ooh, not

Julia: everybody's out to get you. I. This, this becomes really big in manager relationships and leadership relationships.

I think a lot of professionals believe that management is out to get them, doesn't like them, doesn't want them to succeed. Now, don't get me wrong, that exists. Uh, so I don't wanna minimize people who've been in that situation. I do know it exists. But you have to take a step back and go, am I interpreting this appropriately, or is this me

Is it something that I have created inside of me? So in my process of realistic reality, this is one of the things that I talk about is what is actually happening, what was actually said, you know, if you cannot give me evidence of somebody disliking you. Then it, it, it's hard to make the leap. Right? And so I will help people level set with that and go, I hear you might have a vibe, like, but a vibe is not evident

And so we have to, to really step back and go, no, they said this to me. They did this to me. Okay, now it's validated. Now I get it and I see it. So now how do we address it? So not everybody's out to get you. Make sure that you are really addressing those, um, thoughts that you have inside of you, and make sure you figure out if they're your thoughts and you are bringing it out, or if it's something that is actually happening in this situation.

Passionistas: So you talked about the five step process and how you personalize it. So give some examples of how you would personalize that approach for different types of people.

Julia: I'll loosely use a client example. I don't wanna give away, give away too much. So I had a client who was trying to figure out. What their next steps were and wanted to go through this process and actually went through the the full program.

So we got to really dig a lot deeper. And what was really great about that is we were able to use the realistic reality. Step of that to level set so many assumptions that this person had, and it was, it was a really fun coaching experience for me because they really loved my style and we got very close in terms of I understood this person very well, and so I was able to just be really straightforward with.

About things and I love that. I love when my clients are open to that because it allows us to cut through. 'cause remember, I'm not a therapist, so while I will ask you questions, I'm also going to say. You don't need to think this way and here's why. And I'm really trying to offer solutions. So between that and identity analysis, we were able to uncover a lot of strengths as well as these I.

Aspirations that this person had, that for me, having listened to them, really came outta left field. And what was great about that is we were able to evaluate those aspirations based on the information that we had already collected. So does this make sense for your lifestyle? Does this make sense for your personality?

Could you make it work? Do you have the wherewithal to see it through? Because what if you don't get results right away? And how do we work through that? And so it was really great because we were actually able to reason away some of those aspirations. Um, which I know some people would be like, why would you kill their dreams?

It's not about that. It's about being realistic about what those dreams are and can they accomplish them, you know, the way that they want to, you know, and so we work through that process. Um, this person's actually still a client of mine, so we're still working through some things, but what was really great.

For me in the longevity of our relationship was watching them take steps outside of themselves, try new things, right? So the taking action, we built a plan. They took action, and that action was amazing. The results that came from that, the confidence that was built, the opportunities this person had, I blew my mind.

And again, when we talk about expectations and level setting, they didn't communicate it that way. I had to hype them up. That's part of the accountability because they just saw it as, oh, well anybody in my position would do that. And I'm like, but they chose you. They chose you to do this so that they didn't, they had a whole group of people and they chose you.

So that's something to be celebrated, you know? So anyway, one of my favorite clients we're, we still work together doing some longer term things, but that's part of how I have used this process to work with a client and see that transformation in them.

Passionistas: That's amazing. That's amazing. Um, do you, I don't know if you work exclusively with women or not, do you work with men as well?

Julia: I don't. I'm actually pretty 50 50, uh, men and women. Mm-hmm. Okay,

Passionistas: cool. Do you find that there are challenges that women are facing that are unique to the women and, and that are, they're similar challenges among the women?

Julia: Yes, yes. So I love my female clients so much because let me tell you, they are the highest of the achievers.

That's who, that's who I end up getting in my female clients. And it's interesting to watch them again, dismiss there are a accomplishments, you know, bring themselves down, uh, make themselves smaller. All these things. I mean, I can't even tell you, half my conversations with my female clients is, you know, you're good.

Right. You know, you're amazing. Right. You know, you're qualified. Right. That's a lot of it. I, there's a lot of, I think, internal negativity that we give ourselves as women. Um. Salary. Look, let's talk about salary negotiations, a whole other thing. I think women really do not shoot for the moon when it comes to salary.

When they're applying for jobs, they feel like they have to match. There's actually data around this too, but I've seen it in my clients. They feel like they have to match the job a hundred percent before they can apply. No, no, 50%, 60%. Then you apply, men will match it 20% and apply. You know, and so I will tell, I will tell a lot of my female clients, I'll be like, what if you were a man?

What if you were a man? How would you have handled this? Or how have you seen this handled in the workplace? I want you to think about that.

Passionistas: So, what does that meme have? I have the confidence of a straight white. Yeah, mildly qualified man.

Julia: Actually, that's usually what I say. Uh, I usually, it depends on the client, but usually I will say, imagine that you know you are a straight, white, middle aged man with minimal experience.

No offense guys. I work with guys too. Love men, love, but for women, that's what I have to say. To get them to get it, because I'm like, I know you've worked with this person before, and so how do they act and how can you emulate that in an authentic way? Because we don't wanna be like them. We don't wanna have the attitude or whatever they're bringing.

That feels slimy again, not all men. Okay. This is, this is a very specific type. Very specific type. Yeah. Um, I don't wanna alienate my

Passionistas: No. And we're not male and we love, and we don't alienate men. Like we love men and we've worked with a million great men. It's not about that. It is, it is. There's one type that. We know what you're talking about.

Julia: Yep. And that's the one that you wanna look at and go. What did they do? Well? And what did I not like? What felt slimy to me? And you wanna make those adjustments for yourself. I will tell you the one thing that men do well with, and again, this is white men specifically, because I think men of other, um, races have a hard time with this.

Is the networking piece. I think they are very good at getting themselves in the right rooms of having the right conversations. And I think it's because they have the confidence and then they don't care if they're rejected or not. And I think that's a, a big differentiator between, you know, the men we're talking about, and then women and minorities as well.

Passionistas: I think they're rarely not welcome in those rooms, so they wouldn't think that they wouldn't be welcome. Well, and

Julia: then once they get there, I think they believe that there's a certain level of decorum that they have to have so that they don't get kicked out.

Passionistas: Yeah.

Julia: Women feel that, minorities feel that, like I've seen that with clients.

It's like, I can't go in and act that way because they're, they're gonna kick me out now. I'm not in the room anymore. And so it's figuring out how to approach that in a way, again, that's authentic, but also so that you can show up well and make an impact in those spaces.

Passionistas: So what are some of those ways?

Like do you help people with that, with people who have a hard time networking? I know I'm horrible at, at that, like walking into a room and walking up to strangers and suing myself. Like do you help people do that?

Julia: I do, yeah. I, I will work with clients on that. Um, especially I get a, a number of my clients are very introverted.

Uh, fun fact, I'm an introvert and I think that might be why. They're attracted to me, but I really, when it comes to networking, I really try to meet people where they're at. So I'm not the type of career coach that's gonna say, you need to go to five events this month and you need to talk to this many people, and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.

Yes, that's a strategy and it works really well. If you're extremely extroverted and you just love going to events and talking to people, then that strategy is going to work for you. But there are other ways to network. Um, I don't go to event, I don't like events. If I have to go to an event, I'm a, I better have a extroverted buddy with me because, or else I'm not talking to anyone, you know.

Um, but I do wanna share a couple strategies that I think are helpful for introverts that I have used in my career. So one is the extroverted buddy. This is really helpful if you're going to like, um. Like an industry event, so you know that people, you know, are gonna be there. Um, so I always recommend that if you're going to a conference present, present at the conference.

Um, I know some introverts would be like, present. No, I. Presenting is is a different skillset than being extroverted. So we have to separate those two things. So I've done a lot of presentations and then that allows people to come to me. So they'll see me out and they'll come up and talk to me, so I don't have to go.

To other people, and I've loved that strategy. That's been really helpful. Or be on a panel, you know, something like that where people will come to you. Also, you, again, you don't have to go to networking events. Contact people on LinkedIn. Use your network of professionals to find the type of person that you wanna talk to and do a zoom call, do a phone call, coffee, something like that.

I don't like big events, so I'm not gonna do that. I would much rather connect with somebody one-on-one than go to a big networking event. But again, if you like people, you're more extroverted, then those events are great for you and do that.

Passionistas: That's amazing. I love the idea of presenting that presenting in person scares me, but I do, I do think it's a different.

Energy shift when you, you become the authority in the room, it's less scary to, and the other thing Nancy and I have developed, um, something that we're gonna roll out later this year that we call interviewing for introverts. And we are introverts and we used to be super shy, but once we learned how to interview people.

That fear of having the conversation and the like. To me, the scariest part was always like, how do I get out of the conversation? How do I end it? Like I'm always thinking ahead to like, is it over yet? Um, and like, we're not afraid of that anymore because we learned these simple skills. And so I think there are processes like that that don't seem like they're related, but that really can be helpful for people that have those challenges.

Julia: I will say too, you, 'cause I know some people will watch her listen to this and go, no way is she an introvert? Like, how is she speaking like this? How is she doing? First of all, I've been doing this for many, many, many years. Okay? So I'm talking about myself, which I know how to do, and I, I'm talking about my process, my business.

So these are all things that I have intimate knowledge about. So it doesn't scare me to talk about them. And I've talked about them so much through social media, through other interviews and things like that. So I've practiced a lot and honestly, like this interview is one of the more nerve wracking ones for me because I didn't have questions in advance.

Mm-hmm. So I love having questions in advance so that I at least have, you know, some idea of what's going on. Obviously this is fine 'cause you're asking me about. Stuff I can talk about. Um, but I just wanna let people know if you're watching me and going, I could never do what you do. This has been years of me.

Practicing and becoming comfortable also, this is the biggest thing I'm doing today. Okay? Like this is the thing that I'm doing. I have one client later in like two hours after this because I have to like go sit for a time and recharge, right? And so I think when we talk about ex uh, introverted energy, you have to figure out.

What that cadence looks like for you and then set your schedule up to, to manage it Well,

Passionistas: yeah. We are a hundred percent the same way. We, five years ago, wouldn't have been able to do this, and now we're just practiced at it and I. By tonight, we will be crashed out in bed by like seven o'clock, completely exhausted and trying really hard to engage with our significant others and not let them feel like I can't talk to another person today. Please. I just be quiet.

Passionistas: So we, I like Friday afternoons and I say to Amy, we don't have to talk to anyone for two days. I had to stop I to stop taking things. I love doing the interviews. I love the women in our community, but I just, I need to, I need to recharge.

Julia: I had to stop, uh, taking calls on Fridays.

Passionistas: Yeah,

Julia: because it wrecked. My weekend. Yeah. And so I keep it as an admin day. I will take calls if I have to. Mm-hmm. Um, like if it's an interview or something like that. But for the most part, I try to keep it as like admin project work, because I just realized I showed up better for my family over the weekend if I didn't have to extrovert that much on Friday.

Passionistas: So I get that. Yeah, we do that too. Um, so we wanted to ask about a specific program that you've got right now called Career Advancement Intensive. What is that?

Julia: Okay. This is a really fun program. So this is a new program that I launched in 2025, and this is really an answer to a lot of clients that come to me with different things.

So I work a lot with. Um, high achieving, high performing professionals and professionals like that do not have a lot of time, and I was recognizing what can I do to help them get answers really quickly? Like, how can we facilitate something for them? But also that's energizing for me as a coach because I don't wanna offer something that I don't wanna do.

Right. So this idea came to me through a couple different coaching connections of doing this. VIP day is essentially what it is, so it's four and a half to five hours with a single client, and we are running through so many aspects of your career. And what I love about this is it's great for people who can go quickly, who really want to ask a lot of questions and uncover.

A lot in a short amount of time. So instead of spreading, you know, sessions out over a couple weeks, a couple of months, we're doing it in one day. There's pre-work involved to help us set the tone, get some information ahead of time. I do some assessments and things like that. You take the values assessment 'cause we're always gonna do that.

And then I have a schedule and we are running through the schedule. So it's a very structured time, very clear outcomes. Um, I do have my own structure, but I have also adjusted it for clients. So I really believe in. Having a structure that can be changed and adapted for the client. Um, so I will do that.

If there's something that we wanna spend more time on or we want a different like module in there, then I'll make those adjustments. But it's been really fun. Um, I will say, my clients have said it's definitely exhausting, so you have to be, you know. Mentally ready for it, but they love that they're getting answers and strategies and everything just right in one day.

We're talking and building all of that out, and so it's really fun.

Passionistas: That sounds amazing. I'm not interested in career, changing my career, but it sounds like it would just be fun to do that.

Julia: It, you know, it really is. It, it goes into you, you know, we talk about values, we talk about personality. It kind of, it follows my control, your career process, but with some other specifics.

And so we talk about your professional relationships, we talk about. You know, your aspirations and your dreams. So, I mean, it probably could work for a business owner as well. We would just omit the resume piece of it, you know.

Passionistas: So tell us a little bit about your podcast. Control your Career.

Julia: Yeah, so I, I love my podcast. I, as I'm sure you guys love your podcast as well. This has been a really fun endeavor for me and. It started with solo episodes where I was sharing just a lot of my knowledge and tips on career development, and then I shifted into interviews and oh my gosh, I love doing the interviews so much. I have a couple of seasons where I'm just talking with.

Everyday professionals. So when we talk about, you know, the introvert and, oh, I can't believe you speak, I had people on that were like that, to give them a platform to share their, you know, career experiences and journey. Um, the season I'm recording right now is actually recruiters. Um, so some are frontline, some are have been in it for a while, but oh my gosh, the information that they are sharing.

It's so good. So many wonderful tips. We're seeing a lot of trends and themes across each person. Um, so each season is really unique. Um, I do it seasonally versus episodically. I really like it. I try to play to whatever's going on, you know, in the world at that time, what I feel, you know, my clients need or people need.

So that's why we're doing recruiters right now with just the market being crazy and it has been so wonderful to just hear this information and really help job seekers, you know, learn what is actually happening behind the scenes and what recruiters are looking for.

Passionistas: That's great. It's so important right now, I think more than ever it's, it's really critical. Um, do you have one kinda last piece of overarching advice for people who feel stuck in their part of, you know, wherever they're at in this process to help kind of propel them forward?

Julia: Yeah, I look at your values, honestly. I know we said that earlier, but to me, having that tangible information, you know, we sit and we ruminate on so much, oh, I don't like this, I don't like that.

I wish I could change this. I wish I could do this. And, and we don't take that extra step forward into action. I think reevaluating your values to allow you to go, oh, I do care about this and I do care about this, and I don't have that right now, so that's likely, you know, where I'm feeling some friction.

I think that's one of the best things that people could do regardless of where you're at in your career. That's why I love that freebie so much.

Passionistas: Fabulous. And how can people get in touch with you if they wanna work with you?

Julia: Yeah, so my website is ride the Tide collective.com. It's got a link to the Career Advancement Intensive right there on the front page.

You can also do a clarity call with me to see if that is a good fit for your situation. Also LinkedIn. I'm very active on LinkedIn. Please connect with me. I, I share so much amazing information for professionals and I try to keep it as positive as possible. Um, so definitely those two places are where you can get connected with me.

Passionistas: Perfect. And then we have one last two part question. So, what is your dream for yourself and what is your dream for women?

Julia: My dream for myself is to make an impact in the career development space. I, I want to be known there and I think that my control, your career process is likely gonna be that catapult for me. So I'm really excited about that. Um, my dream for women is that. They would just be more confident in themselves and what they bring to the table and realize how amazing they are.

Um, I, I would, I would love that for women 'cause I really feel like we could totally take over the world if more women leaned into that with themselves.

Passionistas: Thanks for listening to the Passionista Project. Since we are not only business partners, but best friends and real life sisters, we know how unique and truly special our situation is.

We know so many solopreneurs, activists, women seeking their purpose and more who are out there doing it all on their own. They often tell us they wish they had what we have, so we've created a space for them and you to join our sisterhood. Where trust, acceptance, and support are the cornerstones of our community.

By joining you become part of our family. We'll give you all of our SIS tips on building meaningful relationships through the power of sisterhood and all the tools you need to thrive in three key areas, business growth, personal development, and social impact. You'll learn from our panel of power Passionista, who are experts on topics like transformational leadership, letting go of perfectionism, the power of community, and so much more.

You can connect with like-minded women and gender non-conforming, non-binary people who share your values and goals in chat spaces at online passionista, pajama parties, and virtual and in-person meetups. And you can register for our exclusive series of online courses designed to help you tap into your intuition, find your purpose, bring your mission to fruition, and integrate diversity, equity, inclusion in every aspect of your plan.

Be sure to visit the passionista project.com to sign up for our free membership, to join our worldwide sisterhood of passion-driven women who come to get support, find their purpose, and feel empowered to transform their lives and change the world. We'll be back next week with another Passionista who's defining success on her own terms and breaking down the barriers for herself and women everywhere.

Until then stay passionate.