Juliette Works is virtual platform for women who are looking for role models, coaches, mentors, and supportive peers. Women who are inspired to be leaders of the new generation where people are more fulfilled and work is more humane. They provide free resources, training, coaching programs, and private online groups.
Why did you start Juliette Works and what’s the story behind the name?
I had a successful, 25-year executive career, but I woke up one day and said, “this is it? This is what I’ve been working so hard to achieve?” I decided to start over, to build a second career from the ground up, but this time with a driving purpose and all the knowledge and wisdom I had gained over two decades.
I took several months off, including a week-long silent retreat to learn how to quiet the noise from the outside world and hear what my inner voice wanted to say. That’s how Juliette Works was born.
Most coaches name their business after themselves, and I think that makes sense, but I chose to name the firm after the women I am so passionate about seeing thrive in the world. For me Juliette embodies whom we can all aspire to be. She isn’t perfect, whatever that is, but she is true to herself. Juliette lives, plays, creates, and works hard. Everything about her works well, hence the double meaning, Juliette Works.
How have your professional experiences shaped Juliette Works?
I know that what I achieved in finance, particularly as a woman, is rare. It required me to be ultra-vigilant and focused on both my performance and how I was perceived. I was successful, but it was exhausting. After I left, I spent almost a year dissecting every move I had made over those years. I also cataloged the advice, lessons learned, and strategies I had given hundreds of others. That intellectual capital is the basis of everything we do at Juliette Works, combined with research, neuroscience, and leading-edge thinking to stay current.
After getting certified as a coach and a mindfulness teacher, I realized that combining that training with two decades of practical business experience put me in a unique position to help other professional women. One of my clients recently called me “a Unicorn Coach”; I was flattered, but I prefer to think of myself a Career Strategist with a bias towards overall life fulfillment.
What are the biggest professional challenges you see women facing today?
I see just one, but it’s a big one. The world isn’t designed for women to have successful careers. That doesn’t mean that we can’t be successful in the professional world; as a matter of fact, I think women are at an advantage because the world expects us to have a busy life outside of a 9-to-5 career. We can invest in being good partners, mothers, sisters, friends, philanthropists, activists, and career women, and being able to choose the roles you want to have leads to a more fulfilling life.
Where women go wrong is trying to do it all, particularly if they look to the outside world to set expectations of who they should be. Not everyone will want to hear this, but I don’t think women can “have it all.” However, women can have what they are willing to prioritize. They can make trade-offs, eyes wide open, if they are clear on what matters most to them and are willing to ask other people to step-up and meet them halfway.
Why do you believe mentorship is so important for women and did you have a mentor?
Sponsorship, representation, and mentorship matter because we learn best from those who came before us; it’s how we as humans have advanced as a species. The working world is no different. When I went to business school, there were no female CEOs in the Fortune 500. I spent thousands of dollars on a degree that the world was showing me had no chance of getting me to the top. That meant I had to dig deep to find confidence and to believe that I could be the exception to the rule, but it’s a lot harder that way.
I never had a mentor in a classical sense, but I had plenty of people who guided and supported me throughout my career. Unfortunately, there were few women more senior than me in my organizations, so I have never had a formal woman mentor. I was fortunate enough to have women executive coaches with some practical business experience, but I wish I had invested in mentors and coaches earlier in my career.
What is the most important piece of advice you can offer working women?
Any woman reading this interview cares about investing in her career success and fulfillment, which is usually my first piece of advice. My next piece of advice is that it makes no sense to go it alone; it’s less efficient, plus winning feels better when there are people to share it with you.
I saw on some of The Riveter’s posts that many women feel a bit stuck in their careers. They don’t feel empowered to ask for promotions or more money, have bouts of self-doubt, or feel overwhelmed and unsure of what they should be doing to move forward. They are not alone; I hear this a lot in my work with other women. These feelings are often caused by Imposter Syndrome and Fear of Failure, both very common in high-achieving women.
Therefore, in response to those comments, I have designed a free Masterclass explicitly for The Riveter members called “My Secrets to Conquering Imposter Syndrome” which will also cover Fear of Failure.
How can people engage with Juliette Works and what can they expect?
Thank you for asking. They can follow us and find free resources @juliette.works on Instagram and I’m personally very active on LinkedIn so that’s a great place to connect with, and DM me.
Women can find the details on the free Masterclass I mentioned here, it will be on April 1st. Women who register can join me LIVE, or if they can’t make it, they will receive the replay. I have never offered a LIVE Masterclass for free before, but I wanted to do something special for The Riveter members. My goal is that they walk away with an “aha moment” so that’s what they can expect!
I am also giving away one FREE 1:1 Career Strategy Session to a lucky winner chosen from those who register before the start of the Masterclass! Please follow the link to sign up: https://bit.ly/jw_theriveter
The Riveter Fast Five
What’s the first thing you do every morning:
I make an herbal tea in a ridiculously large mug; I sip it quietly as Alexa reads me the weather forecast. Then it’s a full sprint — I wake up my youngest son, pack his lunch, feed and walk the dog, do drop-off, and jump on my daily Juliette Works team call. I exercise and meditate later in the morning as a break from the morning rush.
What’s the last thing you do every night:
The Spelling Bee, a daily word game I play to keep my mind fresh. When I get stuck, I switch to whatever book is on my bedside or eReader. I finish about a book a week because I prioritize reading each night. I often say that when I die my only regret will be all the books I didn’t get to read.
What app can’t you live without:
Is the camera function an app?! I’m an avid photographer and I like to make the ordinary extraordinary which a smartphone is surprisingly qualified to help me do.
What book do we need to read:
I’m biased because my sister, Suzanne Simonetti, is a novelist, and her book The Sound of Wings is a beautiful and captivating story about the mysterious intersection of three highly relatable women. My go-to non-fiction book, The Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani, reminds me not to succumb to the “brules” which is what the author calls the BS rules we often let the world impose on us.
What business or person should we have our eye on:
@doctorshefali is my muse, mindfulness teacher, parenting guru and general wake-up call when I am letting my ego make decisions. She is an absolute breath of fresh air; one of those people who glows from within.
