My name is Julia Hickman. I was born in Paraguay and moved to the US with my mother at the age of 9. My early childhood consisted of lots of outdoor play, going to church every Sunday, family get-togethers on weekends (making “asado” or grilled meats on steaks) at my grandfather’s farm, and learning English on Saturday mornings. Once we moved to New Jersey, I went through a bit of culture shock and I even told my mom I wanted to move back to Paraguay. As an introvert, it took me some time to make friends and find my groove in my world. Within 2 years I was fully adapted and loving my new life.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
Creativity and make-believe were 2 things always present in my childhood. I got my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a major in Marketing, knowing that I wanted to open my own business one day… that business being a brick-and-mortar gym. I took on a few marketing jobs and dabbled in a couple of different industries (retail management, forex trading, and publishing) but I felt bored and confused in my corporate life. I busted my derriere to move up the ladder only to be met with more disappointment. The daughter of an entrepreneur and with many entrepreneurs in my family, I knew there had to be something else out there for me. It took me some trial and error. I built my first small yet profitable business in late 2018 and eventually created my current business in late 2020. There’s a difference between being a traditional entrepreneur (which is what I had been around) and being an online entrepreneur but there are a lot of similarities as well such as how important relationships are and how you want to be memorable for your potential clients. When I discovered podcasting in 2019, it was like a new window of opportunities opened up to me. I met experts in my industry, made collaboration partners, and got clients. It was a way of marketing, but also of nurturing my ideal audience in a way that felt so in alignment with my introverted personality. Delivering value and using my skills to help other entrepreneurs maximize their impact is so important to me and the reason why I do the work that I do.
What is one business lesson you would tell a startup founder?
One important lesson that changed everything for me was when I realized that I held the key AND definition to success. I knew that I had the potential to create whatever I wanted to, but when I also saw how I embodied and lived success, that was the whole point of being an entrepreneur.
