Meet Julie!
Julie is a longtime client of DFSTC and we've had the pleasure of being along her journey to success! Recently, Julie was promoted to Sales Development Representative! Her hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed, and we're confident that her skills and experience will be an asset in this new role.
She says she's looking forward to being able to support, encourage, offer tips, share skills and experience, and even train with new hires and coworkers.
Read below to learn about how Julie's journey with DFSTC began:
When, why, and how I got involved with DFSTC?
I first came to Dress for Success in 2010 when I had just earned my Administrative Assistant certificate by completing a 9-month training program through Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul. Our training program director coordinated with Dress for Success for us graduates to receive free clothing for interviews and/or starting out in a new position. I knew it was time for me to start job-seeking and interviewing in my field of training. However, I was too afraid and doubted how I could ever convince someone to hire me. I didn't even know what was good about me yet. I had been at home raising kids on disability because of mental health issues and didn't feel qualified. Knowing I needed a job, I went to the nearby Mcdonald's and applied for a job as a crew member. I worked there for 2 years and then moved on to work for temporary companies in customer service, clerical, and other administrative assistant duties. Later, I returned to Dress for Success when I heard they were doing a 6-month Professional Intelligence training program led by Deb Sauder. It was there I learned about emotional intelligence and how it can empower you to advance in your career. When I graduated from the training, I was paired with a mentor for 6 months. Jane Geiger. It was shortly after that that I got my first promotion at Five Star Professional. I didn't come back to Dress for Success until the pandemic. Seeking connection and direction in my life I remembered Dress for Success and started attending online classes on topics like networking, self-sabotage, leadership, and even how to negotiate salary. During that time I was going through job changes at work and was getting promoted to another new role. My 4th role at the company. Dress for Success helped me navigate that by providing a career coach for me. I then got involved in the ULead Training program and was empowered to lead an online discussion breakout group on the topic of learning to lead. The ULead training was another stepping stone for me in that I was able to step into a leadership role, despite not feeling qualified due to impostor syndrome. However, I was leading the meeting and sharing my story and experience with like-minded women in our group training and in the discussion group that I led. In essence, I was proving myself wrong rather than proving myself that I can do it. Working from home got isolating and after going through a loss of a close family member, my daughter moving to India and getting married, and complicating mental health issues, I was unable to meet the new increasing pressures of my new promotion. I was demoted and burnt out. It took me many months to incorporate balance and better self-care into my life. My boss did not fire me but allowed me to keep some of the leadership and administrative duties to help my team still in my role while demoting my job title. With the lighter workload, I was able to reduce my stress and take better care of myself while providing consistent follow-through at work and helping my new manager to free him from some of the managerial duties of our team.
What programs/services have you participated in?
Receiving clothing, mock interviews, free head shots, career counseling, and career coaching, Professional Intelligence 6-month training program in 2016, and received a professional mentor through that program. many online classes, the ULead Training Program.
What are you doing now?
I'm now able to give back as a Dress for Success Development Committee member and help with their events. I just started another new role at my job of 8 years as a Sales Development Rep and really enjoying it.
Where do you live
Woodbury, MN
Some of the things that make my story special are as follows:
My faith in God is the most important thing in my life, I would not be here today, nor would I have had the many miraculous opportunities in life without God. He's always cared for me and brought others into my life to support me. I believe Dress for Success is one such miracle. No matter how I'm involved at any given time, I know I have the staff and ladies as cheerleaders. They were there to boost my self-confidence when I was going through the job changes and I credit them a lot for how far I've come in my career and for having bounced back with a new promotion and not to mention through a pandemic.
My mentor Jane Geiger from 2016 through the Dress for Success Professional Intelligence program has become one of my closest friends. When my aunt died, she kept coming over and helping me with my housework, holding me accountable, and not letting me stay lonely.
One thing that really helped me regain my balance in the past year was doing Pilates in my home with a trainer. It was having the consistent visit from my caring and enthusiastic trainer that improved my mental health, strengthened and gave me confidence, and gave me something to look forward to each week as I adapted to my new life of living alone as an empty nester. I was able to lose 40 lbs and keep it off over the last 5 years after a health scare so improving my physical health has been really important to me too.