Creating a Life You Want To Live

By Megan M. Seckman Photo by Destiny Smith Photography

Fortune cookies and hearts reveal their truths by being cracked open. So did Julie Greer, 27, owner and operator of Assist by Julie, an a la carte wedding and event planning company that is allowing Julie to finally reach her potential and fulfill her passion.

Assist by Julie was birthed by its owner experiencing a series of cracks that changed the course of her life. Her journey began when she decided to take the bold leap and leave her close-knit New York family to go to college in the wild midwestern land of Indiana. “I needed to get out of my bubble,” Julie says. “My parents wanted me to stay close, but we compromised because we all knew I would be right back in New York as soon as my four years were over.”

Julie was excited about the prospects of a different environment, but instead, was greeted with a hefty dose of culture shock. “I grew up in a Jewish community, but at IU, there were so many people that had never even seen a Jew. It was eye-opening; my bubble burst wide open. It was the first time I had ever felt uncomfortable in a social setting.”

Still, Julie was able to complete her hospitality course work and was eager to graduate and return home. But like our best laid plans, sometimes they just don’t pan out. During her senior year she fell in love with a boy from Kentucky that would soon become her husband. He was going to intern in Chicago after graduation, so Julie followed him there. “I applied to jobs in Chicago, but that was a struggle,” Julie says. She soon landed a management position in a large retail chain, but Julie recalls, “I came home crying every day for three months. I was miserable. It was so embarrassing being in a new city and trying to make everyone proud and feeling like a failure. My siblings were successful in corporate America, my friends were all flourishing, and I found myself in a new city, jobless.” Shortly after, Julie found a new job in a large hotel chain where she managed events and marketing. She loved it and life seemed to be opening up … until the hotel chain was sold to a Chinese company and her position was eliminated. This experience led Photo by Lang Thomas Photography to another position in hospitality that proved itself to be toxic. “I felt so ashamed. I didn’t know how to handle “My journey has the emotion,” Julie recalls. In order to reboot and reinvent not been linear, herself, Julie decided to join Americore. She worked one year in an elementary school on the west side of Chicago and but I’ve learned fell in love. But then she and her new husband relocated to Louisville, where everyone has their he was to run his family’s business. Julie didn’t see Louisville as being part of her journey, but she was down own timeline.” three jobs and wanted to give back and feel good about herself again, So, she applied to Spalding’s MAT program and pursued a career in special education.

“I wanted a career where I could go home every day and feel proud of myself,” Julie says. But soon, feelings of disappointment set in again. Julie was once again lonely in the profession, feeling like a cultural outsider and isolated.

Last March, COVID-19 hit and Julie found herself with the unique opportunity to rebrand herself yet again. “I had so much time at home I started filling the void. I would teach online during the day and then stay up until 3am creating my business plan for Assist by Julie. Quarantine gave me the time and reflection needed to do the inner-work of finding my ‘thing.’”

When Julie married the previous year, she had realized a niche market in the industry. During the pandemic, couples were still marrying and spending money on event planning, businesses were not. While filling her void through business planning, Julie realized a void within the industry: Full-time wedding planners are exorbitantly expensive, and the alternative, day-of planners, don’t provide enough services. Julie’s business offers a hybrid of these two models for couples that want a little DIY in their planning, but need consultation and assistance for certain services like venue booking, catering, design, etc. Julie soon found herself able to work remotely with clients in Louisville, Lexington, and New York.

Julie’s price-point matches the budget of those in Kentucky while her urban and modern New York style draws her customers away from the customary southern, farmhouse styles represented here. All of her wrong-turns — moving to the foreign midwest, suffering through unfulfilling jobs, and teaching — ended up inspiring her business and ultimate contentment. Her series of disappointments gave her the courage to make the life she wanted to live.

“My journey has not been linear, but I’ve learned everyone has their own timeline,” Julie says. She has learned to stop comparing herself to others, to stay true to herself, and to allow herself some grace when life cracks her open.

MENTALHEALTHCHECK • “Right before I go to bed, I look over my work schedule for the following day and fill in any gaps of time to create more structure. I fill in the

gaps with activities that feel

rejuvenating to me such as morning coffee runs, workouts, neighborhood walks, and personal phone calls.”

• “I’ve been going to therapy most of my life. I wish therapy was encouraged and accepted by more people as it should be viewed as a sign of strength rather than weakness.

I’m so grateful for therapy as it’s helped me reflect and navigate both difficult and not so difficult times.”

SAY YES FIRST

IT’S HOW I LEARN NEW THINGS

By Gioia Patton/Arts Insider Photo by Melissa Donald

‘Right place…right time…right attitude!’ is exactly what the Arts Insider scribbled and circled across the top of her notepad halfway through interviewing Laura Ellis, who was recently named director of Podcasting & Special Projects at Louisville Public Media (LPM), and whose creative talents I was already familiar with from her work as a local audio producer, singer, actor, and sound designer.

To the best of her knowledge, Laura’s new job at LPM is the first position of its kind, “with the exception of PRX Podcast Garage in Boston, Massachusetts,” she says. “[It’s the first] definitely in Louisville, and probably in Kentucky,” Laura says.

“I absolutely love trying new things, learning new skills, and taking on new challenges,” enthuses the Peabody Award-winning producer, who started at LPM in 2004 as a talk show assistant. “When I'm doing a sound design and the director asks, ‘Would it be possible to ___?’ I always want to come out of the gate with a ‘yes,’ and reverse engineer how to make it happen. Not only does it make you a great collaborator, but that's how I learn new things.”

Laura says many of her professional choices have started with good timing. “Up until the last couple years I've definitely been a ‘right place, right time’ person. But once I land in that place at that time, I try to be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge as I can.

“People ask how I got into radio,” Laura continues,“and it’s a classic ‘right place, right time’ story: I was in a band with someone who was leaving for the Peace Corps, and his day job was as a talk show assistant at WFPL. I stepped into his role when he left.

“But all the luck in the world won’t help if you don’t work hard and be a good teammate once you get there. I think showing up with the right attitude does make people want to work with you again. In a city like Louisville, a bad impression goes far. I try to remember that and be somebody people want to have on their team.”

With Laura’s new position at LPM, “I (already) produce a lot of WFPL/Louisville Public Media station’s podcasts,” she says, “and there are just so many great stories to

“I really hope to give a platform to marginalized voices... marginalized platforms in our community. These (podcasts) are not going to be the people who we necessarily run into at official events and talk to.” — Laura Ellis, director of social podcasting & special projects at Louisville Public Media (LPM).

tell in Louisville. A part of that is my 2021 launch and running of a podcast incubator, which was borne out of the realization that we can’t tell all the stories ‘in house’ — we don’t have the personnel. Also, not every story is ours to tell, and some should be told by the people who have lived them. The podcast incubator gives those folks the expertise to craft those stories in podcast form, and we'll provide a platform for getting them out into the world.”

Recurring podcast story pitches have focused on “bringing voices that we don’t often hear to the forefront,” she says, “amplifying stories of people who might not necessarily be sought out for traditional profiles or interviews, which is exactly what I hoped for.

“These people just need the final training wheels to come off and get their podcast projects out into the world,” Laura says.

MENTALHEALTHCHECK • “I can be kind of reactive by nature, so I try to stick by the 24-hour rule. If something makes me mad, I try to sit with whatever my initial reaction is and wait 24 hours before responding. Hardly anything feels as severe 24 hours later (and if it does, it’s probably really worth going to bat about). A full 24 hours isn’t possible in every situation, of course, but do what you can. Even twenty-four minutes is better than firing off a rash response after 24 seconds!”