An interview with Julia Babij, owner of Purpose Geek Solutions. Julia discusses her role in facilitating safe and open communication in professional relationships, the importance of creating an environment in which others feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and goals, and the positive impact her work has had.
Julia Babij is a self-described Career Purpose Path Finder and a Soft Skills Super Trainer. Julia believes that everyone has talent and no one is truly lost in their career. She provides guidance and inspiration to facilitate change, by using tools including resume and LinkedIn profile writing, interview preparation and good old fashioned LISTENING!
Julia shared her personal narrative, detailing her evolution from a blue-collar upbringing, to studying psychology and becoming a counselor, then transitioning to corporate trainer and on to her current role, as a career coach.
The personal skills that inform her work are empathy, active listening, and a love of helping people become their best selves. Julia has been a leader, a manager, a mentor and a team builder, and in each role her theme has been to help people see the strengths that they themselves are unable to see.
"I have a job to do when I'm working with people and it's: Do you feel safe enough to be open and share, and do you feel safe enough to say out loud what you want? Because I want to hear you say what you want. And at a certain point in my career, I realized that I had affected people over the course of time that I was like: I would like to do this on my own."- Julia Babij
Key takeaways:
- Before you make a large financial commitment, make sure it’s something you truly want to be doing. Julia was considering studying for her Masters in Counseling. Before she made the financial commitment towards her graduate education, she worked for 3 years with a non-profit that provided mental health counseling. She wanted to be certain that it was in a field that she was going to solidly choose as a long term career.
- Recognize how the skills you’ve developed in previous roles are applicable to your next position. According to Julia, active listening was a big part of her skill set as a counselor. She had to listen for tone of voice. She had to listen for what clients were asking - and what they weren’t asking! She had to explain a concept one way for one client , and then another way for a different client. Those principles, those soft skills, were transferable as she took on the new role of corporate trainer, and then to her current role as career coach.
- Your gut knows. Julia shared that one of her life goals is to follow her gut more. She described enjoying her years in a corporate training role, and then knowing in her gut that it was time to leave and go back to the nonprofit world, with good grace, pride, and the knowledge that she had contributed all that she could contribute. Julia listened to her gut again when, several years later, she left her leadership training role to start her own practice as a career coach and consultant.
About the guest:
A mentor. A soft skills trainer. A leader. A take-it-on, roll-up-your-sleeves and build-it-from-the-ground-up innovator. Julia been all of these and more in her career under the guidance of amazing mentors. Now it's her turn to find solutions and help YOU feel empowered to choose your career path. She believes everyone has talent and no one is truly lost in their career; perhaps they just need a little guidance and inspiration to see what they cannot see. That's where Julia the Purpose Geek comes in!
Website: https://www.yourpurposegeek.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/purposegeek
Email address: julia@yourpurposegeek.com
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@coacheswellbeingkitchen
Schedule a free "get to know you" meeting: https://calendly.com/yourpurposegeek/30min
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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment or financial advice. It’s for informational purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.
Julia Babij
I have a job to do when I'm, when I'm working with people and it's do you feel safe enough to be open and share and do you feel safe enough to say out loud what you want because I want to hear you say what you want. And at a certain point in my career, I realized that I had affected people over the course of time that I was like, I would like to do this on my own.
Narrator
Welcome to making change with your money, a podcast that highlights the stories and strategies of women who experienced a big life transition and overcame challenges as they redefined financial success for themselves. Now here's your host. Certified Financial Planner, Laura Rotter.
Laura Rotter
So I'm so excited to have as my guest today, Julia Babij.
She's a career consultant and owner of Purpose Geek Solutions, great name. Julia believes that everyone has talent and no one is truly lost in their career. Perhaps they just need a little guidance and inspiration to see what they cannot see. So welcome Julia to the Making Change With Your Money podcast.
Julia Babij
Thank you. I'm so glad to be a guest, Laura.
Laura Rotter
So my first question as always is Julia, what was money like in your family growing up?
Julia Babij
One of the things that I'm hearing these days is that if I knew then what I know now. And also I wish they taught financial literacy in schools and that's starting to become a thing again that's going to be implemented in in some schools.
I know in roughly 2026. But when I was going to school, we didn't have that. I remember my dad taught me how to balance a checkbook. It's fun. And that was pretty much it. And I was, uh, my first job was a supermarket cashier. And that was before the days where you could pay with your debit card. So you could only take cash or check.
And I remember saying, I will never pay with anything with a debit card. I will never shop online. That was also in the days when the internet was in its infancy. And now you really can't get away from it. And I guess, you know, Never is, is never, never say never, but growing up, that was pretty much it. You know, my, my parents were, were products of parents who were part of the world war II generation.
So it was, you know, I know that my, my dad's dad was very much safe for a rainy day because you don't know when the rain's coming and so always have a cushion, save as much as you possibly can. And, you know, really give, give to people in need was another big lesson, you know, give to people who may not have as much as you have, but, you know, really be really be conscientious about your work, really be conscientious about what you earn.
Be conscientious about putting aside what you earn and be prepared because you don't know when it's going to rain.
Laura Rotter
No, it sounds like you heard that message loud and clear. They didn't, they, they didn't hidetheir worldview. And I love what you said. My husband often says that he married me because I, I would balance his checkbook.
Now it's less important. We can go online and check balances, but I. Was always like very careful about down to the penny of balancing checkbooks. Yes. And nowadays I actually participate in a group called My Money Workshop that runs financial literacy workshops for, for high school age kids, because we have no idea.
You're suddenly like launched into the world. And how much should I be spending on rent? How much should I be spending on food? You have, no one ever talks about it. So how are we supposed to know?
Julia Babij
So number one, absolutely. And the second point too is I remember when I got into my first big girl pants job.
So I, I was 22and I remember getting a folder with my retirement account information in it. And I remember thinking at the time, Oh my gosh, you know, what do I do? And I started saving for retirement right away, but you know, because it was one of those, I'm supposed to do this. Now, when you're in your twenties and you're just starting out, you're right.
How much goes towards rent? How much goes towards food? How much goes towards going out, you know, fun. So, You know, what was what was saved in those firstfew years pretty negligible, but it started, you know, at least saving it, then what you do with it. That's the funny thing. It's like, okay, well, I saved it.
What do I do with it now? And it's just when you're 22, you know, Depending on on how you grew up and depending on the financial literacy, you know, you're supposed to do the thing. But what are the next steps after you do the thing to do the stuff like, you know, but I but I want this thing, you know, so it's it's hard to suss out your priorities when you're not quite sure what your priorities are.
It's like safer retirement. Okay, what are the steps after that? I don't know.
Laura Rotter
And what does retirement even mean? Like it's sometime like a thousand years from now.
Julia Babij
Yeah, pretty much. It seems like a thousand years from now. I think even, even the more, you know, the further you get along in your career path, you're still like, Retirement?
Laura Rotter
Right.
Julia Babij
I'm fucking never going to retire.
Laura Rotter
So did you always take for granted, Julia, that you were going to go to college? What was your family's philosophy around education?
Julia Babij
So my father was very strong in education comes first. So I grew up in a blue collar family. I do remember when I think about my first job, I was in high school.
So I was a junior senior in high school. And I always remember him saying, school is your job. That's your first job. And when I wanted to get involved in activities on top of working, just kind of pursue interests, you know, my, my parents never, there's three of us in the family, so. My parents never stopped us from pursuing our interests, but I especially remember my dad saying, remember your education is your first job.
And even when I was, you know, I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions. He would always say, you know, education was your first job. So. Again, in the generation I grew up in. So I always joke and I say I'm a grizzled Gen X er and I'm very proud of that. I'm actually surprised I'm wearing color today.
Usually it's an all black outfit. So I'm like, yes, proud of my generation.
Laura Rotter
Yeah. I love the pink color for all our listeners. She's got a great pink shirt on.
Julia Babij
Um, but I, it was, it's funny that, you know, Because of the generation I was part of and because of the generation my parents were part of, you know, I really went to college because I thought It was the next step in the thing I was supposed to do when you graduate high school, you're supposed to go to college.
Right. And, you know, I think it really is dependent on what it is that you want. And when you're a late teenager, you're really not quite sure. I did know that I wanted to go into the psychology field. I really, I've always enjoyed helping other people. I'm actually a counselor by training. I have a master's in counseling, and I chose to work with adolescents because I, I, I felt where that was, and I wanted to help other teenagers understand that they're not alone.
And, and that really came around when it came time for teenagers to really choose their educational path. I would speak with them and go, okay. Well, are you sure that's what you want to do and I know for me at the time, you know, going to college was just something that was in my nature to go. Well, this is how you get to the next step.
And because I wanted to go into the psychology field, I knew that I had to do that. But for me. I was, I was very strong in, you know, with my parents, since we did grow up in a blue collar family, there wasn't a lot of money to send me to college, but I was very firm in, you know, college was my choice, so I'm going to be the one paying for it.
So all of the loans are mine. I started out at community college because I wanted to, you know, pay for the tuition on my own. So I went to community college for three years and got my associates first. Then when I finished out my bachelor's and eventually went on to get my master's, all of the loans are mine because I, that wasn't for me, that wasn't a financial burden that I.
Needed or wanted to put on my parents because going to college was was my choice based on the profession that I chose out.
Laura Rotter
So that sounds very mature on your Julia that you that you knew what you wanted to do and that you knew that it was important enough to take the financial obligation on yourself.
And I'm assuming you also had some jobs.
Julia Babij
Yeah, I was, I was a commuter and it was just, that was my, that was my life. I worked and I went to school and when I entered into, you know, that, that first job where I was like retirement, oh my gosh,I had started that job right before, like right before I had got my bachelor's and you know, once I had got my bachelor's.
It took me about three years before I decided to go back to school for a master's degree because my bachelor's is actually in journalism. So I wanted to save every teenager in the world and I wanted to write for Rolling Stone. So I figured I could do both, right? Oh, I love that. Yeah, I loved it. So I thought, yeah, that's great.
That's a great path. I ended up getting my master's in counseling, though, because I was, I was actually working with a non profit. And I was able to discover different types of populations to work with. But I did know that if I were to go back for a master's degree, that I wanted to be certain that it was in a field that I was going to solidly choose as something that I wanted to do throughout, you know, the rest of my career.
So rather than, you know, graduating with a bachelor's and jumping right into a master's, I wanted to work for a while and really decide, really nail down that commitment that, you know, I'm going to make that financial commitment. If I'm going to make the financial commitment, then I better be sure that I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing.
And so I worked for three years, figured out that I wanted to work with teenagers, went back to school for my master's and got a master's in counseling with a specialization in secondary school counseling. Continue to work for the nonprofit that I was working with and ended up doing what I originally wanted to do in my first year of graduate school, which was design groups and run groups with teenagers, which is exactly the job that I ended up with. It was fantastic.
Laura Rotter
Wow. So that job was with the nonprofit. Yes. So, uh, I always find when I'm about to say that you're lucky, actually, there's no such thing as luck, right? You create your own luck. So you knew what you wanted to do and you pursued it, which is very impressive for a person in their 20s. So how long were you with that organization and what was your next pivot?
Julia Babij
So I was with the organization for nine and a half years. And I ended up leaving for a corporate startup with a non profit heart. So I thought that was great because, you know, my, my experience was all a non profit. So I'm like, I will never work for corporations. You know, they are, they're emotionally dead.
And that's actually not true. And again, that's, that's the not so mature side of, of being in my twenties. I was like, no. And no, not all corporations work that way. So I, a lot of them are though. That is true. Yeah. Well, that is true. I have gotten, you know, you mentioned lucky. I, I've been fortunate enough to work with corporations that have always had that solid.
We care about people heart at their core while still learning how corporations work. And, and I really got a Really nice view of building them from the inside out. And I really appreciated that. So now I can understand the nonprofit side and the corporate side. But yeah, I ended up going into a health care corporate startup and learned a lot about the health care insurance industry.
Behavioral economics. That's really where I started my corporate training and we were teaching a business model based on empathy. So it really, it gave me a chance to combine my counseling training with a solid corporate foundation and I was able to really grow from there. So that was my next pivot. And I was there for almost six years and really got a view of how to build things from the ground up and just fell in love with building stuff.
Laura Rotter
A couple of questions come up for me. First of all, I just wrote, you said solid corporate foundation to be quite honest, corporate to me is just a way of organizing and how you pay taxes. So, you know, so how would you define a solid corporate foundation? Like what was the learning that you took away?
Julia Babij
Understanding the lingo was, was huge. You know, when you're, when you're building something or when you're in corporate, there, there are certain things like, so one of my favorite examples is, that's a lot to unpack. And so, You said there are certain things that you learn, and it was funny that it was, it was telephonic customer service, and I started out in the telephonic area, and they were working with, you know, people with demonstrated healthcare and counseling backgrounds to work with the client population.
And it was, it was a new cutting edge view on, on healthcare and helping people through their healthcare events. So it was cool to actually, you know, be able to work with the client population, but then I ended up transitioning over to the corporate building side. And I remember some of my first meetings and listening to all of the, the corporate.
You know, lingo going around. And I remember thinking, am I going to have to get an MBA to be able to understand all of this? And that's really what I mean by solid corporate foundation. It's I think when, when we, we think of corporate, we think of larger companies that have been in existence since almost the dawn of time.
And they had to start somewhere. They became something based on whose idea based on whose processes is. Based on what people based on what framework and that's all of what I mean when I say the solid corporate foundation for me, coming into my first few meetings and going, do I have to get an MBA and then coming out, you know, a few years later going, No, I did not have to get an MBA.
You really just have to learn how things are built. It really leveled the playing field for me and I started to be able to clearly see that everything starts somewhere and is built somehow. And once I got a solid understanding of that, nothing seemed so scary or daunting or I don't understand this.
I'll never understand it. There's the never say never. So it was really cool to see how things are built from the inside out and really kind of kind of changed my career trajectory going forward. It's interesting.
Laura Rotter
I mean, as I listened to you, I also hear that, of course, When people make the opposite transition from corporate to nonprofit, there's a whole other language and lingo and political system and the way hierarchies work, you know, so, so it's not unique to corporate to have its own lingo.
So how are you bringing your counseling skills exactly? You transitioned to another and you know, what did you like about The newer role, how, how were your skills evolving?
Julia Babij
Oh my gosh, it, it was just active listening was the hugest thing. And at the time, you know, this, oh my gosh. So I, I joined, you know, the corporate world in, in 2011.
So when I was speaking with our client population, again, it was through the phone. There was no, You had to really listen for what was going on with the person and you had to listen for tone of voice. You had to listen to what they were asking. You had to listen to what they weren't asking. You had to read between the lines.
You had to problem solve. I really learned how to explain a concept that didn't exist and you couldn't see my face. And I had to explain that to you in a way that you were going to understand. You and then your friend's going to call and then somebody else is going to call and then they may not understand the concept the same way that you would, that your friend would, that the other person would.
So I had to learn how to explain the same concept in different ways that I knew my client was going to understand because You know, from from the counseling background. It's really about them. It's not about it's about getting somebody what they need when they need it. And I really did find that principle very applicable to whatever portion of an industry I fell into.
You know, I, I think when, when people, you know, look at my organization now and go career coaching, and I also, you know, soft skills training the whole thread of my career has been listening to people being empathic because it's just natural and, you know, understanding what somebody needs and helping them discover the them that they didn't know existed.
And so that's how this principles of counseling have really played out. And so when I was a part of that corporation and starting out in really listening to what people needed and being able to explain a concept that they didn't. Quite no, maybe have existed. And with my voice, that's really how that led into the corporate training.
So that really got to bring together all of the things, because not only did I understand working with client population, but then I had to train how to work with that client population to people that we hired after that. In a business model that was based in human empathy and active listening and training people onnot how to have empathy.
You know here here fake empathy. I don't want you to fake empathy. I want you to work with the person where they're at and those principles of active listening and helping somebody get to where they need to be really. kind of blossomed into a love of training, into a love of helping people become their best selves and helping the other people that they're working with become their best selves.
So it really just, It really snowballed from there. And that's why when I'm working with people now and mentoring them and I've mentored people throughout my entire career, I've been a leader. I've been a manager. You know, I've been a hiring manager. I've been a people leader. I've been a mentor. I've been a team builder, you know, everybody really gets the same advice.
And I think that's really important, you know, to, to help people see what they can't see. And that's, that's always been a theme with me. So all of my experiences really snowballed into helping other people reach that ultimate goal.
Laura Rotter
Thank you so much. I love that. I do think active listening, I've said before in other conversations, is such an under recognized skill.
Really one of the greatest gifts we can give each other is to Actually take the time to listen. And I've, I had the experience coming from the institutional side of Wall Street and being an institutional investor that I would be at industry conferences for financial advisors where people were taking classes in investing.
And I was taking classes in active listening and. Leaving space and ask reflective questions, because to me, the other stuff I already knew and and wasn't as interesting as when you're working with individuals, really getting to know them. And it's like you said, not only hearing their questions, but hearing the questions that they're not asking that they don't even know that they have.
Julia Babij
And you're right, give them that space. That's exactly what you said. You know, it's active listening and allowing the space for them to come to their own conclusions.
Laura Rotter
I am impressed is, oh, is it really true, Julia? You were working for an insurance company. And so there were, there was actually people hired to give empathy and help people, which is always really impressive to me because insurance companies, you know, I happen to think that we in the United States have one of the worst healthcare, the way our, you know, that you get insurance through employers, the whole way healthcare is delivered in the United States.
Is so convoluted and much more complex than it needs to be. And so I'm impressed. And this isn't the first time I've heard it. When I hear about insurance companies that are set up to help their clients, if you will, navigate the maze. So you were both originally the one on the telephone, helping navigate and then ultimately training others who are on the telephone.
Julia Babij
Yep, absolutely. Yeah, that is that is accurate. And we were we were brand new and we were and we were an outlier in the insurance space. And we worked with large companies that had self funded plans. So the companies, the large companies, if it was a self funded plan, the companies are the ones that are paying the claims.
Rather than paying an administrative fee to an insurance company, say like, like Blue Cross, let's just say to be the, you know, to be the administrator of those claims. And so when you're working with somebody going through a health event, not only can you work with that population and explain what happened with the claim.
So there's the insurance side of it, but at the same time, are you really listening? And why did that claim even happen? And. Sometimes we're working with, with the client population to help them through a health event before it even begins. And so it really started to become a healthcare concierge service that with a lot of insurance companies these days, I'm seeing something very similar At the time that didn't exist and the company we were with were novel.
And so now I think I'm seeing a lot more companies going. Talk to our nurse navigators. We can help. Talk to our case managers. We can help. We have these programs. We can help and Granted this may have been because I was new to the the insurance industry, you know back then But I didn't see a whole lot of that happening at the time and now it's you know Let's be honest here in terms of money.
It's it's beneficial if you're paying the claims To save money on a health event because getting an MRI is a lot more expensive than a visit to a primary care physician to figure out if your hand hurts because you sprained it, broke it, or just because, you know, you might have mild arthritis that that can take away or whatever it happens to be, you know, that that's a lot cheaper than if I'm paying a claim on an MRI and you just jumped to an MRI.
What the second feature of the company was, was that we had specialists on staff. So we had nurse partners that specialized. We had oncology nurses. We had OBGYN nurses. We had. General floor nurses. We had doctors on staff. We had some of really well known medical directors. We had, you know, top notch behavioral health care directors that if we weren't sure about, you know, clients health care direction, we had like a whole team behind us that could help us work through the particular situation where The client really benefited and they found more help than they thought they were going to when they called what they thought was their insurance company.
So we contracted, you know, we were the contractor with the large company. So even if they thought they were calling the insurance company, it was you. Well, we can explain your benefits, but we're technically not the insurance company, but we're going to help you with all of your health care. And it was just a really beautiful side effect and a benefit that these clients happen to have just for working with the company that they were working with.
And it was completely free to them. It was awesome.
Laura Rotter
I love hearing your enthusiasm for the role that you played and for the company that you work for, which it was amazing, you know, Not always the case. And, and I would agree because I'm aware now, you know, I'm, I'm related to someone who is a UnitedHealth Group employee who isn't a similar role that you're describing.
And I'm, you know, I don't think it's from, how should I say this? It's not a completely compassionate driven service that they provide. It must save them money by providing access to A kind of counselor that can help them navigate the system, figure out what the right service is, the right provider of the service, et cetera.
So given how much you respected that company and enjoyed the role, what happened to make you transition from it?
Julia Babij
We changed focus, change of leadership, and you know, Corporate happens. So my position was essentially eliminated and it was perfectly fine at the time, you know There there was a choice in front of me.
I could I could stay and go to a different position or I could go and You know, I My life goal is to always work on following my gut more and I say, you know, your gut knows and so you really, you really have to listen to your own if you're going to have other people trust your gut because you know when they can,for some reason you don't know yourself.
So I knew that at that point I had, I had contributed. a lot to the basis of the company and wherever it was going to grow, it was going to grow and it, whatever it needed to be, it was going to be, but I knew that I contributed what I needed to contribute to the company. So I, you know, I decided to, to leave on, you know, with good grace and with pride and knowing that, you know, I helped.
Maybe build this incredible startup that had a really cool concept attached to it and ended up going back to nonprofit. And so, yeah, interesting. Back to the old lingo or was it the new lingo? What was really great about that was understanding how things are built from the inside and really coming back to nonprofit with that lens.
Because with nonprofit, you're always building. And so. You know, it was really cool to be able to say, aha, now, now it all makes sense and really combine that experience. And I think that combining that experience really does help, you know, benefit anybody you're going to be working for, you know, after that.
And after nonprofit, that's when I ended up pivoting back to corporate startup that happened to be financial wellness, actually. Yes. Andthe CEO of the, the, uh, healthcare startup that I was with is now currently the, the CEO for a financial wellness company where it's the same sort of concept, but with finances.
So working with larger companies and providing financial wellness assistance to people who work with those companies. And so when the client population calls in, you have a financial assistant to help navigate the system with you, because it, you know, we're talking about, we wish we had financial literacy in schools.
And we're just like, yeah, we didn't have that. And so now you're in a career and you didn't have financial literacy. What are you doing with your money? And so we, we have financial assistance and certified financial planners on staff at that particular startup that if a client calls in. Again, because you're a member of the company free of charge and they help you with your financial wellness rather than living paycheck to paycheck or maybe saving a little bit more or even just talking about having one financial goal.
We have, you know, people on that staff that can talk you through that. So it's actually, it's a pretty cool concept. So financial wellness.
Laura Rotter
I mean, I often say when I, when I met my husband and I looked at his, you know, tax deferred retirement account, and he had it, I mean, this is years ago, it was in a money market fund.
I said, but it's like your retirement money, you're, you're like not even 30. This should be invested in risk. And, but he had no concept and nobody to talk to and no one. To tell them what to do with it. So yes, it's very needed. And I'm seeing more and more of that of companies provide someone that you can work with to help you actually decide how to invest your tax deferred account and perhaps how much to put away.
I did write down to question when you said, As you transitioned first to the nonprofit, you took that experience. Now you did say that one of the through lines you've seen in your different roles, Julia is, is active listening. But when you say you took that experience, can you be more specific again, of what you brought?
What learning you brought to the nonprofit and then perhaps to the next.
Julia Babij
Absolutely. I think when I went back to the nonprofit, that's where the mentoring really solidified. But when I speak about that experience, it was the experience of understanding how things are built. and understanding, you know, things that are built from the inside out.
And especially in non profit, you're always building new programming, new grants, accountability, you know, you're in a non profit, you're, you're working, you're non profit. So you're working with funding, you're working to get funded and new funding can often come with a really innovative programming. So you may get a grant from the government that, you know, will have you just, you know, as a, just a random example, but maybe building a, a cooking program for teenagers, maybe building a financial literacy program for teenagers because they don't have it at school and it's an after school program.
because you're the director of a library. It's a non profit organization. You have a grant to do that. So you may have a grant for that particular method, but you may have a grant for something else that has to do with the community or another program that you're going to bring into the library. So you have grants that are working at the same time that are providing your funding, but they're, the funding is very specific to the program and to what you're trying to achieve.
So you're always building when you're writing a grant. You know, you're looking at the request for proposal and thinking about what you can contribute to that request for proposal that will get the program funded and help bring the program to the community. That's really the end game right there. And hopefully if you do really well, you get funded again, right?
And then eventually you can become the cutting edge leader in that world. But where, whereas in corporate, right. I think especially with startup or especially with, you know, funding, you're looking at investor groups. You're looking at venture capital, you're looking at enterprise. Whereas with nonprofit, it's you and it's grants and it's programs and it's, I'm building this thing this year, but I might build this thing this year.
And if we get funded again, I want to add onto this thing. And so when you come back to nonprofit from a, from a corporate startup, you're like, And now I understand how things get built because, you know, the corporate I came from didn't just exist. It was based off of an idea and we watched it grow over time.
But we, you know, those of us that were there, we had a large hand in building out what that looked like at the time. So, you know, when you go back to nonprofit, you're like, now I understand that when you get a grant, this program has to be built and what are the processes around it? How are you going to train people around it?
How are you going to hire staff for it? What staff are you looking for? And so you really are building a program from inception. To delivery to reporting to longevity. And so that's what I mean when I say I took that experience of building from the ground up and it's a really, it's a fabulous experience.
Laura Rotter
I will tell you, I love hearing this. So I've been involved now. I'm Probably seven years or so into it with an organization called Impact 100 Westchester. Impact 100s are actually all over the country, and I don't know if you're familiar with it, but every woman who becomes a member contributes 1, 000. At its peak, we had 350, 000 to grant.
I think this year because of COVID and other things that shifted people's giving. Maybe 250, 000 and we would fund transformational grants. And I really got to know nonprofits in the industry and exactly as you described. And one of the things I've learned, which is a topic for whole other conversation is that nonprofits really want app operating grants.
And everybody always wants to give transformational grants. You want to see how you help fund a new program or help. Purchase a new facility or something and the nonprofits are, you know, great, but I'd also like just some money to continue to pay salaries and keep the lights on. How do you keep the lights on?
Julia Babij
So actually, Programs do not get built.
Laura Rotter
Yeah. So this year, actually, Impact 100 has decided there's always, you know, finalists and some finalists get the large grant and some finalists get the smaller and we've made the smaller grants larger because those Come with no strings attached, no, you know, check ins as to how the project is going.
It's like, just here's the check and you can use it. So it's been very interesting for me to get to learn more. And this conversation is helping as you've described this building and programming. What would you say, Julia, as you now transition to talking about your own coaching practice, what you enjoy doing the most, you know, what comes.
easiest to you and, and what you really enjoy, because I'm assuming you don't, you didn't wear all the hats of writing the grants and putting together the programs and hiring the staff and, or maybe it did, but you enjoy it.
Julia Babij
I did.
Laura Rotter
Sorry to hear that then maybe. Not the writing the grant part.
Julia Babij
Oh no, I love, I honestly, I loved all of it.
Um, the, the part that I love the most and I think that's why that's, you know, the large part of, of my current practice now and why I even decided to start it is, it's It was coaching and mentoring the team that I had. We just, we get along really, really well, you know, and it was just such a great team.
And then I ended up, you know, mentoring staff members from, from other teams that, you know. One in particular, I remember that we still talk to this day, but I didn't even realize that I took them under my wing, but it was just, you know, the things that became apparent to me in, in my career up to that point that I had learned over the years was just kind of information that I was sharing with them.
They're doing fabulous right now and they caught when I first started working there again, they called me mom and I'm like, Oh yeah. And now they, they have kids and I call them my grandkids and it's great because they still call me mom.But, you know, it was just, I loved just. Working with the team and and mentoring them and seeing where they are today and knowing that we all work together and looking at the positions that they're in and just like their lives.
It's just so cool. You know, so I loved the coaching and mentoring and and the leadership and helping people understand that leaders do listen. And that we are here to guide and you know, when somebody would tell me I'm going to apply for this position. I'm like, good. I don't want you here. I want you to get promoted.
You know, and I've always been that way as a leader. I'm like, I don't want you on my team very long because I want you to get promoted. If in fact, that is your, your goal. If you want to get promoted, I will help you do that. You know, I'll miss you. But you know, if you want to further yourself, then let's go.
I'm in, you know, what do you, what do you need my help in? So that was that. And I also really loved training. I loved writing training. I love designing training. I love delivering training because at the same time, again, you get to coach and mentor large groups of people all at once. And if somebody walks away from that training feeling or knowing something that they didn't know before, cool, then I've done my job.
But also, did you feel like you were, you contributed your expertise without feeling judged? I don't know everything. And every time I did a training, I'm like, I'm not going to tell you that I do, because I don't. But what I do know is that you know something. And so it was just always, you know, I loved creating that environment where people felt safe to share because I, I very firmly believe that everybody has expertise to bring to the table.
And, you know, just because I'm standing at the front of a room and talking to a PowerPoint doesn't mean that you don't have experience in this. And I want to know, I want to hear about it. So that was, that was all of what I really loved. I realized, you know, there's a certain time In your career where, you know, I've always been one that I work very well with benchmarks.
And so if I went all the way back to my, the beginning of my career, what you don't know is what you don't know. And so by the time I decided to start my own gig, I'll call it. I had learned so much and had worked with so many people and the feedback that I consistently got was, you know, I still remember your training like there, there was somebody and this was, this, this was years ago, but one of.
It's still, and I still every now and then I'll check in with this person. I'm like, thank you so much for that comment. But it was a class that I trained back at my first startup and I think it was like 2015, 2016. And as I was, you know, leaving that organization, they had said that they watched me in training and they thought I want to be like her.
And this was a very quiet participant, but I knew like I could see what was going on in their head and like I would try to draw them out as much as possible because I'm like, you, you're, you're going to be awesome. And, you know, from most recently, I do believe that they're going for a doctorate in education.
But, you know, one, getting comments like that really just, I don't, I don't even know how to describe it in words, you know, and, and most of the time, of course, like, you know, we all suffer from imposter syndrome, right? And my response is always, this loud girl in the front of the room, really? Are you sure?
You know, that kind of thing. It's just I have a job to do when I'm when I'm working with people and it's do you feel safe enough to be open and share and do you feel safe enough to say out loud what you want because I want to hear you say what you want. And at a certain point in my career, I realized that I had affected people over the course of time that I was like.
I would like to do this on my own, like, you know, I know, I know how to build stuff, and I know how to work with people, and I wanted to be able to devote the time to find more people that felt that they were stuck. And help them to realize that you, yeah, okay. Let's be honest. Yeah. You may be stuck right now, but can we get you to a spot where you don't feel a stuck?
You may still not know what you want to do. And it is not my job to tell you what to do. And it's, and it's. Not my, it's not my job to find you a job. You know, you're going to be doing a lot of the work, but you may need someone to hold your hand or you may need a guide or you may need someone to go, yeah, there's a reason why you did that.
Yeah. It's completely understood. Yeah. You're, you know what? I, I hear your frustration. I hear that you're frustrated. Can I give you feedback on a couple of themes that I heard as you were telling me that story, or yeah, you're stuck right now, but you're not going to be forever. So let's think about, you know, what you may want to do, or, uh, might not be the path, you know, that kind of thing.
And so just being able to create the space to, to work with more people in that capacity. You know, I always, I always told people like, I'm like, I'm just, I'm just out here building empires. And I, it became apparent to me that, you know, at this point in my career, why, why don't I just build my own? So give it a shot.
Laura Rotter
what I'm hearing from you, Julia, is that you have a way of creating a safe space.
Julia Babij
It's what I enjoy the most. Yeah.
Laura Rotter
So,
as we get to the end of our conversation, Julia, how has your definition of success and maybe even financial success shifted, you know, as you think about your why and your purpose?
Julia Babij
Financial success. I would say, do you have the money to cover your needs? You know, what do you, you know, it's not. I am never going to drive a Rolls Royce. I'll just be, I know I should say never say never, but I'm never going to drive a Rolls Royce.
Laura Rotter
But when you talk about financial success, are you, and was that ever anything you actually aspired to it?
Julia Babij
Oh gosh, no. Right.
Laura Rotter
So I'm, I'm actually curious from like, when, how your aspirations may have shifted. I know personally, for me, I want to know that I'm set up for the future. I want to know that I'm putting, putting my resources into the right buckets. I had a friend once say, you know, future that's for future Julia protect her and they were talking about finances.
I thought that was hysterical. And I would say, you know, when I was in my 20s,going back to the example of, oh, I contributed to my retirement. But, you know, really how much I think, you know, That has shifted into, I want to make sure that, you know, I'm set up decently for the future that I can retire if I want to, and to really, you know, really pay attention, stick to a budget, be conscious about income versus what's going out and really just being, being smart about finances, being smart about.
Putting yourself, you know, we do not know what's going to happen to us tomorrow, but put the will in place. I know it's a bummer, but you know, it, it's freeing and terrifying at the same time, you know, put the will in place. And, uh, one of the things I, I've, uh, how my financial picture has shifted is I wanna make sure that if something were to happen, are the people that are involved in my life make sure that they're not burdened as well.
And so, you know, I, I think the past few years have taught a lot of us that, that we do not know what's going to happen tomorrow. We want to make sure that, you know, our, our loved ones or those that are left behind, you know, aren't struggling or confused as to how to manage your estate if something were to happen to you.
So you want to be able to leave as much direction as possible. So it's really thinking about the future and thinking about those That, you know, those that are, that are with me that, you know, making sure that they're okay as well. I love that.
Laura Rotter
It's sort of a mature view of financial successes. So Julia, is there anything else you'd like to make sure that you say before we end our conversation?
Julia Babij
I just really, I enjoyed this conversation and I love I love that you are finance with a heart. I absolutely love that. And you know, when you had said you were taking trainings on active listening and I'm like, Oh, do tell, you know, I think doing, doing a podcast is you are the chief of active listening.
So, you know, it's just a really wonderful thing. So it's really nice to, to be a part of, you know, somebody who has to really unique spin on, on finance into you're really practicing what you preach. And I love it. I think it's great.
Laura Rotter
Thank you so much, Julia. So nice to get to know you.
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Julia Bobby, owner of Purpose Geek Solutions.And I'm going to share some of my takeaways. First takeaway, before you make a large financial commitment, make sure it's something you truly want to be doing. Julia was considering studying for her master's in counseling.
Before she made the financial commitment towards her graduate education, she worked for three years with a non profit that provided mental health counseling.She wanted to be certain that it was a field that she was going to solidly choose as a long term career. My secondtakeaway? Recognize How the skills you've developed in previous roles are applicable to your next position.
According to Julia, active listening was a big part of her skill set as a counselor. She had to listen for tone of voice. She had to listen for what clients were asking and what they weren't asking. She had to explain a concept one way for one client and then maybe a completely different way for another client.
Those principles, those soft skills were transferable as she took on the new role of corporate trainer and then to her current role as career coach. Finally, your gut knows. Julia shared that one of her life goals is to follow her gut more. She described enjoying her years in a corporate training role.
And then knowing in her gut that it was time to leave and go back to the non profit world with good grace, pride, and the knowledge that she had contributed all that she could contribute. Julia listened to her gut again when several years later, she left her leadership training role to start her own practice as a career coach and consultant.
Are you enjoying this podcast? Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss next week's episode. And if you're enjoying the show, a rating and review will help other women just like you to find it. And I'd really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Narrator
Thanks for listening to Making Change With Your Money. Certified Financial Planner, Laura Rotter, specializes in helping people just like you organize, clarify, and invest their money in order to support a life of purpose and meaning. Go to www.trueabundanceadvisors.com/workbook for a free resource to help you on your journey.
Disclaimer, please remember that the information shared by this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. It's for information purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.