We recently connected with Julia Flaherty and have shared our conversation below.
Julia, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
A person who has lived with type 1 diabetes for two decades, Julia Flaherty’s career goal is to combine her professional skills and personal passions to effect meaningful change in service to communities in need. Flaherty’s work with her “Rosie Becomes a Warrior” children’s book series was originally inspired by a challenging period—the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic—and backed by a lifelong dream to write a book.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, many media outlets shared that people with conditions like diabetes were likely to suffer the most if they were to catch the virus. Feeling the heaviness of these statements, Flaherty, like many people with diabetes, felt vulnerable, afraid, and disconcerted. But this wasn’t the first time the fear of the unknown threatened to bring her mental agility down.
Months before her tenth birthday, Flaherty began losing weight, frequently getting up in the middle of the night to pee, having weird cravings, and acting unlike herself. These character shifts worried those around her, especially her childhood friend, school guidance counselor, and mother. This wasn’t just a cold. When things weren’t getting better, it was time to bring her to a doctor, where Flaherty was quickly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and her life changed forever.
Flaherty remembers being a small child, lying in a hospital bed with an IV stuck to her hand, feeling overwhelmed by the doctors and nurses who explained everything her life would become. Mourning the loss of a reality she once knew, her post-diagnosis shift in reality truly happened when her then 8-year-old sister asked her father, “Why is Julia acting like a baby?”
Understandably, Flaherty spent weeks after being in the hospital feeling sad and confused. She wished she didn’t have to deal with type 1 diabetes and was worried about her future. Though the comfort of her family surrounded her, she still felt alone, disconnected, and misunderstood.
Though Flaherty’s original motivation to turn her attitude around was to prove to her sister that she wasn’t a baby, she later looked back on the question as a young adult with gratitude. It was the honest question she needed to face that helped her live a happier life with type 1 diabetes earlier in her journey and start the process of finding a community that truly does understand while leaning on her loving support system—her sister and parents.
The childish motivation to prove her sister wrong shifted into motivation to prove herself wrong and to discover how to live a joyful life with diabetes. This question was the wake-up call and inspiration Flaherty needed to shift from feeling sorry for herself to being empowered to manage diabetes and live the life she envisioned.
Though Flaherty, like most people impacted by diabetes, has experienced diabetes burnout and ebbs and flows in her management and feelings towards the disease, at her core, she carries this same attitude today—waking up intentionally with joy and purpose. Flaherty lives with the understanding that there are always challenges in life, no matter the path you decide and those you’re routed down—how you manage life’s problems and perceive your problems matter most.
Though the original driving factor that inspired this attitude was childish, developing a true mantra of turning challenges into opportunities grew stronger in Flaherty as she grew up.
Flaherty believes in facing and working through life’s everyday challenges with honesty, grace, understanding, and kindness to oneself. In the case of living with diabetes, she knows this ranges from airing one’s frustrations to binging Netflix to taking a hike to simply fueling your daily routine and beyond. The approach to diabetes is individual, but the common experiences the diabetes community shares are well-known and felt.
Ever a survivor, Flaherty tapped into her ability to turn a challenging situation into an opportunity to reach out with the words she observed others like her needed to hear in 2020. “Rosie Becomes a Warrior” was designed to deliver empathy, understanding, and encouragement in challenging times. Though meant for children with type 1 diabetes and their families and friends, anyone reading this book series can learn its deep lessons of shifting perception and creating empowerment from life’s big challenges. Adults living with type 1 diabetes can also use “Rosie” to heal with words they might not have been offered as a child.
Committed to being vulnerable to serve the diabetes community, Flaherty reflected many of her own experiences into Rosie, shaping the character for a young audience—delivering stories with realism, positivity, and leadership. Flaherty wants nothing more than to give children the confidence, support, and understanding they need to thrive with diabetes as early as possible. She hopes the love children and their families feel through Rosie is the same supportive love she gets as an adult when her sister texts her after seeing CGM low alerts. Care like this means everything in a life with diabetes!
Flaherty’s ultimate goals with Rosie are to help children know they are never alone when facing life’s big challenges and are mentally stronger than they ever believed possible. No one is alone. Community is everywhere, waiting to embrace you and help you realize your best self.
Julia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Julia Flaherty is a resourceful and strategic marketing leader with over a decade of experience who is dedicated to affecting positive change through health innovation. A hardworking Midwesterner and decidedly passionate creative, Flaherty has contributed to various agency-like environments throughout her career. These experiences helped her understand what makes a company run successfully while providing an excellent environment and culture for its team members. Currently serving at the mid-senior level within an innovative marketing team at Beyond Type 1, a non-profit changing what it means to live with diabetes, Flaherty is molding her pathway as a creative and strategic marketing leader.
Flaherty is a lifelong learner, growing within her focus as a forward-thinking entrepreneur, leader, and businesswoman committed to making influential, high-quality contributions to an organization’s success and the communities it serves. Flaherty is most excited about serving in social impact, health, healthcare, wellness, and consulting industries. You may recognize Flaherty from her contributions to Beyond Type 1 or know her from her children’s book series, “Rosie Becomes a Warrior,” which is designed to empower children with type 1 diabetes and their families to live their happiest lives.
Please note that all opinions and views expressed by Flaherty throughout this interview do not reflect the views and opinions of others.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I grew up as a hyper-independent self-manager, and while these qualities are important, it’s also important to know how and when to bring in others. Knowing how to ask for help will humble you and promote your growth. You don’t have to do everything alone, and you shouldn’t. Not only can this lead to burnout, but it can take away your focus on where you should apply your skill set as the master of the creative initiative. It can also take away from networking, and when it comes to being successful in business or life, don’t dismiss the importance of building your networks. Investing in people matters!
There is true value in rallying a team around you to work towards shared goals. If you believe your idea will have a great impact, build your team of subject matter experts and work towards your shared goals. Focusing on one workstream at a time doesn’t mean you’re unskilled or will lose skills in other professional areas. I wish I had learned to ask for help earlier when I needed it, professionally and personally. While some people may disappoint you throughout your life, that’s not a reason to assume others will. Find a middle ground. Ask the right questions. Trial the work with them. People can surprise you in wonderful ways!
When you let go of the idea of owning every workstream to make your passion project successful, you will grow with the networks you build, and your ideas will flourish in beautiful, unprecedented ways. You may also be surprised at just how many people want to support you!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
When I approach a creative project, whether “Rosie” or something simple like creating a wreath, the question that drives me is: “How can I make someone’s life better?” Sometimes, I’m filling my cup or a loved one’s. Often, I find myself looking beyond that, especially in my professional life. I grew up with service-driven values, which continue in my adulthood across all areas I contribute to. I am constantly on a mission to learn about things I don’t know, especially the human experience, so I can apply these learnings to my storytelling. I want to keep looking for ways to make the world more inclusive and apply them to my creative projects. My greatest hope is that any project I contribute to that someone experiences will make them feel more seen, supported, and cared for than they felt prior to experiencing it. If they feel that, I will have fulfilled my purpose as a creative.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.RosieThe1T1DWarrior.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/RosieTheT1DWarrior
- Facebook: Facebook.com/RosieTheT1DWarrior
- Linkedin: LinkedIn.com/in/juliarflaherty
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rosiethet1dwarrior
- Other: www.Julia-Flaherty.com