Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julia Granacki. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Julia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
On an evening in March of 2020, I had just gotten home from working an 11-hour day at my corporate real estate development job. I bent down to get something out of the kitchen cabinet, hit my head, and burst into tears. It didn’t even hurt. Not really.
Dramatic, right? Maybe.
My sleep was a disaster, my memory was shot, and I was overweight and fatigued despite working out consistently and eating right. I couldn’t figure out what was going on! I felt alone and totally out of control of my body.
I looked at my husband and said, “I’m done; I need a time-out. I need to get to the bottom of this because I can’t keep whatever this is up anymore!”
The truth was that I was burnt out.
The following week, our office shut down due to Covid, and the decision was made that we were working from home indefinitely. Although not ideal circumstances, my time-out was handed to me. A month later, I stood in the deli line at the grocery store, masked up and gloved up, and had my first hot flash. As it turned out, I had started perimenopause during a Pandemic.
Filled with disgust and frustration at the dearth of information and attention given to perimenopause, menopause, and other women’s health issues, I started a podcast about the subject. A few months later, I returned to school for a health coaching certification and to finish my Pilates apparatus training.
Like many people, I arrived in the health and wellness space to understand my own body, which led to a desire to help and educate others. With so little health information available for women, it became my goal to fill that gap, reminding women that they are not alone and that they have agency over their own bodies.
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?
I am a Kane School of Pilates graduate. I received my BFA from the University of Central Florida and my health coaching certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, with special coursework in hormone health, with a focus on perimenopause, menopause, and burnout. I believe that midlife does not have to be miserable, that it’s never too late to start aging well, and that a sense of humor is key to living your best life!
I co-host the perimenopausal podcast, Circling the Drain: a show about the period before you stop getting your period. I am also a three-time alumnus of the switched-up storytelling series, No You Tell It!
I studied meditation and philosophy at Philosophy Works in New York City, where I received my mantra for Transcendental Meditation (TM) in 2013. I have been an avid practitioner of both mindfulness and TM ever since.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
The lesson I’ve had to UNLEARN is: you can’t make money doing something you love. You most certainly CAN!
As GenX women, we were raised to go to college, work hard, get married, and have kids, most likely at the cost of our own happiness. I wasn’t raised to seek a career, let alone a life that brought me joy. It wasn’t until my 40s that I realized I had a choice. That’s when I decided to leave my secure corporate job for a career that brought me happiness and satisfaction.
I hope that generations to follow understand that they, too, have a choice. And – to any GenXers out there feeling stuck, if I can do it, so can you!
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Where to begin?
Burnout by Emily & Amelia Nagoski: It’s easy (especially as an entrepreneur) to get lost in the need and desire to grow and be successful, but we should not sacrifice our health and happiness on the altar of our achievements. This book teaches you the difference between what is giving you life versus sucking the life from you, along with practical applications for regulating your parasympathetic/sympathetic nervous system.
Good Anxiety by Wendy Suzuki: Anxiety often gets a bad rap, but it can be harnessed to power our work and “flow.’ Dr. Suzuki gives us all the science to support that statement and practical exercises to help control and exploit our anxiety for success.
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks: This book changed my life. He presents four different “zones” for work performance: The zone of incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius. Most of us (even at a job we don’t like) hover between competence and excellence, but what puts you in the area of genius? I’m in a mid-life career change because I am pursuing a life where I experience more “flow” and can genuinely LIVE in my zone of genius. Read the book. That’s all I can say.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.juliagwellness.com/
- Instagram: @julia_granacki
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliagwellness
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-granacki-06353819b/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@julia_g_wellness
Image Credits
Michael Granacki