We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia Washington a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Julia , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was five years old. It was at the county fair. I was performing in my first dance recital as the sleepy Care Bear. It was more than just fun being on stage.

Julia , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a biracial woman born and raised in the central valley of California and this experience has deeply impacted the way I view the world. I studied creative writing in college and have mostly worked in government and the corporate world. I became a mom at a really young age which kind of dictated my career path as my community didn’t offer much in the way of opportunities. After years of forcing myself to fit into a business model that just doesn’t work for me, I finally acknowledged that I needed more to grow not only as an employee but as a person and the restrictions that come with working for a company were no longer a thing I could get into.

I have so many focuses, but there are two currently dominating my life. The first is designing and painting greeting cards. In 2020, I pulled out my old, dusty acrylics and started painting again. I transitioned into watercolor because I wanted something with more versatility. After years of painting portraits for people, I wanted to do something more and in November of 2022 started designing and painting greeting cards. They are blank inside so the sender can write whatever they wish. In my first event where I sold these, I nearly sold out. I was so surprised and decided to ditch portraits and lean into the cards.

The second is podcasting (yawn and barf, I know….). I produce several shows, but the two I host are of course my favorites. Pop Culture Makes Me Jealous is a show that analyzes pop culture through the lens of race or gender (and sometimes both). In each episode, we examine one old or new pop culture property and discuss the impact it had on us or the impact it’s making now. We had reviewed several book-to-screen adaptations and our community wanted more so I started a book club where we read book-to-screen adaptations. Which has now turned into its own show: The Jelly Pops Book Club podcast. Our listeners call themselves Jelly Pops. It has been so much fun dissecting books and their screen adaptations. It has been so much fun talking about pop culture properties and their direct impact on our lives.

After graduating with a master’s degree, I attempted to gain employment any of the local junior colleges. I love discussing books, movies, television, etc and I wanted to be in a classroom. I had several professors I loved when I attended junior college and the way the taught was so different from high school. I wanted to facilitate that too. So after years of applying and never hearing anything back, I started these podcasts to work that part of my brain. Which has led to producing a few other shows.

I love collaborating and creating. I love being in space with people who are curious.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

My answer will answer what can Society do as well as the non-creatives question:

Being a creative, an artist; needs to be viewed as a valuable contribution regardless of what stage one is in. It seems as though every industry is beyond competitive these days, but people seem to value the sacrifice that goes into becoming a doctor, teacher, attorney, or engineer because these are “respectable” (and stable) professions. It feels like being an artist is a literal “must hit big” or else belief, but there is more than one way to find a sustainable income. There seems to be a collective discouragement towards those who wish to pursue the creative arts. In public schools these classes are the first to go, but just like math and history, the arts aid in discussion, discourse, and thinking differently.

I appreciate that in California, art classes are now considered required education. This is a really good step in normalizing the arts. Making art in all forms accessible is a really good step.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Is it tacky to acknowledge that my goal is to support myself? Since 2016, I’ve been downsized three times and I don’t want to experience that ever again. I’ve always carried a full-time job while doing my creative work. But now, I want to focus solely on my creative endeavors and create physical space where people can come together to explore their own creativity. My long-term goal is to open a brick and mortar space that sells my cards, books, other wares by creatives, as well as host in-person book clubs, art classes, writing classes – TLDR version: Make space for creatively inclined people of all ages.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.popculturemakesmejealous.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thejuliawashington / instagram.com/huesbyjules / instagram.com/popculturemakesmejealous / instagram.com/jellypopsbooks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliamwashington/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp5AMcK3bxsfb9zUC7tz4Zg

Image Credits
All images taken by Julia Washington