Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julian Szablowski. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Julian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

It was a wild line of thought that led me to this creative side of life. There was never any plan to pursue life coaching as a profession, and to be honest, for the longest time I didn’t even know it existed.

It was July 2022. I was approaching my 5-year mark in tech sales. The hours were good and the financial return was even better. I just made the move from Tempe, Arizona to Costa Mesa, California (simply to be by the ocean). I was living my dream life, so I thought.

Despite having everything that I was supposed to have, there was a growing feeling that something was missing. Soon enough, logging onto my laptop and talking with clients started to become less engaging. There was now a disconnect between my daily work flow and my overall fulfillment in life.

Eventually this intuition grew into a tangible question: “Do I stay here for ANOTHER 5 years hoping that this feeling will go away? Or do I trust my intuition, walk away from it all, and figure out where I want to invest my energy into next?”

I made the decision on the latter. Now, it was time to make an exit strategy.

Over the next 6 months, I met with my financial advisor, turned off my investments, got my health checked, maximized my vision + dental benefits, and topped it off by taking 5 weeks of PTO to travel across Thailand and the Philippines with some of my best mates.

Upon my return, and after spending the last few days of my remaining sick time, one last decision remained: “Do I stay or do I go?”

At this point, all of my psychological conditions had been met, so the only thing keeping me from quitting was FEAR. A few minutes of contemplation later, I was on the last call with my manager putting in my 2-weeks.

I was finally free – to be whoever I wanted to be.

Julian, 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?

>>> How you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc? <<< My intention with the first few months after leaving my job was "to explore". I knew from the start that I was going to treat this less like a vacation, and more so like a journey of self-discovery. Given that I no longer was offering 40 hours of my week to work, I was left with an abundance of time to deepen connections with existing friends while at the same time making new ones. Through these conversations, I began to notice a recurring theme. More often than not, people concluded our time together by saying something along the lines of "Wow, this was refreshing. I feel lighter". Due to our good friend ~ imposter syndrome ~ it took a few months for me to finally accept that this was my gift. It was around this time, 6 months after leaving my job, that the career path of coaching came into the picture. >>> What type of products/services/creative works you provide? <<< Currently, I only offer 3 services: 1) paid 60-minute intensives, 2) paid 12-week mentorships, and 3) free "mini-courses" on YouTube. The 60-min intensives are focused on helping clients through a specific question or challenge that they're trying to overcome by offering a fresh perspective on their situation and guiding the conversation to new solutions. The 12-week mentorship is focused on deconstructing the client's everyday lifestyle, discovering with their own intention what makes them intrinsically happy, and designing practical strategies that allow for long-term, sustainable change. The "mini-courses" are simply a glimpse into my mind's library on various topics. Sharing for the sake of sharing is actually one of the most fulfilling parts about my work and has become my foundation for creativity. I know that everybody comes from a different background, so I wanted to make sure that I can be a resource for anyone who's on their journey of self-discovery. >>> What problems do you solve for your clients and/or what do you think sets you apart from others? <<< The main problem that I solve for my clients is decluttering their mental space. We live in a society where every business is grasping for your attention, and developing new tools to capture it every year, thus many people find themselves full of clutter build up from all these distractions pulling our focus away towards everything other than ourselves. I believe that my ability is bridging the gap between spirituality (thought, intuition, gut feeling) and practicality (actionable change, real-time decision), doing so by guiding people through a conversation unlike any that they've had before - where they learn how to articulate themselves fully and express themselves authentically. What sets me apart? Honestly, just being me. The uniqueness lies in the simple fact that the world has never been interpreted directly through my eyes, my words, or my mind before me. Each of us has our own story that is full of life lessons, and I've now reached the point where I can clearly and concisely articulate my story to others, and I think that's why people love working with me - together, we make it make sense. >>> What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc? <<< As a new small-business owner, I am most proud of myself for not succumbing to the hustle-and-grind culture. There was a lot of external pressure to "do this" or "do that" from well-meaning people trying to help me build my life (my business) a certain way. They were focused on getting me to the destination faster, rather than enjoying the journey as a whole. My favorite thing to tell my clients is ~ a fulfilling process leads to fulfilling results ~ not the other way around. When you take the time to discover which processes are replenishing vs draining, your mind becomes better equipped with the mental and emotional tools to design your life in a way that every day is an energizing process. Ultimately, I want readers to know that there is NO RIGHT WAY of living. You are free to let go of any attachments that no longer serve you, and to live life in a way that fulfills you!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is scary.

I’m at the tail end of the Millennials, so my friends and I were in the interesting spot where iPhones only started appearing while we got into high school, bringing with it these new apps called Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram.

It took me a while to actually understand the purpose of having a phone other than to function as a communication device, so I wasn’t too active on the apps until I got into college. Even then, I only viewed Snapchat as a faster form of texting and only posted on Instagram once every several months, and after graduating from university, my social media use declined even further.

All that being said, I’m still a beginner at social media, but it has been one of the most thought-provoking growth processes under the umbrella of entrepreneurship for me.

Here’s a few takeaways from my own social media journey:

1) Social media PRESENCE. I’m still learning how to be present during both the content creation process, as well as the sharing process. I don’t want to blindly consume, nor blindly create. I’m actively reframing the way I look at social media, to see it as a tool for building community, and less so as this attention-grabbing-algorithm that I must obey.

2) Systems, systems, systems! At first, I was creating content everyday and trying to post it in real-time. This was the epitome of an unfulfilling, draining process. Now, I’m learning how to schedule my posts/reels on Facebook and Instagram using Meta Business Suite. This has been a LIFE-SAVER.

3) Learning curves are a real thing. Accept that you are a beginner at everything – at filmmaking, at talking to the camera, at editing/color-grading, at writing an engaging caption, and at all the other nuances of content creation. Just know that your brain is getting better and better at it every time you engage in the activity, and one day, it will all click. Trust in the process.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That success = happiness.

In traditional society, we’re pushed down this path of going to school > to make money > to buy a house > to have a family > to be happy, and if you’re not doing exactly that, then you’re doing something wrong.

This was a lesson that I had to reflect upon and actively push back against.

When I first had those intuitive thoughts about leaving my career in tech, there was a consistent line of self-limiting beliefs stemming from this framework such as “Are you really going to throw away the last 5 years of work for nothing?” or “How are you going to tell your friends and family that you’re unemployed?”

We fall into this trap of measuring the inherent value of our LIVES by the objective output of our JOBS.

This is false.

True happiness derives from living your life in accordance with what you naturally feel is right ~ aka ~ when your actions align with your beliefs.

If I were to have let the fear of letting go of my “success” deter me from following my intuition, then that would’ve set the mental precedent that I am just going to go through the motions, simply existing.

We must take the time to discover what makes us intrinsically happy, what brings a smile to our face just by thinking about it, and allow ourselves the space to build a life around it.

In doing so, you learn to create your own measurements of success, and your own perceived value of life skyrockets.

All this is to say, I’m happy with the life that I’m designing, and I’m happy that I get to dedicate my life to helping others design theirs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theprofessionalhomie.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprofessionalhomie
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgszablowski
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theprofessionalhomie