We were lucky to catch up with Juliana Ruggiero recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Juliana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Before i begin, i want to say thank you so much for having me, it’s an honor. My most meaningful project i’ve ever worked on happed almost a year and a half ago now, At the end of my 19th year of life, just two days before i turned 20, i unexpectedly and tragicly lost my dad to the advaced stages of diabeties, Now, i’ve had many loses in my family over the years, but my dad’s loss in preticu;ar affected me… a lot. it devestated me, it broke me, i pretty much regressed back into a child. Before his death, i started out as an online aithor, writing for various sites such as The Mighty (a heath and wellness website), Unwriiten (an online women’s magazine), Coffee House Writers (a site that lets you write about diffrent topics while meeting a deadline weekly or biweekly),- this was also an internship, and Project Wednesday (a site where you compkete promps and submit them every week to be shared with readers) I have been a writer since i was 18, and before my dad’s death, i was doing great. After his death however, i quit writing for 3 and a half years because my greif was so bad. I even see a Socal Worker for anxitey, i have been working with her for nine years, i even quit going to her too. I had to sit in my grief and work through it on my own. I tried going to my Social worker right after my dad died, but i was completely dead to the world.
Three years later, my gref had calmed down to where i could slowly start living again. I had gone back to my Socal worker and told her i wanted to go back to writing but i didn’t know where to go. She said, “Juliana, you need to do what makes you happy and joyful on the inside.” i said to myself “you know what, she’s right.”
The next day, i was scrolling through my Facebook feed ans saw a post celebrating an author for a book called “Girl, Don’t Count Yourself Out: You are Resilent, Tenatoius and Fateful, being put together by Visonary Sabrina Thomas. I stared at the post for 15-20 minutes and thought “hmm maybe i could do this.” i took that leap and reached out to her. i was the last author in before the enrollment closed, This project has been so meaningful to me because ever since i got involved with Sabrina, the rest of the authors, and the prject in general, It has brought me back to life, i have made meaningfuk freindships, and my career as an author has really taken off.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Yes of course! I’m 25 years old born and rasied in Connecticut, I was born with mild Cerebral Palsy. i am a co author in the Amazon. Com Best selling book Girl Don’t Count Yourself Out: You are Reslient, Tenecous and Faitful. i am also a Motovational/ International speaker. I got into this industry when i was 18 and fresh out of high school, and i have been doing it ever since. Writing has always been my passion since i was in 6th grade, but i couldn’t pursue it all the way in the begining because i was still very young and had to go to school every week. When i reccived my high School Diploma in 2020, i went on to take an online math class during the COVID- 19 pandemic, After that class was over for the semester, and after also finding out i passed only through the skin of my teeth with a c- , i decided college wasn’t the path for me and dropped out.
There’s Two things i’m most proud of: 1 That i followed my heart as well as took my Social workers advice and made being an auther my full tine work. Pepole ask me all the time, ” Juliana are you getting paid to get involved in/ be in the book your currently in?.” and my reponse to them is always, ” No.” You see, i don’t do this work for money or to become rich, i do it to inspire pepole and (hopefuly) inspire someone and make a diffrence in their lives, that’s what and why i do this work.
The second Thing i’m most proud of is getting involved with Sabrina and her book project. It has made me grow as an author, has opened up so many doors, and has helped me make meaningful connections with the authors involved with this book . The thing that sets me apart from others is the fact that my work ethic is high, for example , give me a task or deadline to meet and i’ll find a way to get it done!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an author for ,r up to this point has been when pepole have read my work in the past abd have said ” Oh this is amazing work . ” Or “Keep going girl, because you have such a gift.” Or even words like” I always knew you were going to be a writier/ author.” coming from my fellow classmates that i graduated high school with in 2017. It’s little things like these that remibs me why i do what i do. Sometimes, you think pepole don’t notice your growth over the years, but they do. Honestly though, the bigest reward i’ve ever gotten happend last year. My mom and i were on an intrest call for The Girl Don’t Count Yiursekf Out: Mom’s Edition book on zoom.
Mind you, i’m just sitting there while Sabrina is taking going through everything about the nook, outline Ect. i can’t say i’m want to to be part of this one because i’m not a mom. I forgot how my name came up after my mom introduced herself to everyone on the call lol all of a sudden, Sabrina comes out and says to me, “Juliana I’m going to let you know this. Your chapter you wrote in the first book about greif touched me. Your chapter is also helping so many pepole. I’ve even recived inboxes from pepole telling me how your chapter is helping them and inspring them as well.” when i say i almost burst into tears hearing that, i mean it.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Yes. I have a feeling there might be some hate when this interview goes live to the worl after pepole read what i’ve done. . Maybe some pepole saying “Oh, how did she acompish so much so fast. it happened over night.” Listen first of all , if you want to get yourself into the author felied, growth doesn’t happen overnight , you need to start small and work your way up the ladder. You need ti also find your circle of pepole – those who want to see you win and do well, who celebrate with you when you take a big step. who lift you up when you feel like your stuck and can’t do another thing pnes that you can just talk to outside of all the professional things. Find yourself these types of pepole and watch how fast your author career, or anytype of carreer, can take off. Second, My growth was very, very slow. All it took was one shake up in my life to break me down tp get me to the place i really wanted to be . Sometimes, this is exactly all it takes.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliana.ruggiero/
- Other: Fans Can find my past online writing work using these links . Unwritten: https://www.readunwritten.com/author/collegestudent17/ Cofffe House Writters : https://medium.com/@julianaruggiero Note: you may have to use your email or any other social media accounts in order to accsses these articles) The Mighty : https://themighty.com/topic/cerebral-palsy/moving-forward-with-cerebral-palsy-one-step-at-a-time/ Project Wednesday: https://www.projectwednesday.org/author/julianaruggiero/
Image Credits
Diana Ruggiero Sabrina Thomas Annpmyus