We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Juliet (Juliemango) Bodley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Juliet (Juliemango), appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
It actually was born out of needing something to do with the extra time during the pandemic when we were all working from home. The truth is I was always into the performing arts by nature but I wasn’t even thinking of going into it as a business. My step mom sent me a joke she saw on instagram and it inspired me to start creating skits of my own.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
For this question I would love to share my bio with you:
Actress, former Structural Engineer, Certified Life Coach, & Mental Health Advocate is what I like to refer to myself as. With the name Juliet Angelique, given to me by my sister, and my moniker “Julie Mango” given to me by my father, I am a mixture of Sugar & Spice and Everything CHRIST. I hail from the parishes of Clarendon and Manchester and attended Glenmuir Prep school and Manchester High School. I have been in the performing arts since the age of 12, when I was a part of the group called Ayaedeh. I once heard that Michael Jackson was asked if he likes music. His response was ” I am music”.. For me, if you ask me, if I like the performing arts, my answer is “I am the performing arts”.
Acting has always been my dream, but in an interesting twist I spent most of my professional years working as an engineer. I served in the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force for over 20 years, through which I obtained a Private Pilot’s License at the age of 19. I then studied Structural Engineering at the University of Technology Jamaica and completed my Master’s in Engineering Management at Florida International University. I attained my John Maxwell Coaching Certification and is a Certified member of the John Maxwell Team. Parallel to a successful career however, I suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder. I boldly say I am a 3-time suicide attempt survivor just to jolt persons into recognizing the gravity of such a statement. But I have to recognize that the stigma which I aim to eradicate is still alive and as such the subject of Mental Health, still has to be approached brazenly yet with caution. I began my journey to healing, with the help of a Professional Therapist and I am now at a place where I not only want to live, but I now advocate for Mental Health for Men, Women, & Children globally, irrespective of Race, Class or Creed.
Most importantly, I now look to expand my career in Acting with a fringe benefit of public speaking on Mental Health. I gave up engineering to follow my passion for acting and by God’s Grace I will be on the big screens in Hollywood rubbing shoulders with legendary actors, as my God given talent makes room for me in front of kings.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The fact is resilience is just something that I am by nature of the fact that I am not dead yet. You stop being resilient when you die. Everyone is resilient and for me it involves just getting up each day amidst the chaos amidst the fight amidst any disappointment that you may face and just keep going. Joy is found in the infinitesimal successes. A particular story now is simply embarking on a new journey as an actor and entrepreneur. It is at times scary and unpredictable, but resilience is something that happens to you after going through many experiences. It’s automatic. That’s why I say everyone has it.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
After 36years of living my life one way. I had to pivot. This was the biggest decision of my life when I walked away from a career in engineering to pursue a career in acting. How did I even do this? To be honest it was through a lot of prayer and a lot of consultation with my therapist at the time. It took an unimaginable amount of gusto to face my fears and let go of security without knowing what is going to happen next. All I had was faith in Christ to see me through. I wouldn’t advise anyone to be flippant and leave anything secure to follow their passion. I say weigh the options, pray about it and calculate the risks and go for it with eyes wide open and build your wings on the way down.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @iamjuliemango
- Facebook: @iamjuliemango
- Twitter: @iamjuliemango
- Youtube: JulieMangoTV