Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.
Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54854
her inspiration When Julia was born her mother was 40 and her father 50, so her parents were considerably older than those of her peers. "Both my parents were academic, and I had a very sheltered childhood. I was taught the violin, ballet and hunting and fishing, all those kinds of things that I thought were normal. I can remember going to a girlfriend's house and seeing a milk bottle on the table and thinking 'my gosh', because in my house you would never see that – there was a jug for milk, there was a dish for the butter. Everything was done properly. I was taught deportment and etiquette, which was what girls were taught back in the day, but not so much in New Zealand." Julia firmly believes that all the trials and tribulations she has experienced – parenthood at a young age, broken relationships and at one point financial disarray – have made her what she is today. "I used to wonder why I had been through all I had at such a young age. But there's a purpose for what we go through. I am an eternal optimist." Looking on the bright side serves Julia well. She is now happily married to television producer Steve Butler, one of the 'good guys'. Quite content as a single "But I was thinking, 'how do you know I can't ?' I think I can, and I did. I've just always known that when I've heard 'I can't' I've certainly known I can. It's really having that self-belief, that's what you need." woman in the preceding years, she says their courtship was old-fashioned and evolved at a slow pace. It is refreshing to note that being surrounded by deceit and betrayal has not tainted Julia's view of relationships one little bit. She knows that there are many good men out there, living lives based on trust and respect. "The good guys make you feel comfortable, there's a feeling of calm. You never have the little niggles. For example, some guys will just stare at women, some guys will say derogatory things about women, or they may not have a good relationship with their mother or their sister. A man has to respect women." If those alarm bells are ringing then Julia says it's time to dig a bit deeper. "Intuition is our warning system, so don't ignore it," states Julia. "Guys will often play down what they're doing. When people are doing things that are bad and they're caught, they'll minimise it. They'll transfer the blame, and it comes back to being your problem – that's a classic sign. They are the type of guys you want to steer clear of, and they show themselves very early on. They'll show their behaviour, you'll feel it and they won't be able to help themselves. It's just when emotions kick in that we tend to not want to see it." It's really all about trust, something that Julia says is like virginity – you only lose it 22 | February/March 2012 | HER MAGAZINE