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.
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once. "When you've got nothing to hide, you hide nothing," she muses. "You've got to be transparent. People confuse secrecy with privacy and there's a big difference." For those whose past is tainted by indiscretions there is always the opportunity for change assures Julia. "Past behaviour is a great barometer, particularly when you've done something dodgy in your life. But anybody can change – they have to want to though. Change has to come from the person. A big mistake women make is trying to change men, trying to fix things – but you can't and it's not your job. The only person that can change and fix things is the person themselves." Julia finds that when faced with the facts and accompanying evidence most people can handle the truth, even if they struggle to believe it at first. "It's just human nature to want to see the best, and to believe the best. When it comes to personal things, guys deal with them quite quickly. Most women stay in dysfunctional relationships. They'll come up with a raft of excuses – children, money, everything – but they are excuses. That's the one thing I've done too. I've lost everything financially, and that's when I went to England and started again. It's a matter of courage in a way and believing in yourself that you can actually do something about it." Julia asserts that the work she does is anything but negative – and it's certainly never boring. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone with better work stories. "We provide a service. When you're helping people they're very appreciative and very grateful for what you've done, and it makes it all worthwhile. My work is so varied; there are never two jobs the same. People used to say to me work must be so interesting, and I used to play it down and say, 'Nah, it's just a job'. But actually it's not. We travel all around the world and we work everywhere. It really is one hell of an interesting job." As for her secret for happy living, Julia literally does what she wants. "I do whatever I want to do, I eat whatever I want to eat, I drink whatever I want to drink. I don't believe in not having fun, because you don't know how long you're here for. I just think you've got to make the most of life." Catherine Murray HER MAGAZINE | February/March 2012 | 23 Julia's tips for living an authentic life •Be true to yourself – only then are you representing the right person •Do not pretend – too many people try and be what someone else wants them to be •Take responsibility – if you chose a 'dud' for a partner, remember you had a part to play in it. Learn the lessons and move on •Don't make excuses – either for yourself or anyone else •Don't dwell on negative events – they are there to learn from