Jan 15 2009
Letters to a Young Blogger: An Interview with Julia Allison
Julia Allison’s reputation enters the room long before she does. As I sit and wait for her arrival in Starbucks, I imagine the internet celebrity will strut in donning an explosive pink tutu and full makeup, toting her dog, Lily, in an expensive handbag. And she really is that drop-dead gorgeous brunette whose apartment is covered in pink and carries her dog like most women do their purse.
While one would assume from her image she’s just an airhead who uses her pretty face to gain celebrity, Julia is a woman who can’t be pigeonholed into the ditzy, celebutante lifestyle. Armed with a Georgetown degree, she counts Ayn Rand as one of her favorite writers, and proudly declares herself a feminist. She rarely drinks alcohol, doesn’t smoke, and even abstains from caffeine. And while that pretty face probably didn’t hurt her mission to conquer New York media, she would be the first to admit it.
But don’t be mistaken; Julia started at the bottom of the literary world, moving to New York with a dream of becoming a successful writer. What followed was a trail of post-graduate rejection and nightmare jobs. But in Julia’s own words, she “hustled” her way to success by pounding down doors of publications until they hired her. Now a co-creator of nonsociety.com, Julia and two of her best friends created the site so readers can see everything from what it’s like to have a colonic all the way to sitting in on a class at Harvard Business School. As an internet celebrity and writer for publications from Time Out New York to Cosmopolitan, thousands of people follow Julia’s life through the internet and assume to know her personally. However, I wanted to discover the Julia behind the screen. Upon sitting down and getting to know her, I found Julia to be the ultimate contrast; a blend of looks, incredible knowledge, and the guts to put her daily life on display for the entire world to criticize.
Butterfly Diary: You’ve written that after college, you were denied a job at Bath and Body Works despite your Georgetown degree. Can you describe what you did immediately after college?
Julia Allison: I got engaged April of senior year. It gave me a sense of stability and predictability, so I moved to Los Angeles with my fiancée. It ended up falling apart. When I moved to New York City I lived in a grody apartment for a year. I would wake up every morning and send out queries for editorial assistant jobs, and didn’t even get an interview. That’s when I realized I was going to have to get a job outside my field.
BD: I had a horrible transition after my college graduation of nightmare job interviews and anxiety problems. Was it an easy transition for you?
JA: Oh no, it was so hard to me. I didn’t really get my bearing for about 2 years. When I finally decided to end the relationship with my fiancé, I knew my path was creating a job that didn’t exist.
BD: I read you moved to New York City with the idea to “become a writer.” I’m sure you’re one of thousands. What did you do for work?
JA: Finally in May after graduation, I took a secretarial job, and it killed me inside. I just thought to myself, this is a failure. This cannot be my life. And ultimately, I was fired after 4 weeks.
BD: What were your first writing gigs?
JA: Well, I got a lot of attention in college because I was a dating columnist for the Georgetown newspaper. Eventually, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, and Oprah Magazine contacted me.
BD: What did you think when New York Magazine named you the most famous young journalist in NYC?
JA: It was so surreal, because just 2 years before that I had been an intern at Mediabistro. It was a huge victory. I made it happen. My goal was never fame. I just wanted to be able to get published. And make a living.
BD: Is this your dream job? Have you achieved that rise to the top?
JA: This is exactly what I wanted. In my mind, I had this planned out before it ever occurred.
After Julia left, I felt incredibly inspired by her rise to popularity from the trenches of the dream to “become a writer.” I know that she was once was like me, one of many young writers putting their hearts and souls into articles written for a few bucks, or even for free. We take jobs we hate to get by, but ultimately, we will always write because it’s our lifeblood. To see a successful woman like Julia who hustled her way to success is an inspiration to young women like me, sitting at our laptops fantasizing about the day we can pay the rent with the words we type.
This is a great article Megan! It is truly inspiring to hear Julia’s story. I enjoyed reading it.
Awesome article!
it’s good for all of us to see that “the sky’s the limit,” if we’re willing to work hard enough. While she was blessed with many things to begin with, she still had to put in the time like the rest of us do……….thanks for the article!!!
I just got the chills and teary-eyed.. at the same time. Big deal for a Thursday.
Very well portrayed, Jiggity; I can’t wait until some recent grad writes the same sort of tribute to you!
What a great article! There are so many college grads out there who go through the same difficult transition period, it’s nice to read a story you can relate to!
Wow, I love Julia Allison, this is great
Eye opening article, well done! It just proves that EVERYONE must start at the bottom to rise to the top and that hard work will pay off. Too bad the pay off doesn’t come with a start date!
ahh inspiration that if you think you can do so much better than where you are, you can make it happen. haha thank you!! nice work megan
It’s all about the “hustle”
Good stuff!
Thanks for the great article and the reminder that nothing comes easy in life.
Love it Chainsaw!
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Not very Investigative. Julia claims that she “had” to get a job as a secretary. It’s called a job, something that obviously she has never had, nor has had to have. Also, how do Cosmo, Seventeen, and Oprah just call her? Doesn’t happen. As a journalist you never got the aha moment, or for her to admit that her spoiled nature had allowed her to get this far. She also mentioned her internship at Media Bistro. How come there was no follow up to that question? Perhaps, a how did you get that job? Were the contacts you made there beneficial? How did you afford life while working for free for the “also not so smart” Laurel Touby. I will give credit to Julia, however, we must not ignore that she is simply where she is because of the luxury of being a pampered daughter, and, frankly, spoiled to shit. Therefore, if you continue to write these puff pieces, you will too have to either sleep your way to the top, Ala Julia, or actually create a voice.
Dreams do come true!
Yes, great article and interview! Julia’s an inspiration!
fiance = man
fiancee = woman
[...] Butterfly Diary scores an exclusive and very inspiring interview with internet celebrity and journalist Julia Allison [...]