Posted Under: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Next “Our Heroes” guest is Julie Braun, the proud half of the SuperIntern duo! Former VP of Marketing & Creative Service for a large corporate was ‘let go’ along with many of her colleagues which is when Julie took time off to reflect on her career and life. Let’s talk to Julie and find out how this ‘creative’ type charted her own path to success…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

JB: My name is Julie Braun, I have 2 businesses.  I’m ½ of the Dynamic Duo of Super Interns and the Marketing Guru of Julie Braun Design, a marketing consulting company. Over 5 years ago, I was the Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services for Carter’s Inc., the largest children’s apparel company in the world.  My team was responsible for all creative and marketing projects for the retail division.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

JB: I was fired by a new “Change Agent” boss who was brought in 3 months prior to my being terminated.  One by one, all of my colleagues (and other Vice President counterparts) were fired.  I was the last one to be officially “let go”.   After interviewing and landing 2 other Corporate job opportunities, I realized that I just could not get excited about working for another big box brand.  Both opportunities were fantastic by my previous standards like getting a big 6 figure salary, bonus package, stock options, enormous responsibility, and more, however, I just could not get motivated enough to take either job.  After all, I never really felt like I fit in.  I was the “creative one” who would constantly challenge the rest of the team.  Even still, working for Corporate American was my comfort zone.  I had been there for 20+ years for brands like Victoria’s Secret, MTV, Estee Lauder, Macy’s and more.  For the first time in my career, I was afraid that I didn’t know what I was going to do.  During that time, I took a few months off and used some of my year severance to get re-connected with the other parts of my life like getting together with friends, going to the gym, working on some personal creative projects and yes, starting to think about getting my own marketing consulting business off the ground.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

JB: I got comfortable with being uncomfortable.  In other words, not knowing exactly what I was going to do next.  I was having a mid-age crisis at the time and was looking “inside” for my greater purpose with the intense desire to discover what I really wanted to create and be a part of. I didn’t! I woke up one day and said “Well, if I can’t get excited about working for someone else, then I guess it is time to be my own boss!”

DD: What is one resource (person, coach, book, organization anything) that helped the most/best?

JB: My friend gave me the name and phone number of the president of a 5 million dollar company and was told to “Call them.  They need marketing help.  Maybe you can do some consulting with them.”  I made the call, not expecting to have the president answer the phone and for the next few minutes, I stumbled, stammered, rambled and didn’t have a clue as to what I was offering to do for his company or how to even get close to closing a deal.  I was completely embarrassed to be me!  After I hung up, I hoped that he would never remember my name.  That experience, that horrifying moment helped me the most.  I promised myself that that would NEVER happen again.  I went on to learning everything I could about referrals, calling on potential new clients, closing the deal and more.  I spent 6 months reading every book and article I could get my hands on.  I joined BNI, started networking and honed my sales process and skills which is the very same sales process that I use and teach to others today.  I created my own internship program and through that, I started a whole other business and passion that has proven to be not only recession proof, but my life’s greatest work.

DD: What do you know now that you wish if only you knew when you made the transition?

JB: Nothing.  Being naïve was my own ignorant survival skill. If I had known how hard starting my own businesses would have been, I may have never done it.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

JB: Get interns to help you start your company!  If you are having to do everything by being the chief, bottle washer and cook, then interns will teach you some of the most important business fundamentals like delegation, project management and multi-tasking while helping you build and grow your business.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

JB: Business is doing well!  We are growing every year and the recession has actually been an asset to our success.  I’m so glad I took the leap and even though it’s been a bumpy ride, I wouldn’t change a thing.

DD: Julie Braun everyone! One thing that struck me the most – “Being naïve was my own ignorant survival skill.” You see if nothing else this should tell you that when it comes to striking on your own, you don’t need to know all the answers beforehand or be perfect in every possible sense. Don’t even try finding all the answers or perfect your idea/concept before taking the first step – getting started or else you’d get stuck in analysis paralysis and never be able to move forward. Finding the answers and perfecting your idea/ concept/ product is the journey you’re about to embark upon so get going and enjoy the ride!

Success to all!