Julia Timms

Set yourself high goals and try not to shy away from all the opportunities you come across – pursue them with passion.

Having worked for a number of leading global companies, Julia is focused on leveraging the GHD brand to help grow the business at a time of disruptive innovation.

For International Women’s Day, as we celebrate women and work towards are more equal world, Julia shares her tips for professional and personal success:

  1. Be confident. Of all the barriers women still face, one of the biggest can be a lack of confidence and belief in our own worth. We work hard to do a great job, to keep all the plates spinning and scale the high bars we set ourselves. But we tend to not speak up! How do you become confident? Push back and stop apologising. Own your worth. If you have a great idea, let everyone know it’s yours. Ask for what you want. Being confident demonstrates your ambition and your interest.
  2. Build strong relationships. Relationships are the foundation of success. My career has been accelerated by people I had worked with previously and who knew my strengths and abilities. To further your career, focus on developing relationships that will help support future success.
  3. Keep on learning. Continuously updating our knowledge and skills will help both professionally and personally. This can be attending conferences or courses or learning from your colleagues.
  4. Know your strengths. In any project or initiative seek out the skills you need to succeed. Even if you are a good leader you will not have all the skills and abilities. Surround yourself with others who will cover your blind spots.
  5. Embrace diversity. I will never forget a meeting where the client said I was the first woman from my then employer that they had seen! We did win back the client’s trust and put in place a gender balanced and diverse team. Whilst research shows that more diverse teams perform better, nothing drives home the business value of diversity like client expectations.
  6. Live your passion. Given the amount of time we spend at work you really must love what you do. If you don’t then change it or leave it! Often living your passion is the fuel to achieving interests outside of work. This could be anything from running marathons, learning something new or in my case mountain biking and skiing.