This is a new ~bi-weekly series where I share stories from others who’ve built or are building a portfolio career that align to their values, interests, and lifestyle. Want to be featured? Reply to this email and let me know!

A few years ago, I had no idea what I wanted to do next in my career and hopped to LinkedIn to see what other people were doing.

I stumbled upon Julia, who left her seemingly impressive career in Product Marketing at Uber and Disney to start her business, Recess, a corporate retreats company that makes work feel like play.

How could someone do that? It seemed like a far off dream to me. I had to reach out to learn more about her journey, and I’m SO glad she responded. 

Now, we’ve planned multiple corporate retreats together across the US and have become friends in the process.

If you’re curious about starting a business of your own, read below for one of the first stories that inspired me.

Honestly, I think I spent most of my 20s searching. My bookshelf was filled with titles like What Color Is Your Parachute? and What Am I Doing With My Life?, which probably says it all.

Looking back, I realize I chose jobs for the people rather than the roles. At Warby Parker, I took the job because I could hear people laughing during my first phone screen—I wanted to be part of that.

At Uber, I joined after an inspiring conversation with the woman who would become my manager (shoutout to Nan!). It’s not that I ever felt wildly out of alignment—more that I never quite felt fully in alignment.

In 2021, my brother Ben was killed in a biking accident. At the time, I was working at Disney, and I’m so grateful they had the resources for me to take a leave of absence.

That space gave me room to grieve, but also to think deeply about how I wanted to spend my time and what my work should mean.

I kept coming back to the environments where I’d felt most alive—camp-like, close-knit communities. Ever since my first summer at Camp in 2000, I’d been chasing that same sense of connection in every workplace.

Six months after Ben died, I picked up small contract projects to pay the bills while I explored next steps. One client, Tia Healthcare, announced an upcoming retreat called “Camp Tia,” and I was instantly intrigued.

I reached out to the CEO to see if they needed help—turns out they needed someone to plan the whole thing.

I had never officially been an event planner, but while navigating the chaos of my personal life, planning a retreat for 300 people over three days felt like a productive way to escape the grief that was consuming me.

I knew I wasn't ready to go back to full-time work and give up control over my time and space - I needed flexibility to grieve. But calling vendors to coordinate logistics and making spreadsheets to track decisions gave me a way to pass the time when so many things in my personal life no longer made sense and felt impossibly complex.

The work was straightforward enough to be manageable, but meaningful enough to make me feel like I was still creating something good in the world.

I trusted my problem-solving skills and my ability to find the right resources. That project, at the start of 2022, became my crash course in retreat planning.

After that first big project, I took on smaller retreats with partners I could learn from. I noticed they all had the same core goals—connection, alignment, and shared joy—and yet I was starting from scratch each time.

That’s when the idea for the Recess Retreat was born: a template of “greatest hits” from everything I’d learned, designed to give teams a head start.

My mission has always been to make it easier for teams to gather and feel a sense of belonging, and this was my way of doing exactly that.

I’ve always been good at asking questions and finding the right people to help me figure things out. I’m resourceful, I love working with people, and I’m not afraid to admit when I don’t know something.

I trusted that everyone on the project wanted the same outcome and that we could get there together. When I joined Warby Parker, I’d never worn glasses but the spirit of the team was an energy that I wanted to be a part of. When I joined Uber, I knew that I was joining a ‘rocket ship’ and I was intrigued to understand how they were building such incredible products all over the world.

In both cases, I relied on relationships, problem-solving skills, and a willingness to learn. I didn’t let the “I’ve never done this before” voice stop me—instead, it fueled my curiosity.

I’m not chasing “growth at all costs.”

I’ve never wanted Recess to be a billion-dollar company or take on external funding just to scale faster. My goal is to build something intentional, rooted in connection and fulfillment—for me, my team, and our clients.

One thing that I know sounds kooky, but really shapes my leadership style: I work with, not against, my hormonal cycle. After working in tech for a decade at companies that experienced hockey stick growth—which has a more masculine culture and energy—I've decided to run Recess in a more feminine way.

There are times in the month when I'm more reflective and strategic (literally, it's my hormones! Science!), and other times when I'm energized and ready for meetings. I design my schedule around those natural rhythms and encourage others to do the same.

I also think about how to align everyone’s different strengths, interests, and personal circumstances so we can collaborate asynchronously when possible, and save our LIVE/IRL time together for moments that really matter.

For me, Recess is about creating a workplace where everyone can operate in their “zone of genius,” filling in gaps with the right collaborators, and removing the pressure of external metrics.

That freedom lets me run the business in a way that’s sustainable, seasonal, and fun.

Previously, our retreats have been multi-day getaways outside the city, because we believe in creating a true break from the everyday.

But we’ve heard from so many teams who want the Recess experience without the travel—so now I’m focused on building deeper relationships with venues and facilitators right here in NYC, our own backyard, andthe greatest city in the world.

At the same time, I hope to consult with partners across the country (and world!) on their retreats, I just personally need to slow down on traveling :)

You can find me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Substack and learn more about Recess here.