Julie is the newest addition to the Floricane team. As the Experience Coordinator, she manages events and workshops, keeps the team on track, and makes sure that every client's experience is excellent. She loves Q and As, and hates writing in the third person. Read on for all the essential information you could ever want!
Floricane Q&A
1. Do you want to rock n’ roll all night or party everyday? Just shy of 3 years post-grad, I’ve transitioned from rock and roll all night to party everyday. Unless it's the weekend.
2. Which President would you most like to have a drink with, past or present? Thomas Jefferson. I’m reading a biography of him right now, and I’d love to ask him straight up about some of his contradictory views and actions. Plus, I’ve always felt we had a connection because we share a favorite vegetable in peas.
3. If you were not doing this job you’re doing now, what job would you be working? I would probably still be guarding precious works of art at the VMFA. If I had a choice outside the constraints of reality? Managing a gallery or teaching. Even better, I’d have no job and I’d be taking a cross country national parks adventure.
4. Pie or Cake or Neither? PIE. ALWAYS PIE. I don’t cake about your feelings for Shyndigz.
5. Do you have a favorite Sharpie color? The minty one. I’m a 20-something female, what do you expect?
6. Your favorite place for dinner? Kuba Kuba. I have never had a less than perfect experience there. It holds a special place in my heart as the first real Richmond restaurant I went to after moving here for college.
7. What do you most value in your friends? People who love me as close to unconditionally as possible, but can call me out and get past my stubbornness when they do. People who don’t take themselves too seriously. Showing up.
8. What is your idea of happiness? Driving down winding roads through the Shenandoah Valley in late summer with the music blaring and the sun filtering in through my windows. Going totally crazy singing cheesy pop songs with high schools kids. Sitting around a bonfire with my best friends on a chilly night. Listening to my grandparents talk after a good meal.
9. Who are your favorite writers? I should really have a more concrete answer to this as an English degree holder. Lately I’ve been loving Wendell Berry. I honestly can’t pick an all time favorite.
10. Excluding your work a Floricane, who was your best boss, and why? Emily Smith and Jolene Giandomenico at 1708 gallery, and not just because they helped me land this job. They both gave me ownership over projects and trusted me. They gave me the confidence I lacked as a baby intern. They were also just really fun to work with, especially when we had giant inflatable fish floating around the gallery.
11. What are three things you love about Richmond? Oh man, only three things? I adore Richmond. There is always a new place to eat or a great band to see. I love that I can walk or ride my bike to the river in less than 15 minutes. My favorite thing, beyond food and music and the river, is the energy and authenticity here. Lately that has led to a hard, genuine push to grow and progress from our past identities. Richmond is always trying to be better, without losing what already makes it great.
12. If we looked at your Facebook page, what might surprise us? I have about 5000 pictures of summer camp. I volunteer as a Young Life leader, which means most of my Facebook photos are of me being ridiculous with high school kids at our yearly camping trips.
13. What’s next for you? Growing into my roll here at Floricane, and learning all I can. Where that will take me, I don’t know! But isn’t that half the fun?
14. And lastly, what are the things that excite you most about Floricane, its clients and the community in 2016? We get to call some of the brightest, most talented people our friends, and I’m excited to continue to meet them all. I’m excited to find news ways to partner with our community through events and workshops. Oh, and I’m pretty giddy about our event at Quirk Hotel this Fall!