1)  Let’s delve straight in! First of all Julia, in your career, what’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given, and why? 

The worst advice I’ve ever been given is to wait until you’re ready for a role, wait until you’ve got all the experience, wait until you can do that role. 

B*llshit to that. 

You absolutely have to take on roles, even if you can’t necessarily do them when you take them on! There’s no rule that you must wait. Men apply for jobs when they have 25% of the criteria; women wait until they have all of the skills.. So ignore advice that you should wait, and just go for it. 

2) What’s your biggest ‘Cappuccino Career Cock-up’?

My worst ‘Cappuccino career cock-up’ was that I took on a job that my instincts said it wasn’t right to do. I’d always been on the sales side and on the publisher side, and yet I took on a buy side role for an advertising agency - I just wasn’t good at it! I was too loud, too in your face, too honest in telling the clients that their plan wasn’t quite right. I think I lasted a grand total of 8 weeks. Sometimes you’ve got to trust your instincts, know when you’re not suited to a particular role and know yourself enough to make that call. So there you have it - biggest career cock-up. 

What were your lessons from that?  

Never follow the money. Don’t just take on a role just for the money or  don’t take a client you’re not sure about, just for the money - it will bite you on the ass. You have absolutely got to love what you do, you’ve got to love who you work with, and you have to be passionate about what you take on. 

So, a terrible piece of advice is follow the money. It can be a huge job, big money - but if there’s a red flag, or your instincts say no, don’t just press pause - press STOP. Don’t do it!

4) What is the importance of making mistakes when paving your career path? 

The biggest one - be willing to fail. Failing is good.. The only way to learn is by failing, the only way to learn is by trying and seeing what works and what doesn’t. You can’t always be a perfectionist, you can’t always get it all right and you definitely can’t beat yourself up when it doesn’t work.

Weirdly, a big thumbs up to failing.

Of course don’t be gung-ho about trying something that realistically just will not work at all, but do say, I have tried something, it didn’t work; what did I learn, tweak it and try again. Get back on that horse. Don’t dwell and definitely do a Ted Lasso - be a goldfish!

Could you speak a bit more about the Ted Lasso goldfish concept? 

A goldfish has a 10 second memory! I’d always say in an interview I’m a goldfish - they have this 10 second memory, they’re never bored, and they just don’t dwell. I love being a goldfish, I move on, and it allows me to focus on one thing and move onto the next. A goldfish lets go and swims on!

“Move on, paddle forward, be willing to dive again.”

But - don’t just be a goldfish, be a duck too. On our team, we say be a duck (it’s always some sort of animal or creature with us). As a duck, you dive into your mistakes, work hard under the water, and when you come back up, whether it’s worked or it hasn’t, whatever you do, you must let that water flow off the duck’s back - paddle on, and be willing to dive again.

5) Summary: as a leader, what advice would you absolutely give someone right now?

Short and sweet.

  • Don’t wait until you’re ready, LEAP.
  • Don’t follow the money, it’s a fool’s game.
  • Don’t ignore red flags.
  • Embrace your instincts. 

Be bold, be brave, be you!

Rosie Hutchinson, Events and Content Producer at The Digital Voice interviews Julia Linehan, Founder, in their first monthly interview series Cappuccino's & Career Cock-ups for The Female Leaders' Club.