Meet Julia Vanderput

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julia Vanderput and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julia, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
When I was younger and deeply in advertising world, I very much bought into the lie we are all taught – that grinding hard is the only measure of success. Eventually I looked around at people doing what I eventually wanted to be doing and realized they weren’t doing everything, just the stuff that made them happy to be there. What people, projects or challenges make you excited to be wake up to another day? I asked myself at a young age what kind of work would feel like some of the best days and make time off necessary to sustain and inspire that work? For me that’s helping people connect with each other through the shared love for music and art. What makes me excited to be working is that I’m helping them build memories and stories to tell for a lifetime. On my off time, I go to live music or make music myself. I like experiencing art that provokes a connection between people. I’m curious about people and why they do what they do so I read about psychology and philosophy. It all kind of feeds off each other. I guess balance for me is seeing it as less binary – my off and on times talk to each other.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve always been the kind of person who wants to know the most mundane things about people – ‘what breakfast they like to eat?’ ‘What car do they drive?’ ‘What annoys them?’ It’s just fascinating to me. And its this fascination with people that has driven my career. My work involves deeply understanding music culture and the people in it, and to push it forward. I left my home country of Brazil to live in the US mostly because of its long history in cultural revolutions. And when I think of the mark I’d like to have in building music culture, it’s about stewarding it in critical ways to build a better world. I’m committed to not pull my punches for fear of losing clients. We are in the business of music after all, and it has a history in deeply rooted in movements of social change. My aim is to inspire people who engage with our work to question, reflect, and ultimately, drive change.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Sneak a matinee in at Los Feliz Theater during the week then peruse Skylight Books (don’t miss their zine section). Hike up Griffith, maybe catch the sunset, then head further east and eat dinner at Burgerlords. End the night with some amazing music at Highland Park – my favorite shows are their Jazz Is Dead series that bring some heavy-hitting Jazz people from all over the world.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Los Angeles. What a place. The Romans had a word for the spirit of a place, loci and I see it in LA’s history as the doorstep of the imagination. It’s difficult not to think your wildest ideas are possible here and proof is the gold rush, Abbot Kinney’s Venice carnival, Disneyland, Hollywood. There’s snow on the mountain in front of you while you’re under a palm tree. This place is just millions of people flying their freak flags high. It’s a place of such strangeness, of concentrated artifice and authenticity, that it makes anything seem possible.

And the beautiful community of the Bidinner supper club. A new Gallop poll says bisexuals are the largest LGBTQ population and yet bisexuality is still seen as invalid and immoral by many in both the LGBTQ and straight communities. Bi Dinner is a place for bisexuals to belong. I am lucky to have a partner in it (Julia Zsolnay) who enjoys setting big, ambitious goals and having fun while doing it, too. Because at the end of the day, Bi Dinner is about having an absolute blast.

Instagram: juliavanderput

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/juliavanderput

Twitter: https://twitter.com/juliavanderput

Image Credits
Depending on the photo: Matt Haas or Chance Foreman