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I write straight-up, useful & entertaining emails about once a week.

About

You are not a robot.

YOU ARE IN FACT, A HUMAN BEING;
A NATURAL, LIVING PART OF THE EARTH.

And everything in nature has a cycle. And that cycle has a productive, active phase and resting, receptive phase (like day and night).

But it’s easy to forget that in a society that has basically ignored the resting part — which is virtually half the cycle — in favor of continuous productivity.

So you’re on call day and night + you’re considered lazy if you haven’t written your novel during a pandemic.

And yet, you feel you have to keep up because — we equate our value as human beings with how much we produce and achieve.

Sigh.

This pattern is physically exhausting and leaves most conscious humans (like me and you) feeling disconnected and dissatisfied.

But here’s the thing:

We are not going to get what we want by doing MORE.

A truly sustainable business (and joyful life) is not about working harder and being infinitely more productive.

It’s about bucking the system – slowing the F down, and stepping off the obsessive productivity hamster wheel…

To get quiet, rest, and give our bodies, minds and spirits time to replenish (ideally in nature!)

And from this still place, we can listen and truly hear — in a way we simply can’t when we’re glued to our screens.

We can tune into ourselves, what we actually want for our lives, and the impact we want to make.

And create a more intentional, strategic, focused, streamlined business. We become what I call:

NATURALLY PRODUCTIVE.

Not hamster wheel productive, and definitely not robot productive.

I’m Julie Wolk –
and I’ve done it the robot way.

And trust me, it wasn’t pretty. That’s what led me to develop this natural business philosophy— one that takes a holistic approach to helping you create better boundaries and solid systems so you can finally find more ease in your business and feel nourished in all the ways, from financial to energetic.
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BECAUSE I KNOW WELL WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE OUTWARDLY SUCCESSFUL, AND YET FEEL CRAPPY ON THE INSIDE.

About 13 years ago, I co-founded a nonprofit that’s dedicated to reconnecting people to the earth. Then I worked my ass off for 7 years to the point of burnout and had to take a six-month sabbatical to recover from it. (Yes, there is some irony here.)

I was so frustrated that I was being forced to slow down and re-evaluate. But it turned out to be the biggest gift I could have received.

Because when I finally slowed down and started tuning into nature’s rhythms, I found SPACE.

And that space gave rise to inspiration, motivation, new energy and the profoundly obvious concept that we are humans — not robots — and we CAN actually run our businesses and our lives at a more natural, sane pace.

So I created a system that integrated what I’d learned from my mentors and teachers in the nature and ritual world with my management and business experience.

A system that allows for the necessary pause to get clearly aligned, strategic, streamlined and focused. A system that’s evolved plenty over the years and has helped me and many other entrepreneurs to create truly sustainable businesses.

So I built my business with relative ease, took Fridays off, went on walks when I felt like it, gave myself a paid maternity leave, and went back to work after my leave to earn the same amount I had been before I left and increased it the following year, working only 3 days/week.

But that's not the end of the story, of course.

Because not far into my shiny new business, I was hit with a chronic illness that’s done a huge number on my health, my energy, and my ability to produce (so hard for us over-achiever types!)

Then, I had a baby. (By the way, both of these things keep me up at night.)

And then came the dumpster fire of 2020.

So how am I still here and thriving?

  1. I keep going back to my principles – which are rooted in nature and have remained a grounding force for me through all the storms (and which I teach in all of my programs).

  2. And because I’ve now had so much damn practice slowing down, simplifying, streamlining, strategizing, boundary-setting, focusing and letting go, that I have literally become an expert on the topic.

So here I am.

Listening, learning, trying, failing, adapting, growing and bringing that wisdom through to my clients… helping them be more efficient with their time so they can build truly sustainable businesses that they love.

Businesses that allow them to have the freedom to live the lives they truly want… to have the financial resources, time and flexibility to be with their families, to travel, to be able to show up fully for their communities, to be healthy, sane, work when they want, contribute to important causes with time and money, and be on purpose in their lives.

So… join me?

Through our work together you’ll learn how to embrace a whole new way of doing business that doesn’t involve an ever-growing to-do list ora so-called proven cookie cutter system. 

And one that will never force you to be a robot.

Work With Me

MY CREDS, INFLUENCES AND OTHER INTERESTING TIDBITS

  • Credentialed Plant Geek (Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources)
  • Coaching certification from the Coaches Training Institute (2013)
  • 10 years as a professional advocate, organizer, media spokesperson, and activist in Washington, DC and San Francisco working on issues from toxic waste cleanup to protecting rainforests and Indigenous rights
  • One year public relations for social change groups like Moveon.org and Vote for Change (ask me about meeting Bruce Springsteen during the Kerry campaign)
  • 7 years as co-founder and co-Executive Director (and business manager) of Wilderness Torah, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reconnecting Judaism to its ancient earth-based roots + getting people outdoors and connected to nature (+5 years on the board)
  • 25+ major community festivals + intimate retreats designed and facilitated to bring people into connection with themselves, one another and the earth

  • Participation in a whole bunch of cool trainings, programs and certifications including, Working Toward Woke, the Ecology of Leadership, the Art of Mentoring, the Women’s Wilderness Skills Immersion (I learned how to tan sheep hides and make acorn food!), a Wilderness Quest in the White Mountains, the Racial Justice Leadership Institute, Anusara Yoga Teacher Certification, the Rockwood Leadership Institute, and Essential Facilitation at the Interaction Institute for Social Change

  • Hiker, professional hot tub soaker, yogi, amateur watercolorist, traveler, crafter, and botany geek living with her partner in the gorgeous, rolling hills of Oakland, CA, near dear family and friends.

And finally, my deep thanks to the teachers and organizations who have so deeply influenced me that their teachings are woven inextricably into everything I offer: Lynne Twist (Soul of Money), Jon Young (8 Shields Institute), Tad Hargrave (Marketing for Hippies), Mike Bodkin & Renee Sweeney (Rites of Passage), Trudi Lebron (Equity Centered Coaching) , Weeze Doran (According to Weeze), and swoon-worthy poet, David Whyte.

We are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and Anti-Racism

And, we know we’re not there yet. It is lifelong work to dismantle the system of white supremacy. But we’re committed to making these changes. Here’s how it shows up in our company.

  • Scholarships available for Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) in my group programs.

  • Community standards in place and a commitment to uphold them in order to create a truly safe space for BIWOC in our programs.

  • Ongoing personal work by our staff to unpack our own privilege and dismantle white supremacy through books and trainings, in particular so that we can hold a safe space for BIWOC.

  • Conversations about race and equity in our programs are welcomed and engaged.

  • Curated DEI resources provided to all clients and referrals to DEI trainers and coaches.

  • Commitment that at least 30% of our budget goes to Black-owned businesses and contractors in the next three years.

  • A portion of all profits go to organizations supporting BIPOC (including my fave orgs, Outdoor Afro, the Nap Ministry and Black Sanctuary Gardens).

  • Commitment that at least half the coaches and guest teachers in my programs are BIWOC in the next two years.

Some of these commitments are complete, some are brand new commitments, and all of it is ongoing, always.

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