Power Women: Julia Melle Of REVEL8 On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman

An Interview With Ming Zhao

… Vision — Success isn’t being comfortable in the now, it’s looking ahead and steering the ship toward the future. People want to understand where you’re taking them. It helps them set goals and stay motivated.

How does a successful, strong, and powerful woman navigate work, employee relationships, love, and life in a world that still feels uncomfortable with strong women? In this interview series, called “Power Women” we are talking to accomplished women leaders who share their stories and experiences navigating work, love and life as a powerful woman.

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Julia Melle (pronounced Melly).

Julia J. Melle is a seasoned creative leader with strategic vision and boundless passion. She has the ability to ideate, manage and evolve holistic brand campaigns that change culture, win awards, and generate results. Julia’s ideas and leadership have helped brands like Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Bridgestone, Terminix, Altoids, Nature’s Own, Metro by T-Mobile, Special K, and Always lead the change in their category and culture. Her awards and recognition include Cannes Lions, Clios, Communication Arts, National Addy’s, Effies, and AWNY’s Working Mother of the Year Award.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

Well, I am a mayor’s daughter from the beautiful, hard-working town of Troy, Ohio. My dad was an amazing and respected leader in the community, advocating for diversity and economic growth. He even changed our town motto to “Be Kind.” From a very young age, he taught us that you have to be “fair, firm, kind and consistent to earn respect.” Both of my parents were crazy over-achievers dedicated to serving the community. They instilled an unwavering and sometimes problematic work ethic in me and my siblings. But I credit my mom for exposing us to a variety of different activities to see what would stick. Art, writing, piano, swimming and soccer were my passions. Still are, actually.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

As a child, I was always drawing, sculpting, painting, reading and writing stories, poems, and jingles. I was decent in art so I made it my major while trying to be a Division 1 swimmer. It was too hard. I was in art lab until 2 a.m. then up at 5:30 a.m. for practice. So, I changed my major to communications with a concentration in public relations. All that journalistic writing led to my first job in the advertising department of a Midwest retailer. Not the most creative opportunity, but it taught me discipline. I was able to build a portfolio which allowed me to move into the agency world. It’s really the perfect industry for me — a combination of art, writing, theatrics, and leadership.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I have to say it was probably when I was working on P&G’s Always account. We had the campaign “Have a happy period.” One day we were sitting in a meeting with the client when someone in PR casually referenced that women in Africa have to miss school when they get their period because they don’t have protection or proper bathrooms. They end up falling so behind they drop out of school, affecting the entire trajectory of their lives and their society. I was adamant we do a campaign educating women on what was going on in Africa. I pitched something along the lines of, “If we can donate a portion of our sales to providing these women with protection, we’ll not only drive business, we’ll change lives.” So, we did, and P&G ending up not only giving women protection, they built bathrooms in different schools. We achieved all-time high share results, drove sales, and won a Cannes Lion. But the best part was helping these women stay in school.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Hard work — Late nights, weekends, early mornings. They were all an important part in building my career. I never said no to a new opportunity. Every experience, no matter how big or small, made me a more diverse creative thinker. When I was the creative director on Special K, we launched a massive multi-media campaign promoting all their new protein products beyond cereal. It was the hardest I ever worked. Nights and weekends for months on end. I try to set more boundaries these days. Sometimes it works.

Healthy competitiveness — I was a D1 athlete so I like to win. Not in an ugly way. But I think it helps if you have a competitive drive. It will force you to keep pushing the ideas, always bring your A game, and passionately defend your work. I want others to win, too. Nothing makes me prouder than seeing another creative team or agency produce a beautiful idea. One time, another writer who is a friend of mine put a note on my door before a big meeting that said “Bring it!” I loved it.

Insatiable curiosity — What if, what if, what if. I continuously ask myself and others this question. I actually struggle with knowing when to put the paint brush down sometimes. I feel there’s always another idea out there and it may be better so we need to keep pushing.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. The premise of this series assumes that our society still feels uncomfortable with strong women. Why do you think this is so?

The easy answer is strong women feel threatening or intimidating to some. But the real answer probably lies somewhere behind hours of psychoanalysis. Maybe some feel powerful women expose inadequacies and insecurities. Some may feel we threaten their power and job security. Or maybe people feel strong women threaten traditional femininity in some way. I’m not sure. Truth is, giving more power to women doesn’t take any power away from men.

Without saying any names, can you share a story from your own experience that illustrates this idea?

I’ve been in many meeting rooms where I am the only female and experienced the lack of eye contact and dismissiveness. But sadly, I have also seen women in power positions treat other women poorly, telling them to stay in their lane and to watch themselves. At the end of the day, insecurities will always breed fear-based behaviors.

What should a powerful woman do in a context where she feels that people are uneasy around her?

That’s a good question. My instincts say “why does she need to make other people more comfortable with who she is?” But I also believe the best leaders find ways to connect with people. And if you want to connect with people, you need to show them you’re human. I don’t believe power should ever exist without empathy and kindness. Kindness puts everyone at ease. Take Michelle Obama for example. She is incredibly powerful, determined, and successful, but there is a genuine compassion and kindness to her character that seems to put everyone at ease around her.

What do we need to do as a society to change the unease around powerful women?

Like with any minority group, education and exposure can help increase understanding. When we hear a woman is powerful, they get put into a stereotypical box. Truth is, powerful women are complex and interesting like all human beings. So, the more we can add dimension to strong women, the more we can understand them.

In my own experience, I have observed that often women have to endure ridiculous or uncomfortable situations to achieve success that men don’t have to endure. Do you have a story like this from your own experience? Can you share it with us?

I have been lucky to have had many male advocates in my career. But I have also been in many rooms where men have avoided eye contact with me, been overtly dismissive, or called me hormonal when I was pregnant. I think the most disappointed I have been was when I left a company for another career opportunity. They told my clients I was leaving because I found a job that let me spend more time with my kids. It was an easier story for them to tell but it wasn’t the truth. I left for a better career opportunity. That would never have happened to a man. Since then, I’ve had a better handle on the narrative I want conveyed about my choices.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women leaders that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Gender biases and stereotypes are always a concern. Women are just held to a higher standard. They feel like they have to work twice as hard to make an impression. And because of pay inequity, they have to be aware of extra tactics to ensure they’re being compensated fairly.

Let’s now shift our discussion to a slightly different direction. This is a question that nearly everyone with a job has to contend with. Was it difficult to fit your personal and family life into your business and career? For the benefit of our readers, can you articulate precisely what the struggle was?

Yes, it was a struggle, and it still is. So often in the world of advertising you can’t predict what’s going to happen or when the creativity will hit. If you plan on working out in the morning or attending a school function, the plans may be blown by an emergency client meeting or a deadline. Rather than try to achieve the perfect balance, I seize the small windows that open. Early on I was terrible at setting boundaries for myself and taking vacations. I felt I needed to work harder, longer. But I have learned self-preservation tactics and how to set boundaries.

What was a tipping point that helped you achieve a greater balance or greater equilibrium between your work life and personal life? What did you do to reach this equilibrium?

There was so much talk about work life balance ten years ago. I would see other women getting up early and working out before work and leaving on time to get home and cook dinner for the family. I didn’t live in that world. I was often working really late and therefore had no desire to work out in the morning. So rather than put that pressure on myself, I looked for open windows and sucked the life out of them. If I saw a morning of no meetings, I would spend extra time with my kids or take a half-day off. I would make an effort to create windows in the evening by setting boundaries and turning my phone off when possible. I would say that today, I do a better job of blocking out exercise or family events on my calendar. If people see it on my calendar, it’s usually preserved.

I work in the beauty tech industry, so I am very interested to hear your philosophy or perspective about beauty. In your role as a powerful woman and leader, how much of an emphasis do you place on your appearance? Do you see beauty as something that is superficial, or is it something that has inherent value for a leader in a public context? Can you explain what you mean?

I believe appearance and fashion, not necessarily beauty, is highly relevant in my industry. In advertising, we are in a business of building brands that generate talk, value, and resonate with huge segments of the population. As the creator of ideas for these brands, our appearance tends to sell our credibility and relevancy. If we are aware of trends and fashion, our clients may believe we’re more in touch with culture and better able to serve their brand. My priority is to be authentic, professional, and on trend. But as advertisers, I believe we also have a huge responsibility to create work focused on authentic beauty, rather than perpetuate insecurities and unhealthy body image issues.

How is this similar or different for men?

It’s not. Same applies to men in our industry. There’s still a standard for their appearance. But I would venture to say that my hair takes way longer to dry than any other human being on the planet.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Powerful Woman?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Vision — Success isn’t being comfortable in the now, it’s looking ahead and steering the ship toward the future. People want to understand where you’re taking them. It helps them set goals and stay motivated.

Empathy — It’s one of our greatest strengths. We can use it to stay attuned to our employees and clients’ needs, shape our business models, react to cultural context, and so much more.

Freedom to fail — The ability to take risks, make mistakes, learn, and adapt, is not only important, it’s the greatest gift. It builds resilience, adaptability, creativity and knowledge. It also builds a healthy workplace.

Actionable plan for balance — How are you going to self-preserve and carve space for yourself? Having a plan for balance is as important as having a plan for business. If you’re not healthy and happy, no one around you will be either.

Support system — Define your village and have them in place, prepared for any situation; sick kids, sick you, vacation, finances, errands, etc.

Bonus: Sense of humor — Maybe the most important of all. If you can’t laugh every day and poke some fun at yourself, then everything else will seem too important and precious. Laughter keeps our humility in check.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Well, if we’re reaching for the stars, I’m going with Tina Fey. She’s a writer, I’m a writer. I’d love to ask her about the Hollywood screenplay process, character development and whether she lifts weights with her Golden Globes.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.