Work With Me
Hi, I’m Julian.
When people ask me what I do, it’s often easier to just rattle off one of the following: writer, editor, co-founder, barista, teacher, coach, consultant, organisation design practitioner.
In reality, I see my career as a series of professional adventures. Beyond the titles, these are some of the things I think I’m really good at: working with people to bring out the best in them, connecting the dots, balancing creative autonomy with structure, telling stories, drilling down to why we’re really choosing to do something.
I started work as soon as I graduated from junior college, skipping university lectures to give Literature, English Language, and General Paper tuition, before also becoming a barista and a freelance writer. This was where I first cut my teeth in the real world, learning that there’s the work, and then there’s the work—the client management, the workplace politics, the managing upwards, and so on.
In 2016, I co-founded Rice Media, where we did a couple of things that I’m really proud of, namely:
We brought creative storytelling to the journalism landscape, revitalising the coverage of socio-cultural and political issues
We pursued and published stories that have shaped and destigmatised the coverage of subjects that were traditionally considered taboo in Singapore
This was also where I learned to manage people and teams for the first time, building structure and processes from the ground up to meaningfully empower a growing company. Most importantly, I learned to manage myself—to understand my own blindspots, communication and leadership style, and how I needed to adapt to my team’s needs.
In 2021, I joined Open Government Products to pursue organisation design and leadership development work, helping to scale teams, culture, and processes in a hyper-growth tech/government organisation.
In mid-2023, I left full-time employment in order to redesign my life. This is the journey that I’m currently on, where I’m optimising for freedom, creativity, and positive social impact.
If you’d like to work with me, here’s what I currently offer:
Coaching
“Find your voice. Tell your story. Live your life.”
I came into coaching work at a time in my life when several consecutive life events woke me up to the reality that I was deeply unhappy. I felt stifled in the job I was in, the most important relationships in my life were not working, and I was slowly losing grip on my sense of identity and self-worth.
The inner work that I’ve since embarked on—with the help of my therapist and my own coaches—has been both brutal and transformative. I now understand what it means to confront uncomfortable truths about how we are showing up in our own lives, to really listen to what we are being called to do, and to start making change.
As a coach, my life experiences have given me the capacity to hold space for others with deep compassion and empathy. I believe we are all capable of taking the necessary action to learn why we are the way we are, make better choices, and live more freely. While I challenge directly when I need to, I also care tremendously for my clients and am committed to the growth of each and every one of them.
Currently, as I’m working towards my ICF accreditation, I partner with individuals across a wide range of challenges, helping to deepen their self-knowledge and create tools and strategies to better navigate careers, relationships, and life.
Self-work can be really hard, but the support of a coach can help tremendously if you are seeking change in your life. So if you resonate with my message and are keen to explore working together, you can drop me an email or connect with me on LinkedIn.
Click here to read some of the testimonials from my past clients.
Advisory/Consulting/Mentoring
If you would like more targeted support with
Building and operating small teams
Becoming a more effective manager & leader
Media, content, storytelling strategy, helping your brand or publication to find its voice
you can likewise drop me an email, connect with me on LinkedIn, and we can explore how to best work together.
Everything else
If you’re not sure what I might be able to help you or your business with, but think my background is relevant and would like to chat anyway, reach me via:
As always, you can also support my writing and this newsletter via a paid subscription if you so wish.
Going into 2024, I am remaining open to any opportunities that align with my values and allow me to work on meaningful problems. So if there’s any interest, please feel free to reach out for a chat!
Thanks for stopping by. 🌱