Meet the Child Care Council Staff

Introducing Julia W

Melissa @ Kids Matter

               I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Eligibility Specialist, Julia W. in the Jefferson County office. Julia has been employed by the CCC for about 18 months. Julia pursued employment with the CCC after having been a director at a daycare center. Julia felt that being a director in a daycare wasn’t doing enough to promote child advocacy. She felt that the CCC could give her the opportunity for the “grass roots” level of advocacy she desired.

               Julia, or “Peacock” as she is known to her husband, was recently married in a unique Halloween themed wedding. Julia met her “Mr. Right” when she was just a child, as he was the best friend of her older brother. Having no interest in each other romantically, they both pursued other options in life partners. After both found themselves in a “lost period” (post relationship break-ups), they reconnected via Facebook, and the rest is history. Julia says she was attracted to Mr. Right because, as adults, they discovered that they had much more in common personality wise than they’d previously thought. Julia has a unique sense of humor, and says that Mr. Right “gets her humor”. She says she fell in love with his “completely romantic style, humor, intelligence, and the fact that he is her polar opposite politically”.

               Julia explained that Mr. Right calls her Peacock because when they were dating, she would “peacock” for him every time they saw each other. He says she is beautiful and rare like a peacock. He proposed marriage while they were visiting her family for Christmas Eve. He began by playing “You’ve Got the Touch” by Stan Bush which has special meaning for them. He got down on one knee, proposed, and of course, she said, “Yes”.

               Aside from being employed with the CCC, Julia adds professional actress to her resume. She performed in musical theatre for over 10 years and only stopped when she met her previous spouse. While working as a professional actress, she lived in London for over a year and loved it. During her time as an actress, she also lived in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, NY. She describes her time there with humor and love and says she was NOT afraid of the neighborhood because, in true peacock style, she “was destined to be there”.

               Julia moved to NYC one week after 9/11/01 and describes the time following her move there as sad. She commented, “No one had a job and stockbrokers were applying to work at McDonald’s”. She states that while taking the subway to work, the rage, pride, sadness, ego, agony, resilience, and political feelings of the people were all palpable. However, none of this ever deterred her from living there and continuing her life as normally as possible.

               Working in the office with Julia is a treat. I feel privileged to call her my friend AND co-worker. She’s as lovely as she is charming with her warm, funny, sweet, and passionate style.