Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Burton.
Julie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
ModernWell — the first women’s co-operative workspace and wellness center in Minnesota has been a lifetime in the making. It took decades of work as a fitness and wellness practitioner, a writer, a teacher, author, and mother of four for me to understand the continual buzzing in my ear that told me there was something important I needed to create. The idea for ModernWell began to take a clearer form as I witnessed the positive energy and creative inspiration that occurred around the writing table with the members of the Twin Cities Writing Studio, that I co-founded with a local writer friend. I saw the true power of women supporting women and vowed to spread this magic with as many women as I could. I wanted women to have a supportive and inspiring space where they could work, connect, and create, and also be able to practice self-care.
Six months since opening our doors, we are a strong community of artists, lawyers, bankers, photographers, writers, editors, teachers, therapists, coaches, wellness experts, stay at home moms, nutritionists, doctors, entrepreneurs, and women working on what’s next. We run non-profits and marketing firms. We are strategizing our next big business or personal endeavor or we are seeking more peace in our minds and our bodies. We are millennials, and gen x-ers and boomers. We are wives and mothers, single, married, and divorced. We care for kids, pets, our loved ones. We are politically active or in need of some respite from the political strife. Or both. Our sense of unity comes from our shared passion for life, women, work, connection, wellness, and for challenging ourselves to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.
Has it been a smooth road?
If you are looking for smooth sailing, starting your own business is probably not the path you want to choose. For me, having very little experience in running a business, my road has been far from smooth. Upon making the life-altering decision to turn my ModernWell vision into a reality, I tried to get as “smart” as I could by devouring business books and podcasts and meeting with hundreds of people who knew things about business that I didn’t. I tracked down lawyers, realtors, insurance agents, human resource experts, designers, builders, managers, and serial entrepreneurs and garnered as much information as they were willing to share about their area of expertise. And yet, even with all this great insight, I still often felt like I was walking through a dark forest without a flashlight. Some of the best advice I got during this time was from other women who started their own businesses. They all said the same thing, “Get used to that feeling of not ever knowing exactly what you are doing. It is kind of like parenting that way. You do the best you can with the skills you have and you ask for help when you need it.” In truth, I am still getting comfortable with feeling uncomfortable, and I still feel like my learning curve is very steep.
We’d love to hear more about ModernWell.
In addition to being involved in the day to day operations of ModernWell, my greatest joy is engaging with the community — both the ModernWell community and the community at large. I co-teach two ModernWell creative writing classes a week, a Friday Fit Fun Yoga class, and am also working on two more books. I spend a great deal of time connecting with local and national individuals and organizations to explore ways to join forces with others to help promote their work/business and share the ModernWell vision of merging work and wellness with people around the country. ModernWell is more than just a cooperative workspace. We are a vibrant and growing community of women who are committed to empowering themselves and the women around them.
Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
Be bold. Use Linked In to connect with people in your industry, or industries that you would like to learn more about, and reach out to these connections. Schedule phone calls, coffees with connections in your area, join networking groups, attend networking events. For me, I prefer one on one meetings so I scheduled countless in-person meetings from which I was able to establish two or three lasting connections. These people have become my mentors and I now schedule regular meetings with them. I also put together an advisory board of trusted individuals with varying expertise, which has been extremely helpful, and I would highly recommend.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2909 South Wayzata Blvd.
Minneapolis, MN 55405 - Website: http://www.modernwell.co/
- Phone: 763-999-7920
- Email: julie@modernwell.co
- Instagram: @modernwellco
- Facebook: @modernwellco
- Twitter: @modernwellco
- Other: http://www.juliebburton.com/
Image Credit:
Belu Photography
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