the julie off duty story
Julie fell madly in love with travel somewhere around 2000 when she learned of an 80-day around-the-world trip on, of all places, MTV. At $40k, it was not even an option for a 19-year old to go on. So she set out to find a way to combine her two greatest loves: travel and the beauty industry.
A casual flip through a beauty trade publication in 2002 led Julie to her next phase: working on a cruise ship. Originally wanting to work in the spa, she switched lanes to the gift shops after learning the spas were open all day, every day. Julie’s dream of traveling for a living (instead of just one vacation per year) was beginning to blossom.
Julie’s other love of nails began even earlier, while she was still in elementary school. She was gifted a tiny package of rhinestones meant for the face, but she instead put them on her nails. 20 years later, she’s still putting rhinestones on nails, only now it's A-list celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Emma Roberts, and Hailee Steinfeld to name a few.
When Julie's not meticulously manicuring Hollywood’s elite, she’s backstage at New York Fashion Week as Essie’s lead nail artist and the founder of the global nail academy, Masterclass Nail Academy.
Past trips include Asia (Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing), Southeast Asia (Singapore, Thailand), New Zealand, South America (Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires), the Amazon, Maldives, Dubai, the Mediterranean, the French Riviera, Bermuda, most of the Caribbean and many countries in Central America, and lastly, Julie’s spirit state: Hawaii (7 times!). 2019 trips included a beauty tour to Morocco with Around the World Beauty, Egypt, Cote d’Azur, Paris, and London.
2020 was to bring Julie to Bali and Jamaica to teach, plus Ibiza, Portugal and Tanzania, but COVID-19 had other plans. She spent the pandemic sitting at home dreaming of her next destination, which may very well top them all… Antarctica in early 2022.
Stir her two passions together, throw in a dash of NYC life, and you get Julie Off Duty. You’ll learn, and you’ll be entertained. Stay longer, and you may see some fun surprises along the way…
Photo: @VictoriaInRome