Julie England – Not Painted into a Corner

On the college campus of Texas Tech University, I wandered by the College of Architecture buildings every day and yearned to become an architect. I loved the idea of combining creativity with engineering to solve every day problems with an aesthetic. However, as I was putting myself through college, I opted for a chemical engineering Bachelor of Science degree and, then, right off to Corporate America chasing after another dream of financial freedom.

JulieEngland_2I spent my first career climbing the management ladder of the Semiconductor industry. Starting in the factory with production engineering, I had responsibilities of all shapes and sizes for ten years for silicon to mercury-cadmium telluride clean room wafer fabs or factories. Our customers ranged from hard disk drive companies and automobile companies to government missile guidance systems.

I yearned for an external, customer-facing role and soon became a quality manager and, then, the executive responsible for quality of this $7B Semiconductor business. The last ten years in the Semiconductor industry, I moved into business roles. I stepped into more leadership by becoming the executive and general manager of two different businesses: custom microprocessors and Radio Frequency Identification of RFID. I sat on three national trade associations in this industry, representing my corporation and met with hundreds of customers. My external facing role as a business leader was what fueled me on a daily basis. In 2009, after 30 years, I decided to exit and try my hand at something new.

During the next two years in transition, I interviewed for multiple CEO roles of small companies, board seats on a variety of company boards, took exotic vacations to remote places such as the Galapagos Islands and allowed myself to try an art course at a local community college. The CEO roles were not the best fit. I started on two company boards of directors and took on some local business management consulting. Two years later, between board meetings, I took more art classes. I began studying art in parallel at a local private four-year college. I participated in local art societies and their local art competitions. My confidence with oil painting continued to grow. After five years from my former corporate life, I feel I still have a foot in business and a forward foot in visual art, as well.

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We are giving away a $50 Amazon Gift Card every month to one of our subscribers! To enter, simply add your email address below. If you already subscribe, you will automatically be entered. Winners will be chosen randomly.