Julia Sköld, 28, has a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and is a Certified Stress Coach. She is driven by personal development; exploring what promotes health and how she can guide others to it. She has developed her company based on the mission to heal the stress-related illness that is a major problem in society today.
Above all, inspire others to dare to live authentically, listen inwards, live in a conscious presence, and make reflecting on life and existential philosophies a daily practice; which will build a frame of what life should be about. This is an anti-stress way of life, that Julia strives to live by herself.
Julia Sköld, Certified Stress- and Self Development Coach
What would you say your journey to date has been influenced by?
I've never seen myself as an ambitious person, I haven't dared to believe in myself and I've been an expert at being self-critical. I created an existence within myself that was not safe. I looked down on myself and I searched for everything I longed for outside of me. This created deep wounds and I let myself down, I couldn't trust myself as I took others before me. When I then stood with other people's problems on my shoulders, I thought that I was the problem (in a way, that's true).
I began desperately to try to find security and answers. I started meditating after reading about health on Google. The meditation gave me so much, I also ended up in a situation where I had to make big choices that meant moving and leaving what I thought was good for me.
An illusion shattered and I woke up. I finally saw the world with my own eyes. At first, I was driven by anger and frustration to get back on my feet. I learned there and then my strength and how far my stubbornness and intuition can take me. I then understood the importance of gut feeling, trust, and security and how it guides me as long as I listen. That's what personal development gave me.
When I had worked for a few years, stress came into my life and I saw it in the people around me.
I continued to listen to my intuition and I quit my job and found a stress coach education, where I got the answers I needed, to know exactly what the meaning of everything I had been through, was. The problems that I had, that left the deepest wounds in me, have been events that had to happen in my life; for me to learn what I needed to know.
I started my own business and today I coach women who are tired of feeling inadequate; to feel inner security and balance. Health starts from within.
I've always known since I was in my teens that I wanted to work with something meaningful.
I've also been very sure of what I'm not good at, and listening, providing support, and being solution-focused are my expertise. It has brought me to where I am today.
You have a degree in social work, why have you chosen to start your own business?
I started my social work education when I was 21, graduated, and started working in social work in various forms. Everything from going home to people with mental illness who have been granted support from the municipality to be able to live on their own; to administer support and treatment for adults with substance abuse and mental illness.
I loved it. It was incredibly meaningful and I met amazing people with inner strength, faith, and hope to find ease in their lives despite everything they had to go through. But also colleagues and managers who do their utmost for the most vulnerable in our society and who are driving forces in our municipalities. I was inspired and I also saw what I can do myself.
When I continued my education as a stress coach, the opportunity opened up to start my own company and use my knowledge to meet people who do not need municipal interventions and who do not seek medical care (or who have done so and have not found the support they needed).
Many fall between the cracks and stress-related illness is one such area that is difficult to confront today. There is a lack of money, knowledge, and a lack of time.
I also think many people may be worried about seeking support from employers as they are afraid of what treatment they will get and that they will have an even harder time than they already have.
Now that I have my own business, I have the opportunity to meet my customers where they are. Based on my knowledge, experience, and drive to help, I can give my customers space to let go of the facades and listen inwards.
The stress in today's society can be very exhausting and affect large parts of one's life. What tips do you have for those who read this and don't know where to start; to bring about a change?
Start at the right end and simplify. Otherwise, you won't be able to cope. Small steps create ripples in the water. Stress is not separate from your life. There are answers to what you are experiencing. Start from within.
Look at your thoughts, emotions, and behavior patterns. Often, high stress is due to your work environment, due to a relationship, a financial situation, or a combination of these. But what most people forget is how they handle themselves and what they are experiencing. This means that you often take old habitual behavior with you to the next workplace, or when you start studying, you use the same habits as when you were stressed out at the previous workplace. The biggest problem is that it is easy to try to use previous stress patterns to recover.
You need to have yourself with you when you want to relieve stress-related illness and become aware of what you are doing, it is what you do that creates your experience.
"You can't live one way, be one way, and expect to get something back other than what you give, you create the energy you want to live in!"
What's out of your comfort zone?
Since I've had a hard time believing in myself in the past, it's something that can come to the surface sometimes, especially when I'm new to the business world and I constantly have to step outside of what I'm comfortable in and do things I've never done before.
That's why it's probably a step outside my zone of comfort to stick my nose out and say "I'm good at this"!
Which is something I constantly need to do for anyone to even know what I'm good at! What has taken me forward despite fears, is my gut feeling and willingness to help. When I let these be stronger than anything else, I still find confidence in myself and what I'm doing. It gives me such gratitude to myself for choosing to work on myself and my mindset.
Is there anything you would like to get better at or explore more of yourself?
I believe that when you lose your curiosity about life and yourself, you lose a key to health. If you think that at some point you will "get there", "get done" or "when I've done that, I'll be happy" – you create a race you will never win.
There will always be things to develop within yourself because life never stands still. New challenges, problems, and obstacles. If you learn to face life curiously, you will open up to possibilities and solutions instead of locking yourself in and ending up on your knees as soon as something "goes against you".
I love having my own company just for the opportunity to always be able to follow my curiosity, drive and that as I develop, my company develops. It goes hand in hand.
Running a business is a journey that runs parallel to my own journey, and I am currently immersing myself in existential health to develop and improve my service! What I'm working on now is an opportunity for my clients to get more in-depth support for a longer period for those who are ready to become mentally stronger and find their inner security to navigate through life with EASE!
Can you tell us about the services offered by EASE by JULIA? In what way do you work with stress management that differs from other support you can get today?
My revelation in my journey is how the bigger questions became the answers to the small ones in everyday life. My issues and what caused high stress in my everyday life were life questions I needed to answer. Existential life questions can begin to bubble up to the surface when we experience high stress and anxiety and when we may need to sacrifice parts of our lives; We begin to question what we are losing by our ways of living and how we can live to feel good.
There are healing qualities in reflecting, daydreaming, and marveling at life. It opens up to see the big picture. How big life is. How little things matter. How big things don't matter at all. Your brain recovers, biologically. During my training as a stress coach, we were given space for this.
It's vital and something that I feel we do less and less today. That's why I teach my clients this (to find their way back to it again). I give them space to review their lives, no matter how big or small it results in, there are answers in how we live our everyday lives and if it is in line with what we value and see as meaningful.
There's a lot to be gained there. My coaching is not a checklist that the client has to check off by a certain date and then it's done. My coaching gives the client "stepping stones" to heal and develop their ability to handle and face life. I work with sustainable health and it's an art of life, not a checklist. In my meeting with the customer, the focus is to strengthen the inner, to handle the exterior. It will then be reflected in everyday life.
In closing, what is the most important thing you want readers to take with them after reading this interview?
Embrace what feels good to you in life and continue to peel away what does not. You can't do everything, what matters is that what you do is valuable and feels good in body and soul. Are you sick of trying to solve all your problems by yourself and done with treading around in the same old habitual footsteps that lead you nowhere?
Together with me, you replace the stress habits you are stuck in with habits that make you feel cared for, adequate, and in balance.
I'm on Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Facebook. You can reach me there or through my mail: julia@easebyjulia.com. If you want to know more about my services and me, you can take a look at my website.
