Welcome, Welkom, Bon Bini, Bienvenue, Huān Yíng
Welcome to Just a Regular Julie. I’m Just Julie, the founder. I’m a Renaissance woman. Avid reader, amateur writer, long-life student and passionate dreamer. Founder of the Jeffry Stijn Foundation for Mental Health and Patient Advocacy. Co-Founder of Human Rights Activists Aruba. In all I do and write, I try to bring humanity to the forefront. Bringing humanity back to the law. Bringing humanity back to mental health. Bringing humanity back to business. And especially bringing humanity back to every day life.
About Just a Regular Julie
I am Just a Regular Julie. A renaissance woman. Mental health patient advocate. Certified compliance professional. Avid reader. Amateur writer. Passionate dancer. Animal friend. Life-long student. Free speech proponent. Human rights champion. Devil’s advocate debater.
Dutch by birth and nationality, international by blood, previous residency, education, mind and heart. Fluent in English and Dutch – with a smattering of Papiamento and Spanish. Spoke Mandarin and French at one point.
Writing and Inspiring
Writing and inspiring is what I like to do. Whether it’s about law, mental health, philosophy, management and organisation, socially responsibly business and organizations, norms and protocols, advocating for human rights, or simply human connections.
Just a Regular Julie Services
Currently I just write. And write. And write some more.
In the future expect workshops about how to start your own business or organization. How to write effective project-, tender- and business proposals. How to design your websites and create a social media presence with little means.
Motivational Writing. Writing as an Experience Expert. And how to advocate effectively.
Just a Regular Julie and Human Nature
I am fascinated by a lot of aspects of human nature. Whether it’s about philosophy and psychology, or communication and personality, there’s a ton to write about. Leadership, language, norms and protocols are just some of the areas I’ve specialized in during my career. Expect plenty of articles on those subjects.
I’ve had a ton of opportunity to study human nature. As someone who is a descendant of five different nationalities, and has moved countries multiple times across multiple continents, with hugely different cultures, norms and languages, I’m an experience expert on that which binds us. And especially that which unnecessarily divides us. Often times through easily explainable miscommunications.
Just a Regular Julie -Creativity as an Outlet
“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’
I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
– Lewis Carol
I was incredibly creative as a child. Not particularly talented, but I found joy in writing, arts & design, composing music, choreography, acting & directing and even photography.
As my environment pointed out, I was not talented enough to make a living out of any of those hobbies, so I never pursued nor considered a career in those fields.
But I have used my creativity plenty of times in business. By thinking outside of the box. By finding commonalities between parties unable to communicate or work together. By taking on the improbable or impossible and finding solutions that may not have been conventional, but that worked for that organization or department at that time.
Just a Regular Julie and Human Rights
Considering my international family structure and background, and strong connection to Law, it’s not surprising that human rights have always been a favorite and enduring interest of mine.
It’s one of the reasons, when after meeting the permanent representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations, I decided to set up Human Rights Activists Aruba with three others.
Though it’s early days, I expect this group will grow to become a force to be reckoned with soon.
Mental Health and Patient Advocacy
I have cPTSD, complex post traumatic stress disorder. It’s a mental illness that I could probably live and function with when managed properly.
Unfortunately Aruba is a small community with limited resources. Plus it’s a country where languages, norms and values overlap, intermingle and often times clash. Not to mention, mental health and mental illness is a huge taboo for an island that markets itself as ‘One Happy Island’.
The way we deal with mental health and mental illness is very much via the norms and protocols of Western society. And that creates a lot of issues. And doesn’t help patients getting fitting, timely treatment.
And that’s why I started the Jeffry Stijn Foundation for Mental Health and Patient Advocacy. To help patients find the information they need to advocate for themselves and their needs. To promote practical projects that will help support a better mental health. And to lobby for structural changes in the way society treats people suffering from poor mental health or illness, as well as help patients find ways to accept their own limitations without getting in the way of their potential.
Socially Responsible Business and Organization
Despite not having any higher education degrees, I know a lot about business and organization. I studied project management via Liverpool University, studied management, economics and law in The Hague. I studied both Dutch and Aruban Law, as well as English Literature. I’m a certified compliance officer, and completed both my Cambridge First Certificate as well Proficiency as a young teen.
Career-wise I worked in corporate services, for law offices and executive or higher management. I was lucky enough to be at the forefront of start-ups and change management where a pilot project became structural, or I got the opportunity to set-up new departments. I firmly believe, and have always practiced, 360 degree leadership. And been successful at it.
MY success is in large part to my inherent belief that socially responsible businesses and organizations are more likely to succeed long-term. Why? Because business and organizations are run by people, and their workforce is made up of people, and their clients are people. Even if the clients are organizations or businesses, they, again, are run by people and staffed by people.
And (most) people are not only motivated by money and profits. A happier workforce leads to better productivity. Effective leadership allows room for a happier workforce, whereas bosses have the opposite effect. Companies and organizations that look for sustainable solutions, instead of doing what is most cost efficient or expedient, have a greater chance of cooperation from both the local workforce, as well as local government or interest groups.
Just a Regular Julie Gallery
Just a Regular Julie
Bringing Humanity Back to Everyday Life
