Julia Smith
Julia Smith on human nature
Julia Smith is a business psychologist, consultant and coach who is now leveraging 29 years of HR experience in her own company, People Science Consulting. Working with senior management teams and business individuals, Julia is an expert in nurturing relationships, reinforcing teams and finding out what makes people tick. Julia told us about the intersection between HR and psychology, her love of dog walking and the habit of getting distracted by distractions.
Photographs by Christopher Owens
Tell me about your background and career.
I grew up in the outskirts of Leeds with my older brother and sister. My mum and dad separated when I was 13 and I stayed with my dad, who’s had a massive positive influence on me and my career.
At the age of 15, he sat me down and asked me what I wanted to do with my life. He worked for Greggs at the time and I knew I wanted to do something in business like him but I didn’t know what. I remember him describing the various departments at Greggs and I really liked the sound of HR, so I went away, did a bit of research and made some decisions. I’ve never looked back - other than to be really grateful for that conversation.
I was the first in my family to go to university. I studied Geography at Sheffield followed by a post grad in HR Management. I started my HR career working for a mid-size firm of accountants in Leeds and had an amazing boss who remains a mentor today. My career then took me into international HR and I was really lucky to be able to see the world while working, doing assignments in the Czech Republic, South Africa and Brazil.
My attraction to HR was grounded in a fascination with human behaviour and psychology. Over the years, I had a lot of opportunities to build experience and expertise in that area. This resulted in me going part-time and putting myself through an MSc in Business Psychology in 2017, which I loved.
After many years of wanting to own a business and really enjoying a corporate career, I set up People Science in 2019.
Tell me about People Science. What do you attribute to its success?
People Science develops teams, leaders and talent.
I spend most of my time coaching senior leadership teams to work together optimally. I also design and deliver leadership development programmes and I do a lot of psychometric assessment. I profile people for their behavioural/leadership style, preferences, personality and use the insight to help make recruitment and development decisions.
We had our 5th birthday in February following record growth, which I’m really proud of! I think the business is successful because of the longevity of the relationships I have with my network and my clients. 99% of my work comes from my network and referrals. I’ve worked hard over the years to nurture relationships, for no reason other than I like to keep in touch with people I like and that, inadvertently, has really helped me build a brilliant client base.
I feel really lucky and privileged to work with the clients I do and I’m grateful for the opportunities they’ve given me.
What do you love most about what you do every day?
There is no better feeling than watching a team make a breakthrough in how they work together, or a leader have an ‘a-ha’ moment that changes the way they lead, or seeing someone really talented realise their potential. I call it ‘the shift’. When you see a shift, you know that your coaching or guidance has made an impact and has helped someone grow.
For the 29 years I’ve been working in this profession, it’s the thing that gives me the greatest joy. Running People Science allows me to do that every day.
Have you had to make sacrifices in your chosen career, and have they been worth it?
I don’t think I have - I think myself pretty lucky from that perspective!
There are a couple of things I miss from my corporate career. One is working in a team and having those relationships that make work fun and meaningful, but I have a few clients who treat me like I’m a member of their team anyway. I’m also co-founder of another business called MI-Say and we have a really lovely team there.
I do miss the international travel I enjoyed when I was employed, but I’m still getting to do a bit of work outside of the UK.
“I call it ‘the shift’. When you see a shift, you know that your coaching or guidance has made an impact and has helped someone grow.”
“I’ve worked hard over the years to nurture relationships, for no reason other than I like to keep in touch with people I like and that, inadvertently, has really helped me build a brilliant client base.”
What are some of your daily rituals and why are they part of your routine?
The most important daily ritual for me is walking my labradors, Piper and Ivy. They are my universe. Walking them is how I clear my head, get exercise and de-stress. Dogs need walking whatever the weather, so there’s never an excuse to not get out and walk, and I love it.
We live in beautiful Northumberland, so we are lucky to have amazing beach, forest, hill and river walks on our doorstep. I always feel a sense of gratitude when I’m out walking the dogs - it’s such an important emotion for mental well-being.
I also can’t really start my day until I’ve had my first cup of tea in bed. Yorkshire tea, of course.
What does work/life balance look like for you?
I don’t feel like I’ve cracked it yet if I’m honest. I’m better than I was!
My second to last corporate job burnt me out and I promised myself I’d never let that happen again. So far, I’ve fulfilled that promise to myself! But I still don’t make time for the things I’d like to and I prioritise work too much. I also have a really unhealthy relationship with time, which I’m working on!
How do you stay focused and productive in a world of distractions?
I could talk about this all day. As a psychologist, I’ve always had a fascination with attention. Like everyone, I get distracted and sometimes I get distracted from my distractions! I can be doing something, get distracted by something on my phone and get distracted by something else on my phone. Before I know it, I’ve read the life and times of Dick Turpin! That said, I’m consciously aware that it’s an issue and I’m actively working on it.
From research, we know that humans can shift from one task to another fairly easily but we can’t really multitask, despite thinking we can. Multitasking only weakens our ability to focus and there is growing evidence in favour of ‘mono-tasking’, so I’m really trying to do more of that.
“Multitasking only weakens our ability to focus and there is growing evidence in favour of ‘mono-tasking’, so I’m really trying to do more of that.”
If you had the power to change the world, what would you change?
I’m going to be greedy and talk about a few!
Relating to the last question, I’d love the human race to give each other our undivided attention. I want people to be less distracted and more curious. When people give each other their undivided attention, they are more generous with each other, they have better connections, we listen more deeply and that leads to trust, empathy, tolerance and respect. In what can be a divided and polarised world, we need to connect more deeply. Conversation is uniquely human - it’s one of the things that sets us apart from other species yet we squander that privilege. I would have a world where we have brilliant conversations.
On a really personal level, I would put an end to violence against women and girls. When my parents split up, my mum went into an abusive relationship and ever since, I have made it a mission to be vocal and support change. The statistics are shocking and the stories are devastatingly heartbreaking. It is a pervasive part of our society which simply should not be, but change is depressingly slow.
Finally, I don’t want to go all ‘Miss World’ and say world peace but that would have to be up there!
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