Empowerly student Julia is a multi-talented and high-achieving 16-year-old student currently living near Sydney, Australia. In this exclusive interview, we sat down with Empowerly student Julia to learn about her journey and desire to empower other teen voices. We talked about her nonprofit work with EXPRESSED, academics, and more. Curious about how she manages it all, and what drives her success?
Let’s take a closer look at her impressive profile, and get the scoop!
This interview is Part 8 in our Empowering Activities series. To read more, check out the rest of the series right here! We hope that celebrating our stellar Empowerly students will inspire other high schoolers to reach for the stars.
About Julia:
Attending a selective accelerated high school, Julia has nonetheless been accelerating her experiences outside the classroom on her own as well: not only has she already published a book, but she also recently appeared in her first movie!
Amidst all that, she has held several professional internships and makes time to study languages (Russian and Chinese) with her delightful cat.
As a passionate learner of many subjects, her interest in the cross-over between acting and business has led her to develop the global not-for-profit entrepreneurial endeavor we’re here to chat about today.
As CEO & Founder of EXPRESSED Speech & Drama Academy, Julia is changing the game for students who want to learn to express and empower themselves through speech and performance.
Questions:
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! We are so excited to learn more about you and your amazing work. So…
Empowerly: Which activity(s) do you participate in that makes you feel most empowered, and why?
“Starting my not-for-profit has been extremely empowering—our mission is, fittingly, to ‘Empower through Expression!’” Julia shared.
“We’re a pioneering global not-for-profit that provides FREE workshops for anyone aged 6-12, that cover foundations of speech, drama, and debating. We also connect future leaders across the globe, notably through our Expressed Envoy programme. This is an online volunteer opportunity that provides students with service hours, a CV boost, and even the chance to win Amazon / Starbucks gift cards whilst supporting an emerging not-for-profit to expand its reach.
I’ve enjoyed starting EXPRESSED as I believe in our mission and our project—and I think there’s extraordinary fulfillment for me too! I’ve also always wanted to start something myself and it’s very exciting to have such a learning experience.”
E: How long have you been doing these activities?
“I had the idea for the organisation about a year ago, and we launched officially a few months back.”
E: How did you first discover your passion(s), and when was that?
“My passion for speech and drama was quite surprising to everyone—because I used to be genuinely incapable of answering a question in class (I’d start sweating, flushing, and mumbling, which unfortunately is the case for many in our generation).
Having joined a workshop, I began participating in all the classes I could, reading all the books (including the heavyweights like Stanislavski), participating and winning competitions across my city, joining debating programmes at my school, joining the boards of theatres, signing to an agency.
However I found most of these opportunities I found remarkably inaccessible, and if not, quite expensive. Given the extent to which training within spheres of presentation and performance was fundamental to my own development, I found it saddening the lack of recognition for the benefit of such activities, as well as the lack of opportunities—and decided to change this through starting my not-for-profit!”
E: Have you faced any memorable turning points or obstacles along your journey?
“This may be a poor answer, but every new day I continue to work on the not-for-profit—cold email people, attend meetings, and brainstorm future plans—I realise I could’ve done something better the day prior. This is part of the reason why I’m excited to be recruiting and onboarding a team, as I definitely don’t know how to do everything perfectly!
This week, we’ve also been able to organise a meeting with Rotary, which is very exciting and hopefully a partnership that we manage to build out.”
E: What are your plans for the future (in high school, college, or beyond)?
“I’d love to see growth for EXPRESSED—being able to reach more people and becoming a sizeable not-for-profit. I’ll also be applying to US universities for Fall 2025, and I’d love to pursue higher education that supports my interests in business/acting!”
E: How has Empowerly helped you move your passions/activities forward?
“Empowerly has provided me with a network—such as the community of this newsletter, which I am very grateful for! It’s also great to have a person who supports your efforts as your counsellor, especially for students who may not have that already.”
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
“As discussed, we’d recommend signing up for our Expressed Envoy Programme here (more information is attached). We currently have leadership openings, including Director of Social Media, Director of Outreach & more! If you’d like to sign up to join our free workshops, the link is here.”
“We have a website coming soon, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, with any queries or thoughts feel free to reach out.” Email us at: expressedspeechndrama@gmail.com / Instagram: @speechndramaacademy / TikTok: @expressed.speechndrama
Final Thoughts:
As Julia stated, learning to express your story is an invaluable part of personal development in high school. Finding extracurriculars that enable you to succeed while uplifting others is a wonderful way to work towards the common good!
If you are curious to learn more about activities that will empower your students, we are here. Reach out to learn more about our program and how we can help. Book a free consultation below to receive a customized recommendation for your college application plan.
