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technicallymedia · 7 years

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Meet Julie Zeglen: an interview with Generocity’s Editor

What was your favorite/least favorite part of going to an all girls high school?

I loved going to an all-girls school! I loved especially that I didn't need to brush my hair or shave my legs if I didn't feel like it because, who cares? And also I met so many brilliant weirdos who are still some of my best friends today. My least favorite part is that it took like halfway through college to understand how to have normal friendships with boys. They were a mystery 🤔

What are the major differences from college Julie and Julie in 2017?

I was really terrible at being a college kid. I liked classes and higher education generally but I was so bad at being a cool fun girl who stayed out late and went to frat parties. I'm way better at being an adult, partly because I don't stress that I'm supposed to be a certain way for my age.

What’s a perfect day for you?

A sunny Saturday spent mostly in West Philly with lots of dogs around to pet.

Out of all Philly, why is West your fave? Is it because of the cheese making classes?

West Philly is the best because there are trees, good people, dive bars, trees, Clark Park, a brewery two blocks from my house, public transportation, bike lanes, an easy route to my parents' houses and trees. Also, the cheesemaking classes.

What do you consider the most rewarding part of working with Generocity?

When people tell me a story has meant something to them, like if we were the first press they got or they heard X response from the public because of it. Direct feedback is a reminder that there are humans behind the numbers I see in the backend of WordPress.

What is your best quality as a journalist and what do you most need to improve?

I'm not great a project management when writing my own stories, which is why it takes me so long to write longform pieces and why I get so stressed out about them. But I think I'm good at empathizing with my subjects and making them comfortable talking with me, like I'm not trying to screw them over (because I’m not).

You wrote on Medium about your experiences with sexual harassment on the job. Have you always been comfortable writing about yourself? How do you think you cultivated that quality?

Ha. No. And I'm still struggling with how much of myself to put out into the world via personal writing. There's this one piece in particular that has been sitting in Drafts in Medium for six months because it feels too close to share with other people. Also, strangers are cruel on the internet, and while I haven't personally been attacked for any personal writing, I know it could happen, and that makes me keep my distance. But I want to get better about it!

Any creative or fiction writing in your interests?

Yes! When I was younger I wrote a lot of plays. One was performed my senior year. It was sort of about how I wore this POW bracelet at the time, which is silver band that has the name of a prisoner of war, and mine was a guy who was lost in Desert Storm in 1991. The point of wearing the bracelet is that you don’t take it off until the POW, or their remains, came home from war. So in the play, I imagined that the girl wearing the bracelet (sort of me) met the son of the guy who's name was on the bracelet. What was kind of crazy was that in real life, the summer after I graduated, the remains of the real guy who's name was on my real bracelet were actually found. I'd been wearing his name on my wrist for like five years. It felt especially powerful because I’d basically shared his story with my senior class just a few months earlier through my play.

What's your favorite peace treaty and why?

Haha. The only peace treaty I can think of right now is the Treaty of Versailles, which Wikipedia tells me ended WWI. I went to Versailles once in January. Not an ideal time to visit, people, because the fountains aren't on and the flowers are dead.

What is Julie Zeglen doing 10 years from now?

Ten years from now, Julie owns a house, has written some cool longform pieces, probably has some more tattoos and has traveled extensively.

What did you want to be as a grown up when you were a child, specially in that picture?

I wanted to be an actress, a writer (ding!), a marine biologist at one point though I hated the beach. 🤔 Oh, definitely an artist at that point, though.

Do you have a picture of the artwork you are most proud of?

Aw, I wish. There's a framed drawing I did in fifth grade in my childhood bedroom. It’s a cartoon of a ballerina with giant feet falling through the stage floor because of said giant feet. I won an award for it!

When are you your happiest? Like what time of day is it? What are you doing? What is near you? Who else is there? Who’s on their way?

I'm happiest sitting on the beach in Malibu after sleeping in a tent at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains. Assorted friends are waking up and gradually making their way to join me.

What's the coolest thing you've ever done?

Probably go skydiving and feeling like I was definitely going to die. I'll never do it again, but you guys should all do it once.

How long will we be able to enjoy Strawberry Blonde JZ (favorite JZ of mine), rephrased: Do you feel like you’re going to change your hair color any time soon?

It's taken too long for my hair to grow out and be healthy again after it was bleached for two years. Strawberry blonde is here to stay.

I’m guessing it’s black from all the black you wear but, what’s you favorite color?

Favorite color to WEAR is black because it's easy and makes me feel like I can take on ANYONE GRRR but my favorite color to look at is blue 🚙

What can you say of your acting process? When you deliver a line, do you really lose yourself in the character and it’s them doing the talking or is it JZ just pretending to be someone? Is it a mix of both?

I'm actually not a good actress though I think acting is super fun. So no. I'm v self-aware and trying to remember my lines, so it's all me pretending to be someone, preferably someone WAY goofy because when you're on stage or on camera, it's OK to be weird.

What is your #1 favorite song to dance to?

At wedding it's "You Make My Dreams Come True." At dance parties it's "Sorry."

What do you miss most about working for a neighborhood newspaper? Least?

Oh man. I do miss having to be out and about in the neighborhoods I covered, meeting with people face to face, exploring, literally looking at posters tacked to poles to find out what events were going on. I don't miss how terribly I was paid.

What's your favorite word?

My favorite words are adverbs, generally.

What’s your favorite musical movie and live?

"Newsies" as a movie and "Wicked" live. You guys, please see Newsies.

Do you curse when you drive?

Definitely curse when I drive. Everyone else is a terrible driver.

What do you find to be the most difficult part and the most rewarding part of being on the Generocity team, as it relates to Generocity as a "startup in a startup" at TM?

It often feels like a solo project. but it’s rewarding because when new things we try are successful, I likely had a hand in making that happen.

What's the most frequent display of low key sexism that can go unnoticed in the workplace?

Talking over women or not consciously making space for women to talk (especially quiet ones like me). Guys just need to shut up sometimes.

Do you have a challenge for Technical.ly's approach to editorial? What can we do better?

Allow more time to let stories simmer to make sure they're perrrfect. I like hearing that Juliana’s “fairy godfather” piece took months. We can't do that often because we gotta 🛳 but sometimes I wish I could let myself look over a story a few more times.

If you’re in a burning building and you have one item to grab before you escape, what is it?

This lil’ stuffed husky named Penelope. Joe got it for me years and years ago and we decided to eventually get a husky and name it Penelope. V gross :)

What’s your cause? Like, what out of the million things wrong with the world do you put the most money/support behind fixing from far way?

I'm v concerned about the broad and thorny "women's issues,” especially issues of sexual harassment and violence against women. Rape culture is real. I’ve also gotten v v interested in reentry recently, totally because of Generocity's reporting on it. It's insane to me how much of our population is behind bars and not being supported once they come out.

What would your superpower be, if you could have one?

I wanna flyyyyy, hence rock climbing and jumping out of planes. But only if I can have a cape.

3 writers you look up to?

Juliana Reyes of Technical.ly, Jia Tolentino of The New Yorker, Margaret Atwood because I just finished "The Handmaid's Tale" and have felt so much dread (yet oddly, hope?) because of it.

First TM impressions!?

My first visual impression of TM was walking into the 4040 office and seeing T-Shirt Headband Day unfold (Tony and Zack were wearing t-shirt headbands of their own making). So, I thought you all were weird in a good way. Oh, and I felt like I wasn't interesting enough to be here for a while because everyone was sooooo cooooooool and I was soooooo shyyyyyy, haha.

Is there a trait that you feel like you lack?

I’m getting better at telling people when they're wrong — assertiveness when it's unpleasant but necessary.

What is something meaningful (or silly) that you'd like to achieve in the next 1 yr? 3yrs? 5 yrs?

One year: Write a long form piece that makes some impact. Three years: Hike to Machu Picchu or something similar. Five years: Buy a house.

#ama #editorial #editor #generocity

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