YesJulz talks making moves, never not working, and her new Puma collab
You won’t find many people on your social feed working harder than YesJulz. She created an entire career and brand based on her work ethic alone.
From throwing some of the biggest bangers over the years, to breaking artists into the game, Julz is always making moves and pushing the culture forward.
She’s about that action too, encouraging people to network and collaborate with each other and truly helping to bring the creative power back to the artists with her company 1AM Entertainment. Her #NeverNotWorking movement that she started promotes the type of mentality you need to have in order to be successful.
I had the chance to chop it up with Julz recently and she spoke about her work ethic, her recent dive into the music industry and her new collab that just dropped with Puma. She first explained how she came up with her #NeverNotWorking slogan saying,
“Every time I told someone I was from Miami, they automatically assumed that I was lazy and partied a lot. It had a very negative connotation. When in reality, I was very hardworking.”
Discouraged by this stereotype, she ended up taking time off for a bit and traveling to Europe for a stint. She also went to Egypt where she got into a little trouble with the law but made it out. It was there that she promised to change her life when she returned back to Miami.
“It was not the city that sucked, its the culture around it so I decided to commit to shifting the culture online and in-person from being materialistic to let’s work with each other instead of against each other.”
This was all the motivation she needed as she paved her own lane and created a career out of her passion. Although she was raised in Boston, Julz ended up moving back to Miami where she began hosting parties that started to gain serious traction.
More importantly, she saw how linking with like-minded people to work could benefit both sides and that’s what eventually helped her to expand her brand — networking.
Over the years, she’s gained the reputation as the go-to party promoter of the culture. This naturally opened other doors for her over time as her connections within the music industry helped artists break into the game. She began managing artists she believed in and over time, saw that with her help, their talent could be recognized.
One of those artists she started working with early on was 070 Shake, who was just featured all over Kanye’s last project, ye. Julz saw the potential in her artistry so she took her under her wing until she was able to fly on her own. Julz said,
“It’s all about networking and building real relationships with people, don’t use people as stepping stones.”
In addition to managing other acts, Julz also launched 1AM Radio to give those artists a place to put their music out and possibly get noticed by someone in the music industry.
She was also behind Kanye’s album release party in Wyoming which was a huge success. When she met Ye, she realized something. She told me,
“Meeting people like Ye confirmed that I wasn’t crazy for having so much passion for what I do. I don’t play with my art and neither does Kanye.”
She had never worked on a project of that size and she also had to do it with a new team, but she pulled it off and made that album release a legendary moment to remember.
YesJulz also spoke about her latest collaboration with Puma which will feature both apparel and footwear, dropping today. The whole collab came about when she was out at a party recruiting people to come help feed the homeless the next day.
It was there that she met Emory Jones who was also passionate about community service. Emory ended up coming to her event the next day and they clicked. She found out that he was Jay-Z’s close friend who had worked with him on Roc Apparel.
Later on, Emory Jones linked her with Puma and she pitched a clothing line and a shoe, Puma agreed. When asked about the process of making a clothing line and a shoe, Yesjulz said,
“I showed my friends an early version of the shoe and they didn’t like it. They thought the colors shouldn’t be that bright. That made me push back the release but eventually, I realized I can’t please everyone and I should do what feels right.”
She pushed through with her own ideas and people loved it. She will also be doing a tour with Puma. When asked if she thinks she is opening a door for big brands and influencers to collaborate on clothing lines together she said,
“100% I think I am opening a lot of doors for a lot of things. I especially want to open doors for women to collaborate with brands despite their image. Women have been forced to look a certain way in order to be heard. While men can have any image they want and still be listened to. I don’t want women to be placed into one box, women can be and do so many different things, smart, sexy, funny, being a mother etc.”
Julz puts her everything into whatever she is doing and it shows through the work she has done over years. She isn’t letting that slow her down either as milestones like the Puma collab only motivate her to keep going and work harder.
YesJulz is constantly evolving as she progresses in her career. As a person aspiring to do great things, there are always setbacks. When asked how she gets through any challenges she faces, she had some solid advice that everyone out there could use saying,
“I get up, get active and I keep busy. I try to make the best of things in that current moment. Whenever I get lazy or unmotivated I always watch this Will Smith video where he is talking about 2 guys on a treadmill and how he is going to be the guy that doesn’t give up no matter the circumstances. You aren’t going to be the best. There is always going to be someone better than you but no can beat you if you are putting every fiber of your being into what you do.”