Hi, I'm Julia. 

I'm a strategist, marketing leader, and life-long creative with over ten years of experience working both in-house and agency-side, across a diverse set of industries and business types. With a background that spans from creative direction to strategic communications, I've honed a specialty in helping both emerging and established brands grow, reposition, and adapt at critical milestones to scale and generate demand. 

Most recently I've led brand strategy at a mental healthcare technology startup, managing a team of strategists, copywriters, and designers. Now, as a freelance creative director, you can find me project managing, copywriting, and designing content, among a few other roles. 

Since 2014 I've provided marketing, design, and PR consulting services to various businesses across industries–including the arts, real estate, media, and podcasting. I primarily work with entrepreneurs starting their businesses or working to take them to the next stage of growth. 

And, I began an adjunct teaching career at my alma mater, University of Miami, in 2018, working with several of my former instructors in creative advertising and strategic communications. I taught a prerequisite course in graphic design and visual communications for public relations, creative advertising, and other School of Communications majors for several years. I built an original curriculum, syllabus, lectures, assignments, and lesson plans, including live and recorded tutorials in Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, and Illustrator. 

In 2020, I started a hobby that would end up becoming my own entrepreneurial endeavor. Named for the craft that started it all, and paying homage to my Puerto Rican and Spanish ancestry, LaVela is a lifestyle brand dedicated to self-care through indulgent simplicity. I make artisanal candles, soaps, and home fragrance goods by hand using natural, non-toxic ingredients and sustainable practices. Capturing the essence of coastal living with scents that transport you to moments of serenity and relaxation, LaVela’s handcrafted offerings blend sensory delight with aesthetic pleasure, to inspire mindfulness and appreciation of the smaller things in life. 

When I'm not working or making candles and soap, you can find me playing with my two rescue dogs, Calypso and Kona, working on my historic fixer-upper with my fiancé, Claudia, digging in the dirt and harvesting my favorite homegrown edibles–tomatoes and cucumbers–or relaxing on the pristine beaches of Tybee Island.