We love anniversaries here at Powerhouse, and we’re thrilled to be celebrating Julie Clark’s one-year Powerhouse anniversary. Julie is one of our extremely talented social media specialists or, if you’d like, strategists. In her first year here she’s already served clients such as Cape Henry Associates, Jacey Eckhart, and Agent Intel/MILLIE. As Powerhouse President Jess Bertsch is fond of saying, “She’s seriously talented, y’all!”

We asked Julie to reflect on what she loves about Powerhouse, and she said, “From my first phone interview, which was on a weekend or weeknight, I knew Powerhouse would be a great fit for me. Jess understands that freelance work involves unusual hours and unusual work environments.” Very true. She also loves that even though we’re all working from diverse locations and time zones, Powerhouse still makes her feel like she’s part of a real team. Almost as if our virtual office were a real office setting. No matter what project she’s working on, Julie never feels as if she’s alone on a task. That collaborative feel is there, no matter that we might have some unconventional remote offices.

Julie is a fantastically creative thinker who has had a passion for entrepreneurship from a very young age. We’re pretty sure she was hustling a slew of lemonade stands and was a top sales earner in any fundraising efforts she participated in growing up. Julie’s confidence, common sense, and drive have helped her create and sell several businesses over the years. And she always has new business ideas percolating.

While Julie is not a military veteran or spouse, she is the daughter of an Army veteran and the wife of a fireman. She and her husband eloped in 2002 and were married on top of Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. Today, they are the proud parents of three children, a sixteen-year-old daughter and twelve-year-old identical twin boys. They love experiencing the outdoors together and can be found doing anything from kayaking, snorkeling, fishing, hiking, camping, or exploring new nature preserves and beaches. They live on Florida’s Space Coast, which means they can indulge in their outdoor passions year-round. Julie, especially, has really taken to kayaking in recent years. She even takes strangers on guided kayaking tours, which stretches her introverted ways but has been infinitely rewarding.

Because we’re focusing on giving back this month, we asked Julie (who also has a passion for giving back) what ways she gives back to her community. She told us that she routinely supports several fundraisers related to her husband’s work at the fire department, the annual Rockledge Professional Firefighter’s Toy Drive and Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirt Drive. The proceeds support local families in need over the holidays and local breast cancer survivors.

Julie and her husband are constantly looking for ways to help their community and are committed to instilling a passion for volunteerism in their three children. As Julie says, “It’s important to remember not to take anything for granted, whether health or financially, and to look for opportunities to help others who are less fortunate.” Giving back doesn’t have to be done on a grand scale either. “Don’t overthink it,” she states, “It can be as simple as reaching for that item on the top shelf of a grocery store you see someone struggling to reach, or picking up a few items of trash after a day at the beach.” Giving back doesn’t require money or even a lot of time. The little things add up and are just as significant.

Julie’s passion for work, life, and her community mean she’ll be a part of the Powerhouse team just as long as she wants. Well, that and the fact that she is amazing at what she does. She sees Powerhouse experiencing tons of client growth in the next few years. She’s learned a lot in her year here and thinks Powerhouse will continue to impress with our dedication to our clients and the quality of work we produce.

As we always do, we asked Julie for a fun fact about herself. She told us she’s a bit of a nerd about looking for fossils and treasure. In another life, she would have been an archaeologist or paleontologist. Recently, she took a solo trip to the Peace River in the middle of nowhere to look for ancient treasures with a sifter her husband built her. While she hasn’t found evidence of a never-before-seen dinosaur yet, she has collected fossilized bones and shark teeth. She also dreams of finding treasure in one of the many shipwrecks off the Florida coast.

Julie left us with a challenge that we’re going to pass along to you: This week, make a small gesture to give back to your community. If you accept this challenge, we’d love to hear about your experiences. Even if you simply bring a smile to someone’s face, you’ve impacted your community for the better.

We are extremely excited to introduce you to our “oldest” Powerhouse freelancer, Jennifer McKee. It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say we’ve been waiting ALL YEAR for this feature! Jen has been with Powerhouse for over six years and is still our number one fan, as well as one of our indispensable, go-to talents. She works as one of our quality assurance geniuses, but she has been known to take on the occasional writing assignment if we beg enough. Jen ensures that the products we turn out are error free and fantastic. Currently, you’ll see her hand in products for clients such as Nomadés and Cape Henry Associates, but given how long she’s been with us, her invisible touch is almost everywhere.

Jen has two favorite things about Powerhouse. Well, we limited her to two or, given her status as a super fan, we’d be here all day. She loves the flexibility that comes with our virtual workplace, but she truly loves “how encouraging, supportive, and just KIND the team is to one another.” We couldn’t agree more. It’s a work environment that founder Jessica Bertsch has purposefully fostered since day one—and Jen should know because she’s been here nearly as long. These are also traits Jen’s taken to heart as she is almost always one of the first to offer an encouraging word or congratulations.

Jen describes herself as “a hot mess,” to borrow a phrase from our founder. A typical day finds her juggling her life, working at figuring herself out, and just trying to be happy. It’s a quest she’s aided in by her husband of seven years, Alan (a sixth-grade science teacher which, we think, automatically makes him a hero), and her daughters, Alex and Maya. Alex is 21 and has just started veterinary technology school while she works full time at a veterinary hospital. Maya, almost 18, is in her senior year of high school and a proud fourth-year color guard member of the Hickory Marching Hawks. Jen isn’t a proud band mom or anything (wink). Her domestic bliss is rounded out by her 3-year-old pit bull, 8-year-old boxer, and her 18-year-old, 4-and-a-half-foot long ball python. Hey, we all have different ideas of what makes a good pet, but we think she might win the most cool pet owner points in our “office”!

When asked about her hobbies and interests, Jen said she enjoys kickboxing, hanging with friends, and SLEEPING. We can get behind those, too! She loves to travel, though she doesn’t think she does enough of it. She also doesn’t think she relaxes enough, which we’re willing to bet is a failing a lot of us have.

Because we’re entering that time of year when we all start to look toward next year, we asked Jen a little bit about what planning looks like in her life. Once she stopped laughing at the very idea of planning, she told us that the best planning advice she can give is this: Plan to have things interrupt your plans. She’s an olympic-level list maker, but life always seems to get in the way. She’s spent a lifetime learning not to be flummoxed by the hiccups that come, but to be flexible and that while the best-laid plans may not go to plan, a general outline is helpful.

We’re pretty sure her ability to change as needed is part of what has made her so successful at Powerhouse. We know she has faith that Powerhouse will only continue to grow and blow clients away with our quality products. We’re just relieved that as far as she’s concerned she’ll be a member of the team for as long as Jess will have her. Which means we’ll see you again in about 20 years when we’re celebrating her quarter-century here!

As always, we asked Jen for some fun, little-known facts about herself. She offered three, though she said none were very exciting. The first is that she has been enamored with military jets since she was 12 years old and her Air Force dad took her to her first air show. She actually loves jet noise! The second is that one summer during college she waited on Stephen King. The third is that, having grown up on Cape Cod and coastal Maine, she can get every bit of meat out of a lobster even though she won’t eat any of it (she’s NOT a seafood lover).

Well, Jen might not find herself overly exciting, but we’re excited to have her talented self as part of the Powerhouse family. Here’s to six-plus years together and many more to come!