Julia van Graas’s career commenced in Australia before following a well-trodden path by many Aussies, moving to London where she spent four and a half years enjoying a soaring career trajectory, working as a director at global consulting firm, AlixPartners.
While based out of the UK, she spent 18 months in the Netherlands, a six month stint in theUAE and plenty of short trips working with clients in Germany, Denmark, France, Spain andItaly. Returning to Australia in 2013 with her husband via a six-month holiday in Africa, shehas based herself out of Sydney where she continues to work with clients across the AsiaPacific. While travelling for work is now more limited due to her family commitments, thewanderlust for travel is satisfied by overseas holidays every year.
Upon her return to Australia, Julia worked with firms such as KordaMentha Group and EY,and recently co-founded the advisory firm Spiique, which provides on demand c-suiteleadership support to organisations.
The decision to return home, she recalls, was a relatively short process, with a few forces atplay – both personal and professional – that brought her ‘home’. Julia had establishedherself in London over the course of four and a half years, but was headhunted to return toSydney to her old firm. With an unwell father-in-law in Australia, and another five yearphase ahead to becoming an MD at her London firm at the time, newly married, Julia andher husband also weighed up what life would be life if they started a family on the otherside of the world.
Based in Sydney for over five years now, Julia continues to bring this global mindset, shapedby her time abroad, to her work and life. Leaving Australia between the ages 27 and 32 gaveJulia the ability to develop a specialty capability that she couldn’t see in Australia, anddeveloping her personal brand has provided the foundation for her career steps since.
“Exposure to a different way of thinking, global mindset and complex situational clientexperience brings a different perspective to the way I approach client situations inAustralia,” says Julia. “Now having two small kids, I have plenty of role models to reflect onfrom my time abroad who managed to have very satisfying careers whilst also enjoying a fullfamily life.”
