Meet Julian Rugel

We were lucky to catch up with Julian Rugel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Julian, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?

As a child I learned that being different or yourself scares people. In sixth grade I spent the entirety of my school days in total silence after being mocked and called things like mute boy. Only through soccer did I ever really learn to be comfortable when being “the only one in the room”. At age twelve my rec soccer team with the Decatur-Dekalb YMCA inherited a team of refugee players from all over the world. We had players from Bosnia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Burma, Thailand and many more all who lived in the Clarkston area of Georgia. I went from playing on a team of suburbanite kids(including myself) to getting tossed into a world unknown to me at the time. From then on my sister and I spent most of our soccer playing careers as the only Americans on our team. We would go to Clarkston and play street soccer in their neighborhoods without an American other than us and my father(the coach) in sight. This experience enlightened me to what the real world is truly like and what actual struggles are and I am grateful to have met all of those people and more so to still be able to call them friends today. I truly believe being the “only one in the room” so to speak may teach people more about the world and themselves than they could ever expect.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My brand or business is called Post Rugelje Productions. The enterprise is centered around my works as an author. So far i have written two novels and eleven comic books that are illustrated with highly edited AI images to create the series known as The Time Travel Football Club. This series is a story about a mad professor that creates a machine capable of time travel, upon his first successful trip through time he finds an invitation from the Milky Way Galactic Federation to create the first ever Earth soccer team to compete in the Galactic Invitational; an interplanetary World Cup style soccer tournament. The first novel is the tale of the team’s creation through the ages to gather players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Pele, Eusebio, Roberto Carlos and more. The team features 35 players and includes players from every continent and era of modern football(soccer). The second novel is the story of the tournament held on Pluto. The series also features a jersey shop i have designed with over 130 soccer jerseys themed to the novels and the comic book series as the team plays matches through the ages of human history to try to reshape the future. The jersey shop and author page where you can find all the books can be found through timetravelfootballclub.com. There is also a Youtube Channel for the team where i have started creating historical era matches through AI video generation. I plan to write the third and final novel of the trilogy this year at some point, after I finish a collection of short stories I just started writing this month.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Learning to enjoy and use solitude to my benefit, becoming comfortable with yourself when no one else is around
The work ethic I developed through my soccer career prepared to be able to work for myself and for others.
My advice is just be yourself despite what anyone else thinks, its has to be better than trying to “fit in”.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

They never pressure me to be something I’m not. Even without a official job currently, I am the only one pressuring myself to try to be things I’m not. this has allowed me the freedom to write and develop the Time Travel Football Series to what it is today and where it could go in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://timetravelfootballclub.com
• Instagram: @postrugeljeproductions
• Youtube: Time Travel Football Club
• Other: TTFC Jersey Store:
  https://time-travel-football-club.printify.me/category/all/1

  J. Post Rugel Author Page:
  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Julian-Post-Rugel/author/B0DDBF79JV?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=917026fe-54ac-405e-8455-fe650f8647fd