Meet Juliza Sofia Giron

We recently connected with Juliza Sofia Giron and have shared our conversation below.

Juliza Sofia, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

“You don’t have any friends because no one cares about you.”

I was between 12-13, that volatile age when young girls navigate their most pivotal changes and sometimes start making questionable friendships. And I had made the most questionable of all.

We all know the archetypes of girl friendships— The gossiper, the crafty girl, the mean girl, the shy girl, the boy-magnet, the smarty pants. I was more of the shy girl. But my shyness wasn’t easily chalked down to introversion; it was a carefully constructed mask concealing an overwhelming burden of anxiety, depression, jealousy, and self-hatred I kept buried for years.

Naturally, I struggled to make or keep friends. I didn’t even know how to be a friend for myself. But one girl took an interest in me, “Maybe this is my bff!” I would think excitedly, I’d always wanted a bff. In my head, a bff was every girl’s rite of passage, but I was missing out! And so in the desperation of wanting a friend we became “BFF’s.” But I missed all the warning signs, I didn’t know any better. I didn’t understand that true friends don’t regularly erupt in anger, spread rumors, stonewall each other, or form cliques for revenge. I didn’t know that real friendship never ends in an axe carved with the words, “no one will ever care about you.”

I knew at that moment if I held on to the burn of those words, I’d never be able to move past them. A girl already drowning in insecurities, low self-esteem, and loneliness, now soaking in words laced with arsenic? No way. Not a chance in hell.

To this day, I don’t remember the exact words I was told—the sentiment remains only as a foggy memory. What’s clear is the words that were aimed to destroy me ignited a fierceness in my soul. In that moment of cruel clarity, I knew exactly who I was and who I would be for the rest of my life. The curtain lifted, revealing my “raison d’être,” my purpose.

“I am everything she is not, I am everything she never could be, I am everything she never will be.”
I became a mirror, reflecting back the opposite of her darkness. When she treated others cruelly, people couldn’t imagine me doing the same because it wasn’t in my nature. When crudeness or crass behavior emerged from her, it only highlighted my different path. It was an easy blueprint to follow: take something you hate and become everything it stands against.

From that pivotal moment, my world changed. This new version of myself walked a clear path aligned with my true nature. I became the empathetic girl because I had survived malevolence. I grew into the confident girl because I understood what it meant to be chained by debilitating thoughts. I embodied the passionate, energetic girl, full of life, because life had tested me repeatedly, and I overcome.

With each new challenge, failure, and pain, I returned to myself, my purpose—refining, redefining, and strengthening it. As Robert Greene said, “Give yourself an enemy and you will rise up to greatness.” Greene wasn’t referring to my specific enemy, but rather to the value of adversity—whether from another person, a personal flaw, or life itself—that constantly challenges us to excel.

Pain is a beautiful teacher, although there’s no hiding the fact that it hurts, there really is no lesson like it. Those words—”No one is your friend and no one cares about you”—could have broken me, but instead became the foundation which I built myself on. They sparked a transformation that would have been prolonged or impossible without that moment of clarity and pain. Since then, I see how those poisonous words became my salvation. The girl who once struggled with anxiety, depression, and self-hatred found strength in the very place someone tried to create weakness. My purpose emerged from adversity, and though the journey continues, I understand that the words meant to destroy me actually set me free. For that unexpected gift, I can only be grateful as I continue to grow into the person I was always meant to become.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My career spans years of working as a photographer and digital media specialist. From podcast producer to brand designer, I’ve recently pivoted my business to focus on my passion: helping music artists create a strong and lasting visual suite. I now help up-and-coming artists transform their online visual identity to attract and retain a loyal fan base, establish their purpose, and convert their dreams into high-value opportunities.

I love meeting talented artists, engaging in their purpose and helping them translate their love for music into a visual story. I truly believe that when you love people you create more value than you ask for in exchange, and my goal is to help this niche grow in their business as I have grown in mine.

I never thought I’d be doing what I love this early in my life, but I’m grateful every day that I get to enjoy this piece of my dream life.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Being comfortable with failure was the earliest and most repetitive lesson I learned. I was fired from the first 2 jobs I ever had as a teenager, both in waitressing. In my 3rd and 5th job I was unfortunately laid off, the 5th one was particularly painful as it was the most meaningful internship I had had at that point, but not even 24 hours later I found a different internship to replace it. A few months after I landed my first full-time job it was implied I would be given job security after 6 months. Guess what happened? I was part of a group of layoffs at the 6 month mark. It was extremely devastating at the time, I had just finally accepted that I’d never get to have any free time outside of an 8-5 schedule. But then, just a week later I was on the phone with a local business to schedule a meeting about what services I could offer them. And that’s how I landed my first full-time freelance client which allowed me to self title myself as “a full-time freelancer.” Eventually my clientele grew, but then another failure striked again, I had to offboard a bigger client which meant my income took a sharp decrease. A month passed without making up this income and I eventually landed a great opportunity that was higher paying and I was able to learn and scale my business from it as well. I wouldn’t have had the time and energy to be engaged in this great opportunity had I not lost that client. That’s when I decided to pivot my business from helping local businesses to my true passion: music artists. I build the back end for 6 months, once I was ready I offboarded all my local clients and the first month I launched my new business, I made the most money I ever had in my life. The trust I’ve been able to build with Allah (God) has been priceless, and the gratitude I feel ever day is incomparable. With hardship comes ease and I’ve lived that lesson many times in my professional career. I couldn’t be more grateful for having chances to fail, and be setback, as I know Allah always has something better lined up for me. For me the 3 most important things were being comfortable with failure, building my trust in God, and being grateful for all the wisdom that has come out of my journey. I truly believe a positive outlook and not letting go of your higher power opens the floodgates of abundance for everyone.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

Spiritually, all praise is due to the most high, but physically, myself first and foremost. In my most difficult moments I only had myself to pick me up and get me back in the game. The greatest investment you can make is in yourself, no discussion. I put that into practice, as the largest investment I ever made was $6K to learn how to build my high ticket business and join a community of entrepreneurial women like myself who were doing inner and outer work. It’s been the most life changing experience so far. I had to battle debilitating fear, my self doubts, wavering confidence, and burnout every step of the way. There was no room to give up in this experience, giving up meant I’d fail myself, my growth, my happiness, my security, my freedom, and my future.

Through my community of like-minded women and my partner, I never had to compromise on the freedom and happiness I desired. When I met my life partner he became my strength when I didn’t have it in me, his own struggles and life experience were an assurance and comfort to me that no matter what negative experiences I faced, I’d always be able to come out of it alive. He was the one who pushed me to not go back on the decision of investing in myself even when I was paralyzed with fear, I joke now that he’s set off a self-investing craze in me that only keeps rewarding me back. I know God sent him to me before I knew I needed him, and not only did my relationship with my life partner deepen and develop, but with God as well.

There was a point where everything was going wrong in life and even though I prayed diligently, I doubted I’d ever get out to the other side. Spoiler alert: I did. And when I did all I could do was reflect back on my experiences, that’s when it hit me: everything had worked out at the right time and gotten me everything I wanted and needed better than I could have imagined. So I had a first-hand testimony of how Allah blesses you in the “hardship” when in reality, the hardship makes way for what you need. Since then, I can recognize when God makes way for me to receive the blessings I ask for, and not only do I trust in Him completely, but I am excited for the process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.juiceboxcard.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juiceboxcard/
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/juliza-sofia-giron/

Image Credits

Juliza Sofia Giron