This morning, Wednesday, March 21st started off as a typical morning. I arrived at the Forbes office promptly at 9:00am, bought myself a small coffee and a piece of toast (best. bread. ever. full of grains and seeds) topped with peanut butter, checked my email and opened up Forbes.com for my daily digest of current stories, events, etc. Per usual I navigated to the ForbesWoman page and, HOLD UP... Julia Nunes!? Wait, Julia Nunes?? YUP. There she was, her picture staring straight at me, accompanied by an article titled, Meet Julia Nunes, YouTube's Ukulele Queen. To which my reaction was, out loud, "Hey, I Know Her! It's Dulia!" (sorry for using your nickname at the office DuFace!)
The ForbesWoman article --> Meet Julia Nunes, YouTube's Ukulele Queen
Which features this video -->
The article covers Julia's latest tour to promote the release of her fifth album, Settle Down! While reading the article, the following excerpt blew me away.
"Unlike previous recordings that were paid for entirely out of pocket, Nunes turned to Kickstarter
to fund this effort. And her fans responded in droves - her original
funding goal was $15 000, but the final donation tally was almost $78
o00, cracking the top five of most-funded Kickstarter music projects on
record."
No Big Deal.
On a more personal note, Julia is not only an amazing musician, she is a wonderful friend. Most recently Julia and I got together for an impromptu date night, which included sushi, catching up on life, stories from high school, and lots and lots of laughing. Everyone needs a friend who can make them laugh, and that girl is Julia. To me she is a perfect example of powering one's potential. She has a true passion, she stuck to her guns and pushed forward as young entrepreneur.
The results?
200,000 subscribers on YouTube
90 videos with over 50,000,000 views
Performed on Conan (barefoot. Yes, sans shoes.)
Toured with multiple artists, including Ben Folds
and much much more...
Julia, congratulations on all you have accomplished! You are a tremendous example to young women, and men, on how if you stay true to your values and pursue your passion with authenticity, you can achieve above and beyond the goals that you set... and reach your dreams.
Connect with Julia here:
Facebook