Julie Watson, the 191st person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has learned to be stronger than her excuses.

During her life, Julie has dealt with kidney failure, a heart attack, diabetes, skin cancer, a kidney transplant and innumerable hospital visits. She has to take 12.5 pills each morning – because the pills for one condition trigger another condition, forcing her to take more pills.

When Julie was younger and battling kidney problems, she would hook herself up to a dialysis machine every second day, for five long hours, to clean her blood. And what would she do while the needle was in her arm? Make phone calls and run her marketing business.

Julie is a naturally positive person, and incredibly resilient, so, somehow, she found a way to make the best of her bad situation.

Julie is also innovative.

Back in 2018, Julie embarked on a motivational speaking career, with a keynote address called ‘Stronger than my excuses’. Unfortunately, just one person showed up to Julie’s debut speech … which made her realise the only way to attract customers was to build a personal brand. So she started recording vlogs, video interviews and panel discussions. 

Julie then had a revelation – people loved telling their story. So she founded a video marketing company that helps businesses produce and publish panel discussions as a way to highlight their expertise and impress potential customers.

And the name of Julie’s company? Stronger Than My Excuses, naturally.

As a marketing aficionado, I fell in love with Julie’s business idea as soon as I heard it. Hosting a panel discussion is such a clever way for businesses to market themselves.