CEO and Co-Founder of Home/From College, Julia Haber, is helping members of Gen Z find their passions, one GIG at a time.
Successful female entrepreneur Julia Haber started her business endeavors during her college days. With a very successful self-start up business, a strong social media presence, and an inspiring persona, Julia has it all, so we reached out to see if Julia could share her knowledge, expertise, and advice with our readers.
Getting to Know Julia
Before starting Home/From College (H/FC), Julia Haber’s (she/her) entrepreneurial mindset sparked in her first year of college at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
In the beginning stages of developing H/FC the company followed a very different model. But the day that COVID shut downs were announced in March of 2020 it became clear that she had to pivot and she bought the domain homefromcollege.com the same day. Julia maintained her passion and drive to create professional experiences for others, and there was born the career-starting hub we know and love today.
All Things Home/From College
“Home/From College is really the hub where students start their career. We built a number of products that support that very beginning of your professional development journey…. One is called the GIG, which is what we call Gen Z (acting) as a service for companies… and our second is called the Resume Studio, which is an all-in-one hub to help you create, manage, and share your resume.” –Julia Haber, CEO + Co-Founder Home/From College
The Home/From College platform is revolutionary to how Gen Z apply for jobs and manage their personal brand. Users have access to GIGs that are always paid and allow for exploration around working in different fields, but also the platform’s Resume Studio that acts as an all-in-one hub to help you create, manage, and share your resume with employers.
Not only have these unique features captivated the company’s target Gen Z audience, but they have made hiring and acquiring Gen Z influence into a valuable asset for companies that post to the platform, including Aquafor, Beyond Meat, Peacock, and so many more. Julia describes her company as being “a flexible access point” for companies looking to hire Gen Z voices, thus strengthening Home/From College’s niche in the job posting market.
How Home From College Started
Throughourout Julia’s internship experience working for WAYV in college, she worked with many different brands to create pop-up activations on college campuses. Because of this Julia has been to over one hundred college campuses all across the United States. While all the college campuses and their student demographic differed in various ways, Julia found one common concern shared by college students everywhere; students had no idea what they wanted to do with their life after graduation.
Julia described how launching Home From College helped her to be able to combine her passion for event planning with a business and a career. “I was always someone who liked events and event planning,” Julia said. “I planned a lot of nonprofit events in high school, and that was one of the reasons why I chose to go to Newhouse.” Julia explained how her dream was always to work in event planning, and Home From College helped make this dream become a reality.
Julia’s Advice for Female Entrepreneurs
While Julia’s company has reached success and garnered a space in the complex hiring market, she acknowledges that there were setbacks along the way. As advice for her fellow young woman business owners, Julia offers the following:
There are always situations where the answer is not there and you feel in over your head, and that’s okay.
Julia describes situations where business moves she’s made have been risky or have not gone as planned, but consistent among those stories is that she persevered. She had to learn that it is okay, and frankly inevitable, that you will have moments of overwhelm, but it is important to remember that “it’s all part of the process.”
Adopt a mindset in which you allow for and learn from your mistakes.
Julia now reflects on hard moments in her entrepreneurial journey and remembers that “it can’t be as bad as that.” She explains that, “it’s a framework to know that the mistakes you make when you’re in the entry point of your career or starting a business that are the life lessons that you will never make again.”
If you see the world as always filled with opportunity, you will have the ability to find solutions in times that feel absolutely impossible.
Julia has had to innovate along the way. She attributes her adaptability to much of the companies’ success and recommends other entrepreneurs to look for their own opportunities.
Find a support system through having a co-founder or advisory board.
While Julia did not feel the need for a co-founder in her first company, she considers Home/From College’s co-founder Nikolaj Zandvliet an incredibly valuable asset to the business. She describes the importance of having a sounding board and someone to support you when starting your own business, particularly with someone who has the same values. For solopreneurs, Julia suggests building your own advisory panel of “people who can support you: advisors, mentors, (and) peers.”
Slow down and take your time.
Julia attributes this strategy to much of her business’ success and recommends that all new entrepreneurs consider it as well. Because of her patience and flexibility with Home/From College’s growth, Julia explains that the company is profitable, whereas many other companies at the same stage are not because of the investments they took on in the beginning.
You are an emotionally driven person (and) you don’t (always) have the ability to properly assess risk.
Julia describes that even the most driven entrepreneur who is ready to get things done for their business should slow down to think about logistics and operations in order to achieve sustained success. While a “go-getter” attitude is something to get your business off the ground, it is not always the best approach to building a sustainable business model.
You can’t do everything well, you have to just do a couple of things in a really thoughtful and practical manner.
Julia explains that having a niche and being okay with your business not being able to ‘do it all’ is a vital realization for all business owners.
How To Connect with Julia and Get Involved with Home/From College
To connect with Julia and follow along her professional journey you can connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on Instagram, and even follow her on TikTok. Also check out Home/From College on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
To post your own GIG on Home/From College check out their list of services and make an account at homefromcollege.com/company/signup.
