Julia Cook started at the Australian Olympic Committee almost 8 years ago as the Administration Assistant. Through her time at the AOC she has been promoted to National Events and Fundraising Coordinator, Event Manager, and now Community Engagement Manager.

Along with her colleagues in the AOC Community Engagement and Olympian Services Team, Julia has been instrumental in the development of the Olympics Unleashed program, which sends Olympic athletes to schools around the country to inspire students to follow their passion. The program launched in QLD in 2018, and has recently been launched in NSW, with the aim to make the program nationwide.

Julia has also been a key member of the AOC HQ Teams at the Rio 2016 Olympics, PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics, the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

In 2017 and 2018 Julia completed an Executive Masters in Sports Organisation Management, Business Administration and Management, and was recognised as one of the top four students within the group with her research project ‘Community Engagement Strategy for the Australian Olympic Committee’

Along with her major work and study commitments, Julia still finds time to represent her country as an Australian Age Grouper in Triathlon. In September last year, she competed in the 70.3 Ironman World Championships in South Africa, and is a podium-regular on the NSW tri circuit.

At just 30 years-old, Julia is a powerhouse for women in sport and business!

What has been your biggest career and sport highlight in your career so far?

My biggest career highlight was being part of the flash-mob at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing. I’ve been fortunate throughout my sporting career in athletics, and in my role at the AOC to be part of some truly monumental world-class sporting events, but none standout quite like this.  In the middle of the Olympic Village surrounded by the other nations we blasted none other than Queens iconic ‘Don’t stop me now.’ There we were, hundreds of people, from a range of sports, and countries, all bound by this unique passion for sport. It was that moment when nothing else mattered; not winning, not where you came from or what your gender was. It was people celebrating people.

A sporting highlight was crossing the finish line at the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in South Africa.  I was so grateful for the opportunity to race alongside some 1500 seriously fierce iron-ladies from around the world. As an age group tri-athlete you need to balance life, family, work and training, and training for this race in particular was very challenging. However, with the power of positive thinking and believing in yourself, you can accomplish more than you think!

How important is it for you to find time to be fit and active around your busy work schedule?

I love the IWD2019 theme #balanceforbetter; it means so much to me, not just about equality in the work place, but how we juggle all we do in our lives. We need to create a platform for success in terms of health, work and life as a whole.  Too often women, particularly, find this hard to do, especially in terms of fitness. This is an important reminder for us all to look at the balance between been active and the benefits it brings to you as a business woman. I push myself to set goals outside of work. I love sport; watching it, promoting it and playing it. Whether it is in my role as a coach or as a “arguably elite 30 year old” triathlete, I try ensure I get active in some way each day. It can be hard to get going however one thing is for sure, once you do, you never regret it.