An Interview with Julia Guerra—shopping contributor at 'Us Weekly'

Julia Guerra didn’t leave the industry. An NJ-based journalist with more than a decade’s worth of experience on the beauty beat for both Bustle and BestProducts, she is very much still writing and taking on freelance gigs.

However, she has—in her own words—changed her relationship with the industry. She told me:

“I’m using it to my advantage versus the other way around.”

I met Julia nearly six years ago and she quickly became my Gchat buddy. At the time, we were starting out full-time freelance writing careers and we pinged each other about everything industry related. Years into our Gchat friendship, we both had daughters only weeks apart, and bonded over that transition—and what it means for our careers—too.

Julia started Beyond My Byline in 2022 and fun fact, I helped create her first-ever graphic for her Substack banner 😅 The goal was clear: BMB was Julia’s safe space for the writing she wanted to do—the writing that didn’t get placed at a publication. Her talents and creativity went far beyond her clips at InStyle, Insider, Allure, and mindbodygreen, hence the truly brilliant Substack name.

Since having her daughter, Julia’s relationship with the industry has evolved. I love dishing with fellow journalists, especially when they’re my friends, and I wanted to share her interesting perspective with all you pitches because it’s an important one.

It reflects more than one shift—in journalism, the current media landscape, your 30s, personal goals, the transition into motherhood, and well, beyond.

You recently shifted your focus to your own creative writing projects whereas in the past freelancing full-time was the priority. “Using the industry to my advantage and not the other way around,” is what you said to me.

JG: I came into this industry a bright-eyed college graduate, hungry for experience. I will forever be grateful for the experiences I have had and continue to have within the editorial industry. Over a decade into my career, I’m still the passionate/enthusiastic writer I always was; I just also know my worth now.

What did the industry give you that you still carry into your work now, and what did you intentionally leave behind?

I’ve had my byline featured in over 20 publications, and from these gigs, have learned a lot of excellent skills: how to produce clean copy quickly, how to conceptualize a complete story from a vague idea, how and when to go beyond surface-level questions in an interview, how to research/find reputable sources, and how to network.

I’ll be leaving behind the hustle culture and feeling obligated to be glued to my phone and email.

What shifted in you personally to warrant the professional change? Or are they the same thing?

The need and want for a change came slowly, in parts, as if something were chipping away at me. Motherhood played a role; I’m a stay-at-home mom first and foremost, and that means the majority of my day is spent raising my daughter. It’s my most important job! I work writing into my mommy schedule, not the other way around. I just don’t have the same fire in me to take on same-day deadlines, let alone a couple of hours to hand in a story.

A lack of fulfillment was also a factor. From 2019 up until 2023, I had steady work. I was freelancing for a handful of publications and genuinely enjoyed everything I was writing. Then the industry started to change. Editors were getting laid off. Budgets were being cut. The freelance pool was getting crowded. I lost work due to financial restraints and staff shifts. I was being assigned what felt like “busy” work or accepting assignments for which the rates were, to be frank, dismal compared to what they’d been before. My pitches were mostly ignored. I felt undervalued, and it got to a point where I stopped caring. I was putting in the same amount of effort that I always had, but for what?