Julie Serot '03

Julie Serot ‘03 graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007 double majoring in Physical Anthropology and PNP (Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology). She then earned her Masters of Philosophy in Marine Mammal Biology from Hong Kong University. Her sister, Jennifer Serot, graduated from Whitfield in 2004.

Describe your career. 

I am the founder and CEO at The Dharma Circle, which is an organization that supports ambitious women with transformation.  My flagship program is called MAYA--Money Alignment Yoga Academy, and my students call themselves the "MAYAns".  The program supports female entrepreneurs internationally to create extraordinary financial transformation in their businesses using ancient Yogic principles, proven strategies, and proprietary transformation techniques. My career is incredibly fulfilling.  All the things I do, I love, and if I don't like to do something, I hire someone to do it for me.  I LOVE all of my clients, and my team is a pleasure to work with.  To me, being an entrepreneur is worth the risks because I LOVE having that level of freedom, autonomy, and sovereignty.  I get to be creative every single day; I get to teach every single day; I get to think and make sense of the world and communicate it to my tribe, clients, and audience each day.  I get to contribute to people's lives through tangible and measurable transformation like money made, new relationships, improvement in relationships, and audience growth.  I also get to make an intangible difference in people's lives by helping them find deep peace, joy, fulfillment, purpose, and energy.  It's been a meandering path to get here, and I'm glad I followed my intuition and trusted the path.

How did Whitfield prepare you for college and beyond?  

I learned how to think critically and to love learning.  I study my craft every single day, and I'm grateful that I know how to learn! I also developed confidence in myself and in my communication thanks to my teachers, who I still speak with and who continue to mentor me.

What skills do you use in your career that you began forming at Whitfield? 

I use movement, specifically yoga, as well as dancing and music to facilitate transformation for people at my client retreats, passions that were fostered as a member of Whitfield’s dance team. I also write copy every single day for marketing and promotion. My writing skills foundation was set at Whitfield.  95% of what I do is sales, which is helping people understand how I can help them.  To do this, I need to be able to think clearly and critically, and Whitfield set this foundation as well.  I also spend most of my time teaching, and I learned to love teaching by having great examples of great teachers.

What are some of your favorite Whitfield memories? 

In my art and English classes, I developed confidence through the myriad opportunities to creatively express myself and my views. Every time I successfully completed a project, it added a new brick to my confidence meter.  

I learned to love languages and cultures, going on to study French in college in great depth, including spending a summer in France.  

Through engaging and thought-provoking social studies classes, my knowledge of geography and appreciation of diverse cultures grew exponentially, especially the cultures that are not as well known, and this knowledge serves me to this day.  I was also encouraged to explore and balance my interdisciplinary interests.  In the major 9th grade social studies project, I remember incorporating neuroscience, art, marine biology, languages, and literature into my work.  It was one of the first times I started to explore how to think about all my interests in a cohesive way, and the effort contributed to my major/minor choices in college.

Last, but certainly not least, I cherish all the memories of dancing and cheering at the games and at the assemblies.  The experience of team, synergy, and creating beautiful kinesthetic art was really special to me.

What is next for you?

My next goals are centered around growth and scalability.  I feel urgency to positively impact as many people every day as possible because this work is making the world a better place in so many ways.  So the next products and services we will be launching will be grounded in that intention of reach and scaling.  I also had a recent experience being on set and in front of the camera at a studio in L.A. filming a TV Show and LOVED it! So I am excited about more of that as well.