A letter from my heart to yours
July 4, 2026
To My Fellow Americans,
There are seasons in life that shape you in ways you never expect. Over the years, I have walked through many of these seasons, and they have taught me what it truly means to persevere, to rebuild, and to keep showing up even when the path feels uncertain. It is from this place of lived experience that I offer my heart.
I know what it feels like to have live as a young girl climbing trees and riding a long school bus ride to school, even in the harshest winters. My world turned upside down at a young age as I crossed the entire Nation when my family moved again, leaving behind the only friends and familiar places I had ever known, and never once visiting the state I was about to call my new home. I would learn to know what moving was like, as a moved several times since I was a teen. In my early 20's, I crossed the Pacific Ocean to attend college in Hawaii — once again moving to a place I had never even visited before. Each of these moves was a complete restart. I had to learn how to begin again, how to make new friends, and how to create a sense of home in unfamiliar territory. These experiences taught me early on how to adapt, how to be resilient, and how to find strength in starting over — lessons that have stayed with me throughout my life.
I also know what it feels like to launch something new while carrying new life. At just 24 years old, I started my first business while pregnant with my first child. I was stepping into the unknown as a new mother, pouring my heart into creating something meaningful while also running my first successful business. Around this same time, I fell deeply in love with cultures from around the world — especially the rich traditions and spirit of the Pacific Islands. I felt a strong desire to bring that beauty and those connections into the work I was building. Even in those early years, I knew I wanted to create something that reflected not only my vision, but also the depth of culture, connection, and heart I had come to cherish.
Not only did I carry two beautifully perfect daughters into this life, but I moved while pregnant with my second daughter and in between working and creating.
I also know what it feels like to raise these incredible souls while carrying the weight of building a life from the ground up. As an entrepreneur since 2004, and a single mother at age 28, I chose to pursue the dreams I carried inside of me rather than follow the more conventional path. I heard the voices that said I should “just get a job,” but I knew that doing so would mean setting aside the vision I had for myself and my daughters. Instead, I poured everything I had into building something of my own — often working late into the night after homework was done, navigating shutdowns in 2020, stretching every dollar on a single-mother budget, and learning how to fix my own car when it broke down. I pushed mountains of snow off the windshield just to get the kids to school on time, and I traveled alone to retain clients while cherishing the comfort of my own bed when I finally made it home. It was hard. It was exhausting. But it was mine.
I also know what it feels like to go through a divorce and to search for support during one of the most vulnerable and uncertain times in my life. I didn’t ask for state assistance, but I often felt like I owed something rather than feeling truly supported. It was a lonely and confusing season, and it showed me how deeply people can need real compassion and understanding when their world feels like it’s falling apart.
I also know what it feels like to lose something that once felt like a core part of who you are. I spent my entire life being able to sing — it was my instrument, the one thing I knew so well and could always turn to. After COVID, I developed severe muscle tension dystonia that made it incredibly difficult, and at times nearly impossible, to sing or even speak freely. Suddenly, the very expression that had lived inside me for as long as I could remember was gone. For years, I searched for answers through doctors, healing modalities, and every resource I could find. It was only after years of searching that I began receiving injections to temporarily restore my voice, while also facing the deeper work of releasing the trauma that had settled there. This journey taught me, in the most intimate way, what it means to lose a part of yourself and fight to reclaim it. In 2021, when my voice was at its lowest, I launched my metaphysical healing studio so I could keep my spirit alive and continue helping clients with my other gifts and skills.
Through all of these experiences — the moves, the single motherhood, the building of businesses from nothing, the divorce, the loss of my voice, and the quiet battles no one saw — I have come to understand something profound: we are not meant to walk through life’s hardest moments alone. I have felt the depth of uncertainty, the weight of responsibility, and the ache of starting over more times than I can count. And because of this, I carry a deep empathy for anyone who is in the middle of their own "life shift" right now!
This is only a small fraction of my so-far life story, and I still feel as if I am just getting 'started'....
Through every chapter of my life, I have come to believe that our greatest strength is often born from the seasons we thought would break us. To those who have bravely shared their own heart stories with me, thank you.
Your courage, vulnerability, and resilience have reminded me that we are never truly alone in our pain or our growth. May you find the same quiet strength and light that continues to carry me forward — one step, one breath, and one brave choice at a time. You are more capable than you know, and your story is still being written.
With deepest respect and Patriotic love,
Julie E. Harman
Musician, Songwriter & Sound Healer, Mother
Serial Entrepreneur & Proud American
