Normal Is a Lie: Design for Average, Fail Everyone signature
In 1835, an astronomer invented "the average man." Every institution since has been running on the fabrication — job descriptions, performance reviews, schedules, tools, "culture fit" — each designed for a person who measurably does not exist, and each quietly failing everyone at once.
This keynote shows a room what designing for average actually costs, and what happens to output when you design for the range of humans you already hired.
Keynote · Workshop
Belief IS the Accommodation: Stop Making Us Prove It new for 2026–27
Accommodation processes start by demanding proof — and punish the people who provide it. In Julie's own research, 71% of requesters reported facing retaliation for asking.
This keynote makes the case for starting from belief instead: faster resolutions, lower legal exposure, employees free to spend their energy on the actual work — and the stigma of being questioned removed from the process entirely.
Keynote · Workshop
The Dandelion Effect: Neurodiversity and the Workplaces That Decide Who Thrives
Research sorted people into dandelions, tulips, and orchids by how much their environment decides their outcome. Workplaces were built for the first group — under 30% of us — then taught everyone else to blame themselves.
This talk is about neurodivergent people at work: what the environment is deciding for them, and how to change what it decides.
Keynote · Workshop
* Because you can't. Trying to fix humans breaks humans.