If the idea of swimming with sharks brings to mind fearless, hunky guys, Julie Anderson doesn’t fit the bill. At not much over five foot with long blonde hair and a ready smile, she might appear more at ease behind a desk in an advertising office, where she was until just a few years ago.
Meet Shark Angel, Julie Anderson.
Julie does PR today – but it is the hardest PR job on the planet. She takes her professional skills to sell sharks.
Sharks get a bad rap, not helped by the block-buster movie, “Jaws”, which sold the message that sharks are bad news.
PR for sharks
Julie sells the message that not only are sharks good news and misunderstood, but they are also vital in the marine hierarchy. With close to 90 percent of sharks in the oceans having been wiped out by fishermen seeking to sell their fins, sharks are an endangered species.
Julie has long had a passion for the oceans. As a keen environmentalist and diver of 15 years, Julie evolved her special relationship with sharks to a new level after watching them disappear from her favorite dive spots.
Dumping the ‘good life’
She turned her life upside down. As her bio says, with a BS in Marketing, Julie co-founded and ran a successful interactive agency for 8 years – responsible for a team of 40 and yearly revenues of $7 million – prior to joining an advertising agency in New York City as a Senior Client Director. Julie specializes in digital media, software and entertainment and has developed new media strategies for many global brands, including Porsche, Citibank, AOL, Mercedes Benz, Chase, Meredith Publications, Time Warner and Volkswagen/Audi. She had it all, the house, the car, the expense account.
But she gave up the office life for the oceans. Her mother was initially shocked.
Julie is channeling over 15 years of professional experience in advertising, strategy, and production into a new quest: leveraging the media to build environmental awareness and fuel change.
Passion and business sense
Julie brings a unique and useful perspective to an NGO field so often full of passionate do-gooders, yet lacking in business sense.
Julie is now a full-time grassroots activist, having founded three non-profits – Shark Angels, United Conservationists and Shark Savers – during the past 5 years, and consulting to countless others including Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, PEW and WildAid. She currently serves as Executive Director for both Shark Angels and United Conservationists. Her’s is the face on SCUBAPRO.
In addition to co-founding Shark Savers, Julie works for the award-winning documentary, Sharkwater, spearheading outreach and marketing initiatives. And, Julie is a Shark Angel – one of three shark defenders in the world that are taking on the forces threatening sharks and raising awareness around the plight of the sharks. Shark Angels is a global movement as well as a series.
Check out the video below and the websites here:
Shark Week on Discovery Channel
Shark Angels: See Us in Action! from Built By Wildman on Vimeo.
