Julia Scocimara was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1967. She moved to Canada when she was two years old. She moved with her family because her parents had lived in Germany during World War II and wanted a fresh start in someplace other than Germany. Her father was offered a job in Canada and decided it was the perfect opportunity to start a new life.
Julia was raised in Canada and she stayed there throughout high school and college. She attended St. Mildred’s Lightbourn School in Canada and the University of Western Ontario. In 1993, she moved to the United States to attend Harvard Business Graduate School. Julia’s school life was good and she did not have trouble going to the U.S. for school. She did not struggle with the English language, as it was spoken in Canada, and therefore that was not a barrier. Also, Harvard had a great extracurricular club that helped the international Canadian students connect with each other, and she was able to integrate into the community. She believed that Harvard appreciated diversity and that made it easier for her.
After graduating out of Harvard, she decided to continue with her love of math and logic. She applied what she enjoyed doing in the business world, which led her to work in corporate finance and strategic planning, where she landed a job at PepsiCo. She continued to move up the corporate ladder and eventually became the Chief Financial Executive (CFO) of Jamba Juice.
During her time at Jamba Juice, she married her long time boyfriend, Peter Scocimara. Soon after they decided to start a family. Now that they were together, they decided to move to California, due to the fact California offered great business opportunity they could both benefit from. They moved in 1996 and settled down to continue working and raise a family.
Julia loves living the United States and appreciates the freedom it allows. In addition, she believes that the richness of the US economy provides a lot of opportunity for people to be anything they want to be. Canada’s economy is smaller and therefore there is less opportunity. Her immigration to the United States has led to a wonderful life for her and her family.
Julia was interviewed by Castilleja School students, Maya Singh, Jane Zafran, Alessandra Volpi, and Chloe Scocimara.