The Beautiful Thinkers Project

Season IX | EP 5: Julia Michels, Gymnast. Music Supervisor. Grammy Winner. Beautiful Thinker.

Carolyn Hadlock, Founder/President

What if getting injured was the best thing that ever happened to your career? Julia Michels is a Grammy-winning music supervisor whose work on A Star Is Born, Pitch Perfect, and The Devil Wears Prada has generated over $2 billion in ticket sales—but she went to IU for sports science and drove to LA in a Toyota Tercel to dance in music videos.

From teaching aerobics to running into elevators for mentorship moments to bringing Bradley Cooper's midnight song to set, Julia reveals why saying yes before knowing how built her entire career, why there's enough work for everybody, and how her gymnastics-trained drive became a philosophy: be resourceful, resilient, and respectful.

Sometimes the craving that heals you is the one that heals the world.