Julie Ostrow
As the Humorous Speaker and Communication Coach and Founder of Find The Funny Enterprises (Founded in 2001), Julie trains managers, directors, and meeting planners to effectively use humour and improv skills to improve their critical thinking, communication, and presentation skills.
Julie infuses her Second City improv training with her corporate communications experience to create a unique set of tools to guide organizations to become more cohesive, resulting in a more positive environment, re-inspired team members and increased productivity. As a writer for The Positive Psychology People Blog and having won The First-Ever American Laughing Championship, Julie is sure to infuse positivity, laughter, and levity into her presentations.
Julie’s Blog
Humor in the workplace
Being part of an organization can be exciting. It’s a place to share ideas, collaborate, and feel as though you are making a difference. And, sometimes it can be stressful. Personality conflicts and miscommunication can contribute to stress in the workplace. In some...
Feeling Grateful For This Present Moment
As I am writing this, I feel tired but content. As I wonder about what to write, I am thinking about how I would rather be in bed on this chilly—yet sunny—day here in the Chicago suburbs. (When it is chilly outside, I love being inside with my cozy socks on while...
Do What Matters To You
Doing what you don’t want to do is a travesty. OK. Maybe that sounds just a little dramatic. But, I have recently been presented with the “opportunity” to assess if and when I am committing to others or other projects that are not in line with what I need to be doing...
The Eyes Have It
It has been said that the eyes are the window to the soul. I believe that. When I look into someone’s eyes, I can sometimes feel their soul and I can sense how they are feeling. I am not claiming to be a psychic or a mind reader. I believe that the eyes send messages...
New Year. New Start: Does It Mean We have to Change Who We Are?
What does a new year mean to you? Does it mean a new start? It has been a long-standing tradition to make resolutions to change our habits from the previous year. It can feel like we are being forced to change who we are at the start of each new year. Because we are...
Setting Emotional Boundaries is Challenging But Necessary
I was raised to be strong and to not show emotions…especially the “negative” or “bad” emotions such as sadness or anger. I have developed a strong sense of myself and I have figured out what works for me and what doesn’t. What does become challenging for me at times...
Taking Goodness For Granted
As I was sitting here thinking of what to write, the words, “taking goodness for granted” popped into my mind. Not knowing exactly what those words meant, I decide to just start typing and see what would land on the page. I know I am not the only who has the ability...
Be Someone’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” Story
You may never know the positive impact you may have on another person. Or you may some day you may be fortunate enough to hear how you made lasting impression on someone else. When someone tells you the impact you made on them, they may tell you in a thank you card or...
Try Kindness, It’s Fun
It really isn’t that hard to be kind. Yet, I see people struggling to put a smile on their faces. I understand that everyone has struggles and sometimes they are experiencing grief, sadness, and a heaviness of weighted burden in their lives. What I want to say here is...
Give Your Best Then Let It Go
Anticipating an outcome can make you feel happy and hopeful. Yet, holding onto and worrying about an outcome can damage your psyche, can cause you to lose sleep, and can create unnecessary stress. I will admit that, sometimes when I make a decision, I think about it,...
The Satisfaction of the Checkmark
The satisfaction of getting something done. I love the feeling of accomplishment—big or small. I recently purchased large dry erase sheets that easily adhere to the wall. They make checking the to-do boxes even more fun. And, using bright, colourful dry erase markers...
There’s no judgment in grief
A friend of mine, whose husband died less than a year ago was recently asked, “How long are you supposed to keep grieving?” I was compelled to share my reaction to the question. My first answer was, “What a stupid question. That is all I have to say about that…for...
Be The Light, Be The Beacon
How do you keep on being positive when you encounter or work with someone who is negative? Being with someone who exudes the opposite of your positive, bubbly, hopeful, optimistic attitude is challenging. At one job I was told not to laugh. No, I did not work in a...
Smile. Release. Surrender
Smile. Release. Surrender: Words I heard during a yin yoga class I recently attended. The process of this type of yoga is to hold poses for a minimum of 45 seconds to about 3 minutes. Sometimes it feels like we’re holding poses for an excruciating 10 minutes. If you...
Find the Funny and You’ll Have a Lighter Perspective
I had the privilege of presenting the first of four interactive laughter classes at a retirement community in Chicago. 85 residents came to the event and all participated to their comfort level and all seemed to have a wonderful time. I saw it on their faces, heard it...
Release and Focus
Release and Focus. My two words for 2018. What worked last year? What didn’t work? I made a vow to myself to leave whatever didn’t work in the past year. Although I look back and see what didn’t work, I also ask myself, “What did I learn from those experiences?” When...
Pushing Through From Our Past And Finding Our Peeps
Here’s a topic that I’ve thought about recently: resilience, fortitude, pushing through even when we feel like we’ve been pushed down or criticised. How do we push through tough times, win the battle with negative messages from our past, and how do we create positive...
Resilience, Strength, and Fortitude
Have you been dealing with stress and the unknown? So, have I! And, I’m still here! 🙂 As it happens, life sometimes gets in the way. Namely for me, an audit by the IRS got in the way. (cue dramatic music) This all-consuming challenge I faced, managed, and pushed...
When To Hold On And When To Let Go
A few months ago, I wrote about how I read to a boy who was sitting in the seat behind me on a plane as we waited for a dark storm to pass by as we waited on the tarmac. This time I shall share a story of a more harrowing experience than sitting inside a stationary...
Disconnect With Difficulty To Connect With Joy
When is it time to remove yourself from a group or quit a job? How about when you’re in a volunteer group or an organization you joined for fun? You join a group or organisation for fun then something happens along the way and you get that feeling in your gut that...
Pausing and Procrastinating Toward Progress
The other day when I was swimming laps, I surprised myself when halfway down the lap lane, I stopped. I stopped suddenly and for no apparent reason. As I stopped, I pondered, “Why did you stop, Julie?” I responded to myself, “I wondered that, too.” And, so, I pondered...
A Bumpy Ride Can Lead to Smooth Sailing
It all depends on what you decide to look at, hear, enjoy, and focus on. It was a bumpy ride with delays, bad weather, deplaning, more delays, and more bad weather. Although we had clear skies in Memphis, storms were at full force in Chicago. And, so, we were forced...
Changing The Messages In Our Heads
Playing old messages in my head makes me sound like a broken record. Negative messages I heard growing up rear their ugly heads when I am facing (mental) stumbling blocks or when I’m on the verge of greatness/accomplishing a goal. These ugly voices (I call gremlins)...
Happiness. What is happiness? What does it mean?
Is happiness a feeling or a knowing? Is it some fleeting feeling we all strive to achieve? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, happiness is “a state of well-being and contentment.” Can a person be continually happy while also facing struggles or experience pain...
Remembrance – From A Motherless Daughter
My mom would have been my rock, my support system, my encourager… …If I had more time with her… When I needed her the most, she was dying. Losing your mother A 25-year-old needs her mother. I still need my mom. Why did I get jipped and left motherless? Mothering...
The Art of Connection
I’ve heard it said that the eyes are the window to the soul. And, I believe—and have experienced—that making eye contact with a stranger or friend creates an instant connection. Lately I’ve been hearing more about disconnecting from technology to connect with...
The Sound of Delight is Our True Essence
At a recent family event, my husband’s 7-year-old niece snuggled up to me on the couch and began to laugh and giggle. (It’s our thing…you could say I create a giggle safe zone.) She notices my necklace of a French horn pendant. She asks: “Why do you have a trumpet on...
When the Holidays Don’t Feel Like Happy Holidays
We’re entering the Holiday Season…It’s a time for joy and being with family and friends. But, what if…You’re anxious about the holidays? For some of us feeling grateful during the holidays may be challenging. There may be a family member who...
Getting Lost is Good for the Soul
Admittedly, I allow too much of my day to be caught up in doing, doing, doing. It seems I am constantly Judging. “What needs to be done?” “What did I do?” “What didn’t I do?” Judging, questioning, and doubting catapults me out of the present moment and into either the...
Getting Back to Class—Improv Class: Pursuing a Passion
Pursuing a passion. Learning while having fun. Although I’ve made it my business to share with others the benefits of improv for life, I decided to return to the ‘classroom’ and become an improv student once again. A few months ago, when I was talking with my aunt...
What does it mean to be “left holding the bag”?
I recently used that phrase when talking with a dear friend about unresolved issues within my family. It is interesting—and challenging—to me how present issues can ignite a spark of a distant memory and launch it into the present moment. It feels as if I have gone...
Recollection of Gratitude
A strong feeling of gratitude washed over me as I was talking with a friend recently about how much it seems parents today do so much for their kids. Yes, my parents helped me out when they could but when I was going through college and after, I was very much on my...
My Heart is Where My Home Is
What does it mean to ‘go home’? I recently had the opportunity to visit the town where I grew up. I haven’t lived there in decades, yet, I visited two weekends in a row. One weekend was reconnecting with the past—my high school reunion. The following weekend was spent...
Life is Improv…Using Improv Skills to Connect with Others
It really is that easy to connect with someone Within a five-minute conversation, I learned that the cashier’s husband passed away five months ago. I said, “Happy Friday. How are you today?” [Here’s the key part: I really was interested in...
Living Your Life in Laughter Bliss
“I am lost in this moment. I am feeling pure joy. I am at peace”
This sounds like a mantra or meditation. But, I am actually talking about my experience of participating in a laughter competition. What? There is a competition for laughter? Yes, there is.
During the first ever American Laughing Championship in 2013, I embraced the experience