Chief Impact Officer

Now Available

Out Now · 8080 Books / Simon & Schuster

Real transformation comes from human, not just artificial, intelligence

A deeply personal leadership memoir woven with the unvarnished business reality of transforming a global company. I share how being a gay woman in technology shaped the way I led, and why authenticity became my greatest competitive advantage.

While scaling lululemon from $2B to $10B, I discovered that the hardest parts of transformation had nothing to do with systems or code. They were about trust, identity, and unlearning long-standing habits of self-editing and silence.

Everything on Gold Thread's Framework page, psychological safety before scale, influence over authority, culture as competitive infrastructure, is drawn straight from this book. If the framework resonates, the book is where I show my work.

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Early Praise

What readers are saying.

“Julie has written the book that leaders at every level need right now. Her candor about what transformation actually looks like, the stumbles alongside the wins, makes this an essential read for the AI era.”

— Bret Arsenault, Foreword Author · Former CISO, Microsoft

“In Julie's story, I saw my own: the power that came when I finally brought my full self into the room. Her book makes clear that even in the age of AI, high performance and trust only emerge when leaders stop hiding and start leading from their whole selves.”

— Kathryn Henry, Independent Director, lululemon · Author, A Dime to Say I Love You

Chief Impact Officer

The book is out.

Available now wherever books are sold. Order your copy from your preferred retailer.

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The Three Pillars

The book's ideas, at work.

Psychological safety before scale

The antidote to AI Wishing. People tell you the truth about what's working when it's safe to.

Influence over authority

The antidote to AI Washing. Adoption is earned team by team, not mandated from the top.

Culture as competitive infrastructure

The long game. Everything above eventually depends on this holding up.

See these three pillars applied to a real AI rollout on The Framework page →

Want the ideas, applied to your company?

The book tells the story. Gold Thread does the work, an honest read on where your organization actually stands with AI, and what it will take to close the gap.

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Want Julie to bring these ideas to your stage instead? See her speaking topics at julieaverill.com →

The ideas behind Gold Thread, in full.