In this episode of (FAIL) UP, host Alanna Lynch sits down with celebrated arts & culture journalist, Julia Halperin.

Julia Halperin has been asking tough questions about power, equity, and representation in the art world for more than a decade. She co-founded the Burns Halperin Report, the largest tracking study of its kind examining diversity in museums and markets, and is a contributor to The New York Times, Financial Times, Cultured, W Magazine, and The Art Newspaper. From 2017 to 2022, she was executive editor of Artnet News, where we first worked together.

Behind her rigorous reporting is a personal story about perfectionism, people-pleasing, and how she found the conviction to stop putting herself last.

In today’s episode, Julia opens up about:

• How her work as a journalist tries to answer the question “Why do we value what we value?” and what the data really reveals about progress (or lack thereof) for women, Black, and Latinx artists

• Why mid-career women are often overlooked in the art world, and how that reflects broader gender bias across industries

• Reframing failure as friction and how avoiding conflict early in her career taught her the importance of trusting her gut

• The shift from perfectionism and people-pleasing to setting boundaries and making choices aligned with her own values

• Her take on the future of arts journalism, and why she believes individual voices will rise as legacy institutions shrink

An honest and inspiring conversation about bias, value, and what happens when you stop living by other people’s expectations and start claiming space for yourself.

Stay Connected with Alanna & Julia:

• Alanna Lynch Instagram: @meliorfuturi
• Alanna Lynch Linkedin: alannalynch
• (FAIL)UP Instagram : @failupbymeliorfuturi
• Julila Halperin Instagram: @juliahalperin
• Julia Halperin Linkedin: juliahalperin

If this conversation left you wanting to think bigger, feel braver, and influence change in your own organization, head to melior-futuri.com to explore our executive and leadership coaching programs, available internationally.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.