In this episode of the Youth Career Readiness, The One Question podcast, hosts Michael Horn and Jean Eddy interview Julie Foucher, a family physician, podcaster, health‑wellness influencer, and former elite CrossFit Games athlete. Julie explains how her parents’ contrasting approaches—her mother’s emphasis on following passion and her father’s focus on practicality—gave her a balanced framework for making career choices. She recounts a childhood filled with varied extracurricular activities that built comfort with trying new things, and describes the discipline she inherited from her parents that helped her pursue demanding paths like CrossFit and medicine. Julie offers concrete advice for adults guiding youth: lead by example, provide diverse experiences, encourage passion while teaching financial and realistic considerations, and help children make informed decisions. The conversation closes with a brief sign‑off from the hosts.
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Welcome to youth career readiness, the one question podcast.
I'm Jean Eddy.
And I'm Michael Horne.
And this is the podcast where we talk to people across careers about their professional journeys and what advice they would.
Offer to help all middle and high schoolers explore, experiment with, and discover careers. Today, we're welcoming Julie Fouche. Julie's already had a storied and varied career. She's currently a family doctor and a podcaster. I highly recommend her podcast, Pursuing Health. And she's also an influencer on health and wellness. She was also a four time CrossFit Games athlete who always finished in the top five, including finishing second in 2012 and third in 2014. And I'm sure there's more to say, but I will stop gushing and I will just turn it over to Eugene.
Thanks, Michael. Julie, it's great to have you on. Thanks for being here. As Michael said, you've had such an interesting and varied career already. I am beyond impressed that I'm speaking with a CrossFit athlete. I've heard about the rigor and challenge of it. Kudos to you. And not only have you been a CrossFit athlete, but you're now a doctor, podcaster, and an influencer on health and wellness. What an impressive resume. I'm curious, is there something about your childhood that gave you the confidence to pursue so many interests? And is there advice that you would give to the adults in children's lives to inspire young people to pursue multiple possibilities?
Well, hi, and thank you so much for having me on this podcast and for this very insightful question. I would say that there were probably a few things, a few qualities about my childhood that then led me to pursue so many different things, from med school to CrossFit to a podcast. And I had a really nice combination in my parents where my mom really was someone who was so passionate about her work. And it was very important to her that my sister and I followed our passions in whatever we did. And then on the other hand, I have my dad who is very practical. He's an engineer. And so he was always thinking about whatever path my sister and I took, was that going to be a path that would allow us to provide for ourselves and take care of ourselves. And so I think that gave me a lot of balance as I was progressing in my career and choosing what my path would be. I also think that my parents. I was very lucky and blessed that my parents gave my sister and I a lot of opportunities. They encouraged us to try a lot of different things. So when I was younger, I remember doing Gymboree and dance classes and tennis lessons and soccer and all different types of camps and just being exposed to a lot. And so I think that allowed me to be comfortable trying new things. And ultimately, I think that what led me to pursue these different paths, especially the things that were less traditional, like starting a podcast or becoming a professional CrossFit athlete, it was watching my parents own discipline and hard work in their own careers and seeing the late nights that they stayed up working or the early mornings that my dad would drive to get to work early. And so that instilled in me a similar type of discipline in combination with this idea that I wanted to follow my passions. And so that's what led me when I found something that I really loved, like CrossFit, I dove in feet first. And I remember it being a little bit of a difficult decision when I first started CrossFit, because I was in college, I didn't have a lot of money, and so a CrossFit membership was a lot. And I remember thinking about buying new Olympic weightlifting shoes. That was a big purchase. But. But my parents, I remember having conversations with my mom, who really encouraged me with, this is something that you love. You'll find a way to make it work. And so it was that balance between the discipline and doing something that was practical, but also always following my passions that I think helped me to be where I am today. And so, for any parents or anyone else listening who is guiding children through their own path, I would say, number one, lead by example. You know, follow your passions, put in the work yourself, because your kids are watching every single thing that you do. And then give your kids lots of experiences, lots of opportunities to try different things and just encourage them to follow their passions while also teaching them about the realities of life. You know, that we have to pay our bills if we want to, you know, live a certain way. We have to be able to provide ourselves, provide for ourselves, and teach them about those realities and help them to make the best decisions for them. So that's my story. Thanks again for having me on.
And that's all we've got on the Youth Career Readiness, the One Question podcast.
Thank you for tuning in, and we'll see you next time for more tips and insights.
