Julia Child was born into an affluent family in Pasadena, California in 1912. She was unusual for a young woman growing to be 6’3” tall. When she was studying at Smith College with a degree in history, she stated that she felt she was a “pure romantic, only operating with half my burners on.” While she initially had an aspiration of becoming a famous woman novelist, the global scale of World War II propelled her to take part in helping her country assisting with General Donavan of the OSS, which went on to become the CIA. During her time working with the OSS, she met Paul Child, who became her future husband. In 1948, Paul joined the U.S. foreign service and took a position in Paris. In Paris is where his wife, Julia Child, began a passionate culinary career that would greatly shape her future and influence others in the culinary world as well as in ordinary homes in the United States (Krauss, 2012). Julia decided to enroll in the world renowned Le Cordon Bleu in Paris because she wanted to learn how to cook well. She began in a basic cooking course but found it not challenging enough for her. Upon attempting to join an expert level course, she was considered not qualified. She then joined a year long program for professionals at the Le Cordon Bleu, being the only female in a group of 11 men. When she finished her program, she became acquainted with two local French women, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, whom were interested in colloborating in a cookbook about French cooking . The three women spent 7 years on what came to be as Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This cookbook since it was first published in 1961 has gone on to sell over 2 million copies. Julia Child could have just stopped after releasing this cookbook however she went on to be known as The French Chef on television, educating and entertaining everyday people by bringing them into her home, learning about her way of cooking (Krauss, 2012). I chose Julia Child as a great representative of a leader because she lead by example. She found a simple passion of cooking and took it upon herself to bring her curiosity, creativity, and learned knowledge to help others. Often leaders have three distinctive traits that sets them apart from others; Passion, Integrity and a Guiding Vision. Julia Child embodied these three characteristics in her role as a culinary mentor and educator (Kelly, 2012). Julia had a purposeful vision that preparing food and taking in the experience of dining could be both enjoyable and approachable, even in the ordinary home. She was quoted as saying, “one does not have to go to culinary school to learn about food.” Julia was an eternal student that remained open to curiosity about the culinary world. Her own self-confidence in demonstrating her passion for food led to her commitment in teaching others how to cook and enjoy the act of cooking. Her strong integrity promoted her along with fellow influential French chef Jacques Pepin to cofound a masters degree program in gastronomy at Boston University. The course encourages special emphasis on sensory hands-on culinary training to achieve the most worth and knowledge about the role of food in society (Contois, 2012). In my opinion, Julia Child exemplified both a democratic and supportive style of leadership. She was an active participant in working and learning with others in her field of knowledge while sharing her gained expert knowledge through encouragement with the common people. She brought attention to a new way for American women to see themselves in the kitchen, not just as a housewife (Contois, 2012). In her book, My Life in France, Julia discussed giving advice to individuals that wanted to learn how to cook and live their lives. She said, “This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook, try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun” (Child & Prud, 2007). In my opinion, these are sound words of advice that could be translated to any career.