Julia Allison

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Julia Allison
Julia Allison in 2007 or early 2008
Born
Julia Allison Baugher

February 28, 1981
Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.
EducationGeorgetown University (BA, 2004), Harvard Kennedy School (Masters, 2025)
Occupation(s)Journalist, columnist, media personality, entrepreneur, speaker
Known forEarly social media influencer, co-star of Miss Advised (2012), founder of Reimagine Media
Notable work
  • Sex on the Hilltop (Georgetown University column)
  • Dating columns for AM New York, Time Out New York
  • Tech columnist for Tribune Media Services
  • Cover of Wired magazine (2008)
PartnerNoah Feldman (engaged)
Websitejuliaallison.com

Julia Allison (born February 28, 1981)[1] is an American journalist, media personality, and entrepreneur. She has been described as an early influencer and pioneered personal branding through online media in the mid-2000s.

Early life and education

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Baugher grew up in Wilmette, Illinois; her father, Peter Baugher, is a lawyer.[2][3] She earned a degree in government from Georgetown University in 2004 and received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School in 2025.[1][4]

Career

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Early career

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While at Georgetown University, Allison worked for Mark Kirk, then a member of the House of Representatives from Illinois,[2][5] and she subsequently covered politics on-air during the 2004 general election for Comcast.[5]

In 2002, while attending Georgetown University, Allison began writing Sex on the Hilltop, the university's first sex column. This column was notable for being among the first of its kind at a Catholic university, addressing topics that were considered taboo within the institution.[6][7] The column attracted national attention and she published articles in magazines such as Seventeen and Cosmopolitan.[8]

Media career

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After graduating in 2004, Allison moved to New York City, where she continued her writing career with a weekly column in AM New York. In 2005 she started a blog, where she posted details of her daily life and work. She became a television commentator, appearing on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and E!.[8]

In 2007 she became the dating columnist at Time Out New York.[5] She also wrote for Elle and was a tech columnist for Tribune Media Services.[9] Her fame led to a profile in the New York Times and a cover story in Wired, both in 2008, in addition to network television appearances.[8][10][11]

Business ventures

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She founded a social media talent agency called Non Society in 2007 and pitched the idea of a collaborative living space for social media content producers, now called a collab house; Bravo filmed a pilot of a projected reality show, IT Girls.[8] She acquired corporate endorsement deals and co-starred in a major campaign for the Sony Vaio laptop alongside Justin Timberlake and Peyton Manning, spoke at business conferences, and attended the annual World Economic Forum meeting and the White House Correspondents' Dinner.[8] In 2010, she moved to Los Angeles, where she co-starred in Miss Advised, a documentary series about her writing a column at Elle and living and dating in LA that ran for one season on Bravo.[8]

In 2012, Allison withdrew from the public eye, erasing or making private most of her social media posts.[8] In 2014, she moved to San Francisco and became a change activist, founding a company called Reimagine Media.[12] As of 2025 she received a master's degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[8]

Speaking career

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Allison has been a public speaker at various business conferences and events worldwide.[13]

On personal branding and influencer marketing

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Her blogs, including xojulia.com, and her active presence on platforms like Twitter, showcased her daily activities, relationships, and personal style, and turned her life into a flow of content. She was an early adopter of Tumblr in 2007, which she used for what she called "lifecasting", and was a regular at in-person Internet events; she was on the "prom committee" for the inaugural Webutante Ball in 2010.[8]

One notable example of her self-promotion was a Times Square event where she and friends, dressed in 1980s workout attire, danced to "Dancing in the Street," drawing a crowd and media attention. This stunt exemplified her strategy: by creating shareable moments that blurred the line between personal life and public spectacle, her approach to self-branding was leveraging the internet's reach to build a personal brand from scratch. The methods Allison used to promote her personal brand was one of the first examples online of the emerging power of online personas in shaping public perception and influence.[14]

Personal life

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Allison previously wrote extensively about who she was dating, including Congressman Harold Ford Jr. when she was a college student.[8][11] In 2010, she dated Jack McCain, a son of Senator John McCain.[3] Allison lived in New York for her 20s, California for about ten years, and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2021.[15]

In 2023, she became engaged to Noah Feldman, a professor of law at Harvard.[15] Their relationship began in May 2020 when Allison, seeking meaning during a difficult period, reached out to Feldman for a philosophical conversation. This initial 90-minute call sparked a connection that led to daily conversations and eventually a romantic relationship.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Julia Allison". DLD Conference. January 15, 2009. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Shia Kapos (May 16, 2013). "Peter Baugher puts home, hospitality on display". Crain's Chicago Business. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Jim Edwards (January 24, 2011). "Moneywatch: Julia Allison's Campaign to Rewrite History Is Coming Along Nicely". CBS News. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  4. ^ "Julia Allison". juliaallison.com. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Meet our new dating scribe". Time Out New York. May 10, 2007. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018.
  6. ^ Hess, Amanda (June 1, 2009). "Julia Allison: The Original Catholic Sex Columnist". Washington City Paper. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
  7. ^ "Vox Populi » On the Record with Julia Allison, certified internet celebrity and the original Hoya sex columnist". web.archive.org. June 5, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Taylor Lorenz (September 13, 2023). "She Invented Being an Influencer — And Was Vilified for It". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  9. ^ Sarah Adler (May 13, 2012). "Tech newlyweds devise Weduary app with apt timing". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  10. ^ Leslie Kaufman (March 30, 2008). "Channeling Carrie". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Jason Tanz (July 15, 2008). "Internet Famous: Julia Allison and the Secrets of Self-Promotion". Wired. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  12. ^ Ruth Graham (June 4, 2018). "From 'Fameball' to 'Change Activist'". Slate. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  13. ^ "Julia Allison". All American Speakers Bureau. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
  14. ^ Tanz, Jason. "Internet Famous: Julia Allison and the Secrets of Self-Promotion". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c Joseph Bernstein (September 20, 2023). "Julia Allison, Pioneering Influencer, Finds Love With Law Scholar Noah Feldman". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
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