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Powerful conversations. Trailblazing women. Real stories from the frontlines of parking and mobility. Mobility Mavericks - hosted by Brooke Krieger - amplifies the voices of those driving change, building community, and redefining leadership in our industry.
Melody Romeo (00:00)
At Honk, we know the best ideas happen when diverse voices come together. That's why we're proud to be the trailblazer sponsor of Mobility Pathfinders, an initiative that celebrates women shaping the future of parking and mobility. And just like a podcast should be effortless to listen to, your technology should be effortless to use. Honk is an all-in-one platform built for operators and asset owners, handling payments, permits, reservations, validations, and more.
all in one place. The result? Smarter operations, more revenue, and less day-to-day busy work. So your parking assets do the heavy lifting for you. Learn more at honkmobile.com.
Rebecca Groth (00:41)
At DeSigna, we believe that when innovation is inclusive, everyone moves forward. That's why we're proud to sponsor mobility pathfinders and the women driving the parking and mobility industry toward a smarter, innovative goal. As a global parks provider, DeSigna is known for complex solutions. But just as the industry is constantly innovating, so are we. We're proud to introduce our new system, the DeSigna Quick Connect.
It's the DeSigna look you love with the scalability and simplicity you need for small and medium operations. Whether you're managing a surface lot or scaling citywide, DeSigna has a solution that fits. Contact us at sales at usdesigna.com for more information.
Kelsey (01:23)
communities are always evolving and so should the technology that keeps them moving. IPS is proud to sponsor Mobility Pathfinders. The organization's work to grow the next generation of leaders inspires us because at IPS, people are at the heart of everything we do. At IPS, we don't just deliver parking solutions. We build partnerships. With over 25 years of experience, our fully integrated smart parking ecosystem helps cities, universities, and private operators
Streamline operations, improve mobility, and create better experiences for the people that they serve. Learn more at ipsgroup.com.
Julie Dixon (02:35)
How hard can it be, right? Well, the funny thing is, and this is where I'm very fortunate, this was before a lot of the technology, a lot of the smart stuff had come along. So I'm very fortunate in the regards of what San Francisco was already doing was they were already so innovative because they had implemented electromechanical meters. They had tied in these smart locks and it was a very, I'll say it was for the time, for the era, right? So what, and the reconciliation processes
Brooke Bustle Krieger (02:59)
sophisticated program for the time.
Julie Dixon (03:05)
they had that we still replicate in the industry today. And then I also was responsible for West Hollywood, which was Hollywood was one of the very first outsourced parking enforcement contracts. So I found that out literally on my first day that these are the projects that I'm responsible for. But what I didn't mention was when the reason why they terminated the management team was because there had been some improprieties on the contract with some lobbying efforts and some improper election campaign donations and all this stuff. And I literally
literally got handed the keys saying, and there might be some gang problems in the office as well. You'll figure all of this stuff out. And so here I am. My dogs are living in Los Angeles. I'm now in a hotel room in San Francisco. And hey, welcome to San Francisco. Literally the melting pot of the West Coast. did not know. I did not. knew enough about San Francisco, but not enough. And that was.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (03:40)
Of course, why not?
the keys to the city.
Were they paying you really good? I feel like there should have been a nice salary piece to this.
Julie Dixon (04:03)
So funny enough, will say this, paid well, but when I do a lot of mentoring, as I mentioned, one of the things that I did, and when you talk about regrets, I actually negotiated my salary down because...
Brooke Bustle Krieger (04:17)
Yeah.
my god, no!
Julie Dixon (04:24)
Yeah, no, I was, hey, I'm like one of those people who like, no, no, no, I need to earn it. Like, ⁓ no, no, no, I'm not worth that because I'm a fool and I now know better. I now know better, but I will tell you, these are the things when I say learning from my mistakes. And this is where if I can help any person about that is to have value in what you are and who you are because again, expensive lesson without a doubt, but I feel like just
Brooke Bustle Krieger (04:53)
My gosh, who would want you to do that?
Julie Dixon (04:54)
Yeah, no. Yeah, I mean it happens, this is why I think when any of us have to talk about our worth and it's, mean, we can, everybody knows the toughest thing to do is to go in front of your boss and tell them how important you are, how much you're worth, like to tell you like what I should be paid, what I should earn, like that's hard. And as a, again, that's one of the things I did not do well, especially in my younger age is to be able to do that.
that and it's something that when I look at that job, definitely, and then, you know, they talk about 10 years to make up that difference, but yeah, I negotiated my salary down because I am a dumb ass, 100%.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (05:26)
What?
I think that takes even more balls. think the easiest route would just be like, okay, that's the offer. Then the next one would be to go up or down. I feel like contentment would have been the easier out here.
Julie Dixon (05:44)
Mm-hmm.
You know what it was? think it's because of my law enforcement thing where like background checks. They're going to go back and check my other jobs and they're going to confirm that like I didn't make that much money. So I think that truthfully that's where it came from. was like, I didn't want to like be a fool, dumb. not, and I'm a good, I love playing poker.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (06:11)
You didn't want to face the watch a moment later about it.
Julie Dixon (06:13)
Yeah, I love gambling all of that, but no, I think there was a lot to it where I think that I was like, no, I'm like, this is not how much I earn today. And like, literally did I not realize somebody was handing me my golden ticket and I did not grab it. In fact, I was like, no, no, no, no, I need to show you what I'm worth. And that's where I always thought my boss was really generous with me too. When it came to bonuses and stuff like that, I think he tried to make up for it, but I also think he was like, what a dumb ass, but okay. mean like, yeah.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (06:42)
Yeah, I would have thought differently of you as a leader too, right? mean, if someone, if someone on your team would have done that, I mean, you would.
Julie Dixon (06:49)
I wouldn't let anybody do that today. ⁓
Brooke Bustle Krieger (06:54)
Also, yeah.
Julie Dixon (06:55)
Yeah, I have a lot of coaching sessions with my team members and talk to them because I'm very honest. Hey, I'm not proud that I am an idiot. Like I did this, but I will also tell you like this is a major life lesson. in here, when I tell you mistakes happen, like I, the reason how I've gotten to be where I am today is because I had those fumbles. I learned from my mistakes and like, I'm trying to be better. And I'm like, seriously, I'm, I'm only sharing this and being transparent because I
Brooke Bustle Krieger (07:05)
haha
Julie Dixon (07:25)
want anyone else to undervalue themselves because I did and literally it took a decade to try to regain that offer and to get that money which I'm like I literally gave money back and then when you think about the workhorse that I am like you know at one point in one of my jobs I did the math and realized I'm making less than minimum wage here with the hours that I'm working you know what I mean what the heck and so you really have to put that value on who you are
Brooke Bustle Krieger (07:50)
Yeah.
Julie Dixon (07:55)
and what you do. so even somebody who, you know, everybody looks at me and thinks, ⁓ man, she's so strong, so powerful. I make mistakes too. And these are the things that, like I said, how I've gotten to where I am today is because I did have those F-ups and trust me, I would like to think I wouldn't do it again. But I also think back into that role and that position and why and where and like, I don't know. Like I hope I would do better and I hope that I can influence other people to just value themselves and learn.
from my mistake.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (08:27)
At what point did you realize that should have gone another way maybe?
Julie Dixon (08:32)
⁓ probably within the first couple of weeks where I was like,
Brooke Bustle Krieger (08:36)
It was pretty quick that you kind of reflect.
Julie Dixon (08:37)
Oh, no, no, really. Well, because then once I started realizing in the salaries of what I paid the people that worked for me and all of that, like once I kind of got into the books and I was like, oh, damn, this is what this company does. I just I yeah, I was I definitely hadn't had that exposure. And I also think because of the whole like, you know, working and earning the positions, earning the titles, earning the raises, I think that that honestly came from just
Again my foolhardiness and like also probably a bit of that like oh like you gotta work hard to earn it I'm just like oh my gosh, man. Yeah, I know I'm telling you it is like again I don't have regrets because I wouldn't be where I am today But I will say it's one of those things where I'm like boy I bet I wish I could have handled it differently now But it's also why I try to pay it forward and with a lot of the people that I talked to and people that Asked me for advice. I'm not shy
Brooke Bustle Krieger (09:22)
Yeah, of course.
Julie Dixon (09:37)
to share. I'm like learn from my mistakes. Learn what I did wrong so that you don't do it wrong too.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (09:44)
Yeah, and I'm sure in your head at the time, you were thinking this is like a really confident move. They're gonna have more confidence in you. You know you're gonna deliver and you just go.
Julie Dixon (09:51)
And look at these people, look at these people, look at their honesty. Like what an admirable person. But yeah, what a freaking fool I am once I heard all of that. Yeah, no, I definitely, I like I said, Yeah.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (09:59)
Yeah.
And this is why mentors are so important.
Julie Dixon (10:06)
No, and it's funny. So it's funny at that time, I didn't have that. Truthfully, my aunt who worked in the fashion industry, basically she was this like strong, independent, like female entrepreneur. And so she was kind of like, and she was making money and like, she was like the person that I kind of looked to and like aspired to. But it's funny, I never really talked to her about career advice. Cause also think about it like this,
technology at the time like now the fact you know talked to my aunt prime multiple times a days and some days you know what I mean but at that time it was still like you know going like you didn't have the conveniences per se and like the accessibility because mind you we were paying by the minute for our cell phones probably at that era as well so
Brooke Bustle Krieger (10:56)
Yeah. geez. Cause now I, yeah, I don't, I don't think, and you have the internet. So it's not even really the having that person to look to, but I mean, you can go on Reddit and have the Reddit community negotiate anything for you. can have chat, claw, Gemini, doodle. ⁓
Julie Dixon (11:04)
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, no. Yeah. You know, to do a comparable salary assessment for that position. Yeah.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (11:18)
There's websites. Yeah. You've got so many.
Julie Dixon (11:21)
none of that existed and that's why the whole like the like women being in the positions that they were against self-imposed on this one, but part of it also came because we just didn't have the resources nor the mentors when you think about it. And it's funny because I know previously we talked about like who were the mentors in my life and the reality in my history the majority of them were men because I didn't have the females in my ⁓ in my group. Diana the woman at the foot patrol office I was
so fortunate for her because she was like the matriarch of the office. Yeah.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (11:55)
Yeah, she's the only name you've mentioned so far, so she must have had a pretty good impact. ⁓
Julie Dixon (11:59)
No, then the chief's assistant to this day is one of my just greatest, greatest women in my life, Linnea. But she was also like that mental coach that, you know, being a young female in that environment, like she was just such a great resource to me. But it's the fact of the matter was the pickings were slim, you know, like there really weren't options. then the available resources, there was one female sergeant and she's now chief of
And so like the fact that I can tell you the females like the handful of females in my life that were in different roles that you know I was involved with or like kept my eye on are all in like crazy leadership positions today but even my friend that I was telling you about from high school who's like just Insane she was like number two at the DA's office in Orange County just biggest rock star so amazing she was high school president all that kind of stuff and
But her and I, we wrote letters to each other, people. This was the era that I grew up in. And so now it's been great because we've been able to reconnect in our afterlife or whatever you call it, our post whatever, don't know, post, or the end of our career. I don't know what it's called. Yeah, exactly. But we've reconnected. But it's fun comparing notes with her because when we look at the things
Brooke Bustle Krieger (13:12)
Your life.
my gosh, it's not the end.
Julie Dixon (13:29)
that we both went through in the struggles, very different experiences in the respect of like the paths that we took, but the commonality of being in male dominated environments and like what we dealt with and who we dealt with, it's been really similar challenges.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (13:45)
Yeah. Well, it's a product of the generation and the community, the influencers are all the same components, the same variables. Wow. So then how long until, so let's do some time jumping. So now you are officially in parking. You've become.
Julie Dixon (13:48)
Yes.
Yeah, for sure.
I'm in parking and then with the advent of smart technology, that was where I was really lucky because I was like the gatekeeper in San Francisco. And so the one of the taglines I used to have was like, if you can make it work in San Francisco, you can make it work anywhere because the standards that they had, the service level agreements, all of that. And so this was also the solicitation for SF Park. So the Urban Partnership Agreement, the UPA grant that came out, basically the window of application time was very short.
So San Francisco had, I was basically the program manager to a certain degree for a lot of the parking program pilot details for San Francisco. At that time we were running a lot of pilots, testing a lot of equipment. When the UPA agreement came out, the window was so short that they had us do all of the application processes and support for the UPA agreement. In the end, this is how SF Park came to be. SF Park was awarded
the UPA agreement, started out as a $20 million study and what I tell people became a $56 million Petri dish for parking. And so I always tell people I was like the gatekeeper. It's why all the vendors know me because in order for you to be able to do work in San Francisco, we were the procurement agent for the project. You basically had to go through me to get into the city. And yes, we managed all of the procurements, anything from a $5,000
Brooke Bustle Krieger (15:28)
much power.
Julie Dixon (15:34)
widget to like an $8 million data warehouse that and everything in between and all the technology. And then we helped QA, QC, all of the pilot technology. got dubbed the sensor queen because remember a lot of the SF park program was focused on congestion mitigation for both on and off street parking. We tested every sensor imaginable. But the other thing that was really unique about San Francisco is we held the vendors accountable for their performance.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (15:49)
to turn.
Julie Dixon (16:04)
And that was part of the, also got.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (16:06)
Wow, that's a good one.
Julie Dixon (16:08)
I also got called the default queen because we defaulted so many vendors as well. And so while all of this stuff was happening and like ⁓ Schupp's theories and all of the academia and everything that was involved, what a lot of people don't know is that at all but one of the SF Park employees were actually Serco employees because of the way that the contracting mechanism worked for all of the funding. So that was very unique in the way that the
relationship ran it was all an SFMTA project but a lot of the project management a lot of the administration all of the contracts with all the vendors were all running through this contract and so it's a really great example of like the size and commodity of the programs that I'm accustomed to running because don't forget when I started in San Francisco I think the revenues were at 28 million a year for on-street revenue when I left I think we were at 56
million. And so when you really look at the management, the reconciliation, the fact that we could manage to the sub zone and like the level of reconciliation detail that we have for San Francisco that we try to replicate a lot of that in Los Angeles as well. And so when SF Park was all said and done and all the books were being published and I had a lot of gray hair, I have to tell you, everybody was coming to the company saying, I want to hire you. I want to do what San Francisco did.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (17:32)
Ha
Julie Dixon (17:37)
But the reality was the company was so circle was so big that they just really didn't care about parking and the city of Newport Beach in Southern California. Yep was so small that we couldn't come to terms on their insurance requirements and basically circles like SIA and it was the revenue manager Evelyn saying I talk about her all the time that basically said to me, I just want to hire you. I don't really care about Serco.
And I'll always remember where I was standing, where I was on my cell phone in the parking lot of West Hollywood, her telling me this. And my whole career, like I said, people had said, you should have your own business. And it was at that point that I said, this is it. This is the time. I've got to jump now. And they were going to issue an RFP for the work. And I knew that if I won that RFP that I could keep the lights on for probably six months, you know, with my savings. ⁓
Brooke Bustle Krieger (18:24)
And
Julie Dixon (18:37)
I had to go flip burgers at McDonald's or clean toilets like that's what I would do and that's actually when the whole thing started in October 22nd 2012 was when I started Dixon with the intention of helping making at the time municipal parking easy convenient and accessible was my tagline and I started the business with the intention of that RFP and then there was an RFP coming out for LA that I
that I had a like an opportunity for and then I haven't stopped ever since like I will tell you like cities came to me which was really super flattering and first of all I never had plans to have employees I actually thought I was gonna be able to go to the beach more often I thought that was gonna be a real thing I thought I'd have more time for myself and ⁓
Brooke Bustle Krieger (19:31)
See, I thought you were just in Maui.
Julie Dixon (19:34)
Well, know, funny enough, one of my friends just asked about like how much pool time I had. I'm like, you know, when I'm in Maui, I'm actually working. It's just the difference. Being in Milwaukee or being in, you know, any other location. It's just a prettier one, obviously. And really good food, mind you. And also really amazing people. have to tell you that people live in Maui have been so welcoming. I've been there for nine years now because this launch of the Park Maui program has been
Brooke Bustle Krieger (19:51)
Yeah.
Julie Dixon (20:04)
long time coming and that's actually something where for me to tell you to be here coming up on the 15th year, I still have my pinch me moments because I will never take for granted being in this position to have the team that I work with. I'm so flattered and so honored to be in this position and to be able to do the job that I do because I truly anybody that knows me knows this. I love my job.
Like I truly love what I do I feel like I'm doing something that has an impact and even using Maui as the example like let me tell you we have been Through it and I say we because the tragedy that they've suffered I mean the when those fires were happening and like I couldn't get a hold of the people that I've been working with for years I mean that was I had an employee at the time that was living on island and I mean it was a scary time and now the floods like it's just been
It's just been crazy going through this experience. So to have that program turn on after spending as much time building it, it's really been almost a relief for that matter because that community has been through it. But I think that that's part of what I love about my job is becoming a part of these communities and having them like welcome me to help them try to figure out what they can do next and like what they
can do to make their lives more manageable or you know make parking easier and so that you know for their mobility you know goals and objectives it's just a really fun job.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (21:42)
Yeah. Yeah. And I always think it's cool, especially now that you're on this side. And I've always been on this side where you deal with so many different accounts and so many different cities and places. Every project is unique. Every project is different. And it keeps things exciting as opposed to doing sort of the same thing every day or solving the same problems every day.
Julie Dixon (22:04)
You never know who's going to be on the other line when the phone rings or when you get that email. And so one of the things I know you ask about one of your lines, and I had to go back to my coworkers because they made a list. They call them Juliisms of the things I say all the time because they think it's really funny. But one of my taglines is that there's cookie cutter problems, just not cookie cutter solutions. And the reality of each community being unique, but in the core of it,
there's often that core issue of like where are the employees supposed to park? You what about residential access? Like we always know there's core concepts, but it's solutioning for what is going to work in that environment or in that community.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (22:39)
Right.
Well, cause everything will always fall into the same buckets. There's probably three to five buckets realistically. But by the time you talk to someone, the problem that they think they have is unique, but that all travels back to one of those three or three to five buckets that everyone has. Your job is to help them get back to that core.
Julie Dixon (22:49)
Yeah, that's right.
That's right.
that couldn't be more.
Yep. And oftentimes that's part of what it really is. It's about peeling the curtain back or peeling the onion, whatever way you want to look at it to really get to the root. And that's one thing that, know, again, the tag lines come frequently for me, but you really got to get to the root of the problem because the reality is if you just put the band-aids on top of it, we've all been across those programs and there's, it's just going to break again. It's probably going to be worse. But if you spend the time and really try to figure out what's the problem you're trying to
solve and I think that's one of the reasons why when I do get called the parking lady or whatever the heck in that community that they've dubbed me it's because of the fact that like it's people like wow you really hurt or you really listen I'm like yeah because like we got to figure out what's gonna work here and that's why the cookie cutter solution thing just can't work you've really got to listen to what the need is and what the impact is so
Brooke Bustle Krieger (23:58)
Yeah.
And you'll see that a lot and I see it, so I'm sure you see it too, kind of that sunk cost fallacy of, you know, doing the band-aid solutions, locking into random technology to band-aid a situation that ended up not being the real problem to begin with. And then you're already invested in whatever that, you know, randomized solution was. ⁓ And then you see programs get really chaotic really quickly with some of those things stacked up.
Julie Dixon (24:15)
Yes.
Very much so. And that's where I feel like I'm very fortunate to be in the position where I'm at, because there are some times where I will tell people like, no, I'm like, I'm not going to recommend that or no, I'm not going to go that way because it's just going to cost you more money or this is what's going to break. And so that's the one thing that is fortunate about getting to this position is to be able to say no or to be able to be honest with people and tell them, well, another
Brooke Bustle Krieger (24:51)
Yeah.
Julie Dixon (24:56)
tagline that I have is not being afraid to tell people their baby is ugly. ⁓ my co-workers really love that one because it's not always easy, but there are ways to help people understand maybe you got to put a hat on that kid, you know, but ⁓ that's one of the ones that my coworkers think is very funny. But I do use that one oftentimes with people because of the fact that sometimes, you know, you work really hard on something and it's difficult to say, I want to just
Brooke Bustle Krieger (25:00)
That's so cool!
Julie Dixon (25:25)
throw it away or give up on it, but sometimes you do got to figure out what's the next option so that you you don't continue to throw good money after bad.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (25:35)
Yeah, and I think there's a lot of power in being able to say no. A lot of people think success is when you get invited to the table, right? But sometimes it's being able to say no at that table. That's the next level.
Julie Dixon (25:44)
Yep.
Yep. And yeah, not be afraid to share your comments. I think that that's one of the other things that I will say again, I've shared. I've obviously tried to be very honest here with some of the embarrassing histories that I've had. I think that that's an important part about, you know, being able to have the confidence in where I'm at today is I am not perfect, nor will I ever be. And I use that too as an excuse because I'm going to make mistakes.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (25:59)
Thank
Julie Dixon (26:15)
I'm gonna have fumbles, you know, I'm not gonna use the right pronoun sometimes like these are just the realities of where you know where I was raised and who I am I will try I will try to be better but I also you know I'm a work in progress just like everybody is and I think that that's where just as a community we need to be more forgiving of others so that we can understand that this how we learn this how we grow so that's my little kumbaya moment so
Brooke Bustle Krieger (26:42)
I love it. And then you kind of touched on this different mentors. And I know early in your career, they weren't readily accessible, but who would you say are kind of those primary influencers as you started to build your business and where you are now?
Julie Dixon (26:56)
Yeah, there's a lot of people that I will say I'm very fortunate in that when, in fact, it's one of the reasons why when my phone rings, I'll talk to anybody. And especially if you're starting a business, especially if you're a female starting a business, trust me, I will hold your hand. I will hold your hair. I will do whatever you need to help you get something. And I very much value those folks because they've also become, ⁓ like mentors to me too, because like, especially a lot of them have started their own businesses. And then now we really kind of have that peer group and that
Brooke Bustle Krieger (27:13)
Thank
Julie Dixon (27:26)
resource. ⁓ Yeah, I'm very, I'm very lucky for that for sure. But I think that it's funny when we were talking about this and kind of our prep conversation, I know everybody calls her out for it, but man, Cindy Campbell, she's just, she's just such a rock star in our industry. And it's funny, I was listening to your interview with Dulce and I was laughing when Dulce was like, Cindy knows my name, you know, and I always was always so flattered because I will always sit in a Cindy
Brooke Bustle Krieger (27:27)
Share notes.
Yeah.
I hope so.
Julie Dixon (27:56)
Campbell session. If I have the time on my calendar and I can be there because I need the kick in the butt. I tell her that all the time like we all need the refresher and I always learn something new in her classes. So I just always like to give her a shout out because anybody that has a chance yeah to sit in her class she's definitely won. My aunt that I talked about like the fact I talked to her multiple times during the week as well for sure she's definitely won.
And then I'll give my friend from high school that I mentioned her name is Tracy Miller. She actually spoke at CMPA probably about 10 years ago and she spoke at Swapda probably about four years ago and she's just a rock star and her story is one that you want to be an inspirational female leader. You got to talk to her because she's just a powerhouse. So she's really amazing. You know what it is. I think I learned from everybody quite frankly.
I was just listening to Resnick and John Conway's interview with Danny. They just did a podcast and I had to text them because I was like, I just wish I had been in the room to like, should have chat with them because I was laughing as I listened to them talk. And so I, I don't know. just, I look, I look and I learned from everybody around me, both new and, ⁓ you know, experienced because that's one of the best parts about the peer group that I get to work with today on the team.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (29:02)
Yeah.
Julie Dixon (29:26)
We have such a diverse background and it's really funny because I get it when I like sit at the table and like my colleague is, I can, you know, when somebody is intimidated by you and my goal is to try to break that down because like, in fact, I, I will embarrass her because my coworker, Erin, ⁓ we had this moment, back in October where we were sitting at the table, getting ready for, it was a retreat, getting ready for dinner. And, ⁓ she starts telling me about how.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (29:38)
Thank you.
Julie Dixon (29:56)
intimidating, you know, I am. And I said, you intimidate me. Are you kidding me? And she goes, what do you mean? I'm like, dude, you could leave. Like I invest all this time in you. Like you can leave. like, you could be gone tomorrow. I invest all my heart and feelings and support you. Like you can leave. I'm intimidated by you. And like the look on her face was like shock, but I was like, how does it feel? I'm like, that's how I feel. And like we had this just really great conversation and it really just changed.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (30:22)
⁓
Julie Dixon (30:26)
it because I don't think she ever saw it from that perspective. like, do think I feel? Like I invest all my time and energy and then you could leave at like the moment's notice and then I'm left here and no air. And like, what the heck?
Brooke Bustle Krieger (30:39)
you
Julie Dixon (30:40)
It was, it was a really good conversation because I don't think anybody ever looks at it from that perspective. And I can, I've been, you know, I was a parking enforcement officer. get it. I wore a uniform. I had a badge. know what that like that aura people give off is, but.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (30:57)
Yeah, there's one. Yeah.
Julie Dixon (30:59)
I said it. I, and so my first goal is if when I feel any level of people having like discomfort, if I'm there, my first job self deprecating jokes is will always be my go-to because like whatever I can do to help level the playing field and make people feel at ease. Cause I am just a person and I, all the things you said at the beginning, like I said, my head is so big right now, but the reality is I'm just Julie. You know what I mean? I'm the little sister with three older brothers. I've always been the youngest. I still feel like I'm.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (31:21)
Okay.
Julie Dixon (31:29)
youngest even though now my god I'm becoming the oldest in the room it's crazy ⁓ but like I never I'll never feel like that because it wasn't how I was raised you know
Brooke Bustle Krieger (31:38)
Yeah, yeah, and I think it's always important to make, not necessarily make people feel what you're feeling, but saying it like you just explained. I think you should always tell people, because it feels good. Give more than you take. Give more than you take always.
Julie Dixon (31:45)
Yes. Yes.
It does feel good. Yeah.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (31:56)
And then now we built this business. It's obviously successful, at least I'm assuming, right? Things aren't going well. ⁓ So what's next? mean, now you've got, and I think we can talk about this. You've got a TEDx presentation reported. You've got a doctorate that's almost completed.
Julie Dixon (32:03)
Oh, I mean, we're coming to 115, who would have thunk it? Like, that's the part.
coming up.
Yes, I was telling you I was almost hesitant. I didn't want to jinx it when I pursued my MBA. I did not talk about it till I was done because I didn't want to jinx it. But now I'm in the last six months of my doctoral program and I'm in the research phase of my dissertation and I'm definitely like I can see the light. I'm really excited and it's about parking so I can't wait for everybody to know about it. But one thing I will share from my research is that there's actually very little research done on parking enforcement.
Everything is about pricing so I can't wait for this to come out but then I also did a TEDx which should be hopefully published in the in June ish I'm hoping and so ⁓ I it's all about parking my tagline is parking touches everything and it was really funny because the hosts for the TEDx Really kind of almost made fun of me that my presentation was about parking But I had the best compliment afterwards
And I was telling you, was probably one of the hardest things that I ever had to do, because you have to memorize. You don't get any teleprompters, anything like that. But afterward, it's 10 to 15 minutes, well, 12 to 15 minutes. so, yeah, and it's funny. I public speak all the time, but memorizing a speech that the script had to be exact, but it was walking back to my car and some random person that was in the audience came up to me and said, hey, congratulations. And I had that moment where I was like, thank you so much.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (33:28)
And how long is it? 10, 15?
Julie Dixon (33:50)
She said a point to me, she said, wow, what a game changer and full circle moment, because I talked about parking, I talked about my start in Isla Vista, and then I concluded, because I'm back in Isla Vista now, and I'm actually bringing parking innovation to Isla Vista, and I tell that story, and for her to have that full circle moment, I remember sitting in my car, just having my moment going like,
I did that and it's not something that we get to do very often but I say this to my peers all the time is that you really got to celebrate the wins and achievements and so that was that moment where I was like I did that and I don't often get to say that but I had that moment where
like, wow, that random stranger just saw that I accomplished something. And so I took my moment in the car and like patted myself on the back and said, there you go, Julie, you know, so that was nice.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (34:51)
It's so important to let yourself feel the things you feel, especially feeling proud of yourself. think, especially with overachievers, I'll follow us both overachievers. I'll take the crown on that one. That's fine. cast. I think it's really quick to do something, check the box, and then go on to the next thing. Is it more of a completion than it is enjoying the end product, right?
Julie Dixon (34:55)
Absolutely.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes, no, 100%. And that's the thing. Yes.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (35:21)
When you get the chance to feel that openness, is sometimes something you kind of push to the side because you're so eager to get to the next thing. I think it's so important.
Julie Dixon (35:29)
Yeah, I'm being a small business owner. The fact is the job is never done. And that's something why you have to be able to control the chaos and be able to stop, take your moment and also clock out at the end of the day. think that's something that, you know, I at the beginning, I still have the laptop that I fell asleep and broke the space bar like on my laptop. I'll always remember this because that's what I did. I just worked until literally my body said stop and
It's something that again, I had to learn for myself over the years, like you have to have those controls and you have to those on-off switches, but taking that time to celebrate your achievements, none of us should ignore that for sure.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (36:14)
Yeah, maybe for a little bit, but always come back.
Julie Dixon (36:17)
Yeah, you should take a moment to celebrate. We work hard, and I think that's one thing, especially as women, that we tend to neglect what we've accomplished. And I think it's really important that we have to take that moment.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (36:31)
Yeah. And I mean, I think we talked about this kind of for a second right before we started about how preparing the TEDx speech was almost more intimidating than working on your dissertation just because of the bigger factors associated with it.
Julie Dixon (36:43)
Yes.
yeah, know the pressure and then with it being online and then this whole thing about like kind of taking the my ethos and putting it out there. But yeah, it, but it also, I really am looking forward to the feedback. ⁓ And in fact, my hope it comes out before IP mics. I'm on a panel ⁓ with some folks that I would love to have some discussion and debates because with the parking reform network and Tony Jordan, who I absolutely enjoy, we're on a panel together. And in some cases we have very similar views, but
in other cases we have differing views and I would love for this to come out beforehand because I think it'll become a fun topic for debate as well.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (37:23)
Yes, we'll all absolutely be sharing it everywhere. And with everyone I know, because it's, as you probably know also, it's a complicated thing to talk with, especially when you're so passionate about parking mobility to then share that passion with your friends and family who don't quite understand the layers of what we do here.
Julie Dixon (37:26)
Thanks for
Thanks
Yes.
But you know what's funny Brooke, one of the best compliments that I get and I get it at school all the time. And it's something that I've really I love hearing this. You made me think about parking differently and that and in fact, one of the advisors for the TEDx posted that when she prompted my TEDx and she said you achieve the goal of this initiative, which was you made me think about parking differently. And I was like, won.
like I did it, that's exactly what my goal is. And that helps because that's the effect I want to have on the communities that I work with. so that people, parking is a learned behavior and we want behavior to change. So we want people to park and do things differently. And that's the goal is to have people think about it differently so they'll behave differently. So that's a real compliment for sure.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (38:14)
We it!
I think eventually going back to the degree in sociology, the sociology of parking would be a really interesting course now that I'm thinking about it.
Julie Dixon (38:45)
Yeah, you know, it's funny that we do the politics of parking, right? And so to do the sociology of parking, ⁓ I'm, I know this is an interesting approach towards it too.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (38:52)
This is all human behavior, really. Don't give me a good idea, because I will unfortunately run with it. So I'm gonna put it, I'm writing that one down.
Julie Dixon (39:00)
Yeah, no, I love it. think we'll have more conversations about that one. I think we've just come up with a team approach towards it with both of our degrees. So.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (39:04)
Hold on. ⁓
I think we have friends in the university space. can make this happen. All right, so we are coming up to our two hour mark, which is also crazy. No, I want it all. think we'll put this into a two parter. Build up some anticipation for the second part.
Julie Dixon (39:14)
Yes, first of all.
It is.
Sounds good, that's hilarious. You can have the cliffhanger be about the bomb, so there you go.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (39:35)
Yeah, yeah, I was thinking we would leave, leave right around there. Or when you got the keys to the city, one of the two would be a good cliffhanger. Or the bomb's a good one. ⁓ my gosh. I feel like that was a conversation from yesterday.
Julie Dixon (39:44)
I love it.
It's funny.
I know, I know, I know it's funny because when you talk about two people that have achieved so much, we could talk probably the entire day without a doubt.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (40:03)
Well, I can also go on about AVs for hours too, if you'll let me. So either one. ⁓
Julie Dixon (40:11)
Yes, when I do a new podcast, I'll have you on for that.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (40:15)
Yes, bring me on. All right, let's close this out with the rapid fire questions, which I know you've prepped for, so I'm excited to hear your answers. So first one is, what is the trait you most deplore in others?
Julie Dixon (40:23)
from this.
dishonesty. can't handle liars.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (40:31)
Well, I mean that makes sense. What is your greatest extravagance?
Julie Dixon (40:35)
Mm-hmm.
I'd say my monthly appointment at the spa. Yeah, I have a membership so you get to go in every month for an 80 minute pure relaxation massage. That's definitely an extravagance, but one that is a necessity.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (40:42)
monthly.
That's nice, maybe I should get on.
Julie Dixon (40:55)
Highly recommend, highly. In fact, my appointment was on Saturday and it was delightful. Very much so. It's definitely, I mean, I wish it could go weekly, let's be honest, but that's not real.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (41:00)
so you're coming back refreshed. I love that.
I mean, there's probably a package for that. You can do a subscription for anything these days.
Julie Dixon (41:09)
Yeah, I think that the extravagance, that's the part where, know, yeah, that's, we'll have to, we'll have to see it and also the time, but it is a nice benefit for sure.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (41:16)
Yeah. yeah. And Lesuse would probably get tired of you. This lady again.
Julie Dixon (41:21)
Yeah, exactly. But I'm always so proud. He's like, oh, the last 10 sounds like, yes, I did. I made progress. So there you go. They're funny, hilarious. Exactly. I do listen to the instructions given.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (41:27)
I'm a good student.
On what occasion do you lie?
Julie Dixon (41:37)
I'll be, I try to be as honest as possible because this really goes back to my history of where like I don't want to have to try to keep track of the stories. And I had a previous boss that spun a lot of stories and I watched him not be able to keep track of them. So the best way to always be able to keep track of your stories is always be honest. So I think that there are some times where the, ⁓ maybe you're just not as complete. So I don't know about lying, but maybe not.
being as like forthcoming with information is probably more than lying. But it's actually it's not really an issue for me because of the fact that sometimes I'm too blunt. Sometimes I'm too honest, but I have found that it's also honesty is the best policy. I will say it's lying is not common, but if it's an incomplete, you know, truth, then I think that that's probably the closest that I could get to it.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (42:36)
spoken like a true woman in law enforcement. Just withholding a little bit of information.
Julie Dixon (42:40)
I gotta testify in court, gotta be able to speak to the facts,
Brooke Bustle Krieger (42:47)
Yep. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Julie Dixon (42:52)
I have two, think first of all confidence is like amazing and then a sense of humor. I just and honestly that goes for men or women. I need somebody that is funny. I want you to know that like to be able to laugh. So I think that that like sense of humor and confidence like those two things go hand in hand for me.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (43:12)
Absolutely, I agree. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Julie Dixon (43:17)
I literally had this list that they gave to me.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (43:20)
What's this list? ⁓
Julie Dixon (43:21)
Well, they made they made these like shirts and mugs this one year because they all think it's so funny some of the things that I say But I do think the cookie cutter problems ⁓ not cookie cutter solutions probably one of my most common ones one of my co-workers hate the when I say there's more than one way to skin a cat because she loves cats and then I definitely use the Baby ugly thing like don't want to tell somebody their babies ugly like that one I use a lot lately too. I try to mix up
Brooke Bustle Krieger (43:27)
my god.
Classic.
Yeah.
Julie Dixon (43:51)
my phrases because of the fact that like so when people start reacting to them or if it's too predictable so I do tend to like rotate them out like I used to say just ducky like a decade ago and now I don't say that anymore so I do try I try to rotate them yeah I do you don't want to be too predictable
Brooke Bustle Krieger (44:04)
rotate them out. Keep people on their toes. You don't want to be too predictable. This is two ways to skin a cat is funny. I've heard that one in a while. Women, where were you happiest?
Julie Dixon (44:20)
Hmm.
⁓ Last summer, so my, when I was a CSO, my CSO number was 55. So 55 is like a really important number in my life. So when I turned 55, I went on a trip to Greece and we rented a villa in Mykonos for a week. And that was pretty incredible and pretty awesome. I thought that was, I was pretty happy at that time. And everybody just like literally we were like,
Brooke Bustle Krieger (44:45)
Yeah.
Julie Dixon (44:51)
teenagers like summer lover movie era like just everybody had a blast and just no rules just have a great time so I think that was probably the happiest and like that there's several moments like that but that was pretty epic it was an epic trip so
Brooke Bustle Krieger (45:02)
What?
were you able to fully disconnect?
Julie Dixon (45:10)
100%. No, we went off. Like we went to different beach parties every day and like the different like the clubs, the day clubs and everything. Let's be honest. ⁓ Yeah, and day drinking. That's like I'm at an age now where day drinking is the thing. Like, let's be straight. And yeah, it was it was epic. And like it was really
Brooke Bustle Krieger (45:21)
Really, Dixon, was that a beach club in Michigan?
Amazing.
That's awesome.
Julie Dixon (45:34)
Perfect weather, just yeah, the whole experience was really amazing. But I will also tell you, and I'm definitely dating myself, I have really gotten into my garden and my house has roses. And so I will tell you every weekend I spend time, I don't know what this sounds like, but I spend time with my roses and I now have bird feeders. And I'm like really into the bird feeders? Like I bought a bird book. I'm with you, I'm telling you.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (45:45)
Thank
don't get me started on the birds. I'm very obsessed with the birds. I'll have to add another 30 minutes to this if we start on the birds. Let's save that one for next time we talk.
Julie Dixon (46:04)
I know I could. It's so relaxing. I'm telling you. it's like, yeah, I'm, we will compare notes on that because it's a, it's a real thing. And the funny, my dog totally tolerates the birds. It's great. And he hates the squirrels and this birds hate the squirrels. It's a whole thing. It's a whole lot of like life flow in my backyard, but it's also, I really enjoy my backyard because I get to really enjoy it too. So yeah.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (46:09)
I'm obsessed with my birds.
Yes. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And then I'll give you just a snippet and we'll get into it another time. we had, I've always really been into the birds. I have the bird feeders. I have the ones that go up to the window so you can see them as they come up to the window. I love them. We get so many colorful and interesting types of birds in Atlanta too. And I'm just fascinated by it. Anyway, recently about just over a month ago, maybe right around Easter,
Julie Dixon (46:40)
it's on. Yep.
That's awesome.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (46:57)
A nest was formed in our front door wreath. then there were, so then it was a nest and then it was eggs, little blue eggs. It was like beautiful. And then we took our, and then we could see when the mother bird would come and the dad too, would come up to the nest. And eventually we took our ⁓ nursery cams, like the baby's camera that you can have anywhere. And then we hung it on the wreath. Julie, can't even, I was live streaming this for like the last.
Julie Dixon (47:00)
wow.
Yeah.
Okay.
⁓ that's cool.
That's awesome.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (47:26)
months straight and this weekend. on Sunday ⁓ the last one flew out of the nest so we got to watch the whole journey from start to finish from the nest being made the eggs sitting the eggs when they were born. So we got to watch them get it's the whole thing and I have all the footage.
Julie Dixon (47:32)
⁓ that's awesome.
That's cool.
You can do it all now.
that just frame on the, the, the stream. That'll be amazing. See, we have an eagle cam here in big bear that they play on the news every day because last year two Eagles were born and there was a camera. And then this year some like vulture got into the eggs. was a whole thing, man. People were like ready to, yeah, it was a whole thing, but I, the hummingbirds knock on my door because we, made my whole patio into a hummingbird garden. And so the hummingbirds are like, hello, like you need to put
Brooke Bustle Krieger (47:51)
Woo.
Oh my gosh. The vultures.
Julie Dixon (48:15)
food out like the hummingbirds totally communicate I'm telling you know it's my little goldfinches it's a so we'll we'll we'll share that well the next time I see you that's awesome on the nest though that's really cool please do
Brooke Bustle Krieger (48:23)
We'll share more bird stories. I'll show you or I'll send you all the pictures and videos of the journey. was, I actually got kind of emotional on Sunday when the last one flew out and then threw away the wreath because it was disgusting. We had the whole journey and it was, I mean they cracked and then it was three.
Julie Dixon (48:33)
I'm sure that you're in the nest,
I'm sure. But this was the home these birds were born in. That's really incredible. That's so funny.
Little birdies.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (48:49)
weeks, like about a total of three weeks that the little birds were living in there. And then we couldn't use our front door. So then we were coming through the garage every day because we didn't want to disturb them. Yes, they loved it.
Julie Dixon (48:55)
Yeah, that's awesome though. What a cool experience for your kids too though. Like, yeah, no, I'm so funny. Like I thought telling you the bird thing, I'm like, was a risk. Now I'm so glad that I did. Well, people laugh, my friends laugh at me cause they're like, I think the bird thing is legit. They're like, my God, you're getting old. I'm like, I just think it's awesome. It's relaxing. So there you go.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (49:07)
It was a risk. It's never a risk. ⁓
I think that there's two types of people in this world. There's the ones that appreciate the birds and ones who don't and I'm in the first. I will. All right, where were we? If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Julie Dixon (49:25)
I can't, I love it, can't, yeah, definitely wanna see that video, that's awesome.
What would it be? You know what?
I don't know that I would change anything other than the fact that just keep trying to be better. You know what I mean? And just I try to listen more and cause I'm a very enthusiastic person and I have a lot to say as you can tell today. And like my job is to try to listen more. So I think that that's just something I'm constantly working on and trying to improve. So I think that that's an important thing about, I don't know if it would be changed just and continue to improve that for sure.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (49:52)
Thank you.
Yeah. And which historical figure do you most identify with?
Julie Dixon (50:13)
You know, I thought about this one a lot and I actually was even asking people that know me and it really made me go back to my TED talk because, so where I go for my doctorate program, I'm in the Drucker School of Management. it really made me think about, and for those of that don't know, Peter Drucker is the father of modern management. And it was funny because he really resonated with me when I was doing my MBA program and now the fact that I'm in the Drucker School. And the one thing that I spoke of when I did my talk was
that basically it's about changing systems and what Drucker's main philosophy is is that if we want to understand how people actually behave, we have to really change a system. We have to really know that is because we can't just want them to change their behavior. We have to understand why like the how and I think that that really speaks to kind of how I've been doing my job for a while is like to really get into the understanding.
of the behavior so that if we want to make change. So it really made me think about him and that's the person that I've really thought about. Trust me, I went through lists of them to say like, about this person? And I just, he really resonated with me because he really speaks to kind of how I try to do my job. Yeah. thanks.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (51:25)
Yeah.
I think that's a well researched answer.
Julie Dixon (51:37)
It's good that you give us these questions that way I would, because I don't even know what I would have said on the fly.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (51:43)
Yeah, these are actually, don't, I say these every podcast or read these every podcast and I still don't know what my answer would be for a lot of these, because they're kind of tricky.
Julie Dixon (51:53)
They are. That's why I was grateful. That's why I also think to your other interviews, I was like, okay, good. This is then I don't sound so crazy.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (52:01)
And then we've got one left. What is your greatest regret?
Julie Dixon (52:04)
So as you've heard, I've made a lot of mistakes.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (52:09)
We've talked a lot of you.
Julie Dixon (52:12)
But the reality is I try not to live with regret because of the fact that I wouldn't be where I am today. But the one thing that I probably need to go to a therapist for was when I was a teenage girl, I was an absolute bitch to my mom. Like, I mean, I now look at it and I was the problem. I 100 % was and didn't think about it at the time. But like if I could go back and
it differently. I wouldn't be the pain in the ass that I was that I know most teenage girls are so I can't really just take the crown on that but I'd like to think that I would behave differently but that I don't again I wouldn't be where I am today. Yeah because it is one of those things you know like I've told you I lost my mom when I was 24 so you really miss those opportunities so there you go.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (52:55)
That is a kind answer.
Yeah, that's a good answer. And I think we can, I know I wasn't the best either, so.
Julie Dixon (53:11)
Yeah, mean, that's a thing, right? I get it. But that's where I thought, I'm like, oh, but again, that's where we are in our lives and how we behave. I don't know that I could have changed that, but if I could have, that's probably the one thing. Time is precious.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (53:29)
Time is precious. Well, that's all I got.
Julie Dixon (53:33)
This was, I can't believe we talked the whole two hours. I feel bad for the people that have to listen to this and hopefully.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (53:38)
Hahaha!
Julie Dixon (53:39)
Get a good chuckle out of it. But no, I so appreciate the opportunity of you including me. I also want to thank Mobility Pathfinders. I'm super excited for the prom and to be there to celebrate with everybody and just what Mobility Pathfinders has achieved. And kudos to everything that you've done and just, you know, for being able to bring these messages forward. It's just so appreciative.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (54:03)
Thanks, I am really enjoying it. It's been fun. I've met so many interested people, or even not really meeting, but getting to get under the layers of just work talk, which is really fun. So I'm glad I have.
Julie Dixon (54:12)
Thanks.
Yeah, I'm going to be a sub it and I'm not kidding you. really, really, really, really want it. I can't put any other thing on my list. And plus I'd end up not, they would not be a podcast. That'd be less than an hour because I can't shut up. So yeah.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (54:29)
All of my podcast is up over an hour. I need to get in tune with somehow taking it to the 30 minute mark, but I just don't think I can do it. No, we're going to keep it all. We're going keep it all.
Julie Dixon (54:33)
Yeah, for sure.
That's I said edit freely as you need to for sure. Thank you so much for including me. And if there's anything else you need, please just let me know for sure. So much. Yes. Thanks, Brooke. Talk to you soon. See you at the conference. Bye.
Brooke Bustle Krieger (54:49)
Absolutely. Good luck tonight and we'll talk very soon if not in Milwaukee.
All right, bye.