Q&A with Julie Wass - Rising Stars 2015

The customer service senior at North Lincolnshire Homes - a 2015 Rising Stars hopeful - explains how she got into housing and what she would do if she won

Describe yourself in three words

Inventive, spirited, compassionate.

Who in the housing world really inspires you and why?

There are many nationally known inspirational people in housing I could name; Jenny Osborne who has lead in developing strong partnerships between tenants, landlords and government or Jayne Hilditch who is leading the development of innovative online services for customers with a vibrant energy, but the person who inspires me the most is Karen Cowan, ongo’s head of customer support and services.

The commitment to customer care Karen demonstrates is exceptional; she never compromises her conscientious values, always delivers and has led ongo to win many awards because of this.  

Seeing Karen in action reminds me that my values of treating customers with dignity and respect are built from sound ethics. She inspires me to never settle for less than what I believe to be right, confident that this will allow my customers to enjoy what they deserve.  

What is your favourite building and why?

My favourite building is my house!

My house gave me the chance to build a home which in turn gave me the stability and platform I needed to be successful in my life.

So many people don’t have this, which makes me feel lucky to have somewhere that is suitable for my needs. Primarily, my home is a place of security and safety for myself, my possessions and whom I invite within it. Importantly, it has allowed me to develop my home into a multifunctional base serving as place for rest and relaxation, social life, study and sometimes work.

The appearance of my home is a two-up two-down with a shoebox of a garden. To me, this is not how it appears or feels, it is my wonderful happy home which I have built my life within.

How did you get into housing?

Initially working for the local authority I learned about housing provision and the recent housing stock transfer to North Lincolnshire Homes. I learned about their values and how they understood the importance of supporting people, not only by providing them a house, but all the tools and support needed to create a home and vibrant community.  

From personal experience, having lived in a council bedsit as a young adult and facing a variety of social issues, I have a deep understanding of the needs for decent housing and support in order to overcome personal and social barriers to achieve positive outcomes and develop healthy aspirations. 

My experience has driven my desire to help others in similar situations. I wanted to work in an area that strove to ensure that people were treated fairly, had access to quality affordable homes and bespoke support that enabled them to achieve positive outcomes, which I believe everyone deserves.  

Taking the opportunity to apply for my first job in the industry was the best decision I ever made. It has led to where I proudly am today, showcasing that working in the world of housing can unlock your potential and help the customers you serve do the same.  

Which five people would you invite to your dinner party and why?

I love dinner parties! I am in the middle of a ‘Come Dine With Me’ style dinner party competition with friends at the moment!  

Presuming I can invite anyone, my dinner party would be totally centred around having fun so I would invite; 

• Ross Noble - I love his energy. I would definitely be talking nonsense with him by the end of the night!
• Molly Shannon - one of the funniest women I have ever seen. I think we could get her into some of her characters from Saturday Night Live. I am laughing just imagining it!  
• Joan Rivers - to add a cheeky edge to the night. She was very quick witted and pushed comical boundaries!
• Steven Fry - for a bit of after dinner intellect. I would probably ask him to host a mini-game of QI, and he wouldn’t get annoyed with anyone messing around!  
• My sister - she is one of the funniest people that I actually know and she would fit in so well with this group. She would be annoyed if I had these people in my house and she wasn’t invited!  

Apart from being a Rising Star finalist, what has been the highlight of your career to date?

The grandest answer I could give would be being part of a study exchange with Rotary International that led to me sharing how UK social housing policy operates to the Brazilian state government. It was a great experience to see how Brazil provides and plans for social housing and how they relate that to the wider social needs of communities and what they thought of the UK’s efforts to do the same.   

But in all honesty, what I consider the highlight of my career to date is when I lead a project group to evaluate and refresh the customer insight we capture and use at ongo. I am proud because my involvement in this work means that all of our stakeholders can deliver a better proactive service to the people who will ultimately benefit - our customers. Ongo has 10,000 properties and 350 staff so, if you think about it like that, it’s benefitting a massive amount of people every single time they come in to contact us!  

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Be yourself!  I can guarantee it works!

If you had three wishes, how would you use them?

I always say it’s not what you wish for, it’s what you work for, but if I could click my fingers and things happen I would wish for;   

• Everyone in the world to have a home that provides what mine does for me.
• More equality in the UK and beyond. There should be no need for the reliance on food banks in one of the world’s wealthiest countries.
• World peace. Of course I have to say this. If you had three wishes and this wasn’t one, it just wouldn’t be right! 

What’s the best thing about your current job?

I use my creative and quirky personality to lead on fresh approaches to solving complex problems. This would be impossible without the freedom to innovate, which I enjoy every day.

Every day I have variety which challenges me and means that I have to learn from reflection and continually develop my skills.

As a leader myself, I motivate others to take ownership of issues that at first they don’t always buy into. I enjoy helping them adapt their approach to criticism as it means we can build from diverse opinions to challenge our original thoughts together to meet our goal of delivering customer focused services.

Ultimately for me, the best thing about my job is being able to make a positive difference to people’s lives.  

If you are our Rising Star for 2015, how might your life have changed in 12 months’ time?

After throwing a massive party to celebrate the proudest moment of my life, a lot will have changed. I will take the accolade as industry assurance that my campaign represents social housing’s future needs and use my 12 months to share this message, breaking the stigma of social housing and get the word out about the new culture of housing, echoing beyond our sector.

Leading my campaign as Rising Star I will:

• Start locally building partnerships with the public, private and education sector.
• Develop my campaign from this experience and spending time with CIH Leaders.
• Visit three regions with different housing needs to that of my own.
• Influence the edition of Inside Housing I guest edit to attract and intrigue the non-housing world.
• Present the impact and achievements of social housing to the housing minister, requesting the support needed to help the industry grow from government.
• Keep you posted on my journey with monthly blogs.
• Have bi-monthly articles published relevant to the campaign and its progress.

I will also:

• Join my local CIH, Yorkshire and Humber
• Encourage some other great local housing professionals I know to do the same
• Complete a Level 4 CIH qualification 
• Enrol on a Level 5 CIH qualification

If I can achieve this in 12 months, imagine with your support in voting for me as 2015 Rising Star what I could achieve in 12 years. If you like who I am and what I stand please for #voteforjulie

Rising Stars Q&As

Find out more about the other Rising Stars hopefuls: