Former union leader turns to real estate

Julie Blumberg, a longtime resident of Newport Beach, recently

celebrated her 50th birthday with 17 of her friends, including some

from middle school.

An active and industrious woman, Blumberg, while a student at UCLA

in the early 1970s, had her Volkswagen Beetle placarded with a beetle

board advertising Don Emilio Tequila so she could earn gas money. She

was also put in charge of 65 Teamsters while working for Zellerback

Paper Company in the late 1970s and succeeded as a woman working with

them.

Even though she no longer works with the Teamsters, she is still

busy with real estate and community activities.

The birthday girl sat down with the Pilot’s Luis Pena this week

and talked about the last half-century.

Where did you grow up?

Newport Beach. I consider myself a Newport Beach native even

though my daughter, the teenager, denies it because I was born in

Corona 50 years ago this past month. My dad was the first optometrist

in the fledgling little town of Corona back then. As his business

grew over the years, he endured the commute, watching the beet and

bean fields and orange groves disappear as the years passed. In 1962,

our family moved to Bayshores, and that’s where my mother and sister

still reside. My brother Jeff and his wife and daughter still live in

the area. Some of my fondest memories were spent at the beach. When I

was just a toddler, people would come up to my parents and ask how

old I was, because they were [shocked] at how this tiny little

berry-brown toe head could walk in the sand at the oceanfront. When

we moved to Bayshores, the big treat was to walk across Coast Highway

to Wil Wright’s for peppermint crunch ice cream, and to the bait and

tackle for fishing supplies. Also, Mom would pack us a pirate’s

picnic and we would grab some friends and row over to Shark Island to

play on the sand dunes. In time, it was developed into Linda Isle.

During my high school years, I would ride my 10-speed over to Lido

Isle, meet friends, then continue over to the peninsula, and hang out

at the oceanfront. Bike rides to Huntington and Laguna, stopping for

a date shake, rounded out the beach scene. When I started to drive,

my dad let me drive his turquoise 1956 T-Bird with portholes and

continental kit. I remember getting my first ticket, turning left off

of 17th Street onto Newport Boulevard, taking a friend home to Lido.

I think everyone I know has been cited in Costa Mesa for a moving

violation.

What kind of childhood did you have?

It was ideal. My parents sacrificed a lot to bring us to the beach

city to be raised because they were looking for the best future for

us and it certainly had become that. We all stayed and loved the

Newport Beach community.

How did you end up in the Newport-Mesa area?

My parents purchased a beach cottage on 25th Street the same year

that I was born. So I call myself a Newport Beach native. I was the

youngest of three and our family would spend our summers at the beach

to avoid the heat of inland Corona.

What are your greatest accomplishments in life?

I wouldn’t classify any one accomplishment as great, but I can

reflect upon a few milestones through the years. In the summer of

1971, I backpacked from Kings Canyon, over the Kearsarge Pass and

down into Bishop on the other side of the High Sierras. It was the

culmination of a summer class led by Bill Burge and Don Echternach,

two inspiring science teachers from Newport Harbor High School. I am

proud to say that I am a UCLA graduate, but my career firsts are more

significant. In the late ‘70s I worked for Zellerbach Paper Company,

which afforded me numerous bold moves on their part, putting me, a

female, in charge of 65 Teamster truck drivers and dock workers.

After their initial shock wore off, and the drivers tested me, they

learned that I could comprehend the nuances of their job, and that I

would go the extra distance for them. I rarely had a driver turn me

down when we needed that extra delivery handled, to remain

competitive and superior in customer service. Although I was on the

management side of the bargaining table, the drivers rarely had a

grievance after I stepped in to manage the trucking department. As

corporate acquisitions led to downsizing, Zellerbach offered me a

mini parachute, so I opted out for a shorter commute, this time to

manage the private trucking operation at Beatrice/Hunt-Wesson, in

Fullerton. Another first for their Teamster drivers, but I captured

their attention with my management style, and we became a family.

Difficult drivers became team players; mechanics took pride in

maintaining the vehicles, rather than fixing them after they broke.

We became the proud private fleet, with a new corporate identity

emblazoned on the side. In 1991, I became the first female president

of the Southern California Private Fleet Council, and subsequently

was honored as their “man of the year.” I reflect on those years, and

truly cherish the opportunity afforded me by those companies and the

camaraderie that evolved from my rapport with all of my employees.

If you could re-do one moment or incident in your life, what would

it be?

I will preface this embarrassing revelation with the fact that I

was a typically levelheaded teen, but while attending a fraternity

mixer, it happened to be my 21st birthday. I was challenged to drink

21 tequila sunrises and I did. As I look back now, as a parent, it is

easy to see how good kids can be sidetracked and make stupid

mistakes. Fortunately, I lived to tell the story. The redeeming point

to the story is that I was able to relay my concerns about peer

pressure to my daughter, coming from an actual experience that could

have resulted in catastrophic consequences.

What profession other than yours would you like to have tried?

Well, I haven’t told you about my current profession; those were

my past professions and my current profession was making my passion,

which is real estate -- a new career and I started that about 10

years ago. It’s a perfect fit, since I love shopping, and what better

thing to shop for than real estate. I recently sold a fabulous view

home in Monarch Beach, to a client from Chicago. I am now searching

the coastal area for another investment for him. My fantasy career is

to update a centuries-old farmhouse in Burgundy, then hire a renowned

chef to teach cooking classes, and wine pairings, then have my

friends and acquaintances come visit. If I built a golf course, I may

even get my husband to come. I’d like to be an artist in my old age,

go over to France and paint landscapes. When I go on vacation, the

souvenirs that I treasure most are the pieces of art that I pick up

on trips. I just love going into art galleries and seeing local

artists work and paintings of the countryside and the vineyards and

whatever. So, I just would love to hook up with the ladies over on

wherever, 42nd at the cannery, and start taking classes and go on one

of those little trips to the South of France and paint. So I am going

to do that when I have time in my life.

What are some differences between a typical day in your life now

versus a day in your life 20 years ago?

Twenty years ago, I was still commuting to downtown L.A. with a

baby at home and just running the necessary career fast track. After

1990, I was able to retire from management the corporate-type world

and pursue a more fun career, which has been real estate. Now I spend

my mornings reading the Daily Pilot, drinking my coffee and planning

my day, which can include landscape committee for my neighborhood,

Newport Hills Garden Club, that I am president of. I am very busy now

with extracurricular activities that don’t let me focus enough on

enjoying the new golf clubs my husband gave me for Christmas that I

haven’t tried out yet.

What do you do for fun?

For fun, I travel. I enjoy working in my garden. I anticipate

taking time to learn how to golf and I spend evenings burning the

midnight oil working on my treasured photo albums, which take me back

to special trips, special friends and special times. I am currently

working on a photo album for myself and for my sister and my brother

for a history of my father’s war years -- he was a B-24 Liberator

pilot in World War II. He got shot down over Austria. So the end of

April, I am leaving for Austria with my Horace Ensign seventh-grade

teacher who kept my report from seventh grade on Austria. And fate

just has it that the two of us are going to travel there together

next month and see where my dad got shot down.

What is the greatest lesson that you’ve learned in your life?

Count your friends as blessings. I am so privileged to count among

my friends all age ranges, from the children in my neighborhood that

accompany me when I walk my dog to my ex-elderly neighbor who just

turned 90. And backward, through acquaintances through my garden

club, assistance league, my seventh-grade teacher, neighbors and

college friends. I feel fun times and trying times are meant to be

shared and I like to share just the fun out of everyday experiences

with the many friends that I have.

What do you treasure most?

First, of course, is my one and only daughter, and my husband of

14 years who originally admired me for my success in business, but

now encourages me to prioritize my many commitments so that I can

take time to practice swinging those new clubs that he gave me for

Christmas. Because [family is] my reason for my enthusiasm for life,

for trying new experiences and living life to its fullest.