MBTI Type: INFP

Julie initially starts her project because she feels a camaraderie with Julia Child, has felt comforted by her food in the past, and “for once in my life, I want to finish something.” She knows that unless she sets herself a challenge and a deadline, she will never go through with it—so she signs up for a blog and gets cooking. She has an emotional reaction to everything that goes wrong, is sensitive to the criticism of anyone (from her husband putting salt on his beef stew, to imagining all the ways Julia Child might have been offended by her blog), and can be, by her own admission, “self-absorbed.” The more famous she gets, the more self-preoccupied she becomes; the more she turns every conversation into one about herself, and her fondness for Julia, or her hardships in cooking. She’s prone to inferior Te outbursts when things go wrong—dropping a chicken on the floor and “having a tantrum,” complaining about how small her home is, demanding to know why she started doing this, and feeling hopeless. But the structure of having a deadline keeps her writing and cooking. Julie fantasizes about how she has become close to Julia through her writing, talking about various scenarios she has thought up in which they meet, where she is a participant in Julia’s wedding, etc. She admits that she dreamed about a book deal, and making a lot of money, when she gets her first call in which someone connected to Julia wants to have dinner with her. She has a sentimental attachment to the past, models her appearance after Julia, and can become quite detailed on her blog. But she doesn’t often do it just like the book says, resulting in some recipe disasters.

Enneagram: 6w7 sp/so

Julie is fearful and reactive, often flying off the handle into hysterics when things go wrong. She hates the idea of public disapproval, but also stubbornly defends her right to her mother to continue doing this thing, to prove that for once her in life, she can finish something. It hurts her when her idol ‘disapproves’ of her blog, and she tries to figure out her reason (‘is it because sometimes I use the f-word?’). She has an off-beat sense of humor and loves tom make her friends laugh, but also desperately needs approval and starts thinking in terms of how she ‘owes’ her food followers posts, and how disappointed they will be when Julia doesn’t come to dinner, as if it is reflecting upon her public image (moving toward 3 self-defensive behaviors). She has a charm and sense of naïve idealism about her, but also loves to stuff herself with good food and indulge in the pleasures of life. She can also waffle between insecurities (she can’t do this) and over-confidence and even narcissistic arrogance at times, as she becomes more famous (her 7 wing).