Julie Trell
Founder & Chief Play Officer at Playful Purpose
Julie Trell is the Founder and Chief Play Officer at Playful Purpose, where she leverages her extensive experience in technology and corporate foundation leadership to foster growth and innovation through play. Her career journey spans over three decades, beginning as an inner-city classroom teacher and evolving into leadership roles at Salesforce, Workday, and Telstra. Julie has been instrumental in managing teams and supporting over 140 companies as the Global Head of muru-D, Telstra's corporate startup accelerator. She is passionate about using an improv mindset to enhance essential human skills, such as curiosity, confidence, and empathy, in corporate environments. Julie's work is characterized by her commitment to creating meaningful social impact and her innovative approach to integrating artificial intelligence with applied improv. She is based in the Greater Sydney Area, Australia, and actively engages in mentoring and coaching through various initiatives.
In their own words
From Julie Trell discusses the importance of diversity · The History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview SeriesMen will accept jobs where they have two of the ten qualifications and women need to have at least eight or nine.
Career
- Now Founder & Chief Play Officer · Playful Purpose
- Earlier Head of muru-D startup accelerator · Telstra (muru-D)
- 1998–2012 · Scale-up VP, All Things Fun, Meaningful & Rewarding · Salesforce Foundation
Sources: impactboom.org
Key moments
Jump straight to the part of Julie Trell discusses the importance of diversity you want.
- 0:29 Meet Julie Trell
- 1:10 Julie's Current Role and Responsibilities
- 1:57 Background on SHEEO and Its Impact
- 2:10 Julie's Experience in the U.S. Startup Ecosystem
- 3:16 Differences Between Australian and U.S. Startup Ecosystems
- 4:59 Growth and Collaboration in the Australian Ecosystem
- 5:40 Achieving Gender Equality in Startup Land
- 6:48 Julie's Passion for Inclusive Opportunities
- 7:54 The SHEEO Activator Process
- 8:49 Unique Aspects of the SHEEO Model
Heard on
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▶ Playful Purpose on Day One
Playful Purpose is an Australian-based consultancy founded by Julie Trell, dedicated to transforming workplace learning and collaboration through the integration of play… 1 person · 2 episodes → Connections
Adam SpencerHost, Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem 
Simon ThomsenEditor, Startup Daily 
Tim BoyleCEO, LifeSciences Australia, LifeSciences Australia 
David BurtDirector of Entrepreneurship, UNSW Founders 
Rachel YangPartner, Giant Leap Fund 
Sarah PearsonFormer Chancellor, University of New England, University of New England (UNE) 
Bruce TullochDirector of Intelligent Systems, Mayman Aerospace, Mayman Aerospace 
Cheryl MackCEO & Co-founder, Aussie Angels, Aussie Angels Spot something wrong? Suggest a correction Updated 25 September 2026
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