Julia Kern on Drinking Coffee, Building Community, and Finding the Balance

Just two weeks before leaving for Europe for the 2024/2025 season, U.S. Ski Team member Julia Kern, 27, chatted with FasterSkier to talk about her last few months and winter ahead. The Waltham, Mass. native didn’t skip a beat when asked a barrage of questions, including her favorite food (pizza), go-to coffee order (cappuccino), favorite ski technique (classic), and preference between M&M’s and Skittles. “M&M’s,” she said with a laugh. “Definitely chocolate.”

Despite her cheery attitude, Kern explained that the last few months have been challenging. In September, she returned from a training camp in New Zealand nursing an injured back and headed to her local pool for some cross-training. Her attitude regarding setbacks is one of steadiness and acceptance. She is resilient, able to reframe and refocus, continuing to push toward her athletic goals in different ways despite physical limitations with her body. 

“I’m grateful for the days I can get out and train normally and rollerski,” she said. “It just gives you a different perspective and appreciation for those things.” 

Instead of focusing on results-based goals, she turned her attention to what she could control with smaller process goals. This summer, she wanted to focus on upper-body strength to improve her double-poling power. She worked with her strength coach on a pull-up program, improving her abilities to the point that she now uses weight for her sets. Although the pressure to perform well is high, Kern has a remarkably level-headed attitude toward racing. 

“You can’t control the result on the paper,” she said, “but you can control the process. Did I prepare well? Did I execute well? Did I give 100% on this date?”

 With this attitude, it’s easy to understand how she brings energy and drive to racing, even as she begins her 10th season on the World Cup. This fall has also been a time for Kern to tap into other interests that complement her training schedule. Although skiing is her main focus, it can’t be her only priority. 

“Finding the balance outside of skiing has always been really important to me,” she said. 

Staying connected and being creative are ways she adds variety to her schedule. Kern has been more intentional this year about maintaining relationships from home, moving to Richmond, Vt., to be closer to friends and family when she isn’t racing. During the winter, Kern keeps her spirits up with photography. 

“On the road, that’s where my camera comes in,” she said, smiling. “When I’m having a hard time, I can go for a walk and just photograph and appreciate the places I’m in – that’s my mental outlet.” 

Kern’s interest in photography lends itself well to making a living as a professional athlete. She maintains a popular Instagram account where she posts life updates, training tips, and promotional content to over 18,000 followers. She views the platform as a big responsibility and puts a great deal of thought into her content’s messaging.

“I want kids to see different examples of successful skiers,” she said. “Success doesn’t have to look one certain way.” 

Kern has been trying to share some of the more challenging aspects of skiing, such as her experience with injury and setback, alongside the best moments. Authenticity in her content, whether personal or promotional, is one of her key values. She has sponsorships with ski-focused brands such as Hestra and Atomic but also promotes more niche products like air purifiers and sustainably-insulated jackets. Kern feels strongly about only promoting brands that she uses and believes in.

“I don’t think it’s worth selling a version of yourself that isn’t true just to make money,” she said. 

In a world where social media thrives off of reactionary content, Kern’s attitude toward self-promotion is refreshing. She genuinely enjoys working with brands and cultivating relationships. 

“Social media is about finding the balance of staying true to myself, sending a positive message, doing my job, and making a living skiing,” she explained.

This is social media at its best, allowing a figure like Kern to share her message and get paid while giving viewers a genuine window into her life and training process.

Of all her partnerships, Kern is the most excited about her latest line of headwear with Skida, a Vermont-based business. This is her fourth year designing and promoting a unique pattern for the company. The partnership is not just about making pretty patterns to sell more clothing. Her inspiration for the designs is personal, and she is intentional about creating meaning in the patterns. This year’s fabric is dark teal, with leaves and flowers twining around tiny clumps of coffee beans. Kern wanted the pattern to feel energizing and also reminiscent of a daily coffee ritual with friends or family. 

Describing the design process, her eyes lit up. She recalled working with designers to create the pattern and how they cut out pieces of paper and wrapped the “headbands” around their foreheads to make sure the pattern repeated perfectly. For Kern, working with brands is more than just paying the bills – it’s a creative outlet and a form of self-expression.

Wearing her coffee-themed headband design is also a daily source of energy. Coffee plays a larger role in her life than simply being her morning caffeine – the drink allows her to create community both at home and abroad. She bonds with her teammates through sharing beans and meeting up in the morning to drink coffee together while on the road. In one hotel the team stayed at last season, they converted part of the dining area into a U.S Ski Team coffee bar, complete with numerous Aeropresses, pour-overs, and French presses from each athlete. 

She recounted experiences sharing coffee with friendly strangers in Melbourne and with members of the Polish ski team. Her first year on the circuit, Hestra brought all the sponsored athletes together for a Swedish fika – a ritual involving coffee and Swedish cinnamon kanelbulle buns. 

“That was my first experience on the World Cup meeting other athletes outside of the races,” she said.

Finding ways to connect with people around her is crucial when her job requires her to be away from home for seven months each year. The familiar practice of drinking coffee spans geographic and cultural differences and allows her to feel grounded during the constant travel of the World Cup season.

Kern’s ability to create connections abroad is also an important part of her role as an FIS athlete representative. For this job, she participates in an international board and works to bridge the gap between the management side of World Cup racing and the athlete experience. The experience has been rewarding for her. 

“It has made me feel really connected to the FIS Cross Country family,” she said. “I’ve gotten to know so many more people and I just have a better pulse on everything going on.” 

Being involved with FIS means that Kern has a say in important decisions such as allocating prize money, organizing the race calendar, and thinking about how to best grow the sport. The role has allowed her to advocate for a more efficient and climate-friendly race schedule, involving less flying and lower costs. Although she is grateful for the opportunity to have a voice, Kern is realistic about her impact.

“In some ways I have a big voice, but in some ways, I’m just one vote out of many,” she noted. 

Despite this reality, Kern continues to work within her network to make change in the ways that she can, putting in extra energy to cultivate relationships with skiers and officials in her community.

Kern will soon be heading to Ruka, Finland, for the start of the World Cup season on Nov. 29. Learning more about her personal process has only made me more of a fan. She is focused, level-headed, and forward-thinking. 

“The last two months I’ve been so focused on just getting back to training,” she said. “In a way, it has pulled away my focus on results and it’s more about getting to the start line.” 

Despite setbacks, she is approaching this season with a flexible attitude and a determination to race. 

“I try to always find a way,” she said.