From Advertising to Interior Design
When you look at Renata Di Iulio’s career, one thing becomes clear: Leadership isn’t just a role—it’s a way of navigating change, people and growth.
For years, Renata thrived in advertising, serving as VP of client engagement at global agency Recreation. But like many professionals, Renata reached a moment where she wanted to sharpen her skills, explore her leadership identity and prepare for what was next. That journey led her to our Certificate Program in Leadership and Management—an experience that helped Renata not only refine her leadership style, but also gave her the confidence for a career reinvention.
Finding Leadership in Unexpected Moments
Renata’s first step toward our certificate was sparked by curiosity.
“I was working in an advertising agency as the director of client services, and I took the Business Negotiating class because I thought it was really interesting,” she recalls. “I took it with one of my colleagues at the time, and it was a really good bonding experience to do it with somebody who reports to you. We learned so much from each other.”
That single class planted a seed. After stepping away from advertising to have a child, Renata found herself reevaluating her path.
“When I went off to have a baby and was kind of floating around, it was hard for me to change gears so drastically,” she admits. “So I thought, ‘What’s Berkeley Extension doing?’ I saw the leadership certificate and thought, ‘Hey, I’ll follow my heart and start taking some classes.’ I ended up finishing the program.”
What started as “just dabbling” soon became transformative.
Being a vulnerable, honest leader is the best way to go—but also being clear about your objectives and expectations.
Learning From Leaders Across Industries
One of the most impactful aspects of our leadership and management certificate for Renata was exposure to peers from diverse fields.
“I didn’t have the pressures of work at the time, so I could fully be a student again,” she says. “But I was also surrounded by many people who were working—and from many different industries. It was really nice to hear other leaders’ problems and issues. I felt more well-rounded in my understanding of leadership.”
For someone who had mostly led within advertising and branding, this was eye-opening. “There’s many different approaches and techniques, which I had been a little isolated from seeing,” she explains.
From these interactions, Renata began to evolve her own leadership style, which is rooted in curiosity and openness.
“I try to find what that person is motivated by,” Renata explains. “Why is this person here? Why is that person part of this organization?”
One big takeaway from the certificate was learning to pay closer attention to quieter team members. “The quiet ones are the ones you really need to pay attention to because they actually have much more to say, but they don’t necessarily know how to say it,” she reflects.
She also became more aware of her own tendencies. “I was identified as a peacock during one exercise,” she says with a laugh. “And I learned a lot about maybe not being a peacock sometimes and listening more.”
That balance—between motivating others and pushing projects forward—is something she continues to refine. “I’m not a micromanager. I want each person to excel, but I am a soft motivator. I enjoy driving the ball forward. I’m also very straightforward—if something’s not working, I’m direct and to the point, and then we just move on.”
Building Leadership Skill Set
Renata’s course list:
Lessons That Stuck
Of all the courses, one stood out.
“The class I got the most out of was where we learned about reactive leadership,” she says. “It wasn’t something I had heard about, and it was interesting because I realized some faults in my leadership style very quickly.”
She connects this to her experience as a woman in a male-dominated industry. “A lot of it came from bad habits of mimicking male behaviors and management styles, not really understanding who I was as a woman in a leadership role,” she shares. “That class was really charged—we were all figuring out who we are and going deep. It was one of the most meaningful classes that I took.”
Beyond technical leadership strategies, Renata also learned skills that applied to everyday life. “Negotiation is one of those skills you can’t get enough of,” she notes. “And I got better at understanding when I was being reactive or triggered. That constant internal check-in has gotten a lot stronger for me.
“When I first started as a leader,” Renata muses, “I was pretty tough, and I felt validated in that because my clients were really tough. In my mind, I was preparing my team for the roughness of the client.”
But over time, she realized that empathy and vulnerability were far more effective skills. “Now, I don’t have a challenge in being vulnerable or soft. I like talking about when I’ve made a mistake,” she says. “Being a vulnerable, honest leader is the best way to go—but also being clear about your objectives and expectations.”
A Career Pivot With Purpose
After completing the leadership and management certificate, Renata returned to advertising. But something had shifted.
“When I went back to work after having my child, I resumed my director of client services role but it just wasn’t me anymore,” she admits.
She and her family had moved from San Francisco to Fair Oaks during the pandemic, and once again she turned to curiosity to guide her next steps. “I did what I normally do—I looked for a class that was interesting and followed my curiosity,” she says.
That curiosity led her into interior design. Today, Renata is completing her LEED certificate in the field while working full time at a family-run business local lighting design showroom.
“I love leadership, I love change management, and I love helping people make changes and get unblocked,” she explains. “So I’m applying those skills to interior design. I help people who are stuck in their home get unstuck.”
Renata already has a small client base while she is attending school.
Her journey is a reminder that leadership skills aren’t tied to one industry. They’re transferable, adaptable and deeply personal. As Renata puts it: “This certificate helped me define who I am as a leader in any industry.”
