Hola, encantada de conèixer-te!

People usually know me as the Daily Catalan girl –someone even once called me Lady Catalan and I'm here for it. But my name is actually Júlia Riera. I was born and raised between Girona and a small town in l'Alt Empordà, a region in Northern Catalonia.

I grew up very close to my grandparents who taught me the importance of connecting with your roots. I loved helping my grandmas Rosa and Càndida cook. From them, I learned how to make delicious Catalan dishes from scratch like canelons, escudella, and crema catalana. 

In 2018, I relocated to Barcelona to pursue an undergraduate degree in Humanities and Art History at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. My studies immersed me in the rich worlds of art, literature, history, and philosophy. I continue to integrate this knowledge into my Catalan courses today.

How Daily Catalan started

When I graduated in 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I started posting videos on Instagram teaching Catalan. To my surprise, the community grew from 0 to 40.000 people in six months. Many students asked me to create more structured resources to learn Catalan, which is why I decided to start my online MasterCourses.

In August of 2022, I moved to the Netherlands to pursue my Masters in New Media & Digital Culture at Utrecht University. Two weeks after moving in, I launched my first online course: the Catalan MasterCourse for Beginners.

The path to entrepreneurship

Within the span of 8 months, I launched the Intermediate and Advanced MasterCourses while finishing my classes and writing my thesis. Juggling my studies, social life, content creation and online courses wasn't easy but I'm so glad everything worked out!

After completing my Masters in August of 2023, I had to decide whether I pursued Daily Catalan full time or started searching for jobs. Ultimately, I took a leap of faith and chose to expand my own company. It was a scary decision, yet deep down I knew it was the right one.

And what about now? I'm back in Catalonia, navigating the world of entrepreneurship and working on several projects. It's a thrilling journey and I can't wait to see what else is in store for me and the community we've built together. Gràcies per tot!