Yuliya enjoyed a long and comprehensive sports education in Uzbekistan. As a teenager she studied at the National Olympic Reserve School for four years, earning top honors. She then entered the Tashkent State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, where she received a bachelor's degree in Sports and Physical Education. She started her coaching career in Tashkent/Uzbekistan in 2001 at a children's youth sports school. She taught there for three years, and then for another five she worked as a gym teacher in the Tashkent State Elementary School.