Julia
Family, faith, and friends are my foundation. I’m a proud mom to two amazing daughters, and nothing beats time with them!
Outdoors is my happy place—whether I’m golfing, hiking, skiing, or camping. I love traveling, meeting new people, and hearing their stories. My high energy? All natural—I’m a decaf tea girl who burns it off with daily power walks.
At home, cooking is my favorite pastime. I’m known for leaving out an ingredient or two, but somehow, no one complains! I’ll happily cook all day if you keep me company. My favorite dish to make? Anything someone will eat!
My life’s purpose is simple: I want to help others thrive through life’s tough challenges and move forward stronger.
Fun facts: I’ve got the loudest whistle you’ll ever hear (I even won a contest!), I’m a proud Broncos fan, and honestly, you wouldn’t want to hand me the remote—I’m definitely technology-challenged.
Julia’s Story
Julia’s life has been riddled with adversity, setbacks, and loss. As a teenager, she was a passenger in a high-speed, head-on automobile collision that nearly took her life, leaving her unconscious and critically injured. A few years later, fresh off a harrowing divorce from an abusive husband, she found herself a single, unemployed mother of two young daughters, with only a high school education lacking confidence, self-esteem, and marketable skills.
Just over a decade later, while raising her children, she had earned multiple college degrees, became the CEO of a $450 million company, and had her own independent consulting business. With endless gratitude for the countless blessings and miracles along the way, she defied the odds!
Julia’s career has taken her into some of the most dynamic, high-pressure boardrooms in the country, most recently serving as the CEO of a multi billion-dollar pension and health benefits company.
What happened in between these seemingly disconnected phases of her life? How did she do it? Julia share’s the answers, tools, and life-changing framework in her speeches, TEDx Talk, and award-winning book.
The preparation…
The delivery…
The gratitude…
In Julia’s TEDx Talk —“The Way We Think About Loss and Grief is Dead Wrong” —she refutes the ‘time heals all wounds’ myth and challenges the 5 stages of grief model with a practical, straightforward framework to process the smallest loss to the most profound grief and thrive in the aftermath of the unthinkable.
Defying conventional wisdom, Julia is proof that loss and grief are not a package deal.
Memorable Moments…
POWER Is Strengthened by Overcoming Challenges
Confidence, courage, and resilience aren't just about getting back up—they are strengthened with each experience, shaped by how you rise and what you do next. Success doesn't happen despite setbacks; it’s achieved when you use what you've learned to face the next challenge.
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Change starts with an awareness of your auto-pilot assumptions. Tear down the myths about power and replace them with the truth—you're not lacking power, it's just turned in the wrong direction.
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Julia emphasizes the positive, but only as it relates to the very real and difficult challenges we face every day. No oversimplifying life’s challenges, just powerful tools to process them with strength and purpose, gleaning valuable life-long skills from them.
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Explore the truth from a proven expert on the subject about what causes some people get stuck, frustrated, when facing challenge and change, and how others use it to their advantage, driving greater personal and professional success.
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Unwanted things happen daily—it's part of life. But with every challenge, you have a choice: let it defeat you, carry the burden, or find something valuable in the experience!
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Building a habit of resilient thinking and behavior is proven to be one of the greatest indicators of life and career success.
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When Julia speaks, people feel motivated and inspired, but she goes beyond those to offer real, research-based tools that lead to life-changing actions long after her speech is over.
Why Book Julia
We’ve all been there—you’re working harder and not getting anywhere. Stuck. Stressed. Overwhelmed. Feeling powerless to change it. Wondering why things aren’t going your way despite your best efforts.
The truth is, you’re not lacking power—you’re just using it in a way that’s holding you back.
Julia’s keynote, "POWER Shift: Use What You’ve Got to Get What You Want," challenges the mainstream thinking, showing you how to use what you already have to create the outcomes you want: less stress, more confidence, and unstoppable momentum.
Whether you’re a student, young professional, or woman lacking confidence, a seasoned leader navigating change, or simply someone looking for greater clarity and courage, Julia’s keynote delivers practical strategies and tools to strengthen your confidence, courage, and resilience.
In these candid interviews, Julia talks about her journey through trauma, tragedy, and loss. Instead, of letting them define her, she chose to use them to refine her. She shares how she used each one as a springboard to strengthen her determination, perseverance, and resilience to overcome any challenge and you can too.
As a podcast guest, Julia shares valuable insights and practical tools for overcoming challenges, building resilience, and thriving through adversity. Her ability to thrive beyond the setbacks, failures, and loss, will inspire you and leave you believing in the strength of the human spirit.
Julia’s thought-provoking articles challenge conventional wisdom and dispel myths about power. She shares valuable lessons she learned on her way to the C-suite of multi-billion dollar organizations.
In Julia’s TEDx talk, The Way We Think About Loss and Grief is Dead Wrong, and other videos, she shares how to thrive through even the most difficult life situations and use adversity to your advantage.
"Julia’s presentation style was a perfect mix of educational and dynamic. Her closing keynote gave our participants an unexpectedly fresh view of the topic. She did a great job at our event and would bring positive energy to any program. I highly recommend her as a speaker."
- Melanie Thomas, Communications Department, Texas Municipal Retirement System
"Julia has been a speaker for us for over 15 years, consistently being rated as ‘excellent’ by our audiences. She displays phenomenal energy and is both dynamic and passionate about her subject. Attendees find her both articulate and engaging which is especially important because of the training and lessons she shares in her presentations."
- Cathy K. Zacher, CEBS Director, Educational Programs-U.S. International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
“Having seen Julia in action before, I had great confidence that she would be a success. Her pre-meeting work to understand what we wanted to accomplish was very helpful in creating an experience that felt unique for our group. She quickly got all of our members engaged and actively participating. Her high energy level and passion came through and the result was a very positive session. Julia exceeded our expectations and I highly recommend her to deliver an energetic and impactful session."
- Doug Anderson, Executive Director, Minnesota Public Employees Retirement Association
