Recovered Corporate Executive: After rising rapidly up the corporate ladder in technology, culminating in a $24 million software IPO for the nation’s largest technology services company, Julie decided she wanted something more, something that would allow her to help change individuals’ lives for the better one at a time. So she gave up the title, corporate perks, and income to pursue a career helping others achieve their dreams and has never looked back.

Big Picture Thinker: Whether it was designing software to resolve key business issues or creating a financial plan that addresses a myriad of challenges from big purchases to taxes, Julie has the gift of holistic thinking paired with strong tactical execution skills. She sees the forest through the trees and uses that skill set every day to help her clients make sound financial decisions with confidence.

Take No Prisoners: As one of a very SMALL handful of women executives in technology and now as a financial advisor, Julie has always done things her own way, asking the tough questions, knocking down obstacles, and getting to the heart of the REAL issues, to deliver exemplary results. It is with this mindset that she guides the Ignite ship ensuring your financial plan ALWAYS prioritizes what is most important to you.

What Makes Her Tick: Growing up Julie’s passion was always sports. Always taught that there was nothing a ‘girl’ couldn’t do, she didn’t discriminate when trying new things, but her sport of choice was springboard diving. From the early age of eight, if she wasn’t working at her dad’s business during the summer, she could be found in the pool practicing her love and sharing that love with others. She became one of the youngest coaches in the state summer league, and was even scouted for the Junior Olympics!

After spending so much time in the water growing up, it was pretty easy for her husband Carmen to convince her to take to the water again, this time to become scuba certified. Though enjoying every moment in the water, her focus tends to be on memorializing the incredible beauty to be found just below the water’s surface with underwater photography.

On dry land, Julie’s true love (besides Carmen) is animals. Together, they have fostered over 20 animals, and regularly volunteer for local rescues doing animal transport, home-checks, and behavior evaluations for her two favorite breeds of dogs – German Shepherd Dogs and Belgian Malinois. And when they aren’t working in rescue, Julie and Carmen can be found working side by side on home renovation projects making their dream home a reality, one room at a time.