Like many young people, I came to New York City from the Midwest dreaming of an acting career. Between theatrical and the occasional film roles, I worked part time for one of the leading event companies in the city, quickly becoming the on site manager. At the same time I became manager of a small theater company, the two experiences eventually leading to my establishing my own producing company “Julie & Friends”. Producing both theater and events, I had a list of “friends” (performers, musicians, designers, builders, etc.) who helped turn vision into reality. At some point, I was contracted to create the “Sports and Fitness Summit” at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (the largest trade show in the U.S.) From nothing, we grew the summit into one of the largest and well attended of the entire show. That success led us to take on as producers the “Wearable Tech Summit” as wearable technology quickly exploded onto the scene. Not only did we produce the summit, but we introduced a “Wearable Tech Fashion Show” which we produced not only in Las Vegas, but New York and Shanghai as well.