What makes a high-powered political fundraiser, used to rubbing elbows with Washington’s power elite, decide to step aside from the highest-paying clients and seek those of the more four-legged variety? For Capitol Hill insider Julie, it was an opportunity to use her skills and expertise for a different purpose. “I really believe everything happens for a reason, and when Stout came into my life, it helped me get on a pretty different path from where I was.”
Stout is her four-year-old adopted Rottweiler that she has had since he was five days old; he now goes almost everywhere she does.
After nearly 15 years of campaign work, Julie realized she was just burned out. “I wasn’t really enjoying the job as much anymore and I was definitely tired of the 24/7 lifestyle that comes with fundraising for political candidates.” A friend had gotten her involved with the Washington DC Humane Society and she started fostering dogs. Soon after opening her own firm, she provided foster care for a litter of eight puppies, including the one that runs her life now. “That was by far the hardest work I had ever done – ever.”
Through her work as a foster pet parent, she came to see the financial needs of the society and realized there was an opportunity to use her valuable experience in political fundraising for another purpose.
Now, the Washington DC Humane Society is a client and she is getting ready to launch a $25 million capital campaign to help build a new facility and animal welfare campus with the goal of becoming the model humane society in the United States. “I am very excited and honored to be playing an instrumental role in such an important endeavor. Everyone always wonders if they will leave a legacy – I hope to make this one mine.”
Africa