Meet Julie Tarney

After a successful career building the largest public relations firm in her hometown city, working for clients like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Harley-Davidson, Julie applied her professional expertise in strategic planning, branding, corporate communications, and issues management to launch a personal leadership development consultancy.

As an accomplished businesswoman and entrepreneur, representing big corporations in diverse markets, Julie realized a common thread of confusion and misunderstandings within the organizations regarding gender identity and gender expression.

Julie decided to publish a book, titled My Son Wears Heels (University of Wisconsin Press 2016), an open and outspoken memoir where she shares what she learned about gender identity, gender expression, and self-acceptance from her only child, Harry. Julie divulges what her journey with Harry, from gender-nonconforming toddler to non-binary adulthood, taught her about herself. Sharing that experience, Julie has touched lives and changed hearts of many in diverse corporate and community settings.

Julie became aware that business leaders and entrepreneurs often lacked knowledge about the LGBTQ+ population and were therefore missing out on recruiting a large segment of their potential talent pool and its allies.

Today, Julie Tarney travels the country and the world as a consultant and educator, helping hundreds of business leaders learn how to build their employer brand by creating trans-inclusive, welcoming, and supportive workplaces.

Julie Tarney was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from the University of Wisconsin. When not presenting, she is often found cheering in the audience at her creative director, author, and sometimes-drag-artist child Harry’s performances.

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