Julie Seals will tell her entrepreneurial journey and shares some lessons she learned that are essential to growth and success!

Julie Seals has a smile and a personality that will light up a room. It’s her infectious laugh that makes everyone love her immediately. It also makes her a good salesperson.

After graduating from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., the theatre major went through a series of jobs she didn’t completely enjoy. From using her stage talents to dress up and perform as Mother Goose for a series of children’s birthday parties to black-and-white and sepia photography to promotional product sales, Julie tried a little bit of everything. As the mother of three adopted children, Julie’s days were full, but she was not fulfilled.

Julie discovered direct sales when her youngest child was in the fifth grade. “Once my children didn’t need me quite as much, I started looking for something else to do,” she explains. “I found a jewelry company whose products I thought I could sell and really loved.”

That whim to join a direct sales company led Julie to a true godsend. “It got me out of the house and I was able to make some extra money,” she says. “Even better, I was able to earn trips and took my first one to Barcelona.”

Seven-and-a-half years after joining the company, the doors abruptly shut, leaving Julie wondering what the next step should be. “I loved having an outlet, the women I worked with and the beautiful jewelry,” she says. “I really thought that’s where I would probably be the rest of my life.”

After many discussions with her three of her fellow sales reps, Julie and her partners formed Opulenza Designs in late 2016. “I pinch myself a lot,” she says. “Who starts a business in their mid-50s?” With her husband, Mike, by her side to guide the group in their business decisions, the four women forged ahead to create an heirloom quality jewelry company that fills a void in the marketplace.

“One thing we wanted our brand to represent was glamour, opulence and beauty,” Julie says. “Our company name comes from the Italian word for opulence, opulenza.” With a variety of price points that can fit every budget, any woman can afford a beautiful piece of heirloom-quality jewelry. “It was important to us that anyone can buy an Opulenza piece,” she explains. “It’s amazing how a jewelry item can change how you feel about yourself.”

Although she continues to sell jewelry herself, Julie’s main focus for Opulenza is on marketing their products and helping to recruit new representatives. “I really do enjoy the whole marketing portion of this,” she says of her new role. “It has lit a fire under me and has given me a renewed passion for our business.”

In any spare time she has, Julie enjoys reading, traveling, spending time at their lake house and alone time to re-energize herself. “I’m a huge people person and love to be around people, where I am at my best,” she says. “But I do crave that time alone