About Us
“…holding a person accountable for safe performance is truly the greatest gift you could give, the ultimate demonstration of care and concern for their well-being. It’s much kinder, smarter, and easier than skipping the awkward conversation and having to make the phone call home after a life-altering fall.”
A cook, gardener, workout enthusiast, partner, mom, and true-blue Northern Wisconsin native, Julie thinks systems. She is constantly on the hunt for how parts, processes, and people come together to make good things happen. She combines her small-town roots and transformative ideas to help organizations achieve transformative, lasting change.
As Founder and President of Hile Group, Julie is warm, honest, and frank in her approach—and serious about helping organizations across a variety of industries meet and exceed their safe-operations goals. Deep-dive data analysis roots her efforts in what deserves repeating and what needs work, ensuring targeted changes are the right changes, measured and assessed for impact.
Having cut her safety-consultant teeth on collaborative rule writing projects for Class I railroads, Julie champions the phrase “The Big Hug and the Bottom Line,” Hile Group’s unique approach to culture change. When employees and management work together to get safety right, all the other pieces of operational efficiency and profitability follow.
Julie’s passion for community and culture change extends to the industries Hile Group serves, from contributions to Transportation Research Board research in safety culture to leadership on the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) Board of Directors and Safety Commission. Local participation includes facilitation of municipal initiatives, such as facilitation of the Town of Normal’s Sustainability Plan, and public transit advocacy on the Connect Transit Board.