Julie Munz Baumgardner

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT JULIE MUNZ BAUMGARDNER

Marriage doesn’t just affect two people. It’s the “make or break” for a family, and in turn, our culture, churches, communities, cities and the world. Not long after getting my MS in Counseling, I left my work with teenagers at the Psychiatric Hospital and changed my focus to counseling couples and families. It was a great, intense training ground, and after thousands of stories and years of many events and outreach campaigns, I found my professional home at First Things First (FTF) in Chattanooga, TN. With a mission to help families start and stay strong, FTF was the dream job. I was able to use my passion, counseling experience and skills in content creation, public speaking, relationship building, financial development, leadership and team building. In nearly two decades as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), I had the privilege to lead and encourage an incredibly talented team. Together we became a trusted community and national resource for family and marriage information and events. For 23 years, I loved every minute. Yes, even the hard ones (Yes, even the fundraising). I honestly never thought I’d leave. Then came WinShape. Heading up WinShape Marriage was not on my radar, but when the pieces fell into place, the WinShape mission to create space for people to have transformational, Christ-centered experiences aligned too closely with my personal beliefs to ignore. Today, I work with an energetic talented team on an incredibly beautiful retreat campus to build experiences, retreats, content and resources that support every stage and season of marriage. I still get to write, teach, encourage and speak on podcasts and on the national stage. I encourage you to come to one of the WinShape Marriage Retreats and see for yourself what it feels like to grow closer to each other and to the Lord.