By Robin Jovanovich 

While it may no longer be acceptable to generalize about people’s roots, I think it’s still safe to say that Midwesterners are people you can count on. They’re even-tempered and extremely conscientious. They have good values. They may occasionally find the people who live on the country’s two coasts insufferable, but they’re too polite to say so. 

When I stepped into Julie Bieber’s office at Compass, we never ran short of conversation. We talked about family and good fortune as much as we did real estate.  

What brought her to Rye was a babysitting job for Wendy and Paul Nagle in the summer of 1996. “I went to Indiana University, as had Wendy. One night I was at Rye Grill & Bar, and I met Josh Bieber. When I went back to Indiana, Josh came to visit. He kept visiting,” she recalled with a smile. 

After they were married and living in New York, Julie went back to school and earned a Master of Education. “I was lucky to be able to get on the fast-track program at Fordham and go on to teach at both Hewitt, a private school, and PS 6.” 

Eleven years ago, when the youngest of her three children was 2, Julie took the real estate exam. “My mother-in-law introduced me to Suzy Glasgall, a top agent at Houlihan Lawrence. Suzy was an incredible teacher from whom I not only learned every trick of the trade, but also the importance of remaining calm and focused.”  

After several years of running back and forth to Harrison and Purchase, where most of Glasgall’s clients were, Julie decided for the sake of family and sanity that she needed to focus on Rye. “I wanted to be an expert where I live,” she said about her decision to move to Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s.  

Last fall, Compass invited her to come work for them and she started in December. “I had only been there a few days when I and two other members of my family got Covid-19. On Christmas Eve, I was in so much pain that Josh had to rush me to the hospital.” She added, “It wasn’t the best Christmas or the ideal way to start a new job, but I’m back in action!” 

She is quick to credit her team — Rosa Rotondi and Ashley McComb — for her success. “We’re all from Rye and we’re an involved group.” 

With the full support of her husband and her children, ages 18, 16, and 13, whom she’s proud to say are self-sufficient and confident kids, Julie is out there doing what she loves — “being a resource for clients, putting people together, negotiating.” 

Her philosophy is “find out what you’re good at and don’t look back.”