As woman in her 40s sitting in a lecture hall full of young students, Julie Glasgow could have easily felt intimidated.
However, when she entered the finance program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Glasgow decided to focus instead on taking charge of her college experience by sharpening her personal strengths and shaping her future.
Glasgow considers herself to be a “nontraditional student.” She has lived close to campus for years and enrolled in one or two classes every semester. But when her youngest child started going to school full-time, Glasgow decided to do the same and finish her college degree once and for all.
“My husband is a math professor at BYU, and I’ve been to many conferences with him. Whenever I tagged along, I always regretted not having more education,” she explains. “I remember thinking, ‘I am never going to graduate if I don’t earn my degree now.’ Just the thought of finally finishing my degree was a huge motivator for me to go back to college.”
Glasgow officially returned full-time to BYU in 2011. After graduating from the finance program in 2015, she wanted to start her own consulting practice. “I had this grand idea that people would flock to me for help in putting together their perfect financial plans,” Glasgow says. “I thought I could build a booming business.”
For the first two years, Glasgow basically worked for free. She spent most of her time networking, hoping her new acquaintances would send referrals. However, networking didn’t go as well as she planned, and she went months without referrals.
“Many times, I wondered if I would ever be successful,” she admits. “Finally, I had an ‘aha’ moment when I realized this approach was not working for me, and I had to ask myself what would work? I eventually answered that question by compiling lessons I’ve learned throughout my life. I learned that anything worthwhile is hard, that I need to understand my weaknesses and adapt accordingly, and that there is always a way to success. I eventually found success by working on my skills and catering to my strengths.”
Glasgow decided that, although her initial goal to start her own firm hadn’t worked, she could still build a successful career. She pivoted to join an existing firm, Fidelity Investments, as a financial consultant. “Disappointment is inevitable, and that’s important for anyone to realize,” Glasgow says. “The key is to keep finding new opportunities.”
Since embracing her new opportunity at Fidelity Investments, Glasgow has fallen in love with her job. She helps her clients realize their financial dreams, such as retiring or going on vacation. “I had a client with health issues, and he thought he would have to work until he was 70. I told him, ‘No, you’ve accumulated enough that you could retire tomorrow if you wanted to.’ And that is always an awesome feeling—hearing the sigh of relief from my clients,” she says.
Although Glasgow acknowledges that her job has required her to sacrifice time from her hobbies, she always makes time for her favorite thing: creating memories with her husband, Scott, and their five children. She and her family enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including skiing, hiking, and camping.
Glasgow hopes that other students who view themselves as “nontraditional” won’t let that stop them from going to college. “No one has to fit a specific mold,” she insists. “I certainly didn’t. I entered an extremely competitive program in my 40s, surrounded by a cohort full of incredibly smart, young students, and adapted what I learned to fit my passions.”
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Writer: Sarah Calvert
