About Us
Founders Julie Simmons and Jill Hubbard Bowman are sisters who grew up on a farm in a no-stoplight town in Utah. They lived in the shadow of Willard Peak—a beautiful, daunting mountain. It took many years for them to see that women could get over the mountains and live adventurous lives they love.
Their company, Willard Peak Productions, Inc., is committed to inspiring young women to dream big dreams. They want to help young women see from the mountain peak—not the valley floor.
Lookilulu is their first development project. The site was named "lookilulu" to capture the vision of helping young women see what is possible by profiling inspiring women and in honor of their mother Lou.
We are doing this for our daughters—Kaeli and Zoe—and yours.
Julie Simmons
Founder and CEO, Willard Peak Productions, Inc.
Julie got married at nineteen and dropped out of college. She quickly regretted quitting. Julie went back to school and commuted 100 miles a day to her full-time secretarial job down a mountain canyon that was treacherous in the snowy, Utah winters.
With persistence, Julie received a BS degree in marketing from Utah State University. She gave birth to her daughter Kaeli shortly before graduation. Julie also earned a MBA from the University of Utah while she was working full time and the mother of two small children.
Julie spent ten years in the international electronics industry. Julie has served in senior management of several companies, including Bourns, Entek and Intelisys. Currently, she is Vice President of Information Services and Business Intelligence for MarketStar, a global sales and marketing outsourcing company, owned by Omnicom, and headquartered in Utah. She has completed the Omnicom Senior Management Executive Education Program, which is a nationally ranked executive training program. She is a member of the Women Tech Council Advisory Board and serves on the Marketing advisory committee for Weber School District.
She is happily married to her husband of twenty-five years and the mother of Kaeli and Kameron.
Jill Hubbard Bowman
Founder and President, Willard Peak Productions, Inc.
Jill got married the day after she graduated from Brigham Young University. She thought there was no way that she could go to medical school. Tuition seemed like an enormous sum and she had never met a woman doctor. Jill couldn’t even conceive that women could be both successful doctors and mothers.
And then Jill literally couldn’t conceive. So for over a decade, she worked in laboratory jobs that were antithetical to her personality and core strengths. Eventually, Jill reconnected to her essential self, learned more about her natural strengths and personality, and discovered how to conquer the thoughts that were limiting her.
She found the path to a life she loves.
Jill went to law school at the University of Michigan where she did a joint graduate program in Women’s Studies. She studied with Catharine MacKinnon, one of the world’s foremost, feminist jurisprudence scholars. Jill also designed and taught undergraduate courses in Women and the Law.
After law school, Jill specialized in intellectual property and litigation. She worked for major law firms in Silicon Valley (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) and Chicago (Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione) for eight years.
Ironically, after the birth of twins, Jill had heart failure from a rare pregnancy complication (PPCM). She left her large firm legal practice in Chicago and moved to Texas.
Jill now has her own law practice helping startup companies protect their intellectual property and avoid liability. Jill also has a law blog at iplawforstartups.com.
Jill is still married to her high school sweetheart and is the mother of Zoe and Drake.