Julia Garrido

I attribute my success to my personal experience and my desire to create impact for families who face the same challenges I did. When I was going through the college process, I remember taking my mom with me, but it was me having to translate, and I was learning the information while I was trying to translate all at the same time. When I started working in the education field, I just started hearing the same stories over and over again at the different schools and nonprofits where I worked. That's what drove me to start Monarcha. I wanted to impact families that a lot of times just don't know how to navigate the whole process. It's confusing, and especially when they don't speak the language, it's kind of hard to understand. Even for students, it's hard for them to understand the process too. I had a really rough childhood with domestic violence in the family household, and when I was younger, I remember hearing all the statistics about girls in that situation, and how a lot of times they ended up getting pregnant or being teenage moms. Also, for Hispanics, we have the highest dropout rates in the nation. I wanted to break that, which I did. I am actually the first one in my family to graduate from college. I just want to be an inspiration to many out there and let them know that we can change that, and you don't necessarily have to fall under the statistic. Being able to make that impact is phenomenal, both for the business and for me personally.

Julia has been influenced by mentors and leaders within the education and nonprofit sectors who modeled community-centered leadership and advocacy. These mentors supported her development as a consultant and entrepreneur, encouraging her to build programs that reflect both professional rigor and cultural understanding.

Julia encourages young women to pursue purpose-driven work, trust their lived experiences, and create opportunities when existing systems do not fully meet community needs. She advises emerging professionals to embrace leadership, seek out education and mentorship, and use their voice to advocate for access and equity—especially for underrepresented students and families.

Julia identified access gaps, language barriers, and information inequities as ongoing challenges within college and career advising. Many families lack clear guidance on navigating complex education systems. At the same time, she sees strong opportunities to expand impact through community-based consulting, culturally responsive programming, and scalable speaking engagements and workshops that reach families across the country.

The values most important to me in my work and personal life are impact, representation, and breaking cycles. I believe that representation does matter, and I think it's important for students to see that if I was able to do it, anybody can do it. I had a really rough childhood with domestic violence in the family household, and I heard all the statistics about girls in that situation usually getting pregnant or being teenage moms, and about Hispanics having the highest dropout rates in the nation. I wanted to break that, which I did. I am actually the first one in my family to graduate from college. I just want to be an inspiration to many out there and let them know that we can change that, and you don't necessarily have to fall under the statistic. Being able to touch more lives and make that impact would be phenomenal, both for the business and for me personally. Outside of work, I love to eat and love food. Me and my husband will go and try different restaurants. I'm Mexican-American, but I've been in this trend of eating a lot of Asian cuisines. I also like to cook, and dancing is another passion of mine. I was part of a dancing organization in undergrad. I also enjoy playing games, like board games and card games, because it helps with destressing when I need a break.