Julie Wainwright
Julie Wainwright is a pioneering entrepreneur and founder of The RealReal, sharing powerful lessons on innovation, resilience and leadership.
Why you should book Julie Wainwright for your next event
- Learn from Julie Wainwright’s journey of building The RealReal, scaling it to over 30 million members and leading the company to an IPO.
- Discover practical lessons on resilience, disruptive innovation and creating high-performance cultures through periods of change and uncertainty.
- Gain an entrepreneur’s perspective on sustainable business, authentic leadership and turning setbacks into opportunities for future growth.
Non-binding request for Julie Wainwright
Trailblazing entrepreneur, The RealReal founder and visionary leader on disruption, resilience and building businesses that transform industries.
Julie Wainwright is a trailblazing entrepreneur, e-commerce innovator and seasoned C-suite executive with more than two decades of experience building and scaling consumer and technology companies. As the founder and former CEO of The RealReal, she transformed luxury consignment through a trusted digital marketplace that grew to more than 30 million members. In 2019, she took The RealReal public, becoming one of only 23 women in history to found and lead a company to an IPO. Drawing on a career filled with bold ideas, major successes and defining setbacks, Julie gives audiences practical insights into entrepreneurship, resilience, high-performance cultures, sustainability and authentic leadership.
Meet Julie Wainwright
Julie Wainwright is a trailblazing entrepreneur, e-commerce innovator and seasoned C-suite executive whose career spans more than two decades of building, leading and scaling consumer and technology businesses. Best known as the founder and former CEO of The RealReal, Julie has built her career around challenging established business models, spotting opportunities before they become obvious and turning ambitious ideas into companies capable of reshaping their categories.
Her business career began at Clorox, where she developed a strong foundation in brand management. She later moved into the rapidly evolving technology and e-commerce industries, taking leadership roles at several high-profile companies. Julie served as CEO of Reel.com in 1997 and became CEO of Pets.com in 1999.
Those experiences gave Julie a rare perspective on both success and failure at the highest levels of business. Rather than allowing setbacks to define what came next, she used them to shape a pragmatic and resilient approach to entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership. This perspective is central to her work as a keynote speaker today.
Building The RealReal
In June 2011, Julie Wainwright founded The RealReal and set out to modernize luxury consignment. Her idea was to bring resale online at scale through a trusted, digital-first model centered on authentication.
Under Julie’s leadership, The RealReal raised sizable venture capital, grew its membership to more than 30 million people and sold millions of items. In the process, the company changed how consumers could buy and sell high-end luxury goods and challenged established ideas about ownership, resale and traditional luxury retail.
In 2019, Julie took The RealReal public. The milestone made her one of only 23 women in history to found and lead a company to an IPO and established another defining chapter in a career built around entrepreneurship and industry disruption.
Her story offers audiences an inside view of what building a category-defining company actually demands: conviction, adaptability, operational execution and the ability to keep moving when the path ahead changes.
Innovation and sustainable luxury
Julie’s work with The RealReal also placed sustainability and circular fashion firmly within the conversation about the future of luxury. The company advanced circular fashion through major collaborations and industry commitments, including sustainability partnerships with Gucci, Burberry and Stella McCartney.
The RealReal became the first luxury member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s CE100 USA and the first resale member of the UN Climate Change’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action.
Julie’s experience demonstrates how new business models can challenge established industries while responding to changing consumer expectations. Her perspective connects innovation with execution and shows how sustainability can become part of a company’s business model rather than an idea that sits apart from commercial strategy.
Leadership, resilience and entrepreneurship
Book Julie Wainwright for your event to give audiences a candid perspective on the realities behind entrepreneurship and business transformation. Julie speaks from experience gained across different stages of the technology and e-commerce landscape, including the difficult moments that tested her leadership and ultimately influenced the way she built The RealReal.
Her keynotes explore themes including:
- Building and scaling disruptive businesses in established industries
- Turning failures and setbacks into stepping stones for future success
- Creating and sustaining high-performance cultures
- Leading authentically when decisions and circumstances become difficult
- Empowering entrepreneurs to pursue ambitious ideas
- Combining innovation, sustainability and commercial opportunity
Julie brings these subjects to life through real-world lessons rather than abstract management theory. Whether she is speaking to corporate teams, entrepreneurs, aspiring business leaders or global industry audiences, she offers actionable strategies grounded in the decisions, risks, successes and setbacks of her own career.
Julie has delivered keynotes and featured talks for audiences at ForbesWomen’s Summit, Code Commerce, Osservatorio Altagamma Monitor, Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit, The New York Times’ Luxury Summit, Barron’s, Copenhagen Fashion Summit and the Financial Times’ Business of Luxury Summit. She has also spoken at leading universities, including Stanford and Purdue.
Author and recognized business leader
In 2025, Julie published Time to Get Real: How I Built a Billion Dollar Business That Rocked the Fashion Industry. The book provides a candid account of the lessons, triumphs and setbacks behind building one of modern retail’s most influential companies. Amazon editors cited it as one of the best nonfiction books of 2025.
Across her career, Julie has received numerous accolades for her contribution to entrepreneurship, innovation and business leadership. Her recognitions include Entrepreneur Magazine’s 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs, Fast Company’s Most Creative People, CNBC’s Disruptor 50, Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders, a Retail Innovator of the Year Award and Business of Fashion’s Top 500 in the fashion industry.
She was also named to Forbes’ inaugural 50 Successful Women Over 50 list and appeared on the cover of Forbes in June 2021. Purdue University, her alma mater, recognized her achievements with the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Award.
Beyond business
Julie Wainwright’s commitment to impact extends beyond entrepreneurship. She supports local and national nonprofit organizations focused on entrepreneurship, education, the arts, sustainability and animal welfare.
She currently serves as President of the MOCA Board of Trustees, helping guide one of the world’s most influential institutions dedicated to art produced from 1940 to the present. Julie has also funded scholarships supporting diversity and sustainability, including sustainable fashion at Parsons School of Design.
Today, Julie is an investor in multiple venture capital funds and works as a consultant and advisor to entrepreneurs, continuing her mission of helping innovators build what comes next.
When you book speaker Julie Wainwright, audiences gain access to a business leader who has experienced the full entrepreneurial journey—from running high-profile companies and navigating setbacks to creating a disruptive marketplace and taking it public. Her keynotes combine authenticity, hard-earned wisdom and actionable ideas on resilience, high-performance cultures, innovation and leadership, leaving audiences better equipped to turn challenges into opportunities and ambitious ideas into meaningful action.
Keynotes
Keynote by Julie Wainwright:
The Power of Failure
In this captivating keynote speech, Julie Wainwright delves into the transformative power of failure. Drawing from her own experiences in the business world, Wainwright shares invaluable insights on how failure can be a catalyst for growth, innovation, and ultimately, success.
With the wealth of knowledge gained from her impressive career, Julie explores the importance of embracing failure as a necessary stepping stone toward achieving greatness. She highlights how failures can provide invaluable lessons, fuel resilience, and ignite the entrepreneurial spirit within individuals and organizations.
Through captivating storytelling and real-life examples, Wainwright inspires audiences to shift their perspective on failure. She challenges conventional notions of success and encourages attendees to view setbacks as opportunities for learning and personal development. By reframing failure as a powerful tool rather than a source of shame or disappointment, Julie empowers individuals to take risks, push boundaries, and unlock their full potential.
Explore The Power of Failure and discover how embracing setbacks can lead to unparalleled success in the ever-evolving world of business by hiring Julie Wainwright today.
Keynote by Julie Wainwright:
Collaboration, Creativity, & Cause: Building A Culture and Getting Results
In this keynote, Julie Wainwright teaches audiences how to build a culture that not only supports your business performance but improves it.
During her career as a c-suite executive, Julie has seen some companies crumble and others achieve tremendous success. With that extensive experience, comes years of insights into what separated these high-performance cultures.
Attendees will leave this keynote speech with a deeper understanding of the importance of building a culture that encourages collaboration, creativity, and cause within their organizations. Specifically, they will gain practical strategies for empowering employees, fostering innovation, and aligning company & employee values. Ultimately, they will be inspired to create positive change within their company and drive meaningful business results.
Keynote by Julie Wainwright:
Think You Want to Start a Company? Here’s What You Need to Know
In this engaging and informative keynote speech, Julie Wainwright provides invaluable advice and practical tips to navigate the challenging world of entrepreneurship.
Drawing from her journey as the founder and CEO of multiple successful companies, including The RealReal and Ahara, Julie delves into the key factors that contribute to success. She also addresses the common challenges and pitfalls that entrepreneurs often face and offers strategies for overcoming them. From managing finances and securing funding to marketing and branding strategies, attendees will gain invaluable insights from a career entrepreneur.
Attendees can expect to leave this keynote speech feeling motivated, informed, and equipped with the knowledge, tools, and strategies to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality. Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this keynote is a must-attend event for anyone looking to succeed in business.
Keynote by Julie Wainwright:
Thinking Big
At one of the lowest moments of her life, Julie Wainwright faced two devastating blows in a single day—her husband woke her at 4 a.m. to ask for a divorce, and hours later, she had to shut down Pets.com, one of the first major e-commerce ventures. Soon after, a top Silicon Valley recruiter dismissed her as “unemployable.”
With her personal and professional life in crisis, Julie had a choice: let others define her future or take control and redefine herself. She chose the latter. Out of that defining moment, she built The RealReal, a revolutionary luxury resale marketplace that transformed the fashion industry.
In this keynote, Julie shares the pivotal lessons she learned about resilience, reinvention, and thinking beyond conventional limits. Her story is a powerful testament to overcoming adversity, embracing risk, and building something extraordinary when the world tells you it’s impossible.
Keynote by Julie Wainwright:
Fireside Chat: Reinvention, Resilience, and the Future of Consumer Tech
From launching and scaling billion-dollar businesses and taking it public - one of only 23 women to ever have done so - to navigating personal and professional setbacks, serial tech entrepreneur Julie Wainwright has earned her spot on the inaugural Forbes 50 over 50 list. In this candid session, Julie sits down to share her unfiltered journey and offer actionable insights for founders looking to:
Transform Setbacks into Success: Learn when to pivot and rebuild in a tech-driven landscape, turning challenges into opportunities for innovation.
Build Scalable Consumer Trust: Learn what works (and what doesn’t) when creating a brand that resonates globally.
Master Strategic Fundraising: Discover what investors are really looking for and how to make your startup stand out.
Select the Right Board and Investors: Gain insights on choosing the optimal advisors and backers to support your growth / vision at every stage.
Julie Wainwright | Entrepreneur, E-Commerce Pioneer, Brand Management Expert & Keynote Speaker
Watch Julie Wainwright in action
Books by Julie Wainwright
Time to Get RealHow I Built a Billion-Dollar Business That Rocked the Fashion Industryby Julie Wainwright
