Piepho ‘silently coaches’ women to achieve, excel

2021 Women of Distinction – Leading Lady

Julie Piepho – Adams Bank & Trust

FORT COLLINS — From helping new homebuyers put a roof over their heads to helping women break through glass ceilings, Julie Piepho has been a Leading Lady in Northern Colorado.

And that’s not all.

Honored in 2011 as a Woman of Distinction by BizWest’s predecessor, the Northern Colorado Business Report, Piepho, president for consumer lending at Adams Bank and Trust, “has always been the first to raise her hand when a nonprofit needed financial support, service on a board, or as a passionate volunteer,” said Ann Clark, founder of Colorado Women of Influence and its nonprofit foundation. “I’ve known this amazing woman for almost 30 years, and I have found her to be a true asset to her local community.”

A graduate of the University of Wyoming, Piepho has worked in the real-estate finance industry for more than 40 years, and from the beginning, Clark said, “she started her lifelong passion of breaking the ‘glass ceiling’ leadership barriers for women by being the first female state mortgage production manager in her early 20s.” Moving to Fort Collins in 1985, Piepho opened the fourth Norwest Mortgage office in the state, again as the only female manager in Colorado, and rose through Norwest’s management ranks as its only female divisional manager.

Asked to coach students of Colorado State University’s then-fledgling Summit Fund, she worked to have the Mortgage Bankers Association make an initial $75,000 grant to start the Everitt Real Estate Center in 2000 and served on the center’s board for many years. She accepted the Colorado governor’s appointment to the inaugural Board of Mortgage Loan Originators, where she served a six-year term and chaired it twice — once again, the first female in that role.

Piepho also has been a member of the Northern Colorado Business and Professional Women’s mentoring committee.

“This outstanding lady is inspirational on so many levels, providing encouragement and guidance not only to women in her industry but to females of all ages,” Clark added. “It was no wonder that in 2017 my organization selected her as a Woman of Vision honoree.”

Piepho has chaired the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Residential Board of Governors and its State and Legislative Committee, and currently serves as Colorado State Ambassador for MBA. She is Northern Colorado chapter chair of the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association and vice president of its Board of Governors.

Piepho’s community involvement includes work with the Alzheimer’s Association, the Fort Collins Board of Realtors, the Northern Colorado Homebuilder’s Association, Habitat for Humanity and the Animal Friends Alliance.

Before joining Adams Bank and Trust in 2020, Piepho’s professional roles included serving as president for national operations at Cornerstone Home Lending and held a variety of positions during 12 years at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Today as throughout her career, Piepho said, “I silently coach, free of charge, many young women to help them gain their full potential and crash down the barriers they may encounter. It’s always a joy to me when I hear them report to me the successes they have achieved.”

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