Julie Baez Prebula,
A Latina Behind Slippery
Rock Golf Club
By Azucena Maldonado
“When you dream big, big things
happen,” proclaims Julie Baez
Prebula. A big and bold statement
impressed upon her since childhood. Words that
shaped the trajectory of her life. "If you truly believe
this, then why wouldn’t the insurmountable be
possible?” she adds. Living an intentional life is one of
the factors she credits for emboldening her to become
the only Latina owner of a golf course in the United
States, a feat many of us would consider unattainable.
But not Baez Prebula. who with a team made up of her
husband, Eric, and her in-laws, partnered to seize an
opportunity of a lifetime and in 2019 purchased, the
newly named, Slippery Rock Golf Club and Event
Center in Pennsylvania.
This seasoned music industry and media
executive is using her marketing, events, and media
relations and knowledge to complement her husband
and mother-in-law’s combined 50 years of experience
in the sports event management, golf, and hospitality
industries to create the perfect lineup to conquer the
golf industry. Baez Prebula follows the writings of Don
Miguel Ruiz, author of the Four Agreements, whose
first agreement, she says, “reminds us of how
powerful our words are. "Be impeccable with
your words."
I never felt the power of words so strongly than the
story behind our golf course deal,” which she
promises will be detailed in a book she’s writing.
A Texas native, she didn’t grow up in a
golf family or even a golf community so how did
this self-proclaimed novice golfer become involved
in the game?
“I came into golf by necessity and sheer will,” she
shares. “I was simply tired of being left on the
proverbial porch while the guys (my clients and
colleagues) literally did their business on the golf
course. If I were to hang out with the boys, I needed to
figure out their game,” she says with a smile. “I made
it my mission and started with an etiquette golf class
held at the local community college. I also found
like-minded women through the Latina Golfers
Association (LGA), a golf community in Los Angeles,
and slowly, I got better. Something magical happens
when you take the wheel, call out your goals, and just
go for it.”
Her zest for life’s grand possibilities is infectious.
Her tenacious and inquisitive attitude was influenced by
the many strong women in her life, starting with her
grandmother who worked as a sue chef while
single-handedly raising seven kids, her mother, who
encouraged her daily to “ask questions!”, and most
importantly, las tías, the women whose relentless and
optimistic outlook on life and career became her
examples of how long series of little things, done
consistently, over time, can result in breakthroughs,
“and”, she adds, “how everything worthwhile is truly
uphill. Once you know this, you can forgive yourself for
all the failures and misses along the way and realize
they are all necessary lessons in life.”
A strong believer and practitioner of meditation
and yoga, she finds it keeps her mind clear and able to
manage the many businesses within the golf course
and events center which has become a true family
business with the help of her two adult stepchildren,
Illyanna and Maximiliano, who contribute as hands-on
operators of the business.
While the golf course is the family’s labor of love,
she and Eric have built a successful and growing
insurance agency that supports over 100 agents
across the country. To what does she attribute their
success as entrepreneurs on and off the course? “Lots
of prayers, meditation, and ongoing self-development.”
What advice does she leave us with? " Choose
your words carefully because they spell out who you
are. What are you telling yourself every day, minute
after minute? Is it really that easy? Sure, it is.”
LS
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30 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle V ol. 27, No. 1, 2021
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