We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia Rodgers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Julia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?
Success, in my view, is a blend of persistence, adaptability, and a true commitment to making a positive impact in a field you are passionate about. You must have a deep passion for the problem being solved. Being fully invested is essential—without genuine passion for your mission, you cannot fully understand the needs of your customers or be able to serve them effectively. I often remind new entrepreneurs that starting a business just for the sake of it is not enough. The drive to solve a meaningful problem is what keeps you motivated and focused.
The journey of HelloPrenup is a perfect example of this. When I first started this business, I faced numerous challenges, from skepticism about the market for prenups and lack of capital to the complexities of building a tech platform as a solo founder. I’m grateful to have found like-minded individuals who were equally committed to the mission and joined the HelloPrenup team. It was our shared passion for empowering couples to align financially and emotionally before marriage that kept us going in the early days.
As HelloPrenup grew into the change leading company it is today, our early challenges became valuable lessons—like learning how to better communicate our value proposition and understanding how to meet customers where they are. Success didn’t happen overnight, and I invested all of my time, energy, and resources to get here. Now, seeing the impact we are having on couples and knowing we are helping to change the narrative around prenups is incredibly fulfilling.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Julia Rodgers, the Founder and CEO of HelloPrenup, a platform designed to help couples craft their prenuptial agreements that are accessible, affordable and actually enjoyable. I am a family law attorney by training, and my passion for financial transparency in relationships and empowering individuals, particularly women in relationships, led me to create HelloPrenup. After seeing firsthand how often financial issues and miscommunication about assets contributed to complications in divorce cases, I knew there had to be a better way. I saw too many divorce cases where issues could have been avoided with a prenup, and many of those clients I worked with would agree. This experience sparked my desire to build a solution that could help people protect themselves and their futures before walking down the aisle.
HelloPrenup is an online platform that guides users through the process of creating a personalized prenup. Our platform is designed to be accessible, user-friendly and cost-effective, making it easier than ever for couples to discuss and safeguard their financial futures. We aim to change the narrative around prenups, making them not only more practical but also less stigmatized. We’re about promoting financial awareness and providing clarity to couples as they enter into marriage.
What sets us apart from others in this space is the combination of technology and a collaborative approach. At HelloPrenup, we have built an intuitive, easy-to-navigate platform that takes the guesswork out of the process, ensuring that couples feel empowered and informed throughout. Unlike the traditional method of each party hiring an attorney to draft the agreement without leveraging technology, we make the process efficient and affordable while still offering access to a prenup that is customized to fit the specific needs each couple, with access to legal services at affordable rates. I have always been an educator at heart, and we place a strong emphasis on the educational aspect of the product, helping people understand the financial implications of marriage from day one.
I’m most proud of the positive impact we’re having on people’s lives. We are not just offering a legal tech platform, we are changing how couples think about their relationships and their financial futures. Every time I hear from a customer who feels more secure and confident entering marriage because of their prenup, I know we are making a difference.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
When I first started HelloPrenup, I funded the development of the product myself, with my personal savings, as I continued to work full time at a law firm. It was a scrappy, messy, stressful process. I worked with overseas developers, waking up at 4 a.m. every morning to collaborate with them and make progress on the platform at a price I could afford (which was not much!). A wireframe was out of budget, so I used yellow sticky notes on my wall to plan out the product. I didn’t have the budget for graphic designers to design the website, so I sketched out my ideas with pen and paper. I poured all of my life savings into building the minimum viable product because I believed so strongly in the idea and the problem I was solving.
We tried raising money from investors early on, but faced multiple rejections. We never questioned whether we could make HelloPrenup happen, because we knew there was a need and market for it. The turning point came when we appeared on Shark Tank, and received investment from Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary and Nextdoor.com founder and CEO, Nirav Tolia.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Building HelloPrenup’s reputation within the market has been driven by our unwavering commitment to providing value. From the start, we focused on making the prenup process accessible and affordable through our dual-participation platform, with the option to add attorney services at affordable rates. This model didn’t exist in the market before HelloPrenup, and we are proud to say we were the first to offer this innovative approach. By offering a solution that empowers couples to work together and protect their financial futures, we have been able to build trust with our customers and stand out in a space that was previously seen as complex and intimidating.
Our emphasis on transparency and education has been key to building credibility. We consistently go above and beyond to provide valuable content that educates couples on the process, state requirements, and strategies for navigating difficult conversations with their partner. By making this information accessible and free—regardless of whether couples choose to use HelloPrenup—we fulfill our primary mission of educating and access to resources first and foremost. While profitability is essential for any business, if you are only in it for financial gain, customers will see right through that. As a result, we have cultivated a reputation as a company that is not only knowledgeable and approachable but deeply committed to adding value at every step.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.HelloPrenup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helloprenup/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliarodgers/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@helloprenup