From Service Rep to Servant Leader:
Julie Laulis’s Four-Decade Telecom Journey
By E.B. Moss
As a girl, Julie Laulis dreamed of being in the air as a pilot. She instead helped drive over-the-air competition, soaring from her start as a Hauser Communications customer service rep to eventually landing as CEO of Cable One, Inc.
Telecommunications was a nascent industry when she began 42 years ago. “No one was an expert,” she says, noting that women could carve unprecedented paths. “I could tell I was going to have a chance in this business.”
Laulis has dedicated decades to the field. She doesn’t see it as a linear journey but a continuous reinvention reflective of the industry itself. “I know a lot of people don’t necessarily think of the cable industry as being innovative, but it has been a dynamic, changing atmosphere where you just can’t get bored.”
After spending 10 years in marketing at Jones Intercable, Laulis was hired to do the same at Cable One. Her organizational and leadership skills became apparent, leading to the COO title in 2008. But her experience in customer service and brand management also proved useful when cable companies began losing leverage with programmers as customers found other avenues for content. “We did have this strong, reliable infrastructure that could deliver content to consumers in a different way, i.e., broadband, and we controlled the customer relationship there,” she explains.
That insight sparked the bold rebrand in 2018 of Cable One’s customer-facing products into “Sparklight,” a broadband-first business with an expanded national footprint. “Our plant is majority fiber and ‘Sparklight’ connotes that. The icon implies the light that goes down the fiber, or internet protocol, but for us internally it signifies a baton, for the power of team. Because if you run a relay race, you hand the baton off from one to the other, saying that no one person drives this place,” says Laulis. The brand color is an homage to the red and blue of the original Cable One brand. “You blend them together and it creates the color purple, which we all try to wear every day,” she adds.
Laulis’ personal brand mirrors that, preferring to blend in and offer accolades to the team at every opportunity. She finds inspiration in her company’s frontline workers—the technicians who have actually saved lives, and customer service representatives who go above and beyond within their community. “What I love doing the most is traveling to our systems and spending time with our people, which probably sounds a little Pollyanna-ish, but what they do is hard, face to face work.”
When predecessor Tom Might suggested she take the top role, her initial response was “no.” But after careful consideration she did accept, driven by a powerful motivation: “I had women mentors that I could emulate and go to for advice. I feel like I’ve been very fortunate. …So, I wanted to be a role model to younger women and women of the future to say, ‘look, you can do whatever you want to do.’”
Jana Henthorn, former President and CEO of The Cable Center, saw that in action. “I was fortunate to work with Julie in the early and exciting days of Jones Intercable,” she says. “She has consistently exemplified the very best of leadership and vision with her business smarts and EQ savvy.”
“Julie brings a rare combination of ingredients to Cable One: a relentless drive for excellence and a nurturing management style,” says Wally Weitz, founder of Weitz Investment Management and Cable One board member. “She is fiercely loyal to all of her colleagues and the epitome of a servant leader.”
Laulis says of her leadership style: “My role as a servant comes from my faith. I try not to think of myself.” This humility, combined with relentless innovation, has been her hallmark, leading to numerous honors, including being named one of the Most Influential Women in Arizona Business. She was inducted into the Cable Center’s Cable Hall of Fame in 2023 and the Cable TV Pioneers in 2024.
As she prepares to transition from CEO, Laulis remains committed to the company’s future. She’ll continue advising Sparklight, ensuring the momentum of transformation doesn’t slow. Her legacy won’t just be about technological advancement, but about creating opportunities, evidenced by her insistence that “it’s never one person—it’s about the team.”
That may be true, but to hear it from former Cable One CEO Might, “Julie is a first-class leader who inspires all Cable One associates to constantly exceed expectations. Her selfless and unending devotion to Cable One, her family and her community is legendary. There is no better person than Julie Laulis.”
Like a spark traveling down fiber, Laulis will continue to illuminate paths for others.
Fast Fax
- Satisfying her early career goal as a pilot, Laulis took her first lesson just this year.
- As CEO, she led Cable One through the acquisition of seven brands and strategic investments in 10 companies.
- Laulis is an avid runner and has competed in the New York City and Marine Corp Marathons and half Iron Mans. “I like doing hard things.”