Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | June 30, 2025 | wbjournal.com 200 and counting: Hertel finds purpose through rescue F O C U S THE DOG EDITION BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer J ulianne Hertel may spend her days as owner and financial advisor at Dream Big Wealth Strategies in Worcester, but outside the office, she has a whole other life devoted to rescuing human's best friend. Since 2012, Hertel has fostered nearly 200 dogs through the nonprofit Broken Tail Rescue in Worcester, in addition to adopting a number of the shelter's older and special needs dogs. She adopted her dog Lucy from Vintage Pet Rescue, a rescue and hospice home for senior dogs out of Rhode Island, and is currently fostering a 15-year-old, toothless Chihuahua from Broken Tails. "No pun intended, but I think I've been raised to always look out for the underdog, and the ones that are sometimes overlooked, or people don't necessarily have the capacity to take care of them like I do," said Hertel. She has dedicated the past 13 years to providing that capacity. In fact, Hertel can count on only two hands the num- ber of days she's gone in the past five years without a dog. "In the rare times I have a house with- out a dog, it's clear that there's some- thing missing," she said. "Dogs teach us as humans compassion that's very difficult to learn someplace else." Hertel has supported Broken Tails as the shelter has taken in 140 dogs and 400 cats this year, work that at once can be tremendously difficult, yet incredibly rewarding. "It's one of the hardest things I do, but it's absolutely the most important thing I do in my life," she said. Like the American writer Mark Twain once said, Hertel believes the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. "And I truly believe I was put on this earth to make the world a little bit better for animals," she said. People think Hertel's dog Lucy (white dog, top and bottom) has no teeth because her tongue sticks out, but that's only because her mouth is too small for her tongue. On the other hand, Hertel's foster Chihuahua Buster (bottom, black dog), is in fact, toothless. PHOTOS | COURTESY OF JULIANNE HERTEL Hertel has fostered nearly 200 dogs from Broken Tail Rescue, including Ziggy (left) and Waffles. W

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