The first thing you're probably curious about is the "5 years of service" being that Julie Ann's site has been gone for quite some time now and her page hasn't been seen in the listings for quite some time either. The reason for that is, until today the page remained up. The combination of her not asking me to remove it and my holding her in high regard led to the page remaining up well after it was "officially" gone. With the inception of the Hall of Fame, I finally have a way to honor wonderful person.
It cannot be overstated how important Julie Ann was to the beginnings of what would become TWV Divas. Back in 2000 I was helming a struggling wrestling site and was desperate for some ideas. Having seen an increase in hits by having using a model friend’s pics, I figured I was onto something. I began scouring the internet for models, knowing as little as one possibly could at the time about the modeling world or any of the models themselves. Among that first group was Julie Ann.
As it turns out, Julie Ann responded to my inquiry almost immediately was happy to help. Again know nothing about the industry at the I didn't realize Julie Ann was already a popular regular in publications such as MuscleMag International. So here I was, with a little nothing of a wrestling site but this famous model was not only willing to help me, but happy to do it.
When I decided to make a new site based around the models, Julie Ann was there again and continued with me thorough every expansion I made. Sometime late in 2000 I believe, I was in a bookstore and finally picked a MuscleMag. Right there was Julie Ann and again I figured this was a big deal. So stupid me, I sent her an E-mail congratulating her. Now most girls would be like "How clueless is this guy anyway?" Not Julie Ann though and she thanked me for it. Picking up this issue also led to something that would change the site forever. It was with that issue my education in the modeling arena began. I figured if Julie Ann had a site many of these other girls might as well. Of course I was right and it led to me finding many of the early names that helped the site take off.
On a personal note, to this day I have met few people with a heart as big as Julie Ann's. To make along story short 2001 was not exactly a stellar year for me personally. Julie Ann was there for me every step of the way offering encouragement and was always willing to help lift my spirits with some kind words when I got down. Even more so than for contributions to the site, I'll never forget her for caring so much when I needed someone too.
There is no question Julie Ann played a big part in leading the site where it is today. She was a Diva before the site even existed in it's current form. It was my honor to have her share my journey from day one and be there when things really started taking off with the first Ms. TWV contest. To that end, please join me in welcoming Julie Ann Gerhard into of the TWV Divas Hall of Fame.