Julie Thompson, Scout Rentals’ founder and co-owner, held the title of President of her HOA for three years and also worked as a realtor and insurance agent before moving into the world of property management where she spent 12 years before she decided to take the leap and start her own company in 2019.

When Julie isn’t meeting with new clients/owners, overseeing employees and vendors, and doing the occasional property tour, she’s busy working behind the scenes to grow Scout into one of Portland’s premier property management companies.

Julie’s expertise doesn’t stop at property management, though. She has worked at Rejuvenation and volunteered at Architectural Heritage Center. She’s also a seamstress and fashion aficionado, especially when it comes to vintage apparel. Her love for vintage spills over into (no surprise) properties as well—she has a soft spot for classic homes built in the 1950s and 1960s. And if you know Julie at all, you won’t be surprised that she’s usually at the heart of social gatherings, bringing people together around food and drink.

Jules is a Property Manager for Scout and Julie’s assistant. When Julie is out of town, Jules is the go-to person for all things Scout. If she doesn’t have the answer to your question, she’ll find it.

Part of what makes Jules perfect for the job is her varied work history. She’s been an event planner, restaurant server/bartender/manager, and insurance claims adjuster. A lover of music, she also currently books gigs for a few bands in the Portland area and handles their social media marketing. And she co-produces a monthly show with The Occidental Tourists, a band that performs Middle-Eastern music and features two belly dancers. In fact, Jules has been immersed in the belly dance world for over 20 years as a teacher, performer, competition judge, and coach. 

When she isn’t working for Scout, you’ll find Jules frequenting music shows and belly dance events, as well as baking and playing piano and bass.

Jess is so versatile she plays two important roles as a Scout staff member: Maintenance Manager and Social Media Marketing Manager. In her newest role as Maintenance Manager, Jess schedules maintenance requests. As Social Media Marketer, she lists Scout’s for-rent properties on the company website and Instagram account.

Before the pandemic, Jess was a retail boutique manager. Since then, she has created her company Serpentine, where she designs and sells vintage/antique jewelry, as well as a line of wax cast talisman jewelry. In addition to her artistic passion, she loves thrifting, frequenting estate sales, and escaping to the coast. 

Jess hails from Rhode Island originally and can easily be considered a local after living in Portland for 20 years. She’s the proud human to a giant fluffy gray Maine Coon/bobtail mix cat named Morpheus—aka Mr. Biscuits. 

Josh is Scout’s Property Management Assistant. You can think of them as Scout’s “Welcome Wagon.” They communicate with potential tenants, and assist with the entire tenant application and onboarding processes, all with their signature disarming, good-natured charm. Josh’s high-level people skills likely come from their varied work background in specialty retail and the hospitality and death care industries. 

When they’re not working for Scout, Josh loves crafting vegan foods from scratch, fermenting, and herbal medicine—committed to the perspective of making holistic wellness accessible to all people—as well as hiking and taking in live music and indie/foreign films.

Christy is Scout’s bookkeeper and the owner of Money Tree Bookkeeping. She’s the go-to person for all things financial.

Basically… she just works a lot. 

Johnnie is responsible for crafting Scout’s client/owner, tenant, and realtor newsletters, as well as marketing copy for property listings. She  also writes and edits a wide variety of documents central to Scout’s business operations.

When not working with Scout, Johnnie is devoted to her writing practice. She is a retired college writing professor and a published fiction writer. She has also worked as a professional copywriter in the realms of travel, vacation rentals, and real estate, and currently teaches fiction writing and screenwriting to Adults in Custody at Columbia River Correctional Institution.

Joy works closely with the maintenance manager and handles maintenance scheduling for all of Scout’s properties, which requires the deftness and precision of a professional juggler. Between tenant requests, owner requests, and routine maintenance to keep Scout’s properties in top living/working order, Joy’s days are always full with phone calls and emails, and liaising between tenants, owners, and vendors.

Joy loves being a wife to her husband, Jeremy, and a mom to their three kiddos. She has a weakness for deal hunting and exploring small towns and back roads. She also enjoys reading, watching crime dramas, and spending time with her extended family. Her dream vacation would be to return to Croatia.

Erin holds the position of Property Inspector at Scout. In this role, she completes semi-annual inspections on Scout’s occupied properties, as well as move-in and move-out inspections to ensure the smooth transition of Scout’s portfolio of homes from one resident to the next.  

She is currently a licensed real estate broker in Oregon and has also worked in cosmetic sales, U.S. Customs brokerage, restaurant/bar management, and catering.

When not working, Erin enjoys spending time with her three daughters, grandson, and partner. She’s a big foodie and loves checking out Portland restaurants. She also likes to travel and take urban walks around Portland neighborhoods, and has two adorable cats, Piper and Poppy.

Dickie’s role at Scout is Exterior Inspector. (He’s also Julie’s husband!) Once a month, he assesses Scout property exteriors and takes photos for owners so they can stay up to date on the condition of their properties.

Dickie is also a Sales Rep for a local, family-owned boutique wine distributor, and his expertise in this realm started back in 1997 with a San Francisco-based company. Before his life in wine, Dickie worked in the service industry in just about every position available. 

One of Dickie’s great loves, in terms of hobbies, is bike racing. It all started back in 1986 in Austin, Texas when he and one of his friends launched the first bike messenger service there. This led him to owning his first racing bike and catching the road racing bug. He’s pretty good at it, too! In 2009, he was the Oregon State Criterium Champion. While he’s still an avid road racer, he’s recently discovered a new love… gravel bike racing. Dickie is grateful to be part of Scout’s staff. He likes the people a lot and is proud to support a great, locally owned and operated business. (And he thinks the owner is a pretty cool lady, too.)

Jen is an Exterior Inspector for Scout. Once each month, she drives to Scout properties, makes sure the exteriors are looking good and are free of damage or overgrown vegetation, and sends photos to owners to keep them in the loop.

With a certificate in apparel design, she is currently working at a garment factory in NE Portland.

Jen was raised in NE Portland and loves tending to her family and old home.