Julia Maier is a lifelong Maryland resident living just outside Washington, D.C. She attended Mount St. Mary’s University where she studied communications with a concentration in public relations and event planning. Throughout college, she spent three years planning and executing campus events as well as coordinating conferences hosted by the university. After graduating in 2014, she has worked for an industrial insurance company, wearing many hats ranging from office admin to executive assistant and, most recently, business analyst. Julia is excited to join the Powerhouse team as a freelance writer and social media strategist. In her free time, Julia loves spending time with her family on the Eastern Shore, cooking, and attending concerts.

Jessica Yost is thrilled to rejoin the Powerhouse Planning team as a project manager. After working with Powerhouse in 2016, Jessica continued her freelance career in social media strategy, copywriting, and digital content creation along with starting a small business, Electra Lane, where she teaches makeup lessons.

With a B.S. in psychology from Towson University and a master’s in strategic public relations from The George Washington University, Jessica is passionate about streamlining processes and creating clear communication channels no matter the task.

Jessica enjoys running and baking, and she is learning how to play golf. She lives with her active-duty Navy husband and two beagles, Clark and Kent, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Maria is a lifelong Maryland resident now living in West Virginia where her husband is a firefighter at the Air National Guard base. Much like she learned to adapt to military spouse life, Maria adapts to new work situations quickly and is excited to be part of the Powerhouse Planning team.

With more than a decade of marketing experience and an undergraduate degree in marketing, she is looking forward to completing her Master of Science in integrated marketing communications at West Virginia University later this year. In addition to strategic marketing skills, she added the HubSpot SEO certification to her arsenal in 2022 and is anxious to put her experience to good use.

Crystal Toy is an ambitious and energetic Coast Guard veteran turned digital marketing specialist. She is a Coast Guard spouse and mom of two with several specialized college degrees, bringing over a decade of technical expertise to the Powerhouse lineup of independent contractors. Her robust career experience in learning and development, event coordination, and project management is a powerful addition to any team.

After transitioning out of the Coast Guard to support her husband’s active-duty career, she has remained committed to developing her multifaceted toolbelt by serving in several creative volunteer roles such as event coordinator, photographer, and social media manager. Fueled by her dedication to lifelong learning, and several professional certifications later, she has made an impressive pivot into the world of digital marketing, with specializations in project and social media management.

Crystal is a goal-oriented team player with a creative mind who thrives under pressure and is semper paratus (always ready) to roll up her sleeves and get the job done. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her family, staying active outdoors, and seeking out the best Baja-style tacos wherever she ventures.

Beth Soto was born and raised in a small town near the north Georgia mountains. She attended North Georgia College and State University for two years before transferring to Lanier Technical College where she studied interior design and architectural drafting. She graduated in 2007 and worked in both residential and commercial construction as an architectural drafter, estimator, and project manager for 15 years. She is the current owner and lead designer of Coastal Peach Interiors in Melbourne, FL. Beth and her husband, Steve, returned to Melbourne after Steve’s military retirement in 2020 following his 22-year military career. They were married in 2013 and have a blended family of five children, Hunter, Chris, Emma, Savannah, and Dean. They enjoy traveling and making memories together as a family as well as playing board games and spending time by the pool.

Beth has admired the Powerhouse Planning team and their work for years. She is excited to join Powerhouse Planning as an architectural drafting and design consultant and is looking forward to being part of such an amazing group of people.

Nicole is a milspouse of over 12 years and mom of a daughter, Itahlee, and two Dobermans, Luther and Lexie. Along with a love of traveling and exploring the country, which has been easily done as a Coastie wife, Nicole enjoys creating memories with her family. She grew up in Pennsylvania, but throughout their Coast Guard career, she and her family have spent time in New England, Texas, NYC, and NorCal. Professionally, Nicole has a passion for business, leadership, achieving goals, supporting a positive people experience, and organization. (Yay for spreadsheets!)

Nicole earned her B.S. in accounting and her M.S. in organizational leadership with a focus in human resources. She brings a background in retail management, both big box and specialty, as well as in recruiting and training in early childhood education to the Powerhouse Planning team. Nicole views the challenges faced as a career-driven milspouse to be developmental opportunities and is grateful to put that experience and drive to work for her clients at Powerhouse!

Amy grew up in Macon, Georgia and attended the University of Georgia, graduating with a degree in education. She then pursued a Master of Education degree from Mercer University while teaching full-time in the public school system. After marrying her high school sweetheart, they began military life together, moving all around the world from North Carolina to Germany with countries in between. They have been married for over 20 years and have raised two children, both of whom are now adults. After Amy’s husband retired from the Marine Corps, they settled in Peachtree City, Georgia.

Amy joins Powerhouse Planning as a freelance project liaison. Between her teaching career and volunteer endeavors, Amy has worn a variety of job hats over the years. She worked many years as a full-time classroom teacher as well as a virtual ESL teacher. As many of the Powerhouse family know, military life brings many moves, deployments, and sometimes “single parenting” moments. Because of these circumstances, there were times over 26 years of military spouse life that Amy did not “work” but instead volunteered her time/talents. She volunteered in school settings as a classroom helper, reading tutor, and PTO board member. On the military side, Amy volunteered to organize and run several fundraising events for military-based clubs, as well as coordinate and advise families before and during deployments.

Amy believes that working as a project liaison will give her the opportunity to utilize skills/talents that she has developed from her previous positions. Amy’s instructional, organizational, problem-solving, and curriculum development skills have all been honed as a result of her teaching career and volunteer duties during military life. Amy enjoys working as part of a team and feels that she is at her best when she is helping others.

When Amy is not teaching or volunteering, you will find her lunching and shopping with friends, exercising, reading books, and vacationing with her family.

Anne Jeanene (AJ) McCoy Bengoa loves design, data, and working with a team of positive people. She is excited to begin a new journey of learning and growth with Powerhouse Planning, contributing however she can.

AJ grew up in Miami, Florida and moved to Washington, D.C. upon the completion of her undergraduate degrees. There she worked full time for a small business government contractor and pursued her first master’s degree. She then moved to Florida’s Space Coast to pursue post-graduate opportunities. There she met her amazing husband, a real-life rocket scientist who works for NASA, and they have been married for over 15 years. She has been busy raising their two kids, working part-time, and volunteering while enjoying the beauties and wonders of Central Florida’s waterways and all the joys of living where rocket launches may be common occurrences, yet are a marvel every time.

Never one to be idle, up until she had kids, AJ was almost always managing at least two jobs and volunteering on the side. Her life and career have been guided by her heart more than any goal, and she has constantly tried to embrace the many amazing opportunities that have come her way. Therefore, her experience is peppered with all sorts of jobs: graphic designer, teacher’s assistant, research scientist, dive master, and GIS specialist, just to name a few. Her two primary focuses have been science and design, but other interests and skills have managed to employ her as well during her life. These broad and diverse interests keep her happily engaged and learning all the time, as the pace of the career landscape is constantly changing.

AJ’s most recent degree was a master’s earned from the Geographic Information Science & Technology program at the University of Southern California. AJ has three additional degrees from the University of Miami and the University of Maryland, in marine science, biology, and graphic design, which allude to the dual careers she has maintained throughout her life. Over the years, she has worked for NOAA, University of Central Florida, NOVA Research Company, National Park Service, Disney’s Animal Programs, University of Miami, Brevard County Public Schools, the Florida Department of Health, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. She has been involved in all manner of graphic design; data collection, management, analysis, display, and distribution; as well as every aspect of publication, from literature reviews, writing, editing, and printing, with a particular focus on the visualization of data.

AJ loves camping, crafting, and any activity that involves water. AJ’s favorite place in the world is floating in an inner tube down one of Florida’s many spring-fed rivers, and scuba diving anywhere is a very close second.