Meet the DeJulios

Beverly DeJulio

Beverly DeJulio shares her home how-to expertise with a national audience on the PBS series, HandyMa'am^® with Beverly DeJulio. Also known as "Ms. Fix It" and "the first lady of home improvement^™," her weekly series explores the how-to's of home improvement projects, including home maintenance and decorating. This year, she's pleased to welcome her daughters, Christine and Angel, as co-hosts of the program.

Beverly was also co-host of the popular how-to program, Easy Does It, on The Discovery Channel and HGTV's HomeWise with Beverly DeJulio. She writes a column, "ASK HandyMa'am^®" for Good Housekeeping Do-It-Yourself magazine, a Hearst publication and gives the how-to's for a handy project in each issue of Arts & Crafts magazine, a Krause publication. DeJulio is often interviewed and featured in magazines, newspapers and websites and will be the Home Consultant on iVillage.com beginning in Fall, 2000. She is a member of the Society of Craft Designers and Women in Hardware. She also serves on the advisory panel for Home Safe & Sound^™, a home safety publication, and is a spokesperson for several Reader's Digest do-it-yourself books. Her book, HandyMa'am^®: Home Improvement, Decorating & Maintenance Tips and Projects for You and Your Family was published by Dearborn Publishing Company in '99.

She began her career out of necessity. A single parent of four small children, with little money for home improvements or repairs, she was challenged to open the tool box by a faulty sump pump -- and simply put -- plunged right in! Trained as a dress designer/dressmaker, DeJulio applied many of the practical techniques she had learned to home improvement and repair projects. Her toolbox proficiency led to her desire to share her knowledge with others, and soon DeJulio was conducting seminars and workshops, inspiring people, especially women, to save money and reap the satisfaction and pride that comes from a project well done. Today, she frequently travels the country appearing on national and local television and radio shows, and she's found countless ways of instilling confidence in others by sharing personal stories of her own learning experiences.

Ms. DeJulio's audience cuts across gender, age, and level of expertise. Her style is entertaining and accessible, and her energy and passion are infectious as she inspires and teaches others "how to turn their house into a home."

Beverly and her husband Bill, a retired salesman, have seven children and five grandchildren between them. They live in a suburb of Chicago.

Christine DeJulio Barto

For the second year, Christine DeJulio Barto joins her mother, Beverly, and her sister, Angel, as co-host of the national PBS series HandyMa'am® with Beverly DeJulio. They form the first mother-daughters home improvement team on anywhere on television. This role compliments her off-camera work on the program, where she has been an associate producer for the past three year – a role which she will continue to fill.

Christine was co-host (with her mother) of the home-improvement/home decorating program HomeWise on Home and Garden Television (HGTV). Prior to her work on HomeWise, Christine was a production assistant on the Discovery Channel’s Easy Does It, and made occasional guest appearances on that program.

Growing up in a do-it-yourself family, Christine quickly learned that fixing things herself and making her own home decorating items and crafts, not only saves money, but also gives one a feeling of great satisfaction and accomplishment.

In addition to her television work, Christine represents clients at national trade shows, presents home decorating seminars and demonstrations at consumer events and acts as a media spokesperson for a number of clients. She has also appeared in instructional videos for a major consumer products company. Christine has designed a wide variety of projects and written several project instruction booklets for various publishers and manufacturers.

DeJulio is a graduate of Indiana University where she majored in Telecommunications. She and her husband Mike, a sales executive, have a two-year-old daughter, Maria.

Angel DeJulio-Phelps

For the second year, Angel DeJulio-Phelps joins her mother, Beverly, and her sister, Christine, as co-host of the national PBS series HandyMa'am^® with Beverly DeJulio. They form the first mother-daughters home improvement team on anywhere on television. Angel will continue in her role as Associate Producer for the program, a position that she has held for the past two years. She also serves as make-up artist and wardrobe coordinator for the program.

Angel began her interest in home improvement early on - the youngest of four children, she liked to figure out how things worked. By junior high she was taking classes typically considered "for boys only" - wood and metal shop.

After receiving her associate's degree from John A. Logan College, Angel's interest turned to modeling and work as a make-up artist. She now combines all these talents on HandyMa'am^®. In addition to her television work, Angel gives demonstrations and seminars at consumer and trade shows for major companies.

Newly married and a first time homeowner, Angel is looking forward to learning more about home improvement, maintenance and decorating from mom and sis, and hopes she can inspire a younger generation to learn how to take care of a home. Learning from family has been a way of life for the DeJulios and as Angel puts it, "It's the only free schooling left today!" Angel and her husband Matt live in a Chicago suburb.