Before she got into mountain biking, Juliana was a ski racer. From 1980 - 1987 she was a menmber of the U.S. National sky team. She was also the youngest member ot the team.
In 1989 Juli wins national road championship and in 1990 the first official Mountain Bike World Championship is held in Durango, Ned Overend and Juli Furtado win the cross-country.
In 1996 she wins 12 of the 13 races in the series to earn both the World Cup and the NORBA cross-country championships