Jessica Honegger
Have a listen or read the transcript
Episode Information
This week, Hannah and Maggie welcome Jessica Honegger, the founder of Noonday Collection, a social impact brand of jewelry and accessories made by artisans in vulnerable communities. In part one, Jessica shares the inspiration for starting her company, how she overcame her fears when she became a leader, and why we should take off our “bubble wrap”.
In part two, Jessica shares the company culture at Noonday Collection, what makes her heart beat wildly inside her chest, and the importance of linked prosperity.
About Jessica Honegger: Jessica is an award-winning social entrepreneur with a passion for catalyzing others to step outside their comfort zones and live lives of purpose. Honegger is the founder and co-CEO of Noonday Collection, a fast-growing social impact fashion brand dedicated to designing and selling an inspired collection of jewelry and accessories made by Artisans in vulnerable communities. By harnessing a passionate community of social entrepreneurs called Ambassadors who sell Noonday’s accessories at Trunk Shows in their communities, Noonday has been able to create dignified jobs for over 4,400 Artisans. Noonday Collection was featured in Inc. magazine’s 2015 list of the 5,000 fastest growing companies in America at number 45. Jessica won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for central Texas in 2017.
Jessica is also host of The Going Scared Podcast, a multi-faceted show for the multi-passionate person with a focus on courage and social impact. Her first book, Imperfect Courage, was released in August 2018.
Read The Transcript
Welcome to Magnify Your Impact, presented by ForbesBooks. Each week, our hosts, Maggie Miller and Hannah Nokes, talk with business leaders powering their company's success with a secret ingredient: purpose.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Here's Maggie and Hannah.
Hannah Nokes (00:35):
This week, Maggie and I welcome Jessica Honegger to the podcast. Jessica is the founder of the social impact brand, Noonday Collection. Noonday was launched as a fundraiser 10 years ago, but it soon grew into a multi-million dollar business.
Maggie Miller (00:48):
Jessica shares her story and challenges women to get out of their comfort zones in her book, Imperfect Courage, and leads vulnerable conversations that inspire action on her podcast, Going Scared.
Maggie Miller (01:02):
Jessica, welcome to the podcast.
Jessica Honegger (01:04):
Thanks for having me.
Maggie Miller (01:05):
Jessica let's kick things off with the origin story of the Noonday Collection. Can you take us back to 2010, when it all started?
Jessica Honegger (01:15):
Yes, 2010. It feels like the world has changed so much since then.
Jessica Honegger (01:20):
Back in 2010, as you all may know, that was right during the recession, the housing recession. And my husband and I had been flipping houses and had a small boutique real estate company that went absolutely belly-up.
Jessica Honegger (01:37):
And right in the middle of that, we had decided to bring our third child into our family through adoption. We had two children the old fashioned way. And because of our work internationally, overseas previously, we knew we wanted to grow our family through adoption. Which is expensive, when you're adopting internationally. And suddenly the money we thought that was going to bring our son home was paying the grocery bills.
Jessica Honegger (02:02):
So we were cornered by courage and needed to do something to get cash in the door quickly to complete our adoption process. At the time, I had been connected to some friends living in Uganda. And they had previously asked me if I would be interested in selling some artisan made goods from Uganda in order to help create a marketplace for some artisans there, that they were wanting to help launch their business. And I had laughed them off. I said, "What are you talking about? I'm doing real estate. I've got two kids. Now we're adopting."
Jessica Honegger (02:40):
Well, fast-forward, and that conversation meant something to me in the moment, when we were out of cash. And I called them up and they said, "We have a bunch of these beautiful products just sitting in storage. What if you dusted them off and sold them?"
Jessica Honegger (02:58):
And so I created a beautiful boutique in my home. And I invited a whole bunch of friends over and asked them to bring their friends, and asked them to shop this collection of artisan made goods. And I was so struck by how women loved to gather, they wanted to rally around this mission of our adoption, as well as they really resonated with being able to use their purchasing power for good.
Jessica Honegger (03:24):
So while I thought that night was going to be a one night fundraiser, everything sold out. Women very quickly said, "I'll do this in my home." And Noonday Collection was born.
Maggie Miller (03:35):
That's incredible. I love the phrase, "cornered by courage," that you refer to in terms of your story.
Maggie Miller (03:42):
And I do know that you are creating this powerful movement of women supporting women, through partnership, through all these artisans all over the world. I think you have about 4,500 artisans worldwide and 2000+ female ambassadors. And I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about why that was so important to you.
Jessica Honegger (04:05):
Just from that one night in my home with women, I was able to understand the power of storytelling and the power of connection. And I do believe that we want to show up for one another. And that certainly was the story for me 10 years ago.
Jessica Honegger (04:21):
So I began to cart jewelry around to all these different people's homes throughout Texas. A lot of them were strangers. I would meet a friend and say, "Well, do you have a friend in Houston that would be interested in this?" And I would couch surf, sleep on their couch and hold a ... what we call, Noonday Collection Trunk Show in her home.
Jessica Honegger (04:43):
And quickly realized that there wasn't anything else like this in the marketplace. There weren't any companies that were selling really beautiful fashion-forward items that were handmade. There weren't any other companies at the time who were doing this in this direct sales model, where you could actually have affiliates and female entrepreneurs start their own Noonday Collection businesses.
Jessica Honegger (05:07):
And so I had a few other women start to contact me. They'd gotten word through blogs, through Facebook, many of them also were raising money for adoptions as well. And they wanted to do something not just to get money to help fund their adoption, but also really step into that place of orphan prevention. Because many times kids are orphaned, they're economic orphans. And when we can create dignified work in these more vulnerable communities, families are able to stay together.
Jessica Honegger (05:37):
So a few other women reached out to me and asked if they could start a Noonday Collection in their town; there was someone from Seattle, someone from Nashville. And very quickly, we launched the Noonday Collection Ambassador program. So these are entrepreneurs, here in America ... it's kind of like a franchise ... where they get to harness the Noonday Collection brand, we supply all of the beautiful products and branding, and then they get to harness the power of their communities. And they create a marketplace for these artisan businesses, while the artisans create these beautiful fashion-forward items for us to be able to sell.
Maggie Miller (06:12):
That's incredible. What an empowered network you've created.
Hannah Nokes (06:16):
Yeah. And Jessica, as you're realizing this opportunity in the marketplace and establishing this brand, you've talked about how you've never attended business school and you didn't work your way up a corporate ladder to get to where you are now.
Hannah Nokes (06:33):
Did you think, along the way, about not being "prepared"? and how did you overcome your fears as you stepped into your leadership role?
Jessica Honegger (06:44):
Definitely have had a lot of imposter syndrome. I still do, to this day. I was recently asked to be a mentor for a business accelerator program. And I was like, "Really?" I'm still like, "Wow. I've built something really special over the past 10 years." I'm still surprised by that.
Jessica Honegger (07:04):
I, at first, was so on-mission and had this real dire need in order to get enough cash to continue to fund this adoption process, that at that point I was really just going scared. I wasn't thinking too much. I definitely had a bias towards action. It was when I realized Noonday wasn't a fundraiser anymore, that this really could be a business with legs, and when other people started taking risks on me.
Jessica Honegger (07:32):
So about 10 months in I realized I needed a business partner, or I needed investors, or something. And really needed to partner with someone that could make up for some of my own weaknesses, some of the things that I'm not very good at or I don't really enjoy doing. And happened to be babysitting for a friend of mine. And we would swap kids in order to save money.
Jessica Honegger (07:59):
So I was swapping with her kids one night and started talking to her husband, Travis Wilson, who eventually became my business partner. And so I think at that point, we bootstrapped the company. And so when you have someone who says, "I've got a savings account and I'm ready need to drain it until we can turn a profit and pay ourselves" ... which that took two to three years ... that is when I felt incapable and I felt frozen with fear.
Jessica Honegger (08:32):
And I had to really focus on my strengths. I can't say I always did that from the beginning. I would find myself in business settings, playing down my education. I majored in Latin American studies. Especially when I was around venture capitalists, I would feel silly that I was bootstrapped. I mean, I actually pawned my grandmother's gold jewelry to fund our first website.
Maggie Miller (08:59):
Oh wow.
Jessica Honegger (09:00):
And I was embarrassed by our story. I mean, now it's like, "Oh, well how could you be embarrassed by that? It's such an amazing story." But at the time I felt silly. I felt foolish. I felt, "I'm meeting with these fancy people that already have offices in downtown Austin, and here I am still working out my guest bedroom off of a website that was funded from gold jewelry that I just pawned."
Maggie Miller (09:26):
Wow.
Jessica Honegger (09:27):
It felt like something I wanted to hide.
Jessica Honegger (09:29):
And then also even being in fashion. I didn't have a background in fashion. I have always enjoyed style, but it wasn't ever an industry I thought I was going to actually work in someday. And so I always felt like I needed to name drop or make sure we were placed in the right magazines, or whatever, in order to lend credibility. Which is a great thing for a brand, but it was more of almost hiding behind a shame.
Jessica Honegger (09:56):
So I think, for me, I had to really begin to just show up with all of my authentic self. I remember I didn't start sharing the pawn jewelry story, I don't think, until I wrote my book, which was several years after launching the company. And it was when I began to just start telling my story as it really was, and then realized that that's what people want, people want the real story. We all see success and we still have this myth of this overnight success. But people want to connect with the hustle and the work and the tireless nights that it took to actually get to where you were.
Jessica Honegger (10:39):
So I think that is one thing that enabled me to begin to really walk in my leadership, walk in my giftedness, own my talent, own that, "Gosh, I've really got something to give, and I'm going to start giving it instead of faking it."
Maggie Miller (10:56):
Jessica, one of our previous guests, Bob Goff, he talked about the comparison game being a landmine. And I know that you have your own spin on comparison and false narratives.
Maggie Miller (11:08):
I'd love to hear about the IBBC, or the itty bitty bullshit committee, or as your mom prefers, I know, the itty bitty baloney sauce committee. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Jessica Honegger (11:20):
Yes. Growing up in the South, well my dad always just cussed like a sailor. He was a Vietnam war vet. And my mom would just always be so embarrassed. And one day she started saying, "BS." And I was like, "What does that mean?" And she means, "It's baloney sauce."
Jessica Honegger (11:37):
Well, it took me years to realize that actually is not what it stood for. But yeah, I think we all have this symphony in our brain that are these voices. And it's these voices in our head. And some of those voices are really good. I think we all have voices that say ... it's that whisper of, "You've got what it takes," and, "You're worth this," and, "You're made for more." But we also have those voices in our head that say,
"Sit back down," and, "You don't have what it takes," and, "You don't have the experience," "And you don't have the connections," and, "You don't have the MBA," and, "You don't have a fashion background."
Jessica Honegger (12:14):
And it's about: who are we going to be allowed to sit at our table? And I think we need to become aware of those voices, so that we can just gently say, "Hey, sit back down." Courage is not fearlessness.
Jessica Honegger (12:30):
Before starting Noonday, I thought that courage was this place that you had to be before you could actually go and do things that maybe mattered to you. And what I've learned is that courage is just simply being afraid and going anyway and being able to practice that idea of going scared. The way we do that is by becoming aware of those voices in our head and just saying, "Hey, you know what? It's not your turn. You got to sit back down. You're not going to be the voice that I'm going to let drive my car."
Hannah Nokes (13:08):
Yeah. So speaking of courage, Jessica, you literally wrote the book; Imperfect Courage. And in the book you share how you broke out of your comfort zone, found new reserves of courage, and are pursuing a fulfilling and purposeful life.
Hannah Nokes (13:22):
And then you have a workbook, a companion workbook, which is so valuable. And it's free to download. And you talk about the beloved bubble wrap, that layer of protection that we all keep around us. Can you talk about you can unwrap that bubble wrap and live in courage?
Jessica Honegger (13:38):
We all are inclined towards comfort. And I think we're also ... especially in the environment of the last couple of years ... are inclined towards numbing. There is a difference between resting and numbing. And I think the binging on the Netflix, and the scrolling mindlessly through the news feed and consuming so much social media, I think these things, they provide this bubble wrap around us that keep us from actually engaging with the world in a really meaningful way.
Jessica Honegger (14:15):
Some of that is compassion fatigue, and this sense of, "Gosh, do I really have enough to let in yet another heartache that's going on in the world?" And what I would say is that we do, that compassion is not scarce, courage isn't scarce, creativity isn't scarce. And the more we can take this bubble wrap that we've wrapped ourselves in, and the more that we can ignite our compassion instead of being afraid that we can't let heartache in, then we're not going to live a life of purpose.
Jessica Honegger (14:55):
What keeps you in your fears is these places of comfort. And on the other side of your fears is your impact. And the only way through your fears is through your fears. So beginning to unwrap that bubble wrap ... or pop it as my kids used to do, step on it ... we aren't really going to engage in that life of purpose that we're really meant to live.
Jessica Honegger (15:20):
And that counts for even right now. I think, for a while, we all did comfort ourselves, whether it would be a bottle of wine or an extra Netflix binge. And at some point you got to say, "This isn't actually bringing me life. And I'm made to make an impact, so how can I go do that today?"
Hannah Nokes (15:41):
So, Jessica, you mentioned that our hearts will get used to going scared. And that even though the fear is not eradicated, it's still there, it no longer dictates our steps.
Hannah Nokes (15:55):
So how can we take some baby steps towards courage?
Jessica Honegger (15:59):
Courage is a muscle, and it is a muscle that needs to be worked out. And I think every day there is opportunities for this. I mean, I recently walked with a child through something that was very scary for him. It was not scary for anyone else in the family. It was so scary for me, he actually ran away for a few hours and we had to send all of our neighbors out looking for him. And he came back and he said, "See, now you know how afraid I am. I'm really not going to do this."
Jessica Honegger (16:34):
And we just sat with him and we said, "Oh man, we see your fear. This feels really hard. This must be causing a lot of anxiety. You know what? We're going to do it with you." Somehow we just stayed firm but present with him. And he is now doing this thing, that I'm not kidding you, a week ago, he was so scared that he ran away from home and I had to call the police.
Jessica Honegger (17:03):
So I think there is this place where we just have to normalize fear. Normalize that. And if we're not experiencing that pretty regularly in our lives, and if our children are not experiencing that, we are not going to be resilient and we're not going to develop resilient human beings. Because the only way to be resilient is to fall down and learn how to get back up again. And the only way you're going to fall down is by learning how to walk. A toddler learns to walk by walking. My daughter, she's learning to drive by driving and it scares me to death. But we all have to take just those little steps.
Jessica Honegger (17:45):
So instead of looking at this big outcome that you're wanting, what is the one thing that you can do today? If you're a more shy person, maybe it's just going over to your neighbor's house that you've seen a lot but haven't really had a conversation. And I guarantee your neighbor could use a word of kindness from you. Maybe it is taking that idea you've had swirling in your head to start that new business that you want to start, and now it's actually calling someone that could help you. And then that person can also hold you accountable to taking that next step. We're not meant to do this alone.
Jessica Honegger (18:24):
And I think that was the gift of Noonday Collection from the beginning, is that it wasn't just me sitting on my computer, rolling out some Shopify website, hoping people were going to digitally shop. I physically had a community that held me up. And once you link your future to someone else's prosperity, it really does corner you.
Jessica Honegger (18:48):
And I think that, as you human beings, we need to be cornered. We naturally want comfort. We naturally want to take the easy way out. So how can we create an environment that's in alignment with our desire to be courageous? We have to create environments that actually contain us. I was going to say, trap us. I'm trying to find a more gentle word. But we need help. We need community. And it's in community that we learn to live courageous lives.
Hannah Nokes (19:15):
That makes a lot of sense. And I think that what you talked about, not only is it pushing yourself to make some bolder and bolder decisions, but also looking around you at who can walk along with you and who can you walk alongside.
Hannah Nokes (19:30):
In our book we talk a lot about relationships and bringing others along on the journey, and how that's critical to making an impact in the world. It seems like you have surrounded yourself with a lot of amazing people. How do you find the right folks to help you realize your vision?
Jessica Honegger (19:51):
First of all, I think that it's really important to pursue people. I think that it's easy to look at people that already have community and think that, "Oh, they just have known each other since kindergarten and this just happened."
Jessica Honegger (20:08):
Building community and building a supportive network takes a lot of work. And it takes showing up for people. It takes not just being a taker like, "Hey, can I pick your brain?" I don't think any of us in leadership that get those types of emails, it's like, "Can you lead with something else?" It's not just, "I'm going to get together with you and pick your brain."
Jessica Honegger (20:31):
We all have ways that we can give to people that are even further along than us, we still have something to give. So I think approaching relationships with a give, not just a take, mentality, and then really pursuing people. I realized pretty quickly: I need some relationships with women that are growing families with kids .... I had little babies at the time that I was growing Noonday ... and that are running businesses.
Jessica Honegger (20:59):
And so I can't say that I had a ton of people just in my contact list to call at the time, but I had around two women. And so I reached out to them and said, "Hey, can we meet?" Actually, tomorrow I'm leading a retreat with seven women. We're going out to a retreat center here in Texas and we're doing a leadership retreat. And that's something that I just initiated and said, "We need each other right now. We're leading people through really hard things and we need a vulnerable space for one another."
Jessica Honegger (21:30):
So it really is about pursuing people and not being afraid to be needy. And none of us like to be needy. We all like to pretend we have it together. But if you're going to pretend you have it together, you're going to live a lonely life. And people want to feel needed. I don't know about you, but I love it when a friend calls me when she's in need or needs to talk through a business idea, or is looking for wisdom. Because it shows her that, "Hey, I've got something to give."
Jessica Honegger (21:59):
So I think we just need to learn how to lean into one another more and learn how to be builders of community.
Hannah Nokes (22:06):
That's a great philosophy, in general.
Hannah Nokes (22:08):
All right, Jessica, we have to stop right here. But coming up in the second part of our discussion with Jessica Honegger, the founder of Noonday Collection, Jessica describes the company culture of her social impact fashion brand.
Jessica Honegger (22:20):
A community that inspires each other towards courage and towards action is extremely unique, I believe just really differentiates us. Because I think that's one of the hardest things to be able to do, is build a culture where people come alive and people are like, "I want to be a part of that."
Speaker 1 (22:39):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Magnify Your Impact, a production of ForbesBooks. If you want to ignite purpose in your own company, connect with Maggie Miller and Hannah Nokes at magnify-impact.com.
Part Two
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome to Magnify Your Impact presented by Forbes Books. Each week our hosts, Maggie Miller and Hannah Nokes talk with business leaders powering their company's success with a secret ingredient: purpose. Here's Maggie and Hannah.
Hannah Nokes (00:35):
Maggie and I appreciate you joining us for the conclusion of our conversation with Jessica Honegger, the founder of the social impact fashion brand Noonday Collection.
Maggie Miller (00:45):
Jessica, in part one, we talked about how you built your company and the impact it's had on your life, but none of us can go it alone. So who in your past has influenced what you now know in business and in life?
Jessica Honegger (01:00):
That's a great question. I really have to say my business partner, he believed in me. When he became my business partner, Noonday was operating out of my living room and it had really, it was just me and a handful of other people that were selling. And I think having someone believe in your vision enough to where he's willing to live off his life savings and he did end up doing that and thankfully we became profitable when his savings account was getting pretty low. I think that that kind of belief has really been instrumental in my life, and then learning how to partner with someone. We have so many similarities, but so many differences as well, and just have been in so many high stake situations now over the past 10 years. So also just learning how to co-lead and how to create a really healthy work environment for our team, where sometimes co-CEOs, that can cause confusion in a mom versus dad mentality. And so we've had to do a lot of work to trust and trust each other's gifts, trust each other's strengths and weaknesses. And so he's really been fundamental in my growth as a leader.
Jessica Honegger (02:22):
And then I do have a couple of friends that lead other organizations. And they're all the women who are going with me on this retreat and they truly are the people that will pick up the phone whenever I call and will help talk me down if I need to be talked down or talk me up if I need to be talked up. So that's definitely been essential for me.
Maggie Miller (02:46):
Jessica, I'm thinking about this retreat and this group of women that you're going to be with. And I know you've spoken a little bit about how the path can look curvy, but it's always meaningful nonetheless. And so it'd be interesting to hear what you would say to folks who feel their life should be scripted or predetermined. We want to live this linear life or we think we're supposed to school, job, marriage, children, retirement, but life's so beautifully messy. So what do you say to folks who are worried about that scripted path?
Jessica Honegger (03:22):
It's so interesting when I look back on my past, I majored in Latin American studies. I graduated and went to work for a NGO in midwifery and then in teaching. And then I came home and I ran a mentoring program for at-risk youth, got a little burnt out and went and worked at a jewelry store for a year. My first and only time to have worked in retail, ended up getting my master's in education, began flipping homes with my husband. I felt this entire time, where am I going with of my life? Where is all of this leading? And now I can look back and say, I speak, I learned Spanish. I need Spanish in my job. Getting a master's in education. I now train other people on how to motivate and sell and captivate audiences here in America. Flipping houses and running a real estate firm, that was my first really step into entrepreneurship and setting up a website and learning what SEO is and how to build a brand.
Jessica Honegger (04:28):
So there were so many times in my life where I felt, where is this going? And yet none of it has been wasted. So I think we need to look at everything we're doing as a learning opportunity and begin to enjoy the journey and not just try to get to a certain destination because I think we're going to arrive at a destination, but how do you want to get there? Do you want to get there striving and depressed that you feel like oh, my job has no meaning or do we want to look at life and get curious and say, "Hey, I'm going to learn from this. It's going to teach me something. It's going to lead to something." And I especially think for young people, just the pressure that they put on themselves. I wish that people would be able to just look at life as a great learning experience and know the journey will eventually lead to a meaningful destination if you keep taking those steps.
Maggie Miller (05:26):
I really relate to your journey also with these artisans worldwide. Jessica, I know when when we first spoke, I let you know that I had also had an international nonprofit with women in microfinance. And so looking back, what have you learned from women in these developing countries? I know that I learned so much from working with artisans and just humble, amazing women in communities worldwide. I'd love to hear some of the 1, 2, 3 top things that they've taught you.
Jessica Honegger (06:01):
They truly have been my teachers over the last 10 years. And in fact, I just got a WhatsApp message yesterday. And it was from the very first artisan that I ever partnered with. Her name's [Jolia Matohu 00:06:16]. We met, we were both in dire circumstances. Hers were more dire than mine, but we definitely didn't have cash on our hands. And we really took a risk on each other. She had never really run an artisan business before. And so she began to... She didn't have a bank account when we first met. So for her to go and set up and a bank account and learn the ins and outs of supply chain in her country, in order to supply to me, it was really remarkable. And around four years ago, I've gone to go visit Uganda, usually every other year. I haven't been in a couple of years, but the last time I was there, we talked about our shared love for guacamole. And Jolia has come to Texas many times over the years and we go and we eat chips and queso and guacamole.
Jessica Honegger (07:06):
And avocados grow so well in Uganda. And we went out to this plot of land that she was able to buy, thanks to her now thriving business. And she said, "Let's plant an avocado tree." So we ate an avocado and we took that seed and we went and put it in the ground. And she said, "Avocado trees take about seven years before they actually are able to produce fruit. And I said, "Great, well, in seven years, we're going to come back. We're going to pick the fruit and we're going to make guacamole together." And just yesterday, she sent me a picture of this tall avocado tree. And it's not bearing fruit yet, but that is the tree that came from that one little seed.
Jessica Honegger (07:53):
And I think what I've learned from these women that I get to go work with, and I just got back from Guatemala, is faithfulness. It's tenacity. It's just watering. It's getting up and it's watering the seed. And during the last two years, it's been heart wrenching for the entire world. And I've just drawn so much courage from my friends who have faced heartache after heartache. Their community walks through so much. And the things that our leaders carry in their community is deeply profound, but there's always this sense of, we're just going to keep at it. One of our business partner says that success is just the function of not giving up. And I think in America, we cut ourselves short. We don't run hard enough to get that second wind oftentimes. We're looking for quick. We're looking for immediate success. We're looking for the hockey stick and what if success isn't that? What if success is just showing up and being faithful? That is what I've learned from the woman that I partner with.
Hannah Nokes (09:05):
Jessica, I've heard you ask the question. When was the last time your heart beat wildly inside your chest because you've ventured on the edge of your comfort zone into some new territory? Jessica, what's currently making your heart beat wildly?
Jessica Honegger (09:22):
Raising teenagers.
Hannah Nokes (09:25):
And one who's driving, right?
Jessica Honegger (09:27):
One who's driving. But I have to tell you, last week, when you have a kid who is scared to death and you just are constantly wanting to be in tune with your child and wanting to know how hard do I push? At what point do I just say, "Hey, let's go ahead and put a little bubble wrap on because we can use that." And having a child is like having your heart out there in the world. And so I think just trusting my parenting as I'm parenting little mini adults, I think that does have me a little bit scared. And then honestly, right now, I don't know if afraid... This Delta variant is definitely throwing a curve ball. We are a company, as you heard our story, we're built on physically gathering. Our ambassadors quickly pivoted to doing online gatherings, which they've done incredibly well, but we're definitely sensing some fatigue from doing things online, gathering people online.
Jessica Honegger (10:35):
And yet we have so many new ambassadors that have never even gathered in person before in their businesses because they've only known this online environment. So we're definitely having to really look at our business through new eyes and really analyze what is going on and how can we lead during this time. So I would say too, I just have a little bit of, not as much predictability in the business as we used to be able to have. And that definitely creates an environment for innovation and it could make me lose sleep at night. But thankfully, I think back to 10 years ago when I didn't have a team and now I have this amazing team, competent team, so we're going to get through, but it's definitely, it's challenging. It's challenging times right now. We work with artisans in Afghanistan and artisans in Haiti and we're just constantly really problem solving. And so that's what we're doing a lot of right now.
Hannah Nokes (11:36):
So even in the midst of all these challenges, Noonday Collection has grown so quickly. You were even named to Inc.'s list of fastest growing companies in the country. Congratulations.
Jessica Honegger (11:49):
Thank you.
Hannah Nokes (11:49):
What do you think has been the biggest factor in this amazing growth and where do you see the company headed?
Jessica Honegger (11:55):
I do think that we had a few right things going on at the time. Facebook was relatively new, blogs were new, thanks to Tom's, people were beginning to think about their purchasing power and how they could actually use their purchasing dollars for impact. And then no one was selling beautiful artisan made goods. I think when people thought of artisan made, they thought of more just maybe rinkedy dink things or things that were more compassion buys that they would buy, but not necessarily want to wear. That all just caught on really quickly. And I think the fact that we immediately basically franchised our brand through women and women on a mission are unstoppable and our ambassador community truly is the one that is creating the marketplace for our artisan business partners. And it's that marketplace that is going to keep the business moving forward.
Jessica Honegger (12:58):
So what's ahead for Noonday, I think for us really, we are known as a jewelry brand, but I've always been passionate about just artisan made. And so we're definitely expanding into some new categories that I'm really excited about and that is going to be coming in October and really just growing through ambassadors. And we're going to see, I'm reading the book, The Art of Gathering right now, and I'm just really reignited to believe that we're made to gather. And as we get through this pandemic, I believe that we're going to be hungry to be together.
Maggie Miller (13:35):
Jessica, in our book, we talk about corporate culture as critical to social impact. And so in this time in history with the pandemic, social justice issues, and a young generation of new employees, how have you kept your culture focused on your purpose and values?
Jessica Honegger (13:55):
We actually just were voted Best Place To Work by our employees in the Direct Sales Association, which was a huge honor. And I do think that because we are mission-oriented and we do have this global purpose and we've been in a global pandemic, our team really just tirelessly rallies around that purpose and that we got voted the Best Place To Work in 2020. I mean, we, you know, we were able to keep everyone on staff and we didn't have to make any layoffs in 2020, so I think that was huge. And I think the way that we really led with a lot of transparency, we upped our communications cadence. In fact, we were still on that cadence of doing an all hands every Monday, during the racial reckoning of a year ago, we just got on and had a really vulnerable wholehearted conversation during that time. I just think people have felt this is a safe space. I think they really trust our leadership according to the surveys that they fill out. I think people can trust because they've seen us time and time again lead with transparency, with authenticity and really lead with care.
Jessica Honegger (15:12):
We care about people care and what they care for. And we really want to care for people. And I think that our team sees us caring for our artisan partners, sees us caring for our ambassadors, but they also see us caring for them, too. So it's a stakeholder model where we do have this linked prosperity and we are all linked and we all do have each other's backs. And I think that that has been essential during this time when the rubber hits the road and a lot of employees haven't felt valued by their employer over the last couple of years. I feel like for us, this has actually created a lot of beautiful synergy for our team here in Austin.
Maggie Miller (15:57):
Well, of course we really appreciate the term linked prosperity. It paints such a clear picture. We use a similar term in our book, shared value.
Jessica Honegger (16:07):
Thank you.
Hannah Nokes (16:08):
And Jessica, you created the brand as a social impact brand. Certainly not all companies are built that way. What would you say to company leaders who have "boring product" that they don't necessarily think could make an impact in the world, about their role and their responsibility and opportunity to change the world?
Jessica Honegger (16:31):
Yeah. I think every business has the possibility to live within a redemptive framework, and whether that means serving your stakeholders in ways that are really go above and beyond, or whether it does mean creating a way to connect to some of the needs of the world, that maybe your product or your company doesn't naturally connect with, it certainly doesn't mean you can't create that connection. And I do believe that every business can serve a higher purpose, much more than just the bottom line. And I think that that is the future. So if that's not what you're going to pursue, you're going to have a really hard time engaging the up and coming employee base. And I would say, get together with your stakeholders and talk to them and understand what they care about. And when you begin to care for what they care about, that creates a high level of engagement.
Maggie Miller (17:30):
Jessica, in our book, we have a whole section about superpowers and businesses using their superpowers to create impact in the world. I'd love to hear what your superpowers are.
Jessica Honegger (17:43):
We have a community that is contagious. I mean our community of ambassadors and artisans, and I do calls with artisans a lot and I just got back from Guatemala. And what I hear is Noonday's so different, Noonday's different from any of our other buyers. Noonday stuck with us over the last two years. Noonday didn't pull out their purchase orders. Noonday emails us and asks us, "How are you doing?
How can we serve you?" And then our community of ambassadors, it really is mind blowing. If you talk to any of them, they'll say, "I've never been a part of anything like this before." People ideologically are very diverse. People come from all different parts of the country, rural, urban. And I think during a time, especially when people are so heightened and there's so much anti this, pro this, we're able to come together around this mission that is so much bigger than ourselves, that really is connecting.
Jessica Honegger (18:48):
And it connects way beyond the things that we disagree with. And it's created this space for women that may differ so much in some of their opinions about what people are differing on right now, but really have come to love each other and value each other. And it's because we're working towards this common mission together and it's income generating. They are earning an income and able to pay for things they wouldn't be able to pay for and support their families in ways they wouldn't be able to because of this opportunity. So I think the empowering business model, the way that we have created this community, and then connection is one of our primary pillars and the way we're able to connect people. We take women on trips all over the world every year. 250 women. We obviously have not been able to do it the last two years. But even in spite of that, the ability for us to connect with our makers and bring our women to them and these makers can really understand who they're creating for, that ability to create authentic connection and a community that inspires each other towards courage and towards action is extremely unique, I believe just really differentiates us because I think that's one of the hardest things to be able to do is build a culture where people come alive and people are like, "I want to be a part of that."
Hannah Nokes (20:22):
It's contagious to listen to chat about the organization.
Maggie Miller (20:25):
It is.
Hannah Nokes (20:27):
So you have a very successful and beloved podcast called The Going Scared Podcast. Can you tell us what you hope that your listeners take away from listening to your show?
Jessica Honegger (20:38):
It's a lot of what we have talked about today. I just know that to live a courageous life, we can't do it alone. We've got to create environments that are in alignment with living a life of courage. And I want people to engage in those stories and to be inspired by people of courage. We have a wide variety of guests on, but the common theme is living a life of purpose involves leaving comfort and going scared.
Maggie Miller (21:12):
That's amazing. If someone wants to get involved with Noonday Collection, what would they have to do?
Jessica Honegger (21:17):
Well, if you are looking to want to have a bias towards action, if you're wanting to be a part of what we're doing, then we'd love for you to open your homes or your virtual homes and shop our amazing
collection, invite your friends. It's amazing to me that we've grown organically through women just telling their friends. And we have a beautiful new collection out that it was handmade during a lockdown. I just think there's something special about wearing items that were made during a time when people in vulnerable communities needed that hope, that their hands could produce something beautiful and that they were going to get paid a dignified wage and that they were not going to be left behind. And we would love for your audience to come check out our Noonday Collection.
Hannah Nokes (22:06):
Well, absolutely. We are fans. I love my Noonday pieces and I've loved going to events in people's homes, but really much more so just love the story behind your brand and the meaning that you've created and the benefit that you've created for the artisans and for the ambassadors. So thank you so much for sharing your story and for inspiring us today.
Jessica Honegger (22:30):
Thanks for having me.
Maggie Miller (22:31):
And I just want to add, Jessica, as we're wrapping up, just as women-led business owners, you're an incredible person and you're so wonderful to listen to. I love being intoxicated by people who are inspiring greatness in people, and it's just been such a pleasure. So thank you for all you do for so many.
Jessica Honegger (22:54):
Thank you.
Hannah Nokes (22:55):
You're very welcome. And that's it for this episode of Magnify Your Impact. If you enjoy the show, make sure you take a second to subscribe so you can automatically get our new shows when they drop.
Maggie Miller (23:05):
Also, if you have a minute, we'd love if you leave us a review, so more or folks like yourself can discover the show.
Hannah Nokes (23:12):
Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Magnify Your Impact, a production of Forbes Books. If you want to ignite purpose in your own company, connect with Maggie Miller and Hannah Nokes at magnify-impact.com.
