Recorded on location in Austin, Texas, Jess catches up with long-time friend Jessica Honegger, the visionary founder of Noonday Collection. Jessica shares the raw, inspiring origin story of how she pawned her grandmother’s gold jewelry to build a website and launched Noonday as a simple fundraiser to finance her son's adoption from Rwanda. After scaling Noonday into an explosive powerhouse and one of Inc.’s fastest-growing companies, she faced a massive crossroads when post-COVID market shifts triggered an industry-wide collapse for traditional direct sales. Jessica pulls back the curtain on why she chose to stay and reinvent the company rather than liquidate, her experience hiring her husband as her operational partner, and how she completely dismantled the "mom guilt" narrative while raising a family alongside a globally integrated business.

Episode Highlights

The $0 Scrap Business Blueprint: Jessica opens up about the financial desperation that led her to pawn her grandmother's jewelry just to build her first business website.
The Adoption Rooted Mission: How a desire to bring home her son from Rwanda turned an organic, one-night living room trunk show into a sustainable global marketplace.
Surviving the Direct Sales Extinction: A transparent look at how post-COVID changes caused a collapse in direct sales, forcing Noonday to transition to wholesale partnerships like Nordstrom and boutique retailers.
Hiring Your Spouse as COO: Jessica reveals what it was like to hire her husband as a turnaround partner and the unique boundaries they navigate to separate boardroom talk from their marriage.
Defeating the "Mom Guilt" Trap: How leaning on empirical data and aligning her career with global female economic empowerment helped her realize that working was a benefit, not a detriment, to her children.
Integrating Work and Family: The philosophy of building a "family vision" rather than a solo venture, including bringing her children on international sourcing trips.
Ditching "Point of Arrival" Living: A masterclass in letting go of constant comparison, embracing plateaus, and changing your posture to one of daily gratitude rather than chasing future metrics.

About Our Guest

Jessica Honegger is an author, speaker, podcaster, and the founder of Noonday Collection, a socially conscious fashion brand that partners with artisans across the globe to create sustainable economic opportunities. A passionate advocate for international development and human rights, Jessica is the author of Imperfect Courage: Live a Life of Purpose by Leaving Your Comfort Zone. Over the past 15 years, her brand has mobilized thousands of ambassadors, built a sustainable middle class for dozens of international artisan communities, and emerged as a leading voice in ethical entrepreneurship.