Jessica Honegger - Imperfect Courage: Live a Life of Purpose by Leaving Comfort and Going Scared

Praise for

Imperfect Courage

Jessicas perspective of global sisterhood and the power of lifting one another up in the midst of fear and scarcity is exactly what we need today. This book is both an invitation and a challenge to bravely show up for ourselves, for the people we love, and for the strangers we will one day call family. I say, Amen!

I absolutely love this book. Jessica is smart, brave, honest, and funny, and this book is the perfect mix of listening-ear and kick-in-the-pants. Equal parts compassion and challenge, this is a must-read for all of us who want to make a difference with our lives but sometimes find fear and anxiety standing in the way.

Sometimes a desperate need creates an opportunity to transform the world. Jessicas story provides a beautifully imperfect tapestry for understanding what surrender and courage can look like when unexpected need tests our faith. She shows us that stepping into our stories can build a path to change someone elses story. Learn how to harness your fear and transform it into courage that will change the world.

Pick your reason to read this book: you care about the world, you are an entrepreneur, you love fashion, you love women, you have big ideas, you have a global mind-set, you are a builder, a dreamer, a visionary, a Texan (there is plenty of Texas in Jessicas story). Imperfect Courage is fuel for all of these. It is as generous and adventurous as Jessica, who is the greatest leader, creator, and friend Ive ever known.

Jessica Honegger has written a must-read account of how the work of justice goes hand in hand with womens empowerment. And it all starts with steps of imperfect courage.

Jessica is such an incredible example of what a leader in business should be. Not only because shes had the courage to push herself to create a company from the ground up, but because she made her way down the road to success and then turned around and held a lantern up to light the way for the rest of us. This is a must-read for anyone whos chasing big dreams on a road that feels unsteady!

As the CEO of Noonday Collection, Jessicawith her lack of pretense and commitment to transparencyhas earned the trust of artisans and consumers alike. She brings that same approach to Imperfect Courage; each chapter feels like a personal invitation to ride alongside Jessica as she recounts memories that tell of her infectious passion for using entrepreneurship to empower women all over the globe. Her deep conviction for equality and justice is contagious and will change the lives of so many.

Jessica Honegger will captivate you with her adventure of building a company that is shaping and changing the world. You will find yourself crying, laughing, and wondering why youve played it so safe in life. She makes you want to risk it all for the good of people and the world, because doing so doesnt just make life more meaningful; it makes it more fun!

Jessica inspires me to think so much bigger than my own two hands. Im so moved by her heart and tenacity as an entrepreneur and by her commitment to connecting, empowering, and motivating women around the world!

This book is your road map to uncovering and pursuing your big dream. Jessica teaches us all how to get past the lies that keep us from living our full potential in the world. As Imperfect Courage illustrates, the more each of us broadens our circle of compassion and embraces the entire globe, the faster the love of God makes it to every corner of the world.

In this lovely book, Jessica opens up about the rocky journey of starting Noonday Collection, what she has learned along the way, and how shes better because of the people shes met. Im so excited for you to read this story not just so youll know more about Jessica and Noonday but so youll know more about yourself and how you, too, can do big thingseven if you are scared.

Jessica Honeggers journey is an inspiration not just to entrepreneurs and business leaders but to anyone seeking to pursue the dreams God puts in their hearts. Imperfect Courage is living proof that fashion can play an important part in changing the world and business can be an incredible force for good. The world needs more businesses like Noonday Collection and more mindfully ambitious leaders like Jessica Honegger.

IMPERFECT COURAGE

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved. Details have been recalled to the best of the authors memory.

Hardcover ISBN9780735291294

Ebook ISBN9780735291300

Copyright 2018 by Jessica Honegger

Cover design by Joy Gallagher

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

WATERBROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Honegger, Jessica, author.

Title: Imperfect courage : live a life of purpose by leaving comfort and going scared / Jessica Honegger, founder & co-CEO, Noonday Collection.

Description: First Edition. | Colorado Springs : WaterBrook, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017058595| ISBN 9780735291294 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780735291300 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: Honegger, Jessica. | BusinesswomenReligious life. | BusinesswomenBiography. | EntrepreneurshipReligious aspectsChristianity. | BusinessReligious aspectsChristianity. | Christian biography.

Classification: LCC BV4596.B8 H66 2018 | DDC 248.4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017058595

v5.3.2

ep

For Joe,

who made me a promise

once that changed the world.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

GIVE IT A GO

C ash is king when you own a business, my entrepreneurial dad has always liked to say, and here I was standing at the counter of an Austin pawnshop living out this truth. After visiting several different pawnshops, I settled on the most promising one, clutching a fistful of precious gold jewelry that my mom and grandmother had given me over the yearsmy confirmation cross, my sixteenth birthday ring, my middle school graduation necklaceand prepared myself to sell off all of it to keep my dream of my homegrown business, Noonday Collection, alive. This scene hardly meshed with the posh and privileged debutante parties of my youth, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I was pawnshop desperate, it seemed.