Meet Jessica Bargenquast | Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Bargenquast and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, what do you want people to remember about you?
I want people to remember how I was a catalyst for change for women. I want to help inspire women to become successful, and in return inspire other women. When women see each other succeed and we support each other along the way we can make a real impact in our communities and in the world.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I have had a long road to get to where I am today. I have often made my life more difficult by being stubborn in my ways and not wanting to change. It really wasn’t until I got a life coach who helped me see other point-of-views and how changing my mindset could improve my life. I struggled with finances for a long time, I could never seem to get out of the red. Even starting Lady ChangeMakers I was $15,000 in debt from a past failed business. This time around I just knew things would turn out differently. In this last year, I’ve seen success with the directory for just being over a year old. There are now well over 600 listings in this directory and it’s been so exciting to see it continue to grow every day. I now talk to women who are in their first 3 years of business and are struggling month-to-month. They ask me how I’ve had so much success. It’s never just one thing that makes you successful, it’s the work you put in every day to do and be better. I have had to put in 3 years of really hard personal work to be as resilient as I am today. The reason I’ve been able to grow Lady ChangeMakers so fast in the last year is because I did the personal work first. I then was not afraid to invest in myself. I did a Mentorship & Mastermind Program when I didn’t have the money and was still in debt. I knew it would all work out. The program started in March 2020 and by the end of September I had paid off all of my debt and grew my directory to over 600 listings. Do not be afraid to take a chance on yourself. If you know you’re meant for more you need to bet on yourself. It rarely works out how you think it will, but the end result is exactly what was meant to be for you. Coming from someone who used to say, “One day..” and “I just don’t have the money for that.” These limiting statements are due to your priorities. I prioritized a lot of things above creating a bigger and better life for myself. Once I changed my priorities I started seeing a shift in my mindset and business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Since the Lady ChangeMakers Directory is now an app I would utilize it to take us around town and support women-owned businesses! Brunch is my favorite meal so I would take a friend to Jewel’s Cafe or Chestnut. Then head out for some midday shopping at the many boutiques around town. There’s Frances, Lifestyled Co, 2 Be Bella…just to name a few. One of my favorite dinner spots is Nonna Urban Eatery in Scottsdale. The part-owner, Valentina, is such a beautiful soul and you can taste the passion in the food. For drinks, I would take them to Huss Brewing or Greenwood Brewing – both women-owned! If they were here for a week I would definitely take them up to Cottonwood which is one of my favorite small towns. The food is unbelievably good – I love Crema Cafe. Cottonwood also has the cutest little shops along its main street.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many amazing women that have helped me on my journey, I couldn’t possibly name one. I got my first life coach, Coach Sarah Kay, in 2016 and she helped breakthrough a lot of my insecurities. I needed to better myself personally before I can grow professionally. I worked with my coach through 2018 and launched Lady ChangeMakers in 2019. I have always been incredibly introverted and knew I needed to take on challenges to get myself out of my shell so that I could create this community of women-owned businesses. I joined a group with Monica from Girl Squad who ran a test group focused on taking action. It was exactly what I needed to start showing up consistently on social media. From there I joined my first mentorship and mastermind group through Lindsey Schwartz from Powerhouse Women. Investing in myself has helped me grow exponentially both personally and professionally. I would not be where I’m at today without all of these amazing women in my life.

Website: ladychangemakers.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladychangemakers/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladychangemakers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladychangemakers/

Image Credits
Stacey Poterson FemForce Photoshoots and Elizabeth Marie Photography