Imperfect Courage

As the owner of several Noonday Collection pieces, I enjoyed reading about the humble beginnings and the vision behind the company. I knew that their passions aligned with mine on many levels, but I didn’t know the exact stories behind the vision or the founding.

I love Jessica’s humor, honesty, willingness to take a leap of faith and persevere on her journey to make the world a better place. I love how she highlights the highs and lows of her journey through both adoption and founding Noonday.

In the midst of this story, Jessica takes lies that women believe and she flips them upside down. None of your excuses are safe, there is something you can do to make an impact with your gifts and your God-given talents. Through prayer, community, vulnerability and hard work, you can make a difference.

This book is more than a memoir and it is more than just a story about adoption or a successful business, it is a call to live generous lives poured out in service to others with the help of a community. It is a rallying cry to look up and look out to those around you and take the first step.

I was encouraged to keep moving forward and not let fear hold me back from what truly matters. I was reminded to keep taking the next step forward even when things get hard. I was able to look back on the times in my own life when I have taken steps of faith and rejoice in God’s faithfulness.

If you desire to make a difference in the world but don’t know where to start this book will inspire you. If you already live a life of purpose this book will encourage you to keep moving forward and keep living intentionally. If you feel like you can’t do it or are not good enough, this book will cheer you on. If you have never even thought about the world and your role in it, read this book it will challenge you.

Thank you NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is an amazing book that not only is inspiring but also pushes the reader to believe in themselves and their ability to change the world. This story reminds the reader that it takes one person to begin a huge change.

I absolutely love this book. Such an inspiring story. If you ever doubt yourself or your abilities this book is one you should read. Not what I expected - better than I could have imagined. A Must Read!!!

I’ve been a fan of Noonday Collection for over four years, and most of my favorite jewelry pieces are from this brand. So when I heard that Jessica Honegger, founder and CEO of Noonday, wrote a book about her inspiration and creation of her fair trade jewelry brand, I knew I had to read it.

Jessica’s book, Imperfect Courage, lays it all out: her and her husband’s desire for an international adoption, the business relationships with Ugandan artisans, the roadblocks, the failures, the vulnerabilities. It’s the book I wish I had the opportunity to read while I was still in college and full of hopes and dreams to impact the bigger world.

Much of the book centers around the early years of Noonday, and how it went from a fundraising enterprise to pay the adoption costs for their son in Rwanda to the largest fair trade jewelry brand in the world. Along the way, Jessica talks about the stresses of being a mom, a CEO, and a lifetime of fighting crippling self-doubt.

Full disclosure: there are actions she suggests that are deeply uncomfortable, and she challenges the reader to make the hard choice to do something rather than become one with our couches and melt into our cushy pillows.

Jessica encourages readers to go scared. That means even knowing taking action is hard and terrifying, you do it anyway. Deeply uncomfortable stuff; but, she unpacks it in a way that makes it accessible and possible.