Four years ago, I was buried. Severing an abusive spouse from my life left me without a car, family, friends, or access to the two businesses I’d started. I was devastated, and to this day, I don’t fully understand how these two feet were able to carry me through. I crawled at first, working 80 hour weeks as a chef, trying desperately to secure a place to keep my children, whom I’d placed at my mom's for safety. Then Covid struck. I worked construction. I worked as a stand-up comic. I did stray administrative restructuring tasks for various companies. I created meal plans based on people’s unique dietary needs, then prepped their meals for the week, based on what they could afford. I built a website to showcase my efforts. I once made 900 dollars towards rent in one day by selling a meal package to a stranger, painting the trim in my rental house to negate my total due, and signing to a comedy show. At 3:30 am, with tears streaming down my face, I put the completed meal package in the refrigerator to leave on the doorstep at 5:30 am for my client (I still had no car), and I sent off my rent money on time. I had no credit history, so I really appreciated the fully furnished mid-century modern beauty I’d secured in a semi-gentrified area in Houston, TX. I was able to get that place by finding listings on Airbnb, privately contacting the owners, and securing a temporary leasing contract with them. Before this all happened, I was a PTA/soccer mom in a nice suburb, running a catering business built on word of mouth marketing, and a flourishing private yoga business. I chose my work based on my availability to my kids, and this whole landscape of being the breadwinner was proving to be insane. The odds were deadly- I was seeking shelter so I could be a mother. Not having security meant not having my children. Industrious wasn’t the word to describe what I was doing. I was making miracles out of thin air because my reason was the purest one imaginable. 

I want to know people who deserve a chance, but maybe aren’t getting it. I want to throw a microphone in front of those who have so much more to say than the status quo. I don’t believe that success should be determined by a broken system, or the opinions of others- truth is born in a nebula. To truly see the ideas of others, we must first make them understand their worth in our eyes. Many people’s talent gets hidden behind this desire to look like other professionals in order to be respected. The idea of “being a professional” is rocked daily in Austin. When you simply glance around one of the many latte and booze boasting establishments with gourmet offerings, and see tattooed nearly thirty’s earning seven figures on laptops while you eat a bagel, this becomes obvious. Great minds aren’t packaged, and “little dreams” should be heard.

With that in mind, it’s very difficult to find standouts in a landscape of canva-assisted professionals. Anyone can offer a good or service, and all of them have a reason. The REASON is what I’m after. I want to hear the truth behind what made you start a business, or create a product, or begin a campaign for social impact. I believe that when the right people find each other, good things happen. Even competing businesses can be allies, when we recognize each other’s strengths, and honor our differences.

My goal is to find the great people that have great reasons, and bring them together in a real way. My mind is wired in such a way that I’m really good at making abstract connections, and recognizing where alliances could lead to big results. As a person that found my way back to Austin (my birthplace), and ultimately my relief from strife through connections with good people, I view my work as more of a love letter of gratitude than a means to a monthly income. The spark that truly set this calling ablaze inside me came back in April of 2024. I was given a terminal diagnosis due to stress related, irreversible complications. I sat in the river often, I held hands with my partner every chance I got, and my co-workers visited to love on me while I waited for answers. They cared for me more than anyone ever had before, and miraculously I was no longer considered terminal by September of 2024. My body was healing, and I was given permission to go off medications. I feel better physically than I ever have, and I owe it to those beautiful people around me, and this natural oasis of a city. Human connection is undeniably powerful.

In this spirit, I have decided to begin a consulting business, but it will be so much more. I want to roll up my sleeves and work beside people. I want to give them an advantage, but take none of their ownership. I want their families to thrive for generations because of the framework they built. I don’t see problems, I see plans, and I rarely take no for an answer. I operate in a way that’s mindful, kind, and generous, but I will happily re-route and re-write the rules to make good things happen to good people. 

The bottom line is, you definitely want me in your arsenal. I will respect you as an individual, and as the head of your concept, and adopt your dream as my own. I will work with you on a real level financially, and be honest in everything that I do so that my services can be available to those who need it, and not just those who can currently afford it. Like a partner or a best friend, I’ll be up late thinking of your family, and your goals, and working every angle possible to help you achieve. That’s just who I am, and this is my opportunity to give the best part of me to others. 

This is my life’s dream, and I hope to share it with you.

Sincerely,

    Jackie Catt

“ What didn't you do to bury me

but you forgot that I was a 

Seed.”

          —

Dinos Christianopoulos