First Fridays - Angela Jackson
Name:
First Fridays - Angela Jackson
Date:
September 7, 2018
Time:
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
Registration:
Register Now
Event Description:
The Greater Des Moines Partnership is excited to team up with the Iowa Women's Business Center to bring you First Fridays! The goal of First Fridays is for the aspiring entrepreneurs and the people of Des Moines to hear from business owners and entrepreneurs who have helped shape the communities in which we live. The speakers are makers, store owners, movers and shakers, creators of regional or national brands, and all have stories that are uniquely their own.
Angela Jackson – Iowa Story August 2018
Chicago-born and raised Angela Jackson ended up in West Des Moines, Iowa. Her journey here started with her 6th grade realization that lawyers make money by arguing. She planned the next ten years of her life and meticulously chipped away at her goal. She attended Duke University in North Carolina and obtained her undergraduate degree and then hopped back over to the Midwest to attend law school at Washington University in St. Louis.
After law school, she realized her ambition of arguing a lot. She became a trial lawyer in the Illinois Attorney General’s office but also found that paying off her student loans was nearly impossible on a public servant’s salary.
Angela had a dream to participate in international law and got that opportunity when she moved in 1999 to take a job with Maytag in Newton, Iowa. This was only after God told her she would move to Iowa. She also practiced labor & employment law and enjoyed the challenge of learning ERISA (benefits) law. While at Maytag, she made some good friends and was rapidly checking professional achievements off her list.
What she missed about her native Chicago wasn’t even available in the Central Iowa area eleven years ago. The art gallery scene that Angela’s mother had introduced to her as a child was in its infancy in Des Moines. Near the area of new development in West Des Moines, a swanky new development was taking shape and Angela took a chance on it. In December 2005, she opened “The Great Frame Up” a franchise. West Glen Town Center where her gallery is located reminds her of “Printers Row” in Chicago, a place which mixes residential and retail uses and is pedestrian-friendly.
She got help with her business plan and financing through Iowa Center for Economic Success, an agency which receives funding from public and private sources, including the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Her 11 year venture is located on the “Avenue of the Arts” in West Glen Town Center and promotes local and regional artists each “First Thursday” of the month. She enjoys encouraging local talented visual artists. Her vision remains to fund missions and support artisans locally and abroad.
Currently, she serves as Chair of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and on the board of Cornerstone Family Church.
Many individuals want to start a business but do not know how. As a successful attorney and entrepreneur, Angela wants to assist them reach their goals through developing a business plan and strategic coaching. (Some of her clients have included for profit and non-for-profit businesses in a variety of fields: artists, authors, construction, counseling, education, event planning, media, print publications, retail …)
Angela calls herself an “international person and woman of prayer.” She has created an amazing circle of friends here. But she’s also made it a point to get out of the country on a number of mission trips to China and Russia while living in Iowa and before moving to Iowa she traveled to Europe and Africa. She is a licensed minister who loves teaching on prayer. She got married in April 2016, to a wonderful man James Jackson. He has relocated to Des Moines from Columbia, Missouri to be with his bride. He is an answer to much prayer! They have a son Noah who will be a sophomore at the University of Missouri this fall. They are also foster parents. God is such a good God.
Angela Jackson – Iowa Story August 2018
Chicago-born and raised Angela Jackson ended up in West Des Moines, Iowa. Her journey here started with her 6th grade realization that lawyers make money by arguing. She planned the next ten years of her life and meticulously chipped away at her goal. She attended Duke University in North Carolina and obtained her undergraduate degree and then hopped back over to the Midwest to attend law school at Washington University in St. Louis.
After law school, she realized her ambition of arguing a lot. She became a trial lawyer in the Illinois Attorney General’s office but also found that paying off her student loans was nearly impossible on a public servant’s salary.
Angela had a dream to participate in international law and got that opportunity when she moved in 1999 to take a job with Maytag in Newton, Iowa. This was only after God told her she would move to Iowa. She also practiced labor & employment law and enjoyed the challenge of learning ERISA (benefits) law. While at Maytag, she made some good friends and was rapidly checking professional achievements off her list.
What she missed about her native Chicago wasn’t even available in the Central Iowa area eleven years ago. The art gallery scene that Angela’s mother had introduced to her as a child was in its infancy in Des Moines. Near the area of new development in West Des Moines, a swanky new development was taking shape and Angela took a chance on it. In December 2005, she opened “The Great Frame Up” a franchise. West Glen Town Center where her gallery is located reminds her of “Printers Row” in Chicago, a place which mixes residential and retail uses and is pedestrian-friendly.
She got help with her business plan and financing through Iowa Center for Economic Success, an agency which receives funding from public and private sources, including the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Her 11 year venture is located on the “Avenue of the Arts” in West Glen Town Center and promotes local and regional artists each “First Thursday” of the month. She enjoys encouraging local talented visual artists. Her vision remains to fund missions and support artisans locally and abroad.
Currently, she serves as Chair of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and on the board of Cornerstone Family Church.
Many individuals want to start a business but do not know how. As a successful attorney and entrepreneur, Angela wants to assist them reach their goals through developing a business plan and strategic coaching. (Some of her clients have included for profit and non-for-profit businesses in a variety of fields: artists, authors, construction, counseling, education, event planning, media, print publications, retail …)
Angela calls herself an “international person and woman of prayer.” She has created an amazing circle of friends here. But she’s also made it a point to get out of the country on a number of mission trips to China and Russia while living in Iowa and before moving to Iowa she traveled to Europe and Africa. She is a licensed minister who loves teaching on prayer. She got married in April 2016, to a wonderful man James Jackson. He has relocated to Des Moines from Columbia, Missouri to be with his bride. He is an answer to much prayer! They have a son Noah who will be a sophomore at the University of Missouri this fall. They are also foster parents. God is such a good God.
