Jenna Atkinson is passionate about helping people succeed in business so they can impact their community. The enthusiastic entrepreneur and LGM19 alum shares her business acumen with other tech-driven entrepreneurs through her business the P5 Project. The fact that the five Ps in the P5 Project are purpose, passion, profits, progress and possibilities says a lot about Jenna’s approach to leadership.
Jenna says if you want to reach the highest level and make the biggest impact “dream big and think bigger.” She seems to find inspiration everywhere. She was motivated to think big thanks to American Family’s Dream Bank. She discovered the importance of finding ways to stir other people, which creates a ripple effect. And the bigger the ripple, the bigger the potential community impact. “Shift your goals and your dreams and you’ll see the shift in your action and increase your impact,” Jenna says.
She says roadblocks often block people’s path to success. Deeply ingrained limiting beliefs can hold anyone back. She also urges people to not be afraid or ashamed of financial success. She explains that money is a tool and if you have the resources, skills and desire; you should pursue success. After all, your success could be the miracle for someone else.
Jenna describes her LGM experience as an inflection point in her career and journey. She says she learned both the importance of getting locally involved and building authentic relationships and networks. Those lessons were evident in her LGM team project — CONNECT Madison. Her team created the 501 (c) 3 to help young professionals connect with each other and with area non-profits.
Listen to Jenna’s full conversation with LGM Program Director and LGM12 graduate Lynn Wood and LGM28 alumni Chris Erickson. You’ll be inspired to dream big and make a big impact too.
ABOUT JENNA
Before starting The P5 Project in 2019, I worked for several large professional services firms. I helped high net-worth financial advisors, accountants and attorneys grow their book of business and bottom line, while also helping position them as the “go-to” industry expert. I wanted to lead by example, and earned opportunities to write for several professional industry publications and speak at local and national conferences and events. Eventually, I had partners from competing firms asking if I could help their team with their marketing and business development strategy and training. After enough requests, I decided to leave the corporate world and start my own training and consulting firm. I worked with financial firms, accounting firms and law firms across the country and the business was doing well.
But, then in 2017, my husband Matt and I welcomed our first daughter, Bella. And…then 18 months later came her sister Lexi! Two under two is no joke people. As most new moms do, I needed (and wanted) to re-evaluate my career and life. Although my business was doing well, I wasn’t very passionate about it anymore. I’ve definitely never been the stay-at-home-mom type (nothing wrong with it if you are- it’s probably the hardest job in the world!), but I also knew that if I was now trading time away from my family, I wanted to make sure it was something that was about more than just making money. I wanted to use my strengths to do something I was passionate about and could create the most value for others- and don’t get me wrong- also make a good profit!
In my experience, when I can’t find something I am looking for, that means other people are too. So- I created The P5 Project. The mission of The P5 Project is to help women set and achieve even BIGGER goals to increase their income, impact and influence through no B.S., dynamic events, training and opportunities. We value collaboration over competition and believe that #womenempoweringwomen needs to be more than just a cute social media post, but actually taking action to lift each other up and putting your money where your mouth is to show that support. We believe that continuously striving to be the best version of yourself and pursuing financial success is your duty. We want to remove the negative perceptions around building personal wealth and help women see that money is only a tool and amplifier that will allow you to have more influence and impact on the people, communities and causes that are important to you.