Community Cheerleader: Nancy Haggerty is October’s Hometown Hero

I’m just an ordinary gal who – with the help of God and the people He has sent to me – has been privileged to accomplish some extraordinary things all in the name of community service.”

Nancy Haggerty, Community Cheerleader

Nancy Haggerty has lived through some tough times to get to a point where life is good for her. She is the founder of Nancy’s Closet, an extension of Marketplace Matters ministry, whose goal is “Equipping Christian business leaders with the necessary tools to live out their faith and develop a Kingdom purpose for their business.”

Nancy’s Closet is a resource center where community members can pool their assets to be able to give back and forth to each other to assist with employment, education and basic needs.

In 2014, Haggerty and like-minded friends started a “life group” in a Gilbert coffee shop. Soon, people from Queen Creek kept finding their way to the group. Seeing a need for the spiritual help Marketplace Matters, she moved to Queen Creek to “give it back to the church, creating both a safe haven for kids and an environment where we could equip and develop business owners and leaders to live out their faith.”

Of particular interest to Haggerty are single mothers who are struggling to create stable homes for their children.    

Name: Nancy Haggerty

Age: 54

Business Name: Marketplace Matters / Nancy’s Closet

Town/neighborhood: Queen Creek / Crismon Heights

When and why I moved here: As our pastor always says, “You can’t get to know people from the back of their heads.” So, in 2014, we formed a life group within our business ministry that met weekly at a local coffee shop in Gilbert.

During this time, God kept sending us local business owners and leaders predominantly single parents from the Queen Creek area. You don’t truly get to know folks until you sit belly to belly with them and hear their stories. The things we were discovering – namely hardships and obstacles they endured – not only just to get to our meeting, but also to earn a buck and provide care for their children, sent me to my knees in tears most nights. We saw a huge need that wasn’t being met in the Queen Creek area and a way we could make a difference.

It was then that my husband and I met with our advisers, spoke with our children, and prayed about what – if anything – we could do about this. Soon after, a basement home in Queen Creek found us. It was on a quiet street and sat on a quarter acre. Almost instantly, a vision was cast as to how we could use this property to “give it back to the church,” creating both a safe haven for kids and an environment where we could “equip and develop business owners and leaders to live out their faith and develop a Kingdom Purpose out in the Marketplace” all under one roof.

We basically left our little “life raft” in Gilbert and bought a “yacht” in Queen Creek. It was a huge risk and leap of faith to uproot our family and make this move.

However, in the past eight years, we’re thankful to have had a lot of “feet cross our threshold” via our children/youth ministry (Kids Matter), business/leadership ministry (Marketplace Matters), our clothing resource center (Nancy’s Closet now a single-mom’s coalition), and our weekly, annual, and seasonal events and outreaches we operate and host out of our home.

We never imaged the positive and dramatic impact this move would have directly on our family and on the community as a whole.

What I like most about living here: Queen Creek reminds me of the small town in Nebraska where I spent the majority of my childrearing years. No one was considered a “stranger.” (Even if, technically you were) Drivers smiled and a waved at one another, neighbors readily lent out both a hand and personal possessions to those in need and greeted one another on a first name basis.

We also have the best of all worlds in my view. Whether you live in a suburb or acreage or an apartment, patio home or single dwelling (take your pick), we’re far enough removed from the hubbub of metropolitan living, yet close enough for convenience shopping. There’s plenty of diverse housing and recreational activities for just about any lifestyle and all within just minutes from our home. We’re pretty spoiled if you ask me!

What I do: I’m just an ordinary gal who – with the help of God and the people He has sent to me – has been privileged to accomplish some extraordinary things all in the name of community service. I am a wife and a mom, and in my spare time, passionately focused on philanthropic pursuits of business/leadership coaching and mentoring, facilitating a weekly local life group, providing assistance to local businesses and families and neighborhoods via professional, recreational and fundraising events and outreaches operated out of our home. God has given me a heart for the lost and broken in the areas of business/leadership, single parents and our youth.

Personal background highlights: I was the product of divorce. In 1969, my dad got custody of three girls ages 14, 9 and 5 months (I was the baby) and, with having to make a living in the California economy, I spent my first two years being looked after by a Spanish nanny (“Grandma Martinez”) with my first language also being Spanish.

From the age of 2 to 4, I guess you can say I was a “Matilda” of sorts – a child with an unusually high IQ that, if a sibling or girlfriend weren’t available – was left to her own devices.

At the age of 4, my dad remarried to a woman with five kids of her own. When I was 10, she convinced my dad to move to Nebraska where her family was from to start his own mechanic shop in a small rural town less than 40 miles northwest of Lincoln.

After a few years, when things went south with their marriage, I was sent away to live with various step relatives in California. Once my dad was able to make arrangements to bring me back to Nebraska, I found out the hard way that he was a wrecked man, living in squander, working for the local farmer’s co-op, and no place to truly call

home. In fact, my living situation was so dire (no running water, utilities and never knowing where my next meal was coming from) that I was placed in foster care. By the time I was 14, I had lived in three states, a dozen homes and with eight different families.

Although I appreciated the consistent meals, warm bed and roof over my head, I never truly felt like I belonged. This feeling transcended into both my academic and social worlds (of feeling like a square peg in a round hole); one which I endeavored to never intentionally make another living thing feel that way.

It was also at this age that I was diagnosed with a number of debilitating health conditions, and when I participated in my first fundraiser for special needs, getting the bug for philanthropic pursuits. Nobody ever told me what “the rules” were. so I went about my goals with the tenacity of a Jack Russell going door-to-door (in our town that went uphill both ways), returning to each home until I got the ear of every resident, and ended up getting second place for raising the most funds for this cause.

That year, born of adversity, also planted another seed in me, the desire to move to Arizona with later on the hope of continuing my education at ASU and training for the upcoming Miss Fitness competition.

In my early 20s, I set a two-year goal for myself, moved here literally to the date and haven’t looked back since.

Professional background highlights: My professional experience is a bit of an Andrew Carnegie tale (but on a much smaller scale). From the age of 14-28 I worked three jobs, even while attending college, pursuing a degree in industrial psychology with a double minor in English and music. In the Midwest, hard work was a way of life, so nobody looked at me weird for constantly being on the go.

In my formidable years, I did everything from cleaning taverns, babysitting, roguing fields, bailing hay, laying PVC pipe for farming irrigation, attending orchard stands, performing arborists work, as well as selling insurance and working 12 years in the food service industry. In the corporate world, there were no short cuts for me lined with wide and smooth roads. I started as the janitor, where my trust and dependability earned me a promotion as a receptionist. Using my education as a platform, I began sub-contracting for administrative positions to mom-and-pop shops all the way to Fortune 500 companies, and from administrative assistant to executive assistant, to supervisor, manager, department head, corporate executive, slowly but surely earning my way up the ranks, to eventually owning two of my own corporations.

I feel that this vast work background and industry knowledge not only gave me well- rounded experience that benefited me well in my future business endeavors, but also a great capacity of empathy for other people, no matter their vocation or aptitude. And like Andrew Carnegie, I adopted the school of thought that “your employees should be treated like your finest customers.”

 I also learned that age is not a requirement for retirement. I set a goal to retire by the time I turned 45. I accidentally did it a year early.

As of this year, I have been retired from the J.O.B. for a decade, and I am not only more productive, accomplishing more than I ever did while employed full-time in the workforce or serving on nonprofit boards, but I’m also still enough of a “whippersnapper” with plenty of stamina and fortitude to conquer my days and causes – no matter what crazy stuff comes my way.

What I like most about what I do: To me, work is only work when there’s something else you’d rather be doing. Aside from having quality time with my family, I can think of no better way of spending my days than how I already do. I get the joy of listening and learning from folks from all walks of life and hearing their stories. I believe in not only meeting people where they’re at, but seeing their potential of what they can be, then linking arms with them and loving on them in such a way that fosters it into fruition, whether that be through means of resources and assistance or connection opportunities. Some may be just relying on business coaching and mentoring for professional guidance where best practices are concerned, while others encountered may have more personal and urgent needs: Everything from financial, physical, emotional, legal and housing assistance, or at times just a compassionate ear to listen to them long enough to make them feel as if they’re the most important person in the room, know they’re not alone and that someone cares.

What does being nominated for this category mean to you? I’m honored beyond all deserving words. However, I can’t take the credit. I didn’t get here on my own, but on the shoulders of others. To say “it takes a village” to accomplish all that we do, would be a gross understatement. Right now, in this moment, I’m counting my blessings. I feel that when we begin to account for good things we did not cause, it’s humbling, and that’s where the real magic happens. God gets all the glory here! I’m just one of His many foot soldiers doing my best to love on His people and walk them home, so to speak.

My ultimate hope is that being nominated gets the word out about our outreaches and organizations and the resources and services we offer, so we can continue doing good works, helping more families and making a difference in our own backyards and beyond.

What does it mean to be a Queen Creek resident? Queen Creek to me is the quintessential proverbial town you’d see in a Norman Rockwell painting. If he were here today, I think he would happen to agree.

It’s a huge melting pot of cultures, backgrounds and beliefs that, because of the “villages” they’ve created within their own communities, when it comes to causes and common goals, it does an amazing job of rising to the occasion and banding together as a unified front.

In the eight years we have lived here, Queen Creek has since won over our hearts. So much so that we not only patron and promote local business owners and events every opportunity we get, but in 2017 we had our photographer follow us around town to take our family photos.

We couldn’t be prouder to be a ‘Creeker! We’re not only fully invested, but we’ve also planted some rather deep-seeded roots and we’re here to stay.

What do you think you bring to the local community that makes it better? It’s not about me. It’s about community, getting out of our comfort zones, doing life with folks, making your dent in the world and how our organizations and outreach efforts foster this “rising tide” mindset.

What would you tell people about why it's important to make a difference in Queen Creek? Norman Rockwell had penned an essay, “The Gospel of Wealth,” in which he stated that the rich have “a moral obligation to distribute [their money] in ways that promote the welfare and happiness of the common man.” Carnegie also said, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”

 From a biblical perspective, there are a few scriptures that come to mind with how we are to live “in community” with one another, asking (paraphrased), “What good is it if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action. is dead.”

Additionally, when it comes to differing of opinions and beliefs, you have heard that it was said to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. … If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? ,,, And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?

Ultimately, if we’re not part of the solution, we’re part of the problem.

Changes I'd like to see in this area: One of our core values in our ministry is referred to as the 4Ds. “Whenever Division, Distraction, Deception and Doubt are manifesting in your life it cannot bear good fruit.” Sadly, growing up, most of us were taught that civilized people do their best to suppress, redirect and mask their

disagreements and differences and to treat them as though it’s unreasonable, un-showable and unmentionable. And, because of this, we are seeing it virtually everywhere we turn in the most divisive of ways. However, in my world, conflict is not a four-letter word. In fact, I live in the land of conflict, having to oversee and mediate a lot of tough stuff. If used constructively, it brings about intimacy. It shows us that we cannot only disagree agreeably, but that we can openly and honestly share observations about one another and still be friends at the end of the day. It brings about relational authenticity.

The other is the “law of abundance” versus a scarcity mindset. Our culture has largely in part engrained upon us that we need to covet as much as we can; that if we give away what we have we won’t have enough for ourselves and our families. This is a fear-based way of thinking. Fear and faith cannot operate in the same realm. You have to pick one or the other. Faith is not passive. It’s hope in the works. It requires action.

That’s where giving comes in. The quickest way to get over our own problems is to take our eyes off ourselves and place them on others. I am in no way saying that we are to blatantly and belligerently ignore our basic and inherent needs (that’s co-dependency).

Think of it like “Stone Soup.” If we each give a little (of our time, talents, unique gifts and resources … in the end, we’ll all have a lot.”

Our family and our ministries are living testaments that there is plenty of room at the table for everyone. Together, we can make a difference!

Favorite community cause & why: Hands down, it would be our “Annual Christmas Bag Lady Project.” We deliver gently used and new designer handbags and couture purses filled to the brim with valuables, personal care and pampering items to single moms having to work around the Christmastime season.

I was a single mom more than once, so this outreach is very near and dear to my heart. I’ve been where they’re at and know what it’s like to “make $13 stretch three weeks” (no exaggeration). They’re not working during the holidays because they want to, but because they have to. Single moms also typically don’t buy anything for themselves – or at least, not anything luxurious. They’re known for putting themselves on the back burner while making sure their families’ needs are attended to.

These bags are a tribute to these “mom warriors,” our public declaration of thanks for their service out in the domestic trenches; a symbol of hope and encouragement to let them know that they are seen, thought of, cared for and prayed for.

We know it’s making a difference because not only have we increased our outreach by over 20% annually, but we’ve heard their stories and their triumphs, with many of them now in better places and paying it forward by contributing toward this cause both physically and monetarily.

The night we stuff them (at our annual Christmas party) is my favorite part of the process, for comedic value reasons. The dads/our male guests grab the purses and walk around the large tables where all of the women and children are stationed to drop contents into each bag. The first year we did this, the men were all shy and awkward.

Now, in our eighth season, they’ve turned it into a competition, fighting over who gets which purse, strutting their stuff and posing for pics.

My family: My devoted husband of 15 years who works his tail off in multiple enterprises (furniture and auto-glass), and even helps me prepare for our weekly life group held in our home each Wednesdays. Our oldest daughter Devon (24) is married and lives in Eugene, Oregon, working as a behavior technician specializing in autism.

Ember, our youngest (13) and aspiring artist, is a freshman at Heritage Academy Gateway with a professional goal of using her talents as an art teacher to instruct and inspire special needs students to pursue their artistic abilities despite any physical challenges they may be presented with.

My interests and hobbies: Running, hiking (preferably combining the two into trail running (I have a goal to compete in XTERRA by the time I’m 55); anything to do with equine, singing, writing, poetry; traveling with my family to explore new lands, gardening, experiencing new cuisines and pairing them with assorted beverages (I’m a professed “foodie” and wine brat).

The trait(s) I admire in others: My mentors – they’re all “Level 5” leaders in my book and possess the same character attributes: Humility (absence of a “hubris complex”), abundance versus a scarcity mindset (they “live generously”), they love me enough to tell me the truth (they don’t just confirm my reality as I know it, but tell me what I need to hear so I can experience growth and adjust my course accordingly; trust and accountability is big in their worlds; and a diehard, dogged determination to never, ever give up (the word “can’t” is viewed as a challenge)!

Lastly, having a great disposition in any given situation. Our mation’s beloved president, Ronald Reagan, said, “The one with the best sense of humor is the most powerful person in the room.” (paraphrased)

People who inspired me (and how): There are so many! I’m eternally grateful to these precious peeps, the indelible heart prints they’ve impressed upon me, and the lessons I’ve learned:

Jack Begley (spiritual mentor) – Never confront someone unless my motive is to love them better.

Gary Small (ministry mentor) – The importance of putting relationships before results.

Dave Briggs (business mentor) – Look inward and upward at both my motives and activities and discern what was producing fruit and what isn’t.

Jane Berner (second mom) – Treat others in such a way that they felt both welcome and wanted.

Pat and Don Larsen (my aunt and uncle) – The importance of family; modeling what one looks like and how to live generously with what we’ve been given.

My Life Group Family (core ministry members) – They’ve been through the good, bad and uglies with me. They know the darkest parts of me, yet they continue to love and support me in spite of it all.

My Church Family (Central Christian) – I keep giving them reasons to give me the boot, yet 25 years later, they keep giving me things to do. They’ve stuck by me and believed in me even when I struggled with believing in myself.

My guiding philosophy: I have a number of them. Those who know me know I’m a bit of a mantra queen. Each year I adopt an intention statement, then do my best to live it out. This year is “actively seeking opportunities for growth, connection and enrichment.”

A few others I subscribe to are:

• Family is my first
• What you give attention to is what
• We all have the same 24 hours in a day, it’s how we use them that
• Obstacles are what you see only when you take your eyes off of your
• Every relationship boils down to three dynamics: Trust, care and
• Plans that are not written plans are just good
• It’s not what happens in life but how you deal with it that
• Changes come from the transformation of our
• Rise, yes rise, but lift others along the way as you do!
• My life -- and everything around me -- changed exponentially for the better when I learned to stop “managing” the things in my life and started serving them.
• Saying no to a lot of good things so I can say yes to a few right

For instance, I know that our niche is in business owners and leaders, single parents (moreover our “mom warriors) and our youth. In recognizing this, we can be more effective in the service of where we’ve been called.

It’s my job as a business coach and mentor to help our leaders and servant ministers both recognize and adopt this in both their professional and business lives.

I consider myself to be a bit of an underdog/accidental CEO (chief everything officer), boot straps/in-the-trenches-kind-of-gal, and I have tendency of going to bat for those with similar dispositions faced with adverse situations (Picture “The Wizard of Oz” behind the iron curtain, pulling all the ropes while pushing others front and center to take the credit, then quietly slipping out the side door. Yep, that’s me!).

I joke frequently that “you gotta have a great disposition to me be me,” said tongue- in-check, going about most of my days in total bedhead and bed face (“hot mess but blessed” comes to mind). Humor is not only my saving grace but also my defense mechanism that gets me through a lot of tough days and situations.

At the end of the day, I don’t want to be known for my credentials, but for my integrity. More importantly, I want my dash to make a difference: How I lived the life I was given by loving and serving others through the process of what they were going through and hopefully leaving them in a better place than when I found them.

My advice to today’s youth: I’m blessed to mentor some of the brightest and academically driven international ASU business students. Today’s generation gets it. Whether we realize it or not, we’re living in the “golden age of entrepreneurship.”

They have an absolute burning ambition to do whatever it takes, using technology to create tangible solutions that cannot only be repeated, but building organizations that are scalable and long-term that care about their impact and their legacy.

If I could provide added value to them from a bullet point perspective, it would be these schools of thought:

• Your spiritual, physical, financial, emotional and professional progress is tied and tethered to who you allow to be a part of and influence your life, and your life is the sum of all of your choices, so choose wisely and always remain teachable and stay “in the grow.” You can’t learn anything when you’re a wet sponge. The smartest thing I ever did was learn to become the dumbest person in the room. Ultimately, when the student is ready the teacher will appear.
• Find someone who is in life where you want to be and cling to them for dear life. In fact, surround yourself with not just one, but many advisers, and seated in the right place (you wouldn’t seek out a golf pro to learn how to play tennis).
• When you have a dream big enough, everything else seems small. When you don’t, everything else seems big. We call this a “purpose-driven life.” Figure out what you enjoy doing, then learn how to make money doing it and you’ll not only never have to work a day in your life, but you’ll be unstoppable.
• Chase the cause never the money. When you choose to do the right thing at the right time – each and every time – the money will be the natural byproduct. Money is never a goal, it’s a Money is amoral, but when placed in the right hands for the right reasons, great things happen.
• Everything rises and falls on leadership. What you do, your followers will do at 50%. Your character is defined in the choices you make when you think no one is watching. Whether you realize it or not, you are always under the microscope, so do everything with excellence or don’t do it at all, as more is caught than taught. You can make just as much of an economic and causal impact operating a “for profit” with the right intention.
• There’s growth in struggle. You will encounter hard times and possibly even failure. However, you will learn more from your failures than from your So, during those times when you’re tempted to give up, stand firm, stay the course, stick with those that are “in it to win it” for you, lean in and thank God for those opportunities as they are developing your strength and endurance ready for anything.
• Your success is in direct proportion of the number of people you can relate to; more importantly, those that can relate to you. If emotional intelligence is self- awareness, then relational intelligence is getting good at being with Make a habit of putting yourself “out there” (share your story; people relate to narratives) and always remember to celebrate the success of others – or as my choir conductor used to say, “Clap for those the way you want to be clapped for” and it will take you farther in life than your wildest of expectations could’ve ever imagined.