I am a pizza dependent life-form.

Jessica Gonzales co-owned her first business, FX Express- an event production company, starting at age 15 based in Pueblo, CO. Jessica and her business partner scaled the business from 2005-2010. Upon celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas, Jessica was drawn to the competitive market of the city's marketing, sales, and event industry. Unknowingly with the recession rearing in 2009, they sold the company just in time while competitors went out of business. She enrolled in Full Sail University while living in Las Vegas for one year, which is a highly focused university in the Entertainment Industry where she earned her Bachelor's of Science in Entertainment Business.

This distinctive business education assisted with her acceleration into the corporate realm of events within the hospitality industry. Ms. Gonzales started in entry-level event operations at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver, CO. When she showed interest a sales position she was advised that a Director role could take her 8-10 years to obtain and the first step would be a catering sales role. She was told she could shadow the other sales managers and when an open position was available she would be considered. However, as she watched open position after open position become available and the company's preference to hire outside the company, she decided to promote herself at another hotel.

She took a wedding catering sales position with The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO (Home of the infamous inspiration for Stephen King's novel: The Shining). The hotel's high volume of sales and prestige popularity had Ms. Gonzales planning and executing weddings often from site-unseen clients as people traveled from all over the world to wed at The Stanley Hotel. Her high-end clientele demanded perfection and paying high-ticket prices for polished service.

However, Jessica's life goal was to be a Director in her field by the age of 30. The Estes Park Resort had such an opportunity and she found herself testing her confidence and expertise. Luckily, she obtained the title at age 27 and found herself leading an entire resort- responsible for the restaurant, rooming, and banquet space revenue. This opportunity allowed her to experiment with sales tactics, marketing design, team dynamics, and vendor relations. Her intimate knowledge with their biggest competitor (The Stanley Hotel) proved beneficial in increasing its market share. However, Jessica found herself unhappy despite achieving her life's goal. She found herself at the highest position within that particular company and had no desire to pursue general management in hospitality. She noticed there were no local wedding planners in Estes Park despite the 2,500 weddings that occurred in the summer months alone. She resigned from her position and started Great Minds Event Planning in 2016.

Despite her success in Estes Park as a wedding planner her personal fulfillment lead her to move back to Denver, CO where she currently resides. As a Colorado native and leader within the community, Jessica finds happiness in sales consulting for hotel and venues while producing events with Great Minds. He r passion is to strengthen the community, support ambitious professionals, and entertain socialites of Denver.