Jacquelyn Redmond, 39

Calling Jacquelyn Redmond dedicated — as a mom to three energetic kids under 8 years old, a spouse and a business owner — is selling her short. 

This is, after all, a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur who once brought her 6-day-old baby to a real estate closing, when she was an attorney in Boston. That is one example of one of Redmond’s defining characteristics: a get-it-done attitude, no matter what’s in front of her. “You have to know your why,” she says, “and then be able to put your all into it.” 

Photo by Mark Wemple

That comment was more toward her current work at Arc Consulting, a St. Pete-based company she founded in 2023 that consults with government contracting services entrepreneurs on strategy, operations, project management and more. But knowing and pursuing her why also relates to her first business, J. Redmond Law, she founded in Boston when she was 27. Redmond and her husband Patrick, a radiologist, were living in Massachusetts for his residency and fellowship.

The Redmonds — Jacquelyn is a Florida native and Florida State University College of Law graduate — moved to St. Pete about seven years ago to be closer to family and raise their children in a warmer climate. Redmond grew her law firm, focusing on real estate, 500% in three years, then sold it to another woman entrepreneur. 

Her legal career is also how Redmond met a key mentor, Boston attorney David Jensen. “As a highly self-driven individual, I’ve always put pressure on myself to pursue excellence in everything I do,” Redmond writes in her 40 under 40 questionnaire. “What made David such an impactful mentor was his steady reassurance, alongside the countless practical legal lessons, that it’s OK not to have all the answers — the key is to keep learning and growing, both professionally and personally.”

Expanding on that in an interview, Redmond says Jensen taught her that “even the top lawyers get nervous, even the top lawyers make mistakes.” 

Jensen also inspired Redmod to take a chance and start a new business. For Redmond, while the day-to-day work at Arc Consulting is different from real estate law, there is an important similarity: helping people remains a core part of her why. “I didn’t want to be defined by just one thing,” she says. “I love running my own business — it just happens to no longer be a law firm. I love meeting people, and I have a passion for entrepreneurs and giving them the tools to manifest their vision.”