When Janique Bacharach left a 14-year paralegal career to start a construction company with her husband, she wasn’t chasing a dream so much as creating a better balance for her family.. Seven years later, she’s the founder and principal of Bacharach Construction, a Portland-based firm that’s grown from $100K a year to $2 million in four years.
Through Xcelerate Women’s Business Advising and Peer Mentorship Groups, Janique has strengthened her leadership and operations — mapping processes, closing performance gaps, and navigating the realities of running a construction company in a male-dominated field.
In 2025, when a major client’s delayed payment nearly forced her to close her doors, her peer group became the support system that kept her going.
"Another participant was at a similar crossroads. It gave me the resolve to get through the challenge because I wasn't alone and I wasn't judged. Now banks are competing to fund us."
Janique’s story shows what happens when women have access to the right tools, trusted peers, and a community that helps them weather the hardest moments — and keep building.
Your Give!Guide donation helps make that possible — fueling business advising, mentorship, and support for women building the future of Oregon’s economy.
What inspired you to start your own business?
The need to increase profits and have a better work-life balance for my family.
What were some of your key goals that you worked with Xcelerate on this year?
I worked with my coach on process mapping and gap analysis.
“The freedom to take my kids to school and pick them up no matter what — that’s success.”
How has your identity as a woman and any and all other intersectional identities impacted your business?
It's hard to say. Honestly, it's provided more opportunity for me this year in terms of education and support through programming like what is provided by Xcelerate Women, Livelihood NW, and larger big sister companies that want to partner with us. There are times when I struggle with being the only woman or person of color in the room, but that's an inside job I've mostly dismantled.
What were some of the challenges you faced this year and how did working with Xcelerate help you to overcome these challenges?
Process mapping helped us improve our field operation losses related to senior employees making supply runs. Gap analysis helped me become more flexible in how I think about my business and it was empowering to know I had more options than I imagined.
Are there any wins or achievements you have celebrated this year while working with Xcelerate? For example - hiring new employees, paying yourself, quitting a day job, achieving profitability, opening a new location, increase in sales, launching a new product. Please be as specific as possible.
The biggest win I gained through Xcelerate was support when I thought I'd have to close my doors due to a cash flow issue at the end of summer. Day Reed let me know I could still participate in Peer Mentorship and that another participant was experiencing a similar crossroads. It gave me the resolve to get through that challenge because I wasn't alone and I wasn't judged. Now we have banks competing to fund us!
How do you personally define success for you and your business?
The freedom to take my kids to school and pick them up no matter what.
"These are trying times for leaders with heart. I want to be a resource for women of like mind to strengthen their resolve and capacity during these unique times."
Is there anything else you'd like to share about your Xcelerate experience?
This is such an empowered group of women and knowing it exists is a daily balm to my heart as a human and stamina as a businesswoman.
Your support makes stories like Janique’s possible.
The interview was originally published as part of Xcelerate Women’s 2024 Impact Report. Read the original interview →
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