Jenni Hagen is a single mom navigating raising her daughter and son in the mountains of Montana. Through her own upbringing and experiences, she found a passion for the outdoors and giving back.

From the land of 10,000 lakes to big sky country

I was born and raised in the beautiful little town of Detroit Lakes, MN, where I spent my days horseback riding, exploring my family's 40 acres, and soaking up the hot days laying on my GiGi's dock. 

Lake Melissa was my sanctuary. I devoted countless hours to playing mermaids on the shore, listening to the waves, boating, fighting with my brothers, and throwing breadcrumbs to the sunfish from the end of the dock. Blessed was an understatement.

When I was 7, my grandparents purchased property in Stevensville, MT where they built their dream house. From that Christmas on, I would have the pleasure of spending every summer, holiday, and long weekend in Montana. My grandparents would take my brothers and me camping, hiking, and fishing the frigid snow-fed creeks. I’m grateful they were able to cultivate my love of the outdoors from an early age.

When I was 18, I moved to Bozeman, MT to attend college at Montana State University. My adventurous heart got the better of me, however, as I left school to explore what I wanted in life. After a few years of adventuring and traveling abroad, I returned to Montana in 2010 where I made Helena my home.

My early days living in Montana were spent dreaming of the lakes. I missed Minnesota - especially my friends and family, and the lake was always calling me home. I often talked about moving back, but my heart pulled me towards the mountains as well. I don’t know how I felt homesick whether I was in Montana dreaming of Minnesota, or in Minnesota dreaming of Montana, but I did.

Along came the minnows

In 2017, my life changed exponentially when my daughter, Lachlyn, was born. Lachlyn - “from the land of lakes.” My baby girl was everything I could have hoped for. At just two weeks old, her own GiGi (my grandma) took us all camping in the mountains to celebrate her 75th birthday. I found so much peace with my motherhood that weekend, and I couldn’t wait for the outdoors adventures we would have through the years.

Another surprise came in 2019 when I gave birth to my second child, my son Maverick. Unfortunately, their father wasn’t all he had portrayed, and I was a single mom from day one of Maverick’s birth. By now, I was a seasoned girl mom with a daughter who loved nothing but pink, bows, and anything sparkly! Sure, we had camped a handful of times, but I admit that I had steered away from the adventures of my youth as my daughter had little interest. With my son, things felt different.

he’s hooked!

Sure enough, by the time Maverick was two-years-old, all he wanted to do was hunt with PaPa, play in dirt, go camping, drive his powerwheels jeep, ride the 4-wheeler, and fish. Maverick was a boy's boy, and without a dad, I knew I needed to do my best to meet his needs. I went to the store, lost for what I needed, and a nice man helped me get a small tacklebox and a spiderman fishing pole to get him started - it was something. 

I took him fishing on “Mommy and son” dates a few times, but we never caught anything. I had no idea what I was doing - having only really fished off docks in Minnesota where my brothers would do the dirty work for me (put the worms on and take the fish off!). I knew nothing. I didn’t know where to take him fishing, what kind of bait or line he needed, how to tie a hook on properly. I think I spent more time youtubing what I was doing that first time than I did actually helping him fish. He didn’t mind though, he just loved being by the water.

I would visit sporting goods stores periodically in an effort to learn, but I found them intimidating and with expensive equipment that I didn’t know how to use. The occasional older gentleman would be in the fishing aisle offering me advice and tips, but I would also come across men that would criticize my purchases and embarrass me for my lack of knowledge. My confidence waivered, and I dreaded the days he would ask to go fishing - pawning the task off on my stepdad to take him.

In the spring of 2024, Maverick turned 5 and received his first “big kid” fishing pole from his PaPa. Fishing now went from an occasional afterthought to something he wanted to do all the time. Every time we would pack for a camping trip, he’d come flying out of the house with his tacklebox and fishing pole. Following a family trip to Minnesota where he could catch sunnies off the same dock Jenni did as a child, he was completely hooked.

Girls can fish too

"Mommy, can I PLEASE get my own fishing pole?" Lachlyn asked me for the 20th time that summer. "I want this princess one!" She held it up hopefully. 

I already knew the tiny kids fishing poles were useless. Maverick's Spiderman pole broke within two outings. If we were going to do it, we would do it right the first time. I took her to the dreaded fishing pole aisle.

"There's no pink ones," Lachlyn expressed, eyebrow raised. 

I searched through the poles. She was right. They were all black, brown, blue, green, cork handles, flip reels. I finally came across one from the company “Profishency” that had a turquoise and orange design, “How about this?” Lachlyn agreed - but it had a manual flip-style reel that I worried she would struggle with. We took it out on that first trip and sure enough, she couldn’t quite figure out how to flip the reel and hold the line. It presented a lot of frustration for the 7-year-old.

Back to the store we went where I found a “Lady Fish” rod and real that was mostly grey with pink accents. This was acceptable for Lachlyn and it had a button so she would be able to cast without help. Crisis averted. It was during this trip to the store that Lachlyn asked for her own tacklebox. “Maverick doesn’t like to share…” she remarked. Maverick nodded, “Well, it’s special to me, Mommy!” Okay fine. I grabbed the first kids pink tacklebox I saw.

We embarked on a trip to the river where we spent hours fishing and catching nothing. I overcame (kinda) my fear of worms and through a few youtube videos, learned how to properly tie a hook so we would quit losing them. Even without a catch, the kids were thrilled to be out with Mom and learning a new skill. They could not wait to do it again.

I, however, was struggling. By the end of the outing, I was carrying two tackleboxes, three poles, a container of worms, two drinks, and a sweatshirt that didn’t belong to me. My kids being young, they were inclined to forget things, drop things, get distracted, and I had to pick up the pieces (literally).

An idea was born

On my way up from the river, I noticed a man carrying a tactical bag with his fishing pole attached. He had a drink in the other side and a pocket on the back that held his multi-tool. Brilliant. I was going to get bags like that for myself and the kids so they could carry their things hands-free.

As soon as I got home, I began looking online for tackle bags like this man had. I started on Amazon, searching tackle bags and tactical bags alike. I quickly found ones that were suitable, but they were in black, brown, and camo. Maverick was thrilled, but when I called over Lachlyn and asked if she would use it, she instantly made a face, “Umm I guess, but don’t they have pink?” I smiled and assured here, I’m sure I can find one!

I looked for a while longer with no luck. There were no girly tackle bags. I noticed several hiking packs that were more fashion forward, and lots of backpacks and purses, but none quite fit what I was after. Over the next several days I spent hours combing through pictures and websites of fishing gear - Cabelas, Sportsman’s, Bass Pro Shops, and there were no women’s fishing bags (and honestly very little girl-oriented fishing gear in general). And what gear there was was extremely expensive. I got more and more frustrated. “There are shops for hunting gear just for women. There are companies that design women’s hiking packs. Why are there no shops with women’s fishing gear?! I know so many women who fish and little girls who want to fish!”

After a few more tries, I finally hit a wall. I opted to buy a simple sling and an arts and crafts storage box with a pink latch to slip inside for her tackle. It wasn’t ideal - there still wasn’t a place for her pole and no pocket for a water bottle, but at least it was something in her style that she could carry hands-free.

Every time I went fishing, I couldn’t stop thinking about how there weren’t enough options for women who fish. I hyper-fixated on the fact that fishing is such a relaxing sport, inexpensive to begin, and you can do it independently. I wondered how many more women would enjoy the sport if given the appropriate equipment and channels. I wanted it to be less intimidating and encourage more women to partake - be it single moms of little boys who want to each them, single women who want a relaxing hobby, little girls who want to have an activity they love to do with their dad, partners of outdoorsy men who want to share a hobby with their significant other, busy moms who just need a little relaxing quiet time, or retired grandmas who want to relate to their teenage grandsons.

Finally, I came to the conclusion, “I’m going to do it. I’m going to make cute, affordable tackle bags that I can display in the fishing aisle that will physically show women, this sport is for you too. Try it.”

That’s how She’s Sofishticated was born.