#21 Transforming Your Work & Business Into a Mission Field | Jennifer Baugh

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts

Hey there folks! Sorry, this is a tad late. I’m in California for a wedding, and my calendar is out of whack. But we are still here.

As an FYI, we’ll be skipping The Saintly CEO this coming Monday for the same reason. I just won’t have the time to write up the newsletter. Consider it my 4th of July recess.

Don’t Forget! If you’re a Catholic Founder in San Francisco, I’ll be hosting a dinner for members of the community. If you’re interested, DM me for details.

In this Email:

* Intro to the Guest and Topic

* Core Takeaway

* Episode References

* Select Quotes

* Key Moments

First time here? Learn more about our mission. And don’t forget to subscribe.

Today’s Topic & Guest:

* Jennifer Baugh | Young Catholic Professionals

* Today, we are speaking with Jennifer Baugh, founder of Young Catholic Professionals (YCP), a chapter-based association helping young Catholics integrate their faith into their work lives across 42 U.S. cities. YCP has become something most young Catholic professionals, in any major US city, are familiar with. We wanted to take time today to cover some of her journey and understand the lessons she learned through it. Some of the core topics discussed are:

* What virtues are required to succeed in the workplace: courage, perseverance, and trust.

* How much spiritual and personal growth we can experience through work.

* Her thoughts on non-profit vs for-profit mission-oriented endeavors.

* How she balanced family as an entrepreneur.

* Why Catholics need to be more willing to share their success stories instead of living in the shadows.

I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did!

Core Lesson:

Sharing Your Success AND Your Failures is Required In Humility

Often, Catholics who achieve great success are relatively quiet about it. They don’t want to boast or draw attention to themselves. It comes from a good place. But ultimately, it’s the wrong thing to do.

We learned from Jennifer today, in fact, we witnessed it in this episode, how Catholics who achieve great things ought to speak about their success. She takes an attitude that throughout this entire endeavor, she has simply been a vessel for God’s work. She doesn’t take credit for what it has become.

Because of this, she is willing to share how well things have gone. And when things went poorly. She puts it all in God’s hands as His venture and recognizes she’s just partaking in His mission.

In so doing, she’s inspiring a future generation of Catholic entrepreneurs. I think we all need to do the same.

(I wrote about this more in this issue of The Saintly CEO)

God Bless & Happy Building!

~Silas Mähner

Get in front of Catholic decision makers today!

Our publication is ready by devout Catholic founders and business owners across America.

Best for anyone selling services or products to those audiences. (Plus they’d all rather buy from another Catholic).

Key Episode References:

* Scripture:

* Romans 5:1-5 | […] (3) Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (4) perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

* Proverbs 3:5-6 | (5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. (6) In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Books:

* The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

* Good to Great by Jim Collins

* People & Saints:

* Jeff Schiefelbein (check out episode #9 for more from him)

* St. Joseph (Patron of YCP, and Jennifer’s favorite Saint)

Select Quotes:

* "Work is part of our path to heaven. We can't just view it as something where we make a paycheck or go through the motions... We have to see it as part of our higher calling, and that transforms our everyday." — Jennifer Baugh

* "I really think that I had to cultivate some key virtues in order for the ministry... to be viable. And through acquisition of these virtues, my faith was able to grow deeper than perhaps it would have on its own." — Jennifer Baugh

* "Our fear can actually make us selfish... Are we actually limiting what God has in store for us through this venture, through this entrepreneurial effort? We make it too much about ourselves." — Jennifer Baugh

* "In humility, you recognize that this is God's apostolate and you know, he has ordained the effort, you know, and millions of people have contributed to the success. And so it's easy to talk about the success because you know that so many hands have gone into this." — Jennifer Baugh

Help us grow by sharing one of these quotes on social media! Just highlight the one you like, and click share. It will make a nice graphic and everything.

Key Moments: (outline)

* 00:00 - Cold Open

* 00:31 - Intro to the episode

* 04:44 - Silas's experience with YCP and its importance

* 05:37 - YCP's founding and growth over 15 years

* 06:27 - The business world as a mission field

* 09:21 - Personal and spiritual growth through work

* 12:20 - Virtues for entrepreneurship and faith flourishing

* 16:44 - Balancing faith, business, and over-spiritualizing decisions

* 17:55 - Jennifer's journey to entrepreneurship

* 19:49 - Traits of successful entrepreneurs

* 22:23 - Overcoming hesitation and fear in starting a venture

* 25:11 - Her framework for putting outcomes in God's hands

* 28:10 - Non-profit vs. For-profit for mission-oriented endeavors

* 33:03 - Balancing family and entrepreneurship as a Catholic

* 37:34 - The importance of vulnerability and honesty

* 40:22 - Feelings and challenges of humility with visible success

* 44:14 - Encouraging successful Catholics to share their stories

* 47:25 - Dealing with tough times and anxiety in business

* 49:48 - What's next for Jennifer

* 52:57 - Rapid Fire: Inspiring scriptures for entrepreneurs

* 53:29 - Rapid Fire: Inspiring entrepreneur

* 54:14 - Rapid Fire: Favorite saints

* 55:51 - Rapid Fire: Favorite devotion

* 55:59 - How to connect with Jennifer and YCP resources

Join The Catholic Founders Guild

The Catholic Founders Guild is a vetted group of Catholic entreprenuers who are building businesses with their faith at the heart of what they do.

Some are building ‘Catholic’ products. Most are building normal businesses. We’ve got tech founders. Agency owners. Mom & Pop. E-commerce. And some people who bought a business.

Guild Member Benefits:

* Member Directory Access | Join our monthly calls | Access to all paid content | Attend guild-member only dinners

You are the average of the 5 people you hang out with most. Don’t you want that to describe other Catholic founders?

It’s only $10/month or $100/year (for now)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.catholicfounders.com/subscribe