Failing Forward in Faith: Discover Your God-Given Calling with Paola Soares (S4E29)

What if your greatest “failure” was actually God’s redirection into your true calling?

In this episode of The Vibrant Flow Podcast, host Johanna Mäkilä-Manninen sits down with Paola Soares, host of the acclaimed But First, She Failed podcast, to talk about what it really means to fail forward in faith.

Paola shares her own story of navigating career disappointments, identity shifts, and seasons of uncertainty, and how those very moments became the fertile ground where God revealed her purpose.

Together, Johanna and Paola explore what failure looks like through a Kingdom lens, how to discern divine redirection, and how women of faith can step into leadership without losing their feminine grace.

You’ll learn:
🌿 How God can use your “failures” to position you for divine purpose
🌿 The difference between worldly success and spiritual alignment
🌿 How to know if you’re walking in your God-given calling
🌿 The role of feminine strength, surrender, and obedience in leadership
🌿 Why failure is often the soil of your next season of fruitfulness

If you’ve ever questioned whether you’ve missed your calling, this conversation will remind you: nothing is wasted in God’s hands.

✨ Learn more about Paola's work and download her free guide to finding your calling: paolasoares.com/calling
🎧 Listen to her podcast: But First, She Failed

Guest Bio:

Paola Soares is the Host and Creator of But First, She Failed Podcast, a Top 50 Apple Podcast in Entrepreneurship and top 1% globally ranked show.

But First, She Failed is the first and only podcast that focuses on speaking to trailblazing, inspiring women about their moments of "failure" and how those moments propelled them to where they are today.

A former journalist and national news producer that's had stories appear on Univision, Telemundo and ABC News among others. Paola was also a Booker/Segment Producer for Fusion Network where she would be tasked with bringing on celebrities, politicians and newsmakers.

While working in news her favorite stories were always profile pieces that helped and inspired. Now she is taking her passion of storytelling and helping women redefine “failure” whilegaining clarity and confidence when it comes to their careers and businesses. She strongly believes that every woman has a unique God-given calling on their life and she helps women discover it while helping them thrive in it through her Accountability Community.

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❤️‍🔥 FLOW WITH JO:

Keywords: faith-based entrepreneurship, Christian women leaders, feminine leadership, divine calling, overcoming failure, walking in purpose, women of faith podcast, faith and business, spiritual success, purpose-driven living