Faith Driven Entrepreneur

Today we’re talking to Steve Graves. For the past 25 years he's worked with hundreds of organizations from Fortune 100 giants to small bootstrapping start-ups. He’s a regular contributor to the blog site where we love to share his wisdom and he’s also very involved with our friends at Praxis, coaching other young entrepreneurs. Steve’s written some great, practical books that we highly recommend. We like to think of them as Operators Manuals for startups. Today we get to kick off this new year spending time talking about his latest work “The 5 Tasks Every Entrepreneur Needs to Do.”If you’re looking to treat this new year as a fresh start, or if you want to get a jump on continuing the success of last year, this episode is a great place for you to start. As always, thanks for listening! Useful Links:Steve Graves WebsiteBooks by Steve Graves3 Stages of Business Growth

Today we are talking to Toby Kurth, lead pastor at Christ Church San Francisco. Toby has been a faithful voice inside the Faith Driven Movement, a friend, pastor and even Chaplain to our team. We’re excited that we finally got to have him on the show today—feels like this episode is long overdue. We’re going to hear a bit of his story, and we’re also going to dive in with him on the 5 Marks of a Faith Driven Entrepreneur, which he was instrumental in shaping. If you haven’t read those yet, we suggest you check them out, but if you want to hear more about what they are and why they matter, this episode is for you.Toby also forced us to ask a great question—what shapes your desires? Asking this is key to aligning our values and desires with the way God wants us to do business. And as Toby shared with us, when our desires match God’s desires, there’s no limit to what He might do through our work. Useful Links:The 5 Marks of a Faith Driven EntrepreneurDo You Know What Is Shaping Your Desires?I Am The Light of the World - Toby Kurth Sermon

Too often we think there are just one or two roads to being an Entrepreneur. We think of the lemonade stand kid who hits it big, or maybe we think of the “accidental entrepreneurs” like Mark McLain who shared his story on a previous podcast. But not as many know about the idea of a Search Fund, where an entrepreneur enlists investors with the purpose of acquiring a company and dropping in as the new day to day leader. There's a whole unique set of circumstances with this approach that we’re going to talk about today. And what makes this episode special is that we look at this idea through the lens of brothers. Nick and Giovanni Gallo have gone about this together through their business, ComplianceLine in Charlotte, North Carolina, and their experience is one we think you’ll be fascinated to hear more about. If you’ve never heard of a Search Fund but are interested in learning more, or if you’re already familiar with this approach and eager to hear the ins and outs of how it works, today’s episode is for you.As always, thanks for listening!Useful Links:ComplianceLineiHeart Radio Interview with Giovanni GalloMartech InterviewOnePraetorian

Today we’re talking to Norm and Scott Miller. Norm is the Chairman and Scott is the CEO of Interstate Batteries. They steward a company that for the past 6 decades has been leading its industry with outrageous dependability. You may know Interstate batteries from their logos on the side of NASCAR winners, but you may not know that they offer over 12,000 different batteries and have sold more than 300 million units. They’ve also been innovating in discovering ways for their faith to lead them in caring for their team and developing an award-winning culture. One of the growing trends in the Faith Driven Entrepreneur movement is seeing a generation of faithful leaders looking to pass the baton to the next generation. Interstate is one of the looked to brands that has gone through this recently, and today Norm and Scott are going to share what they’ve learned through the transition.As always, thanks for listening!Useful Links:An Interview with Norm Miller - RightNow Media @ WorkJack of All Trades - An Interstate Batteries StoryInterstate Batteries: Our History2018 Most Admired CEO: Scott Miller (Video)

Today’s episode takes us to jail. Well...not exactly. But we are interviewing a man who owns and operates a business that is run out of a high security prison. His name is Pete Ochs, and in addition to working as founder and chairman of an impact investing company, he’s also working to make Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Kansas the best prison in America. How? Well, we’ll let him tell you…But what you should know is that Pete’s approach to business, and to life, has less to do with leadership and stewardship, and everything to do with Lordship. You’re not going to want to miss this one… Useful Links:Jailhouse Business of GenerosityInmate Confesses God’s Love at Seat KingWork as Flourishing in PrisonEnterprise Stewardship

Today we’re talking to Jon Collins, the co-founder of Epipheo—a cutting edge video production company that is passionate about getting to the heart of why things matter. The name of their company comes from the combination of the words “epiphany” and “video.” And from Jon’s story, it seems like those are the two things that have defined his life’s work.In addition to talking about Epipheo, Jon also shared with us the entrepreneurial journey of The Bible Project, an incredible work that breaks down the context of pieces of scripture in a powerful way. They’ve been viewed over 100 million times in over 200 countries around the world through the Bible App, YouTube, RightNow Media and more. Throughout this episode, Jon shared why he’s passionate about the Bible, and why devoting daily to studying God’s word is important, especially for entrepreneurs. We hope you enjoy this episode. As always, thanks for listening.Useful Links:Epipheo: Animated Video ProductionWhat is the Bible Project?The Bible Project - GenerosityWhat is Google Wave?The Gift of GenerosityThe Advent ConspiracySkatechurch in PortlandBible in Five

Today we’re in the Bay Area talking to Jena Nardella of Praxis. You may know Jena from some of her work improving clean water access around the world and her book titled One Thousand Wells: How an Audacious Goal Taught Me to Love the World Instead of Save It. Today she works on building the durability and sustainability of nonprofit organizations and leaders with Praxis and recently their team wrote a book called The Redemptive Nonprofit.We invited Jena on to share some of her story and also to walk us through some of the points from The Redemptive Nonprofit. If you lead an organization or nonprofit, you’re going to find both her story and her advice to nonprofit leaders incredibly valuable!We’re so grateful for her willingness to share from her own experience, and we hope that her entrepreneurial journey will encourage you on your own. As always, thanks for listening!Useful Links:The Redemptive NonprofitOne Thousand WellsBlood: WaterSix Commitments of a Redemptive Nonprofit

“If a man steals your farm, teach him how to farm.” We’ve all heard sermons and messages on forgiveness and turning the other cheek, but the story of Craig Deall takes these truths to a whole new level. Craig actually lived this. Under the rule of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe forced thousands of industrial farmers to give up their lands. In a moment, generations of family wealth was gone. But rather than seeking revenge or restitution, Craig chose the path of reconciliation—actually working for the very men who stole from him!Craig shared his story, starting from when he loved the land more than God—a struggle for any entrepreneur enamored with their own venture—to when that land was taken away from him. Throughout the whole journey, Craig lets us into what God did with his faith through hardship, what it really looks like to forgive our enemies, and why storing treasure in heaven and not on earth is no longer just a sermon point anymore.Talking with Craig was truly inspiring for us, and we think you’ll be glad you listened in.Useful Links:Foundations for FarmingThe CEF Community in Action Around Craig Deall and Foundations for FarmingHarvest and Heart Change in Zimbabwe

Everyone has a story about receiving a gift they had no interest in, but do any of us know if we’ve ever given a gift that someone else didn’t want? This is exactly the situation John Ruhlin wants to help you avoid. John is the author of Giftology, a book that teaches the science of “radical generosity.” He has helped countless companies boost their referrals, retention rates, and ROI, and our interview with him was a gift in and of itself!John has helped people accelerate relationships with their teams and the people they serve, and he has gifted on behalf of everyone from Forbes Magazine to Fortune 500. His principles lead to appreciative responses and oftentimes a relational and ROI impact that is well beyond what any of us could have imagined. Having been the recipients of John’s gift-giving in the past, our hosts were excited to talk to him, and we think you’ll enjoy all he had to share as well!Useful Links:Giftology PlanHow John Ruhlin Became Known as the Gifting ExpertIt’s Likely That Your Favorite Nonprofits Want ‘Gifts,’ Not Just Checks. Here’s the Difference

There are 7 million jobs in America that will go unfilled in 2019.This means that even if every unemployed person in America got a job tomorrow, we’d still have a labor gap of over a million people. So, what’s the solution? Well, Chris Chancey has some ideas that come from the value of the refugee workforce.On this episode, he shares with us the importance of the immigrant and refugee workforce—a group that is behind so many of the products we use. In addition to sharing the story of Amplio Recruiting, Chris also shared some amazing stories about the radical effect something as simple as employment can have on a person. In doing so, he makes the case that hiring refugees isn’t only a socially responsible decision but a profitable one that can have lasting spiritual impact for faith driven entrepreneurs and their employees alike. We think you’re going to love this episode. As always, thanks for listening. Useful Links:Amplio RecruitingRefugee WorkforceRefugee Workforce Book Launch Video