Join William and Henry in the Mile-High city as they talk to Jeff Haanen from the Denver Institute for Faith and Work. His article, God of the Second Shift, made waves in the faith and work world, and we’re excited to have him on our podcast today to talk more about how we can move this conversation around theology and business from the corner office to the manufacturing floor. Tune in to hear what Jeff has to share about what a theology of work means for those in the working class. As you’ll he...
Jul 09, 2019•30 min•Ep. 64
Every once in a while we like to take a break from interviewing guests to give our hosts a chance to riff on what God is doing in their lives and what they’re learning through the process. In this episode, you’ll hear about William’s upcoming move to Atlanta, Henry’s journey to India, and some wisdom Rusty has recently picked up from a book he’s reading. Pull up a chair and join our hosts around the table to enjoy a chat about life, God, and entrepreneurship. In the first section of this episode...
Jul 02, 2019•29 min•Ep. 63
It’s common to think of corporate values as a concept that has always been around, but Lake Lambert , President of Hanover College in Indiana, is here to educate us and show that this isn’t actually the case. Lake is the author of Spirituality, Inc—a book that examines the history of religion in the American workplace—and he joins Henry, William, and Rusty to share what he’s learned about workplace spirituality from the past and what we might expect for the future. In this episode, you’ll hear f...
Jun 25, 2019•32 min•Ep. 62
We are always looking at how faith and entrepreneurship go hand in hand, and generally, we speak to entrepreneurs about their work and how their faith is involved. On this episode, Tom helps us look at this same topic from the other perspective—he explains first about his faith and then how it affects his work. What he shares in the process is a helpful theology of work, reminding us that we serve “an entrepreneurial God.” Even while providing a theological framework, Tom also shares what it was...
Jun 18, 2019•35 min•Ep. 61
Today we’re on the road, connecting with Jeff and Ally Davidson down in Austin, Texas. They’re the founders of Camp Gladiator, a Fitness Franchise that has over 3,500 locations across the country with 1,000 trainers and 100,000 members. They have a remarkable story of how God used a unique experience in the early days of reality TV to propel them in their entrepreneurial story. Just to give you a little taste, it started when Ally decided to try out for American Gladiators on the morning of thei...
Jun 11, 2019•38 min•Ep. 60
Today the team took a trip deep into the heart of Texas to hear from Drayton McLane , the visionary business leader behind McLane Company and former owner of the Houston Astros. Drayton is widely known for his leadership within Walmart, as well as his generosity toward his two alma maters—Baylor University and Michigan State. On this episode, you’ll hear a list of lessons that we were able to glean from Drayton’s extensive experience as an entrepreneur, business leader, and philanthropist. The s...
Jun 04, 2019•33 min•Ep. 59
Today we’re connecting with Matt Bird , who is based in the United Kingdom. Matt is the author of several books, including Relationology , The Secrets of Story , and Freedom: How to Live Your Life for Jesus Free From Anxiety and Worry . Another one of his books, Transformation , takes a look at how God is connecting churches across communities, cities, and countries to bring about social, political, economic, cultural, and spiritual transformation. This book is the product of Matt’s work with bu...
May 28, 2019•33 min•Ep. 58
Today we’re in Cincinnati, Ohio connecting with Scott Weiss with Ocean Accelerator. They have an incredible birth story—coming from the lobby of Crossroads Church in Cincinnati they launched into an accelerator for fast-growing tech companies. For the past few years, they’ve been on a mission to equip faith driven entrepreneurs and owners that bravely step out to change the world. Whether it's their Ocean Conference or their accelerator, they’re committed to investing in entrepreneurs who have a...
May 21, 2019•34 min•Ep. 57
In this episode we’re on the road in Oklahoma City, connecting with Steve Green, President of Hobby Lobby, the world’s largest privately owned arts and crafts retailer, with more than 700 stores and employing more than 30,000 people. He also is chairman of the Board of Museum of the Bible and is the visionary leader in establishing one of the world's largest private collections of rare biblical artifacts. Their 430,000-square-foot Museum of the Bible was opened in 2017 just three blocks from the...
May 14, 2019•28 min•Ep. 56
In this episode we’re just outside of Chicago connecting with Phil Vischer , the visionary, creative who founded Veggietales. To date it's the most popular direct to DVD series of all time with more than 65 million copies sold. It led to feature films, Netflix Original series and became a cultural icon. Phil tells us the story of Veggie Tales meteoric rise to success, the struggles and pitfalls of maintaining that success and truth about what is required to find and keep one’s identity rooted in...
May 08, 2019•43 min•Ep. 55
Byron Loflin , founder of the Center for Board Excellence, joins the team this week, helping us get a handle on the importance of good governance within our organizations. He shares with us his views on why governance is core to servant leadership and promotes healthy, humble accountability that provides a stable runway for your organization’s success. Even early stage firms can benefit greatly from a modestly sized board (3 plus the entrepreneur). Thoughts on how unanimous boards may actually b...
Apr 30, 2019•34 min•Ep. 54
Bobby Gruenewald of YouVersion joins us this week giving us the low down on the origins of this wildly popular bible app with 370M+ downloads and counting. This pastor, entrepreneur and former rap artist (who knew?) shares with the team how the desire to become better engaged with scripture was the impetus to developing YouVersion, the first iteration of which proved to be a failure - a web app because there was just no iPhone yet (remember the days?). The team’s approach to failure, commitment ...
Apr 23, 2019•40 min•Ep. 53
The team talks to Jon Hart , Partner at Praxis Labs about his work with Praxis Academy, a week-long on ramp into the Praxis community of redemptive entrepreneurs targeting the under 25. For 5 years, this organization has encouraged college-aged entrepreneurs to more actively view their aspirations within the context of their faith, impacting 750 people, from 160 universities and 20 countries. Reminiscent of and deeply influenced by the 18th century Clapham Group of England, Praxis seeks to encou...
Apr 16, 2019•35 min•Ep. 52
This week’s guest is Alan Barnhart of Barnhart Crane and Rigging of Memphis, TN. Originally a small family business started by his parents, Alan and his brother, Eric, grew the company into one of the largest Heavy Lift and Heavy Transport organization in the United States with 1,000 team members in more than 40 locations across the country and a nationwide reputation for solving problems (Even if it means building a 200+ wheel truck!). They accomplished this by actively seeking out a way to exp...
Apr 09, 2019•33 min•Ep. 51
Today we’re talking with one of the pioneers of Gamification, Yu-Kai Chou , author of the book Actionable Gamification and creator of the Octalysis Framework which encompasses 8 core drives of motivation that govern human behavior. He's a speaker on gamification and behavioral design at places like TED, South by Southwest, Google, Stanford and consulted with governments like UK, Singapore and South Korea. His work has affected over 1 Billion users experiences across the world. Henry spends some ...
Apr 02, 2019•31 min•Ep. 50
On this episode, the team spends time with Andy Crouch , partner for theology and culture at Praxis , an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship, as well as an accomplished writer and journalist, having authored several books as well as articles published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine. Andy shares with us the basis of the book he, in collaboration with Praxis, has written called “A Rule of Life for Redemptive Entrepreneurs”....
Mar 26, 2019•42 min•Ep. 49
Today we’re on the road, connecting with Bryant Ambelang , President and CEO of NatureSweet, the largest greenhouse producer of tomatoes in North America. Currently, NatureSweet has over 8,000 associates and operates seven facilities—six in Mexico and one in the U.S. NatureSweet products are distributed in major grocery stores in all 50 states and across Mexico and Canada. Their headquarters are in the San Antonio. We had the chance to hear about the incredible things God’s doing to unleash peop...
Mar 19, 2019•34 min•Ep. 48
In this episode, Henry sits down with former NFL player and first round draft pick Phil Olsen , currently President of Know Your Strengths , a human resource consulting firm that guides clients and executive-level management through processes for talent discovery, training and people management. Phil helps us see how hiring people who are clones of ourselves leaves our organizations open for execution issues and why learning to appreciate and collaborate with those who are just wired differently...
Mar 12, 2019•28 min•Ep. 47
Toxic people, toxic environments and all other possible permutations of how toxicity can be expressed in an organization is the subject of today’s episode. Rusty rests the responsibility of toxic organizations firmly on the shoulders of the founder and William believes that faith driven leaders can still be guilty of making a mess of culture. Henry helps us understand what kind of petri dish is needed for toxicity to flourish and the team together discusses ways to avoid the pains and pitfalls o...
Mar 05, 2019•26 min•Ep. 46
We find the team chatting with Julie Barrios, of Nuos Formation, a spiritual formation enterprise focused on helping the entrepreneur develop healthy inner lives as part of purposeful living as a faith-driven entrepreneur. As she shares on her own entrepreneurial journey, Julie helps us see how “hustling” may be nothing more than another hamster wheel and living in obedience to God by surrendering our paths to Him might be the more excellent way. Making sure she makes room to hear from God, that...
Feb 26, 2019•28 min•Ep. 45
We hear from our hosts this week as they share some of the things God has them thinking about via their personal time with the Lord. Rusty draws parallels to Paul’s trials, specifically found in Acts 27 to the life of an entrepreneur while William shares on how reading the account of Jesus’ baptism by John actually reveals more deeply the importance of having your identity rooted in a relationship with the Father to empower and enlighten your mission. Henry’s been sharing a bit about his sojourn...
Feb 19, 2019•28 min•Ep. 44
This week the team chats with Ed Silvoso, author of several books including Anointed for Business, Transformation and Ekklesia. He’s the founder of Transform Our World, an international network of marketplace ministers whose goal is the elimination of systemic poverty through actively advancing the kingdom of God via a unified Church. Here’s a few of our favorite moments from this week: “There is a tipping point and that is when that leader understands, usually that leader is a governmental lead...
Feb 12, 2019•31 min•Ep. 43
Steve Cochram and Jeremie Kubicek of 5 Voices Systems, a leadership assessment tool that helps you define, understand and leverage your communication style for optimal influence joins the FDE team this week. They share why their assessment tool is so different from the rest and how it can be quickly integrated into your organizational culture to help you better connect with your team, customers and all the places where you have influence. Committed to helping clients fight for the highest possib...
Feb 05, 2019•31 min•Ep. 42
In this week’s episode, we’re talking to Henry’s long-time friend Peter Greer, President and CEO of Hope International, a leading provider of microfinancing for underserved communities around the globe. Peter helps us understand the multi-faceted aspects of poverty, that it’s about more than simply the lack of resources. He shares details around Hope International’s commitment to eradicate spiritual poverty, not just financial poverty as the two are inextricably linked. He gives frameworks for a...
Jan 29, 2019•33 min•Ep. 41
In Part Two with David Morken, the team discusses more thoroughly about what it means to be mission ready both individually and corporately. David talks about the importance of obedience to God and avoiding the pitfalls of both willfulness and passivity and Henry leads the discussion into practical applications of how their company’s HR policies intentionally reflected kingdom values as they target the whole person for impact. This commitment led them to institute chaplaincy roles as a force mul...
Jan 22, 2019•25 min•Ep. 40
In this edition of the FDE Podcast, we get a peek into the longtime friendship and partnership (let’s just call it what it is – a bromance) between David Morken and Henry Kaestner, co-Founders of Bandwidth and Republic Wireless. They share with us the divine origins of their relationship (Henry was a direct answer to David’s prayer) and how their relationship translated into a successful business where people are promoted as much as the product. They talk about the need to be able to work throug...
Jan 15, 2019•25 min•Ep. 39
This week’s podcast has us listening in on a talk Tim Keller gave to Sovereign’s Capital last September where he meticulously unpacks the hidden truth of identity formation, its habits and rituals, in both the Western and greater world. We are fed these belief systems from the moment we breathe and too often we are defined by the greater world without our consent. He steps us through examples of how our thinking is specifically impacted by these external forces that define us outside of the cont...
Jan 08, 2019•43 min•Ep. 38
The team spends some time with the students and teachers from Entrepreneur Program and Valley Christian School (VCS) in San Jose, CA. Spearheaded by Hannah and Danny Kim, entrepreneurs in their own right, the program has launched high school students into the world of entrepreneurship in the midst of a community invested in seeing biblical values and principles impacting the world. Hannah gives us an overview of the program’s evolution while the team chats with two students about their specific ...
Dec 18, 2018•39 min•Ep. 37
In this week’s podcast, the team answers a few of your questions around profit making and taking as well as consumerism. One Bay Area listener shares his struggles with being in what he believes is a money-driven industry. The team challenges us all to think about how we can redeem the industries we’re in by making figuring out the best way to serve it our number one goal. William believes that almost all industries are redeemable, Henry encourages us in the ways we can show love for the people ...
Dec 11, 2018•32 min•Ep. 36
The team sits down with John Marsh of Marsh Collective, Opelika Alabama to discuss storytelling, what it’s like to run 10+ businesses (the collective part of Marsh Collective) and how to be the steward of 10 square city blocks for the glory of God and Kingdom while being totally unqualified to do so. John helps us understand the practicalities of living in the midst of kingdom tension: being both dead and alive, content but fruitfully multiplying, living here but not being from here. Rusty has J...
Dec 04, 2018•31 min•Ep. 35
