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Michael Smolders - President of Smolders Management Group, and Founder and Host of The Collar podcast shares his faith, his story, and his mission including being baptized into the Catholic faith as a child; having an exploratory agnostic phase in high school; moving to Taiwan and studying Buddhism; the importance of Matthew 16:18; the relationship with Jesus in the Catholic Church; the role “feelings” play in faith; the importance of Psalms; a spiritual experience that rocked him at the end of college; how his love of baseball and a Malcolm Gladwell book came together and sparked the idea for a training centre; going to church daily for three years and a deep dive into reading to understand the “why” behind his faith; how a pivot back into baseball steered him into the automotive industry; a purposeful change of career that allows him to give back directly to the Church; how a shortage of priests guided his next move; creating The Collar podcast; why there is a shortage of priests; how Messenger Eagle reaches potential priests where they are in this social media/YouTube culture; being scandalous with your faith; how advertising a Christian message actually helps the faith standout in today’s culture; the “three promises” for priests; how COVID brought people to the Lord; and so much more!

https://thecollar.org/

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Jim Schneider - Co-Founder of Eyes of Faith eyewear company - shares his faith discovery journey and his purpose including how a divorce had him searching for a faith of some kind; how a church men’s event to “go shoot some things” and a book set him on his path of discovering a relationship with Jesus; growing up Catholic but never having a relationship; his pursuit to get answers to the resurrection of Jesus; the importance of purposely getting “filled up”; the difference it makes in having a physical Bible in your hands; a desire to go into sales and a family history in the insurance business led to a pre-eyewear career; going all in when he came to Christ including cutting out all sexual activity with his then girlfriend (later his wife); how his desire to find his purpose led to the pivot into eyewear; how Eyes of Faith was born in “sin city”; determining of this was a “God idea”; navigating the challenges of the eyewear industry as the only Christian eyewear company in the world; the Eyes of Hope Vision Center in Ghana, West Africa; pairing frame style with scripture on the frames; downsizing in a difficult season; how the year 2020, ironically, did not bring clarity to the company; focusing on what was the next best thing to do; having to trust that God’s got them; fasting complaining; and so much more!

https://ecp.eofoptical.com/

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Greg Csefko - Guitar and Drama Teacher, Co-Director of Plays and Musicals, and Co-Director of Chapel Worship Team at Foundation Academy - invites us into his story of faith and how it influences his work including growing up Catholic in Canada and having an “unspiritual” experience with the Church; how his girlfriend’s - now wife’s - faith journey influenced his own; a four and a half hour drive to church; how a silent prayer in his head and an unexpected hand on his backed transformed his life; growing up an only child and suddenly being surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ; serving for 18 years in Canada before moving to Florida to help plant a second campus; making church a priority; the backstory to God calling Greg and his family to Florida; how God opened a door for Greg to use his gifts; working at Starbucks after two decades of teaching; maintaining an attitude of gratitude; how his spirit of excellence and desire to serve, as a substitute teacher, led to a full-time teaching role; how his faith informs how he reaches, encourages, and teaches students; using whatever tool God has placed in your hand with excellence; leaning on his faith in his workplace; and so much more!

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Brittany Zeller - Director of Tiny Feet Early Intervention - shares her heartbreaking and powerful story, and how her faith guides her life and work including her believing that her faith is an answer to her mom’s prayers; giving her life to Christ at a Billy Graham crusade at a young age; God’s faithfulness even when you turn away; the influence and impact of the book “Changed Into His Image”; the struggle of believing God was withholding good things; going to college for an education degree; wanting to plant a church in San Francisco but God had other plans; starting a career in Early Intervention; the emotional and spiritual impact of losing her baby born at 21 weeks; finding perfect peace in her unimaginable loss; the shocking discovery of Medicaid fraud in her business; a season of adversity that rattled her faith; understanding that we are stewards of our children but they belong to Him; her desire to keep moving after Will’s death and God wanting her to be still; holding God to His word; how Tiny Feet Early Intervention began; how God dramatically multiplied what she envisioned for Tiny Feet; having to surrender control to God; creating a ministry position within Tiny Feet; and much, much more!

https://www.tinyfeetei.com/

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Lori Joe Brown - President & Owner of Lord Agency Inc. shares her faith and her journey including being a “PK” (Preacher’s Kid) in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York; watching her parents help people that wandered through the church doors; the surprise divorce of her parents when she was ten; her disappointment, anger, and distrust with God; living with her dad but seeing her mom on weekends; dad got caught up in white-collar crime and fled; how her distrust of God and both parents impacted relationships; how John 15:16 became a foundational scripture for her; memorizing scripture to make the pain and hurt stop; standing in the power and authority as image bearers of Christ Jesus; working her way through college and eventually earning her Masters from NYU; how a college project on the on-boarding process at American Express led to her into an on-boarding role with the Company; her pivot into entrepreneurship and her own executive coaching business; living her faith “out loud”; the importance of a company understanding what kind of culture they want to have; the balancing act of caring for employees and still achieving the financial bottom line; the importance and benefit of a diverse workforce; and so much more!

https://www.lorijoebrown.com/

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Dana Roefer - Vice President of Faith Driven Entrepreneur Coaching Services - including or growing up in the Church but coming to Christ through Young Life in high school; wrestled with God in the early years; the decision not to go to college right after high school; YWAM Discipleship Training School; having honest dialogue with God; originally thinking she’d go into social work (and she would have been “awful!”); a college course correction to communications; a pivot to entrepreneurship; the challenges of working fully remote and authentically connecting with someone else; a lifelong desire to learn; creating a learning environment where students get to lead out of obedience and passion; the difficult ending to the school; how connecting with Faith Driven Entrepreneur and their project for teens turned into another career pivot; helping high capacity leaders; the LifePlan tool; the importance of knowing what you don’t want to do; the great work that Faith Driven Entrepreneur does; the Kingdom impact of knowing yourself in who God’s made you and what you’re good at; and much more!

https://faithdrivenentrepreneur.org/

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Sheldon Peters - retired Marine, MBA-trained leader, and operations strategist - shares his journey of faith including growing up Seventh Day Adventist but never having a relationship with Christ; a pivot away from the Church; living a life directed by the flesh as a marine; coming back to the Church like a prodigal son; worldly leadership vs. servant leadership; getting humbled by being let go from a job; how the worst interview of his life turned into a job offer; clarity in the humbling; being a man and defining masculinity; the dichotomy of going from cheating in his first marriage to co-leading a marriage ministry group; “fast forward the tape”; joining the marines as a combat videographer; getting a bachelor’s in Project Management; journaling and the importance of evaluating our lives; Christians that just want to be fed; hoarding knowledge, skills, and abilities; doing what God has called you to do in partnership with Him; and so much more!

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Dr. Alicia Newsome - Functional Medicine and Lifestyle Physician, Executive Health Coach, International Speaker, and Three-Time Bestselling Author - shares her faith and how it informs her work including an altar call at five years old; challenges in her youth and a rededication to Christ at seventeen; a bold act of confession that led to freedom; growing up in a difficult environment that contributed to her rebellion; understanding “the suburbs”; realizing her dream of becoming a doctor; a divorce and health challenges that led her to a functional medicine doctor; various career pivots including chiropractic medicine, pharmaceutical consulting, and her virtual practice; how a miscarriage helped sharpen the focus of what she wanted to do for work; a body vs. car analogy that helps get to the root of our health issues; the gap in women’s health research; the effects of heightened cortisol; the importance of pausing and being still; the Cortisol Compass Experience; stressors on the body; the power and need for prayerful gratitude; praying bold prayers; and so much more!

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