Your Purpose is Calling - Christian Business Podcast

019: From Fashion to Freedom: Finding Authenticity in a World of Fakes and Fads with Sunni Spencer

My guest for this episode is the Founder of the Sunni Spencer lifestyle brand, Sunni Spencer Matusik. Sunni is a veteran of New York City’s competitive fashion industry with more than 20 years of experience working with top designers and brands. From her days as a buyer for Bergdorf Goodman to Vice President at Project, Sunni shares her story including how getting saved at the height of her career radically changed her view of success, purpose, and community.

In this episode Sunni talks about:

• How getting saved helped her navigate the competitive world of fashion
• How God revealed to her the idea for her business
  
• How she overcame her fear of leaving a high powered position to start a company

Sunni also talks candidly about her past of wearing the mask of a successful career women even though she was deeply unfulfilled, often using shopping and drinking to fill the void that she felt. In this episode Sunni shares how God helped her discover her own authenticity and purpose. Sunni also offers practical advice for anyone looking for a deeper connection to God, to community, and to their own unique purpose.

Listen to the episode here or subscribe on iTunes.

018: From Stressed to Success: How to Pivot in Your Business

My guest for this episode is Ben Smithee of The Smithee Group, a digital marketing agency. Ben runs a successful company with a growing team, but it wasn’t always that way. Years ago Ben found himself running an agency that served Fortune 500 clients but he was stressed out, burned out, and, as he says, “ready to pull the parachute on the whole thing.”

In this episode Ben talks about how he completely rebuilt his agency to be bigger, faster, and stronger by putting God at the center. Ben shares the ups and downs he experienced in building and growing a business with an transparency that’s raw, inspiring, and real. If you are feeling stressed out or burned out in your own career or business Ben’s story is sure to give you practical steps to pivot so you, too, can thrive in your calling.

You can access the show notes for today’s episode, including where to find Ben online, at dawnsadler.com/018.

017: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities with Kadi Cole

Have you ever walked through a season when you had so many major struggles and challenges in your life that you felt you had to put God’s gifting and God’s calling for your life on hold, maybe permanently? My guest today, Kadi Cole, has.

 

In this episode Kadi talks about how she discovered God’s purpose of her life not in spite of, but because of, a series of tragedies that she walked through in a specific season of her life. Kadi’s story is filled with warmth, wisdom, resilience and humor. As a Leadership Coach, she also offers practical advice about what to do when we feel stuck or as though our dreams have been put on hold.

016: Turning a Successful Business into a Ministry with Steve Rodriguez

Steve Rodriguez was born and raised in Los Angeles and never imagined he would leave. He had a good corporate job working for a healthcare company, a serious girlfriend, and plenty of family and friends nearby. Then he began to feel God call him to move across country and start a business in Wisconsin. It was a surprising twist but Steve made the move.

Today, years later, Steve is married to that girlfriend and together they own a successful business in Wisconsin.

In this episode Steve explains how he and his wife use their success as business owners and their pastoral and evangelism gifting to mentor and minister to other business owners.

In this episode Steve talks about:

• How he knew God was calling him out of LA
• How his success as an entrepreneur has helped him reach others
• Why he choose to use his gift for ministry in a business instead of the church
• Practical ways to share your faith at work
• The difference between striving and excellence
• How to be more influential in any job or career

Steve shares his story with warmth, wisdom and a practical approach to faith and work.

Listen to the show here or subscribe on iTunes.

015: Creating Cultures for Innovation & Entrepreneurship with Brett Gilbert

Today my guest is Brett Gilbert, Regional Innovation Chair and Associate Professor at American University in Washington DC. Brett travels the world conducting research on the positive impact of entrepreneurship on creating wealth in communities and exposing the barriers that prevent entrepreneurs from thriving. In this episode Brett talks about how being a believer influences her work, how entrepreneurs can overcome personal barriers to starting and growing a business, and how one chance postcard in the mail helped her leave a unsatisfying career behind and find her God-given calling.

 

014: How to Build a Purpose-Driven Team Culture with Brian Buonassissi

In his early twenties Brian Buonassissi never saw himself as a dj. He was a struggling performer in an acoustic disco cover band in California who needed a way to make some extra money.

Fast forward more than two decades and Brian, known also as DJ Brian B, owns a thriving company that specializes in private event DJ services in some of the most desirable locations in the U.S. and internationally. In addition to growing a thriving business Brian also is a speaker at industry events where he helps other DJs build a successful business.

In this episode Brian talks about the ups and downs of his early days trying to start his own business as a DJ as well as his role today growing a business, building team, and creating a purpose-driven culture for his clients and his team.

In this episode Brian talks about:

• Creating an authentic team culture
• The three pillars he uses for hiring new team members
• Identifying company values and instilling those into team DNA
• How his spiritual gifting influences his leadership style

013: Balancing Risk and Faith in Your Business with Emily van den Heever

Sitting on a stoop outside their Brooklyn apartment on the day after their wedding newlyweds Ben and Emily van den Heever had an idea. Ben noticed that at their wedding their friends couldn’t seem to get enough of his homemade batch of biltong, a South African version of beef jerky. Ben, a native of South Africa, had grown up eating biltong in his grandfather’s butcher shop in Pretoria and loved to make small batches for friends. Sitting on the stoop of their Brooklyn apartment, Ben and Emily got a vision and the idea of Brooklyn Biltong was born.

Since they launched their company in 2014 sales have more than doubled each year. This year Brooklyn Biltong will be available in retail stores including a grocery chain with more than 30 locations (find where to buy in your area here). The company has been featured on Bon Appétit, Eat This Not That, Uncrate, Inc with Marcus Limonis (of “The Profit”) and elsewhere. The product, which is Whole30 approved, can be spotted on the social media feeds of healthy-lifestyle advocates (including Whole30 co-founder Melissa Hartwig).

Recently I sat down with Brooklyn Biltong Co-Founder Emily van den Heever to talk about the early days of growing the business (including some difficult lessons learned and a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign) and to talk about what faith, risk, and growing a business looks like for her today.

In this episode Emily talks candidly about the ups and downs of growing a business with humor, wisdom and grace.

In this conversation Emily offers insights about:

• How to overcome early obstacles in your business
• How to do a “spirit check” when making key business decisions
• How to balance faith and risk as the stakes in your business get bigger
• How to build a brand that is authentic to who you are
• How to build a customer base in the early days

This episode is filled with inspiration and encouragement for anyone who is building or growing a kingdom business. Listen here or on iTunes (and leave us a review).

012: When Your Career Takes an Unexpected Turn

Have you ever had one plan for your career, only to discover that God had a surprising and unexpected detour?

My guest today for Episode 012, Ashley Staples, certainly knows how that feels. Ashley had a thriving career in academia at a prestigious private university in New York City when she received an offer she couldn’t refuse. The only catch? It meant leaving New York City and moving to Columbus, OH.

In this episode Ashley talks about:

• Practical advice for seeking God in major career decisions
• What to do when you feel “stuck” in your career
• Bringing kingdom values into multi-faith workplaces
• …and more

If you’ve ever faced a major crossroads in your business or career and were unsure about which direction to choose then this episode will help you navigate a major career decision. Ashley is funny and wise and offers practical advice about how to walk with God when the path takes an unexpected twist.

011: Experiencing Financial Breakthrough in Your Business

A little more than a year ago wedding photographer Gina Esposito was feeling stressed out and burned out in her business. She had run a successful wedding photography business on Long Island for more than a decade and was experiencing the kind of success her competitors envied. But she was restless and felt that there was more.

 

Meanwhile her best friend Sheena Meekins had a successful career at a fashion magazine – a role many young women would have given anything for. There were accolades, awards (she was named Marketer of the Year twice) and a clear career path. But sitting in the posh offices of One World Trade Sheena, too, felt restless and that she was called to more.

 

After a long period of prayer Sheena agreed to leave her job and become a partner in Gina’s photography business. Together they set their sights on the ultra-competitive wedding photography markets of New York City and destination weddings in exotic locations including Dubai, the Caribbean, and Europe. They had no connections in the New York or destination wedding markets and, at the beginning of 2017, weren’t sure how they would book enough business to make the partnership work financially. Facing an uncertain future and dwindling savings accounts, Sheena and Gina worked to grow the business with a combination of faith and fortitude.

 

Just a year later, their calendar is booked a year in advance with weddings in New York as well as upcoming destination weddings in some of the most beautiful and exotic locations in the world.

 

In this episode Gina and Sheena talk about their “famine to feast” year. We talk about what they did to rebuild their business, how they learned to trust God in new ways during lean times, and their advice for entrepreneurs who are praying for a breakthrough in their own business in the year ahead.

 

I sat down with Sheena and Gina in early December and since this recording they have rebranded their company as Anée Atelier.

 

Listen to the podcast here or on iTunes.

010: Loving Well in Turbulent Times with Ashley Abercrombie

Episode 010 of the Your Purpose is Calling podcast features Ashley Abercrombie. Ashley Abercrombie is a writer, mom of two, co-pastor of Liberty Church downtown with her husband Cody, Director of a non-profit, and a social advocate who is passionate about disrupting cycles that lead to mass incarceration and human trafficking.

In this episode Ashley talks about serving God, serving others, dreaming big and “literally loving the hell right out of people.”