Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Theology of Business Podcast. I'm your host, Darren Shear, and this is a show for marketplace Christians seeking to explore and apply God's will for business. On this episode, we're joined by Riley Meek. Riley has built eight companies, launching them to seven and eight figures within the first year of each, generating nine figures over the past decade. Not that that's impressive or anything. Utilizing his proven methods and strategies to build lasting relationships and lifetime customers, he's helped thousands of entrepreneurs gain clarity and create massive acceleration in their businesses and brands. And through the King's Council, his mission is to disciple Christian entrepreneurs, equipping them with the tools, systems, and frameworks necessary to discover, develop, and deploy their God-given visions into the marketplace in an effort to increase the tithe and initiate radical generosity for the purpose of kingdom advancement here on earth. I think you put some thought and prayer and time into that uh that vision statement, Riley.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes. That's been adjusted many times, but I really believe we've got this thing down of what we truly do within the beautiful.
SPEAKER_02Well, excited to have you on the show. Um just to help our audience get to know you, um, what did you first realize God wanted to be involved in your work in the marketplace?
SPEAKER_01Man, well, I I kind of joke around that I I actually gave my life to entrepreneurship at the age of 15, um, and then my life to Christ at the age of 16. And so um I think it was it was really though, probably not until about about four years ago, Darren, when I really understood what I was doing or started to get clarity of why in the world am I doing what I'm doing, right? Because I realized like you can be incredibly successful at a lot of things and still feel like a failure if you're not operating for the God-given intended purpose of why you were created. And that's what I was at, man. I like, for example, I had I have a very successful treadmill at home, my in my home gym, a very successful treadmill at hanging my clothes. It's it's extremely successful at that, but it's not operating for the intended purpose of why the manufacturer made it. And I believe we as human beings are in the same boat, especially in the entrepreneurship world, because most of us are like uh we we love to build things. We we're we're creative. And it's we we've man, if if any of your listeners are like me, I got shiny object syndrome like no other, because it's like, oh, we can do this, we can do this, we can do this. And it and it came back to like the question is no longer uh, can I do it? It's more a matter of should we do it? And and it wasn't really until I came into alignment with God's will for my life, uh, versus me praying his will uh come into alignment with with my will, right? And it was it's it was really understanding the difference between looking to Jesus as savior versus Jesus as Lord. And it was only about four years ago, man, when that when that God grabbed a hold of me after a long prodigal son uh uh trip that I went on, uh he got a hold of me and it's just been incredible ever since. So um yeah.
SPEAKER_02When you started to apply that revelation to business, uh what how did things start to look differently? Is it is there maybe a story you could tell that would highlight that difference?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I think that it where it was rooted in is just a comp a season of just complete unfulfillment in my life. You'd mentioned we've we've uh we've done you know pretty well financially, uh, but it was coming down to like, is this what life is all about? Like, is it I'm just supposed to build businesses and and make money? And you know, we I heard this a lot, like, oh, it must be nice. And it it little did anybody know that I was like a complete train wreck inside. Like I was I was constantly trying to find fulfillment in in what I could do. Um, and and it wasn't until uh God got a hold of me and it was like, listen, buddy, you can you can continue to do run this race at your pace, or uh you can come back into the the the kingdom, right, and and operate as him ruling and reigning in my life. Uh and once I had that understanding of of what lordship actually was, then it was like, all right, I definitely know I've I've been given a gifting and ability, and I believe all of us has. We we all have some sort of gifting talent and ability. We have seeds of greatness inside of us, but the number one determinant of if that seed ever takes root is what we surround that seed with. And and this was what where I found myself. I was surrounding myself with with things of this world. I was surrounding myself with uh, you know, in which I was being more influenced versus actually being influential. And that I think was the the big understanding of like, okay, I needed to no longer be in you know, business masterminds that that the world was providing, but I wanted to find like kingdom. Were there any were there other business owners that actually could I actually love God? Can I be sold out for Jesus and still crush business? Like, can I? And do I have the ability to actually make money? Because I thought money was like evil, right? Like this is the mindset that I think flows throughout uh the the church, especially parts of here in America, at least how I grew up. Like I thought most Christians were broke, broken, and defeated. And you had to be that way. Um, otherwise you weren't a a noble uh Christian, right? You were you were seeking, you must have been greedy or something along those lines. And and it took a minute for me to really uh it took time uh for God to reveal that to me. And the crazy thing, Darren, is that it was through the the parable of the good Samaritan, which uh I'd read many times, like many times. Most of us, even if you're not a Christian, you probably know about this parable, right? The the Samaritan that's that's that coming through town. And first off, there's somebody that gets robbed or they get beaten, they're they're they're they're broke, broken, and defeated, right? They're on the side of the road, and a priest comes by, doesn't want to be uh interrupted, passes on the other side of the street. Another a Levite comes by, passes on the other side of the street, like very religious-minded people that didn't want to be burdened with somebody that was in need. And the Samaritan comes in, and this is my mind. I'm like, this guy's on a business trip, right? He's he's strolling to town, he's got his donkey, he's got all of his tools, he's got oil, right? Because it says that he sees the Samaritan, he's like, Oh, snap, that I gotta go take care of this guy. So he bandages him up, puts oil on his head, puts him on his donkey, takes him to the inn, pays for them to stay at the inn. And this is then he says, Hey, I gotta move on, right? Because he's got to get to his business meeting. Uh, and and he said, When I come back though, even if there's debt due, I'll take care of it. Don't, don't worry, put it on my account. Jesus then asks, like, hey, which one showed mercy? And obviously, they're like, Well, this the Samaritan. And this is what unlocked me, Darren, because this is this is what I struggled with. Like, can I make money uh and be a Christian? Like, is that possible to be a what a good, a holy Christian, right? Like uh, what I thought, what I grew up with. And Jesus' statement right after this is is as I mentioned, just completely unlocked me. He says, go and do likewise. This is like a command from Jesus. And the when I read that, I was like, oh my gosh, it is it is incredibly expensive to be that type of Christian. If I'm supposed to be the one that can pay for somebody, put them on the inn. Um, also, I I gotta be available, I gotta make myself available to God and and I have to have provision, I gotta be ready to to come to the plate when he calls me to bat, right? Like, am I ready to do that? And I think the only way that that can actually happen is through the business world, through entrepreneurship, where we have flexibility, right? But we're we're we're guided by the the kingdom, his rule and reign, uh ultimately in our life, and then also having pro-vision. The number one enemy of every vision out there is the lack of pro-vision. And if we as our business entrepreneurs, if if we kingdom entrepreneurs will say that, if we get this thing right and we know that, hey, we've been given this ability, this gifting to create wealth. It's God that gives us that ability. And if we in full submission to Him know that we have that gifting, talented, and capabilities, by all means, we should be crushing business. We should be making as much as we freaking can so that we can actually be the type of Christian that Jesus called us to be. Because at the end of the day, I've been a part of a lot of churches where it's like, we'll pray for you, we'll pray for you, we'll pray for you. And then I've also seen it where it's like, well, I don't, I don't need to pray about this anymore. They just need to be bandaged up. They need to be in the end. There needs to be provision for this to actually take place. And that's where uh what my heart with the King's Council and ultimately what the vision, mission, mission, vision, and purpose of what we're doing is to be the provision uh in the marketplace, um, obviously spreading the gospel, uh, being the good news, but ultimately discipling entrepreneurs to do likewise, to go and do likewise.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Oh, that's such a powerful message from the the Good Samaritan for business people. And, you know, like so many of Jesus' parables, it's uh it's a resource, a resource manager, oftentimes a business person who's the main character in those in those parables, because God recognizes virtually all of us are are assigned to a for-profit context, and that's where we're to to either fulfill or unfulfill what he's called us to do. Um thank you for sharing that. So you've you've built a lot of different kinds of businesses, um, entrance agency. Um tell us just some of the other types of businesses.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um all sorts of different industries or verticals, we'll call it. Um, I but I think if I was gonna boil it down to like what we really focus on is new client acquisition, right? Because I in in business, I remember the the movie um uh what if you build it, they will come. Yeah, yeah, field of dreams. Field of dreams, right? Um when I started in business, I was like, okay, if I build it, they will come. And then I realized like that's a bunch of malark. If you if you build it, ain't nobody coming unless you have marketing and a lead system that that's producing sales in your business, right? And so that's where I why I've just focused on uh new client or or uh customer acquisition, and then put look for opportunities in the marketplace of what else could I sell through this format? Like morally and ethically had to be good, had to be providing value. Because one of the things that I you hear a lot of, Darren, is like, or at least I did was hey, if you follow your passion, you'll you'll never work a day in your life. Um, and I realized that again was kind of a bunch of bad advice because I I know a lot of passionate people that are broke. Uh for example, my wife loves to hold babies at church on Sunday morning. Like she volunteers to do that. Nobody's paying her money to do that, right? So uh what I learned is to follow opportunities, but always bring my passion with me. And if we have that mindset of like, okay, I'm gonna bring my passion to the table here and we're gonna figure out how to how to build business, how to grow businesses. Because at the end of the day, if if you don't have leads and customers, I would argue you you have a very expensive hobby. That's not a business unless you have a system of providing those in. And so as you mentioned, man, it's been um insurance agency. We have uh in the construction side of things, um, uh in the healthcare space uh companies as well. Um, but every single one of those is our sole focus was not that I'm passionate about any of those things. We've certainly had to vetted out like, are we providing excellent service, excellent products in the marketplace? Because this is where I think a lot of Christians fail, um, where they don't have that the conviction of actually being excellent. And and as Colossians tells us to to everything we do, we are to work as if we're working for the Lord, not for anybody else. Right. And it's just like if I'm doing that, like I want to be, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be working my tail off to provide, not in a works manner. Like we know that we're not saved by works, but scripture tells us we are saved to do good works, right? Which, which is like, okay, now I'm gonna take this thing seriously and and be responsible with what I've been given. Uh, and then knowing that if I do that, I know that God's God's not gonna do our part. We certainly can't do his part, but I got to do my part and I know he will do the rest. Um, and in the business world, that's that's where we've we've really focused on um new client acquisition and and and everything that we do, and then partnering with the right other leaders that can that can fulfill with the products and services that we have.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So you talk about the importance of of good marketing. Um, what's one aspect of cultivating a Christ-centered company culture that you've implemented in these companies that generally doesn't get enough attention from Christian business leaders, you find?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uh that's great. I think that there's two ways to look at this from a uh you said Christ-centered culture. Um, I think from a there's two customers as a business owner. I feel like there's two customers that I'm serving. There's there's the customers that I'm trying to get that are gonna exchange you know dollars for the value that we provide, but then also my employees are just as much as my customers as anybody else. And that comes back to the culture that that we have to create. Um, and ultimately, I think culture is only gonna is only going to be as good as the vision um that's laid out, right? And so, and and I find this from the seven days of creation that that God lays out in Genesis on the He actually has an actual structure and order. It's fascinating. The the what the Bible provides us as with templates and and just it's it truly is our operating manual, especially in the business world. Problem is most of us just aren't really looking to it. But if we come back to it, we can create that culture where people um people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, right? This is why there's there's even other religions out there that people we we have something innate within us where we want to worship something, right? Pride and ego obviously come into play, though, uh uh in which we want to be worshipped, right? Uh, and and that's where uh creating that culture where it's like, hey, we are gonna be servants first, uh, we have to be intentional because everything within the kingdom economy that this is is almost inverse to what the culture tells us, what the world tells us, right? The scripture tells us if you want to be first, you got to be last, right? Scripture tells us that if you if you want to um receive, you got to give, right? It's like, what how does this actually work? Because most people in the business world are operating with worldly concepts, and and that's the culture that they're bringing in. But when you can create kingdom culture within your organization, that will that will absolutely flow out into the rest of the marketplace to draw those those new clients and and customers to you. And so it starts internally, man. Um, but that is based upon the vision that you've laid out for your employees. Are they are they excited? Are the culture that they're you're creating, are they excited to come to business, come to work, um, or are they like, ah, that's another Monday?
SPEAKER_02What's a what's an actual habit that you've implemented to to cultivate a Christ-centered culture in your companies?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I think the biggest thing is identifying, um, I mean, number one, unashamedly be what you're about, right? Everybody that doesn't take long to know that I'm about Jesus. Uh, and and so I'm unashamed about that. And if we're even if hiring um non-believers, they know what we're about before that that's going to take place. And I'm I'm not never backing down from that. Um, but I think the understanding you're uh at the end of the day, each person is a is a person, as an individual, depending upon how many you know, employees that that people have, it can get chaotic really, really quick, uh, where you lose the sense of that of that family-like culture, right? And I want everybody to know people, people want to be seen and heard. And uh, if even if my relationship with my wife, all she really wants is to be seen and heard, and me being present with her and taking that time to do that. So I think it's important if you if you have multiple employees uh from the top down, it's gonna start with you being able to pour into your managers uh ultimately so they can be the managers and mentors that that need to, it's a trickle-down effect, right? But it absolutely starts with you, with the vision that you cast to create the culture to ultimately have the structure in place for your organization to actually thrive.
SPEAKER_02Well said. One of the things I've heard you talk about is this statistic about dollars being spent within uh different faith communities and kind of comparing the the the sort of internal uh consumption of of money among Christians versus uh Jews versus Muslims. Um what what is what are those statistics and what do you make of that?
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness, man. This is like at the core of of what we do in the business world. I believe that this it starts and ends with us as business owners, as entrepreneurs to usher in the change that I believe needs to take in order to create the kingdom economy, right? And and just a quick, what is the what is this kingdom economy? Well, first off, kingdom, we can break that down. We know Jesus is king, okay, and it the dumb D O M, the suffix of that is considered uh uh like a state or a being, right? So people are experiencing boredom or freedom or stardom, right? It's it's more of a verb tense. So kingdom, when Jesus returned, it was like the kingdom of heaven is is is here. That's what he was preaching. And um, from an economy standpoint, we look at you know how a nation actually is is is rated from the from an economic standpoint is is based upon the GDP, the gross domestic productivity. Key word productivity in that. And I think as as we're being productive in the marketplace, um that's gonna be uh we're we're creating this kingdom economy. Now, what we do, how how we're productive with that, uh it's it's not that hard. Uh the Bible tells us really how to how to do so. Um, but I think the biggest thing that we've discovered is that there is almost zero loyalty uh amongst fellow believers. And and what I mean by that is within the Christian faith, we'll say that there's tremendous loyalty outside of the Christian faith. As you mentioned, that so those of the Islamic faith in the Muslim community, one dollar, okay. If I'm gonna if I'm gonna a consumer and I have a dollar, I'm gonna go buy something. Uh, those with the the Muslim um in the Muslim community will actually choose to do business with somebody of their same faith 14 to 16 times before that one dollar will ever leave that that community, right? So it's it's uh 14 to 16 times with them in the in the with the Islamic faith. Um Jewish community, it's uh 10 to 13 times, right? Where they're this is why I mean it's we even just kind of can uh it's maybe it's like a stigma or something where it's like people that are Jewish are like they're they're they're wealthy, they have money generationally, it's because they're loyal, they're gonna choose to to do business with each other in the Christian community, Darren, is zero to one. Zero to one. And this is where it all this really takes is a little bit of intention. And but here's here's where I think um we've gotten this wrong. Uh, the enemy's done an incredible job of infiltrating the minds of believers. This is what he's done since the beginning of time with with uh just instilling a little bit of doubt, right? Like, did God really say in the garden, did God really say the enemy cannot block our blessing? Let's be crystal clear, but he can block our mindsets that causes us to do all the damage to ourselves, right? And so what I think has happened is that we think good stewardship, uh as being a Christian, is to shop at the cheapest, crappiest store possible. And that's what we're being good stewards because Dave Ramsey said, I gotta operate on this budget and I'm I'm being a good steward. Meanwhile, um what you're truly doing is you're serving mammon in that, right? Because the Bible tells us that that you cannot serve both God and money, or uh the uh more correct translation would be mammon, and that's the spirit of money, the the power that. That we give it. And how the only way that I've really determined this, Darren, is of like, how do I know? Because this is a big thing for me four years ago. And I'm like, I'm crushing business, but I'm am I serving God or am I doing this just to serve money? And a lot of people think that it's serving money just means that you're you're you're trying to go get more and you're you're an entrepreneur, right? Like you're serving money. Oh, all you're worried about is money, uh, or all you talk about is money. Like, no, I think most Christians are serving money in their poverty. And the reason for that is there the the statistics actually show this. Like they're choosing to buy something to store even to not buy something based upon mammon, based upon what what what they see with their lack, their limited eyes, thinking that uh the enemy's tricked us into that stewardship versus um, for example, like if I if I need to get a book published, why in the world would I go to anybody outside of the faith? Why wouldn't I come right to you, Darren, and say, hey, um, I need to publish a book because I want to sew into you. I'm gonna it could even be cheaper somewhere else. I have no clue what you charge, but it could even be cheaper somebody somewhere else. But I'm gonna be intentional because the Bible tells us to sew on good soil, right? Like if I'm gonna be intentional, I can sew into your business and hopefully you're a tither, right? And that's going then going into now 10% is is is just out of out of honor and reverence for the fear of God. Like we're we're giving back to him what is already his, but that's also going to kingdom advancement, right? L that goes to the church, to operations, to allow them to do what they need to do. And they're hopefully tithing, right? And then you're also going to buy services from somebody else. Like you should do it with another believer and keeping this kingdom economy, keeping the dollar within the Christian community so that we can actually take territory. We can actually advance the kingdom, being provisioned for the vision and ultimately serve God so that money then can serve us, right? That's where we get this thing wrong is understanding the only way I've dictated that, like, how do I know if I'm serving God or if I'm serving mammon is asking myself the question, who is dictating the decision? Is it because of mammon, of lack, or is it because God has told me to do this? I'm I'm in alignment with Him, right? And this happens, I think we just did a at our church, kingdom builders, like they're raising money, and it's like, how many people I think are like they get God tells them to 10,000 bucks and they're like, I don't even have that in my bank account, God, like I can't do that, right? So we immediately are like, that wasn't God, right? So we're serving mammon versus actually taking that step of faith and operating uh in in the biblical manner of serving God so then money can actually serve us. Because last I read, dude, I think you got the same Bible as me, but we serve a God uh that owns a cattle on a thousand hills, and he is a God of prosperity, he is a God of abundance. The problem is everything that the that he has created, Satan has counterfeited and tweaked it and put doubt within our minds of how to actually operate with kingdom biblical authority on this earth. And it starts, as I mentioned, within the business community, within the this the entrepreneurship space, and it will trickle down into the marketplace if we get this thing right.
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SPEAKER_01It just takes a little bit of intention. Like I mean, you can see the I mean I live in Minneapolis and I just see segments of our um the the metropolis there where uh those of the Islamic faith are coming in and within three years, man, they've completely taken over. They they've they've completely taken over. The culture was changed. And this is where which what used to be a Christian culture, Christian community. Now there's mosques in and buildings where a church used to be. It's it's sad, it's disheartening, it's sickening, and it's it as much as people hate to say it, it's like they have influence. And and when they can come in and is it it the almighty dollar, right? We'll call it that, that that they're they're doing, they're exchanging hands with each other, but back to what I think we've just gotten wrong in our Christian faith. It's like it's they're they're looking at it as the almighty dollar, not the almighty God that gets to dictate and control my dollar of where to purchase. Um, and it's hard to find. Like, I mean, it's hard to just think like off the top of my head, like, okay, who's a Christian company out there? Most of us are like Chick-fil-A, uh, how we hear a lot about Hobby Lobby. Uh, what are these other ones? Like, it's it's hard for us, especially if I mean that's like macro. If we come down in my community, who's another fellow believer? Um, and that's partly what we're doing is we're creating that kingdom directory for people to actually know, like not only uh nationwide, but in my community, in my church. What's it who's another business owner? Like, if I if I needed my house painted, why wouldn't I find somebody within our local church that paints houses? Right now, they better be doing it well, because if not, then that's another accountability factor of like, all right, well, you're you're supposed to operate in excellence, bro. So where are we at here? Um, and I think it's it's twofold in that of like continually operating in excellence, putting out the best product, best service possible, um, but also then keeping the dollar within that kingdom community that will give us influence. Um, and it starts locally and then it can go regionally and ultimately globally.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. And you you see this play out not only in the way that money is handled and money is spent, but the way disciples are made or not made. Like with young people, I don't know about your first job. My first job was working in a in a restaurant. Um and and so I I I don't know if you know about Bojangles, but um down here in the in the south, you know, I was I was working back in the kitchen and uh making that fried chicken and biscuits. I tell you what, that is one dirty job. Um but you know, I was around uh some I mean, this is not anything negative about Bojangles as a company, but it's just the nature of the restaurant industry. You're around a lot of people that are, you know, they're not exactly on the best trajectory in life, um, and and generally not on uh on a godly trajectory. And this is how I was being discipled. And and but you look at in the Jewish culture, a young boy is gonna get his first job, is gonna be working in his father's shop, right? And I haven't studied this among Muslims. I assume it's probably a similar um a similar principle in play. Um, but there's just it's like, well, um I can't I can't afford to pay my to pay my kid to come work in the company, or I'm not a s I'm not a business owner, you know, which is another another matter. And probably starting out, a lot of us need to be focused more on starting our own businesses than just kind of going after the the W-2 by default and then teaching our and and that's how the kids are taught that well, you just need to go where you can be where you can get a job. And hey, who's hiring? Drive up and down you know the main drag through town and look at the billboards and well McDonald says they're paying uh you know $13 an hour, and uh Burger King says they're paying $14 an hour. I don't know what they pay. But um so you know that's that's where you need to where you need to go. But but we just we don't think strategically enough, do we, Riley?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, oh man, I I love even talking about this because I think when I read the Bible, again, if I'm gonna look at this thing as our operating manual, I don't see anything in the Bible referencing an employee, right? If here's what I see in the Bible I see masters, I see slaves, I see servants, and then there are laborers, right? Like Paul was a tent maker as well. I bet can you imagine Paul? This is just kind of a funny to think about. Like that I bet the dude crushed at selling tents. Like we don't know, but you're so driven, he had he had to drive as passionate. He's got to be like, man, I've got the triple stitch tent, this, this, the what you know, who knows back then. But I bet he was really freaking influential in the tent making space, right? And and I think here's what culture has has done again. It wasn't really, I mean, in 1913, this is the this the stats. In 1913, 3% of people we're talking here in America were considered employees. 97% were independent contractors or like entrepreneurs, right? Uh, and and that was a you know, whatever, 110 years ago now. That number today is completely inverse. Completely inverse. It's most people have become employees um and are not seeking like starting their own thing. And this is all has happened strategically from the industrial revolution, when which they knew that they needed employees. They wanted a hard worker that will that will put in, you know, how what's the most that I have to pay them, or excuse me, the least that I have to pay them. What can I pay them? Where they're gonna come in, they're gonna do a specific task for a specific period of time. And it was actually even at that point in time, too, in 1913, the school system was essentially hey, you would come uh to school until about the seventh grade, and then you start a business, like, or you take over, as you mentioned, like your dad's blacksmithing business, or you made tents or whatever it was. But the school system has as largely indoctrinated us to create employees, right? Whether we like it or not, we can sit back and just look at culture, how they have created this mindset that you think you go to school, you show up at a specific time, you get a bathroom break, or maybe a recess break, you get a lunch break, the bell rings, you sit back down. Uh, this looks pretty much like an employee, right? And now, even the school system, college these days, it's like they literally you go hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to then hopefully get a job that is like a third of what your debt you've accumulated on an annual basis. You've literally created a master slave relationship uh versus just providing value to the marketplace. Now, obviously, schooling is great if you're going for a specific thing, like an attorney or uh a doctor of some sort. But if you're going to go to go get a uh uh philosophical degree in uh butterfly, you know, weaving, I don't even know if that's a thing, but like, come on, what are you doing here? And and I I think this is just what culture has has accepted versus creating uh or um providing an ability for kids to think creatively, like thinking outside of the box and and not just memorization, but actually giving them a problem and making them solve it and actually figuring out like how things work and even auditing our thoughts of like why do we think the way that we think? Uh and that's I think where entrepreneurs thrive, right? Or business owners thrive is they they create value. And then now we we it's wonderful to have employees. I have employees, but every single one of my employees, the culture that we've created is that they're they have an entrepreneur mindset, right? Meaning the the root word of entrepreneur, the the French word of it, entreprene, prende, pardon my French, Darren. Um, but it literally means to undertake. That's it. So whether you're an employee getting an hourly rate or you're on salary or something like that, everybody that works with with within our organizations, they're there to undertake. And they know that they are they are so bought into the mission and the vision of what we're doing that they're they're happy to come. And and that's the culture that we've created. And I think more business owners in the kingdom business owners need to do this uh wisely in order to have that actual impact, again, creating that that culture. But um yeah, it's it's it's very interesting to just to think about even at the last 150 years, how things have changed so dramatically uh with what we accept in the business world.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I wanted before we uh wrap it up, I wanted to hear a little bit more about the seven-day blueprint. Um, can you without you don't have to go through the whole thing, but just give us a couple of snapshots of of what that's about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I'll try to keep it quick. So I think I've I've referenced this Genesis chapter one. Um, again, I'm looking at the Bible as a like, how do I how do I run my life? And then how do I run my businesses? And if this is if this is truth, can I walk this thing out? And there's so many principles within the Bible, starting in Genesis, as a business owner, as a creator, why in the world wouldn't I follow the original creator's blueprint? Right. And he's laid it out on how he created for six days and then rested the Sabbath, which he created for man, for us, the need for that. Uh, but real quick, day one, God said, Let there be light. Uh, that most people, when they hear light, they think of like the sun. Uh, the sun wasn't even created until day four, when you actually look like look through this. And so, what in the world was God saying when he said, Let there be light? Um, because scripture also tells us that God is light. And so, what he was doing uh when he spoke, first off, he spoke everything into existence, which I think is a model that you know uh that we should follow. The the power of our words is is so influential. Um, and so are we speaking life or are we speaking death? God spoke life, let there be light. He cast vision, he cast his energy for ultimately what he was going to continue to create. And this is where I think, as every entrepreneur, if your vision is not strong enough, or your vision has to be strong enough to give any sort of pain purpose in your in your business, in your life, right? And and because even understanding this, that God actually, being Alpha and Omega, he knew we were gonna fall. If he, if he, if he is omniscient, he knows all things, everything that's going to happen. He knew we were gonna jack this thing up in the very next chapter. Like, why did he still do it? His vision gave that pain purpose. He he had it so clear, he knew what he was ultimately creating. Day two, it said he separated the heavens from the earth. Uh uh, and essentially he created the atmosphere, right? And when the business world, I consider this culture. So we have vision, we have culture. Day three, he peeled back the waters to create dry land and vegetation. This would be how we actually even can breathe on this earth today, right? He carbon dioxide into oxygen, the photosynthesis, all of this actually is there's an incredible order that God put this into place, which is actually day four, what I would consider order. It said this is where he put the sun and the moon, placed the stars in the sky, uh, and he created time. What we would consider how we monitor a 24-hour time period, uh, which is essentially the implementation of structure, right? So the the structure that we have is is like the playbook in our business, right? Not I don't even think like a business plan, business plans uh are irrelevant to most employees. Like they don't, unless you're trying to raise capital or something, you need a daily your what are your SOPs? What's the playbook that I have to run? And the order would be actually implementing that playbook. And it um once we do that, we get to day five, which is I consider momentum because this is where God said he created the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. And this is where it's like gets really exciting because first off, he had to create the vision, the atmosphere, the structure, the order first, in order for animals to even live, right? We had to have air to breathe, we had to have vegetation to eat. Also, uh, when the birds would would uh you know defecate, we'll call it not to get too gross in this, but that actually provided fertilizer for the the plants in the coral reef that then the fish could eat, that then the birds could eat. And this this is like this the momentum. So in business, this is your different divisions, your marketing, your sales, HR, uh everything in place here has to be creating, it has to be um cohesive in that we're we're able to actually gain momentum. Because if marketing's not working, sales are down, right? If sales are down, it's gonna affect HR and everybody else because money's not coming in. So one thing is not more important than the other. It's it's having that momentum to ultimately day six, then multiply. So where he created the rest of the animals, and then he gave us what I believe is our kingdom entrepreneur mandate is to be fruitful, to subdue this earth, right? To to multiply, subdue this earth, actually have dominion. And this is before the fall. So this is like the kingdom culture mandate, more than just making babies, Darren, but that's a part of it. But it's more of this culture that we are to have dominion on this earth, uh, and then ultimately day seven is the Sabbath. So it's a framework that that we coach on. This is how we teach and how we create every how we, if you're looking to create a relationship, start with this framework. What's the vision? What's the culture? Is there structure? Is there a playbook that we're operating? Is there an order where we're accountable, where we're measuring? These are like our KPIs in the marketing world. Uh where we actually have that order to create momentum to ultimately scale our business, multiply, never though, um sacrificing the Sabbath, because that's what God actually created for man, not man for the Sabbath, knowing that we we need to rest. Um and also it's just a way of honor. Uh like we're we're reflecting, we're we're worshiping God in everything that we do. And that is that seven-day blueprint.
SPEAKER_02Beautiful. Yeah, I love how just the whole seven day seven days of creation, it's a it's a process. And it, I mean, for for many of us, I think what gets us uh hindered from being able to advance in our entrepreneurial calling is we just get analysis paralysis or or just we just get kind of seized up on maybe comparing ourselves to some other company that's been around for 10 years longer than we have. And well, if I'm not gonna be able to jump right to that, then I I'm just gonna sit on my hands. Um but but I mean, God literally, I mean, he started with everything, he he is everything, but he created the world out of nothing, formless and void. So wow, what a what a model. It's the the the framework of all frameworks, right? Yes. So the book is the seven-day blueprint, and then join kingscouncil.com is the website to learn more about the King's Council. Anything else you want to say uh in terms of a call to action?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would say, I mean, um we can get you that that framework. Uh, I like to use this as like a uh an x-ray of my business, where just a snapshot of where am I at? Because it's it's a it exposes those areas where maybe we don't have momentum or order isn't happening, or they don't even have a playbook, the structure to actually run things. So it exposes those things. So again, join kingscouncil.com. Um uh we'll we'll direct you on how to get uh that information on there, ton of free resources that that we provide within our app that will actually help walk through these biblical frameworks on on how to actually, again, do this thing of life, but with a kingdom perspective uh and ultimately uh bring intention into everything that we're doing. Not only with the it starts with our business, but it's amazing how it trickles into every as every other aspect of our life as well.
SPEAKER_02Beautiful. Riley, thanks for the important kingdom work you're doing, and thanks for uh imparting some of that wisdom to our listeners today and to me uh in particular. Uh we all we all need it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely, Dan. It's been my pleasure, man. Appreciate you.
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