Welcome back to the Christianity in Fitness Podcast, an initiative of the RTW Dunham College of Business at Houston Christian University. I'm your host, Darren Shearer, and this is a show that helps Christian business leaders to integrate biblical values into business. On this episode, we're joined by Bob Wilbanks. Bob is CEO of G7 Networking Incorporated, which keeps God in the middle of networking, driving business for their members while helping them grow personally, professionally, and spiritually through building relationships that matter. He's also co-local owner with his wife Barb of Next Door Photos Twin Cities, which really has a remarkable story. Bob, welcome to the Christianity and Business Podcast.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much, Darren, for having me. Looking forward to our conversation today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. It was so good to connect with you at the Great Awakening Movement conference up in DC a couple of weeks ago. And um I just really uh Bob and I really just had a kindred spirit there. And um I I was just leaving that meeting. He was one of the main guys I wanted to make sure that I stayed in touch with. Just love your heart, brother. Um so tell us um, well, first of all, you started to share the story of Nextdoor Photos Twin Cities. I know we're gonna really get into uh the the theme of networking here in a little bit, but I want to hear more of the story of Nextdoor Photos Twin Cities.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was kind of an interesting situation. Uh and I think it's a uh it applies to this networking uh theme that we have today because uh we stumbled upon it through networking. And uh prior to starting G7 networking and being part of Nextdoor Photos, uh I ran a marketplace ministry in the Twin Cities. I I had founded it uh that was called uh and is called uh Ambassadors for Business. And uh it basically what we were doing was helping people connect faith and work. And part of the offerings that we had was uh we were doing some business incubation work and things like that, bringing people in that were thinking about starting up businesses and providing them biblical content and direction as to how to do this God's way. And I got connected with uh Ryan Mahaffey uh with uh uh Feast Over Famine uh out in Colorado, and just an awesome guy. And we were having an uh awesome uh conversation. It was through the network, my network, that connected me. And as we were talking, he asked, What's your wife do? And I said, Well, she's a real estate photographer, she's had a real estate photography business here in the Twin Cities for about 20 years, you know, and it's it's just one of those things, kind of a smaller business. Uh we we've tried to scale it a few different times, and every time that we tried to do that, we ran into problems because she would have to uh edit everything herself. So we would add photographers, and now all the editing would pile up on her, and especially during the summer, she just didn't have the bandwidth to be able to execute. And so we were literally looking at, you know, particular potentially shutting that business down. And he goes, uh man, have you seen next door photos? And I said, No, I've never never heard of them. He goes, Oh, I'm surprised you haven't heard of them. They're expanding all across the country. Uh, they got this really cool thing called a redemptive supply chain. I said, redemptive supply chain, what's that? He said, Well, that's where they they have actually worked out a deal with organizations over in the 1040 window that are rescuing people out of sex trafficking, human trafficking, and extreme poverty to be able to prop them up. So they they rescue them, they put them through rehab, and then they provide conduits for them to replace that income and have a viable standard of living, uh not only for themselves, but for their for their families. And next door photos is one of those conduits that they can plug into. Should those people have the uh aptitude to be able to look that they look like they can actually execute in those areas, they're invited to go through this university-style training program for six months where they're trained in on all the softwares and they get certified and all their needs are cared for, not only for themselves, but their families. And then when they graduate out of that, they have the opportunity to make a choice of whether or not they stay with next door photos full-time or take their newfound skill sets out into the marketplace to see what happens. Over 95% of them make the choice to come with next door photos, and our recidivism rate is less than 2% once they come over to us full time. It's just amazing. Um, we currently employ over 350 people over there full time through the over 70 local owners of next door photos around the country. And Barbara and I are just really proud to be part of that mix. So uh, you know, long story short, basically what happened was uh we fast tracked. We found that, and it's a kingdom-led organization that's doing business for the glory of God that has this beautiful redemptive supply chain. And we're like, we're all in. And uh we we joined uh uh as local owners of the Twin Cities April 2021 and haven't looked back. It's just been a beautiful experience.
SPEAKER_01Wow, what an incredible business model. I love that that term redemptive supply chain. Is this uh a Christian run company or they they're just some great people?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, absolutely. Taylor Bloom uh uh was the founder, uh kind of chief architect of of everything initially. Uh everybody in the the the the in management is there. We we start most, not all, but most meetings and in most meetings with prayer. There's references to you know to our faith all throughout. Uh people aren't required to be Christian to join. Uh people aren't required to be Christian to be part of the Media Pros or uh even part of that redemptive supply chain. Uh, but it's just you know, got the aroma of Christ all over it. And uh we we just we love, we've been so blessed by by working in that environment.
SPEAKER_01Wow. And I love how the you guys getting involved with this opportunity came through networking, and which happens to be our theme for today. And you have um you're the CEO of G7 Networking. Tell us uh about the model.
SPEAKER_00Sure. So G7 networking, um, maybe I'll just go back briefly uh to the root of what's going on and how it all happened, if that's okay. Um, you know, I um I've most of my life I've been out there as this lead, follow, get out of the way guy, right? Uh, you know, I I loved business, I loved the American dream. Uh success was a big, big thing to me. Uh, you know, I'm like, man, uh I I've got to uh I've got to figure out how to uh succeed in life, how to drive the fastest, best looking car, have it have the huge house, all that. That's how I was driven. And throw on top of that, I had an alcohol issue, and it was a pretty messy life. And I won't get into the whole you know redemption story, but in in 2012, I had a come to Jesus moment where I was healed from that alcohol addiction. Uh it literally transformed my life overnight, uh, saved my marriage with my wife, Barb. Uh and I was just so grateful for everything that happened. And as I was looking back at everything and beginning to really immerse myself in my faith and put God number one in my life and making the center of all that I do, I realized that I had lived most of my adult life as a miserably saved Christian. I love that term, miserably saved Christian versus being lukewarm. Okay. It was like I was running around with this get out of jail free card in my back pocket, right? And and don't look at the way I'm living my life, but I'm a Christian, right? And so the the heart behind G7 was really where do we find the miserably saved Christians? Where do we find the lukewarm of this world and help them connect into uh chapters of like-minded people, uh, not only to grow spiritually, but to grow their business, right? To to come together to do business together and share our spheres of influence to help each other grow faster uh and more consistently. Uh so that's really the heart behind it. And we we deliver on that uh through our once-a-month meetings uh where the chapters get together and run through seven G's. And I'll just say them real quick, and then we can, if we want to dig into them a little deeper, we can. Uh, it starts with gospel and prayer, moves to group introductions, then grade, that's where we measure what we want to manage. God in the middle, that's where a member provides a portion of their testimony or a recent God story or Godsidence. Uh then grow, which is biblically based content that helps people grow personally, professionally, or spiritually. There's an accent or a focus on the spiritual side. Uh, and then we finish up with the get and the gift. What's your elevator pitch uh and your ask? And then who can you help? So that's G7 networking in a nutshell with the heart behind it.
SPEAKER_01A lot of people have uh they're kind of skeptical about the idea of networking. It sounds maybe a little bit uh sleazy or or something like that. Um, what's the right and wrong way to do business networking as a Christian?
SPEAKER_00Well, great question. You know, I think networking can have both good and bad connotations. Uh it depends on how you're approaching it. A lot of times people associate networking with events like um at a chamber event where there's a mixer and you end up with all these huddles, you know, people that know each other, and and uh you know, you try and break into the huddle and you're kind of shunned, or uh, you know, there's people running around passing cards, and everybody's kind of looking for that magic pill. Uh and uh their end, that that end user, that prospect uh that's gonna save the day for them. And I think that's where networking gets some bad connotation. Um, really, that's not networking to me, that's prospecting. Um, that that's sales. And those those are the terms that should be more uh associated with those types of events. Where true networking, you're not coming together to do business necessarily with each other. You come together uh to build relationships with others that are built on trust, right? Where you trust that individual to the point where you will open up your sphere of influence to that individual and help them grow their business. So, you know, every person on average knows at least 250 other people with which they have influence. So if you come into a chapter and you don't see your end user, that's not a bad thing. Build relationships with the people in the chapter and help them understand what it is that will help you as you get to understand what will help them. And out of our spheres of influence, the spirit will guide and direct us towards the proper referrals to make. And those referrals are kind of they transfer the trust of the relationship. So it shortens sales cycles and increases close ratios. Uh, so it saves time. Uh, so that's effective networking, and and what we focus on is relationship before referral.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What are some biblical applications to help us approach networking from uh uh with with the right heart and the and just the right approach?
SPEAKER_00I I've always loved the parable of the sower for so many reasons when it comes to networking or sales and marketing and so forth. Uh, you know, you think back to Jesus and and the apostles and then the multiplication to the disciples, and then the multiplication from there, where there was this discipleship thing. And we'll circle back around to discipleship here in a moment, but you know, it it really came down to casting the seed, right? So seed is sown, and we all know, you know, if you if you're trying to to be the the sail uh of the ship, you know, say that the sail, the wind, uh that's that's driving the the revenue for the organization, you have to sow seeds. And uh we just know you you develop leads by sowing. And sometimes they fall into the weeds, sometimes the burn, the the birds get them, uh the weeds choke them out, but you know, every once in a while it lands in that fertile ground and you get those big returns. That's what networking is all about. If you're just going into a networking group or to a networking event and seeking your end user, all you're really finding is that non-fertile ground in my mind, because you're not getting a multiple uh impact. By developing these relationships of trust, you develop uh this repeatable process of getting quality referrals from people that you trust and tapping into their vast networks uh that they have, right? So it's the fertile ground, it's the 30, 60, 100fold return that's promised in the parable of the sower. So the fertile ground is the cultivated relationships of trust uh that is mentioned in that parable of the sower. It allows us to aim our seed, you know, to the most effective areas.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So that's one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What what's another one?
SPEAKER_00Uh so uh the other big one that I always like is that parable of the bags of gold, right? Or the talents, the parable of the talents. Uh everybody receives talents or bags of gold. And our role is to multiply what we have, right? So if I'm really thinking talents like talents of, you know, our talents, uh, it's to pour what we have into others. If I'm thinking bags of gold and multiplying what I have on that side, uh it's it's multiplying uh the the revenue streams, the the the um uh the total dollar volume that's coming in uh uh to the business. And so if we have that role, um shouldn't we be focused on uh networks that can can help us do that, people of like mind and spirit. Um it's kind of interesting when you start to think about, you know, the the parable itself was, you know, hey, I'm I'm I'm giving you five, it's turned into ten, well done. You know, I'm I'm giving you, you know, two, it's turned into four. I it depends on which uh reference points you use uh inside of there. But then the one servant buries the the the the talent or the bag of gold. And they're cast into darkness, right? It's just not this isn't what you do. And I I started asking the question myself, why? Why did they why did that servant bury that bag of gold or that that talent? And as I I chewed on that, uh the more I thought about it, it was because they didn't understand what the master wanted of them. They didn't have that intimate relationship with the master that was required to understand that maybe he wasn't absolutely perfect and you know, fair with the the expectations. You know, it says you're expecting return on things that you didn't even put any work or effort into, right? Uh, you're expecting me just to go out here and make these things happen and double this. Well, hey, you know, you got to understand who you serve. So one of our big callings inside of G7 is to help people grow spiritually so they can develop that intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that opens that doorway or pathway to an intimate relationship with the Father and releases the Holy Spirit and and the fruit of the Spirit into our life.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, beautiful. Bob, what's one of your favorite stories of a member that has been impacted as a result of joining G7?
SPEAKER_00Oh boy, there's so many of them. Uh and and you know, I I think I can maybe just do uh uh an overview on that because the the general uh feel is first off, uh before finding G7, uh I I felt alone and and kind of under attack in this world. There was a there's a lot of darkness out there, right? And and now I found a point of light, uh a place where I can come when there's people of like mind and spirit that are trying to to win in business too, right? Uh and and I have the comfort level of being able to pray, uh, have gospel, uh, and and be edified while I'm also, you know, able to champion my business and and doing business and and getting deals done is is you know a welcome site, right? So uh I think that's first and foremost. Uh secondarily, we hear from people that they were just not finding anything organized out there that really had an emphasis on that. We always like to say uh we put 100% emphasis on the goal of G7 being to drive business for our members. But we are also 100% behind our purpose to grow our members spiritually, right? You don't have to be Christian to join a G7 networking chapter. Uh we we we invite anybody and everybody, but no, you're gonna have gospel and prayer. There's gonna be God stories and and testimonies, and there's gonna be grow content that helps you grow personally, professionally, and spiritually with biblical principles involved. So, what we generally see from our members is this commentary on man, not only am I doing business, but I'm doing life better, right? Um I I feel like I'm supported, I have a place I can go where people truly understand what I'm trying to accomplish with my overall life, not just what's driving my business. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, well said. And so people can get involved at g7networking.com. And and so there's there's now over 30 chapters around the country, right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, that's correct. And and we're really we're looking, we're ready to to to drop those seeds into any market. We have a process that's proven. Uh, it started uh in the twin cities. Uh it was birthed out of that nonprofit ambassadors for business, uh, kind of a response to COVID was really how it was birthed. But in the Twin Cities, we've got 14 active chapters and another one that's spun up up in Duluth. Uh July of 2021, uh, Bob Lambert out of Chicago said, Hey, I really want to bring this to Chicago. And he's successfully ramped up uh six. Actually, I think there's two more forming right now. So he'll have a total of eight chapters in the Chicago land area just since July of 21 to now. Uh and then um, you know, we launched out into Columbus, down into uh uh over into Pittsburgh and down into Orlando. Orlando's on fire right now. I think we've got five active chapters with two more forming. So, you know, uh we're we're we're launching into Greenville, South Carolina. Uh uh, we're up in Muskegon, Michigan, uh just getting formed up there. Uh looks like Philadelphia is going to be coming on board. Uh we have people wanting to bring it into uh Arizona, into Scottsdale and Phoenix, uh, and into Texas and Austin and Dallas. Uh so we we have these seeds that are being cast all over, and we have a process that allows people to launch. So don't get discouraged if you get on the site and you don't see that there's a uh a chapter near you. Let's talk. You know, we we might have uh other people in those areas that are really wanting to get something started. Uh, and we're looking for leaders to help make that happen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And tell us again the so the the meetings are based on the seven Gs and what remind us of those seven, and then maybe which one of those seven is really kind of the crowd favorite that keeps people coming back. Certainly it's the combination, but I wonder if there's one that's you know really kind of the crowd favorite.
SPEAKER_00Right. Well, you know, I think one interesting that thing that happens is just a in there let me put it this way chapters you're gonna have chapters that are are small and just getting started, and others that are vibrant and really moving. And we've really identified that that it factor is the Holy Spirit and allowing enough room in the seven G's uh to let the spirit move. Sometimes you might have a really vibrant gospel passage that sparks uh quite a bit of conversation and uh uh just discussion. Uh, and we don't want to just quench the spirit in those areas, right? So, what was intended to be a five minute gospel piece might turn into 15 minutes of discussion, and and it's lively and it's lovely and it edifies people and it That's one of the reasons people come, right? Uh other times maybe the scripture, you know, it lands and rests, but there's really no need for the discussion. And within three to five minutes, we're moving on to group introductions. Uh, but now we got a little bit more space for uh allowing a little more depth of what is your personal side. So it's a group introduction where we don't get into the the uh uh uh elevator pitch. It's talking more about who you are as a person, help us understand you better, right? Uh so we'll ask questions like what brings you joy? So share that with us with the rest of the chapter, those types of things. So just trying to pull out and help people understand each other more. Uh the grade section can also be a wonderful area uh because we're we're talking about best practices and things that we're doing as a chapter or individuals that are having success, uh, that maybe helps the light bulbs go on for others in the chapter and brings uh, you know, again, vibrant discussion and growth. Now, all that being said, we get to the God and the growth sections. Those tend to be the favorites, right? Because that's where we're hearing a person's testimony or story, right? Uh something that's recently happened where they just, it's a godsidence or a God story or something that came out of their life, it's if it's not their testimony. But what it what this does is two things. It it knits our the chapters together like nothing else, because we're we're hearing from a person's heart. Uh, and then number two, it helps people talk from the heart. Uh, we as Christians tend to not be very vocal when we're out in the secular world. And, you know, as Christians, I don't believe there's a secular world for us. I believe everything is sacred. And we need to start acting that way and letting our our light shine. And the one thing the world cannot refute is your story. Learn how to tell it and tell it well, right? Yeah. So that tends to be the favorite part. And then number the second place is probably the grow because who doesn't like growing personally, professionally, spiritually, especially when there's biblical principles underpinning it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, beautiful. Well, it sounds like a solid, well-developed model. Um, G7networking.com. Um, Bob, as we wrap it up here, I want to ask you this question. Uh, what does it take to please God in business?
SPEAKER_00You know, I think we've been discovering this as an organization, you know, because we're out here with best intentions, right? Um, I love something that I heard recently. I was down at the uh expo in Florida that the US Christian Chamber put on. And uh it was what's what's your definition of success? And what the speaker had to say was becoming what God intended you to be. What's the definition of leadership? So as a business leader or business owner, what's the definition? It's helping others do the same. Right. And I and I think, you know, we we look at what God says to Jesus, you know, as he comes forth finally after being the carpenter, you know, and and you know, his whole history leading up to when he really has his coming out party at the baptism, uh, and he's like, well done, you know, this is my son with whom I'm well pleased, right? Uh and and then you hear the same thing, you know, on on the cross, right? And it's like the work effort, the and the worship are not to be separated, they're to be together. God is pleased by both. Our work needs to be our worship. It's avoda, right? Uh that I think that's that's really it. Um, I'll I'll finish with this. Um a big part or a revelation of of my transformation really was that I can't chase what the world wants me to chase. I need to focus on God. And I'll illustrate that just with this balance wheel that the world tries to sell us. Everybody's telling us that we need to be balanced and you need to compartmentalize everything in your life and rate it. And then once you rate it, go to work on those areas with which you're not that pleased. Well, when we do that on our own power, we suck energy from the other areas of our life that we are happy with, and we end up chasing around the outside of this life balance wheel, trying to fix things we have no business trying to fix. And God is saying, wait a minute, look at that little pin dot that's in the middle of that life balance wheel that represents me in your life. Start focusing there and growing that relationship and watch me fill your life from the inside out. That to me is what God wants from us. Put him first in all things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and he'll supply for the rest of what you need.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Well said, Bob. Uh, this has been a fantastic interview. Uh, thank you for sharing your time. Uh, folks, you've been listening to Bob Wilbanks from G7Networking.com. Go check out the website and see how you can get involved in a group in your area or maybe get a group started in your area. Um, Bob, my friend, thanks for uh taking the time out for us today.
SPEAKER_00Darren, thank you so much for having us and for the work that you do. You're a blessing.
SPEAKER_01We hope you've enjoyed this episode. And if so, we would greatly appreciate it if you'd leave us a quick rating and review for the Christianity and Business podcast on iTunes. You can get more information about HCU's Center for Christianity and Business, and sign up to receive free access to all issues of the Christian Business Review channel by visiting our website at Christianityandfusiness.com. Thanks for listening, and remember to keep integrating biblical values into your business.