Welcome back to the Christianity and Business Podcast, an initiative of the RGW College of Business at Houston Baptist University. I'm your host, Darren Sheer, and this is the show that helps Christian business leaders integrate biblical values into business. At the Center for Christianity and Business here in Houston, Texas, we have luncheons twice per year where we have a speaker or a panel of speakers discuss topics related to integrating biblical values in business. And on this episode, you'll have an opportunity to hear from the most recent panel, which consisted of extremely successful Christian women entrepreneurs who were asked questions about their experiences and lessons learned in the business world. The panelists were Tina Murray, the president of Mind Dance Marketing Incorporated, Leah Fall, owner and lead digital strategist at 15,000 qubits, Bonnie Helvey, who's the owner and executive director for Bonnie Group, and a market partner for Monad Global. And the panel discussion was moderated by Sharon Saunders, Vice President for Advancement in University Relations at Houston Baptist University. And I've attended many of these events at HBU, and I've told numerous people this particular panel, I would say, was probably my personal favorite of all of those luncheons I attended. So please enjoy this amazing episode.
SPEAKER_05And with that, I want to begin with a question to my colleagues here and really ask each of you. Tina, maybe we'll start with you and then go down the table. What motivated you to pursue this entrepreneurial path that you've been on? You've been on it for a few years. So maybe each of you could speak a little bit about that to us.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, thank you. Well, good afternoon, everyone. I'm Tina Murray. I own a Mind Dance Marketing. It is an advertising brand management agency. We're based here in Houston, Texas. But um I think to answer that appropriately, I'd have to say it's two parts because I started my business when I was 26. And so the first part was just um part just being naive, part being just a little ignorant, and part being really bold. And um that chemistry was sometimes powerful and sometimes just really detrimental to me. But the other part of my start was my parents are both entrepreneurs. And so as soon as there was an opportunity for me to step out, um, they expedited that for me. My mom owns a printing company, and so I had logo business cards. Um, my dad had a has a phone company, so I had all the technology back in the day. It was a pager and a cell phone that was like this big. Um, but I had one. And um, my uncle is a real estate developer, and so he gave me an office inside one of his buildings. And so lots of people were rallying around me to say, you can do this. And so um, I think together those things. And and I think one of the big things about starting a business is that um I never did that on my own. You I asked questions and I I sought answers. And the moment that I thought I could do it by myself is exactly when it was revealed to me that I really couldn't and that I shouldn't. And um, people stood up behind me and said, Okay, ding dong, stop doing that. And I would say, that's this is what I want to do. And they would say, It's not, it's not it's not gonna work. And um, now I can look back, we're 21 years in business, and I can look back and say, I was a ding dong, right? And I can wear that label because it's part of my journey. Um, but people look at me now and say, Oh, you've achieved a lot. But and I struggled a lot and I suffered a lot and I worked myself uh, you know, into the bone a lot. And so where I am now is an end result of a lot of people on my journey with me, helping me be the best Tina and the best mind dance.
SPEAKER_04Great, great. Bonnie, do you want to take that? I do. But first, I want to tell you what an honor it is to be at this university. This is the best university in America. We give all the honor, praise, and glory to God our Father, Jesus our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit that guides us each day on our path. And this is the best university in the United States. I believe that totally. I was here, I'm dating myself, I was here when the pillars were installed. I was 10 when I started. So basically, I came out of uh university and went the corporate route. And I was in corporate management for 12 years. I had the fortune or misfortune to be there when the oil industry went and I watched them lay everyone 55 and older off. And at a young age, I said, that will not be me. And that was a commitment that I kept. So I had I was in the process of getting one of the first executive MBAs here at university uh at HBU, which compliments to HBU for doing that because we worked full-time. I didn't the um MBA alongside. Okay. So perfect timing. I got my MBA and I started my business. Uh I'll tell you when December 1984. Uh I just dated myself 36 years ago. And uh it's a marketing design business, and I was determined, forgive me, corporate people, not to have anything to do with corporate, okay, that the company I worked for called me back to do a lot of work for them because I laid everybody off. So it did build a business from zero to a million in three years, and I branched out. Okay, so what motivated me? I wasn't gonna be put in the position to be like those people that were laid off. They were a number on a piece of paper, and I had a goal and a commitment and a commission from God to bless people in a business. That's my motivation. If I can't bless somebody, am I doing something, by saying something? It's not me. So I'm not a corporate fan. I now own three businesses and um in the process of helping build a marketing structure for a brand new for the business that I do not own. I'm in three now. I'm all for it.
SPEAKER_03Awesome. Okay, so um uh my name's Leah and I own 15,000 qubits. I have uh had my business. I started my business five years ago. So I'm a baby up here, and I'm and I'm incredibly humbled. Uh I'll explain a little bit about my company values and the um in and hopefully in future questions. Um but one of our values is having a growth mindset. And as a leader, I try to embody that and embrace it and push that forward through my own actions. And so just to let you know, I'm terrified right now. Um really nervous and and um I practice a lot, but um, I I don't really know. Like Bonnie grabbed my hand and next to me and she when we were praying, and I'm just so thankful for you guys, and I'm so thankful for this opportunity and thankful to be here. Um, so to tell you a little bit about how I pursued entrepreneurship, I didn't. God pursued entrepreneurship for me. Um, you know, an interesting fact is that uh a caterpillar has pieces of a butterfly in it before it dies and becomes a butterfly. And, you know, I feel like that's me. And um in my story, um about a while ago, I found myself, uh, you know, I grew up as a Christian. And my mom raised me, I went to church, and I was a strong believer. I got far away from that and I found myself in a doctor's office um hooked up to an EKG. And um I had had bulimia for 10 years, and he looked at me and he was, you know, really concerned because my heart rate was very low. And he said, I think I think you really need to go and live. I was in Memphis, I think you need to go and live with one of your parents because you are not safe right now. And and so it was either Ohio or here, and I hate cold weather. So I made my way down to Texas and uh and and so came down to Texas and I kind of continued that journey. I was in a dark place and I continued uh with that eating disorder and was depressed and just not in a good place. And um I got into a relationship and um and then I found myself in a pregnancy crisis center. And I remember the moment, um, it was about eight years ago. I remember the moment that she uh there was a lady that was there volunteering, and she put her hand on my knee and she said, Can I pray for you? And it had been the first time that somebody had prayed for me in over 10 years. And and so she prayed for me, and I remember I felt like this spark, uh, this like feeling of home. And I was so terrified. And I started going to church and I found my way to Second Baptist, and I started pursuing God and didn't realize the whole time he'd been pursuing me all the way through. And um, you know, through that, um uh I really deepened my relationship with God. He found me and I found my husband easier and um love of my life and the best thing ever. And so um, you know, all that happened, and and through that, God also put an opportunity of a um a job in my lap. And and I just I dove into that with all I had. I I got six promotions in that job. I was there for five years. Um, I didn't realize it at the time. And and for anybody that's looking to going into their career, I would ask you to have your eyes wide open to seeing leaders that are pouring into you because we have this belief of what mentorship is, but but really it's just somebody pouring into you. And and so I had somebody pouring into me and um and uh we got married, my husband and I came back three weeks later after the honeymoon, and she offered me my dream. She offered me the role of CMO at the company. It's now a $46 million company a few a few years later. Um, and also she offered to send me to Rice for my MBA and um here at A for you, so I'm happy to say I turned it down. Um but I turned it down because I just married the love of my life and we blended a family together. And my God-given priorities were my family at that point. And I knew I couldn't, I couldn't say yes. But the fact of the matter is that that that's a door that if I'd been living for myself, I would have ran right through it. And uh and so it was hard. It was one of the first times that I said no to a door because it was God's call in my life. And I said no to that door, and what God does for us, and and what I found that he does for me is that when I'm obedient and I don't walk through a door, he doesn't want me to walk through, he opens another door. And so he opened a door for me to go into um an agency where I deepened my technical skills. And um then rather quickly, uh I picked up this book, and also that was an entrepreneur that had that business. So I got to watch him build it. And I I got um bit bug, I got the entrepreneurial itch. So maybe pursued it, but not for very long. So I picked up a book and I started reading the e-myth. If anybody's interested in entrepreneurship, I would highly suggest that book. Uh, and and the emyth talks about um starting with the end in mind. And I remember my husband and I talking uh about I think that we want to start a business at some point. And we went on a run and um and we were talking, that tells you how fast we run, by the way. We were having a full-blown conversation. Uh, and so we started talking about it and we said, what are we gonna do? And we just felt that we just saw this vision of uh of a business. And I love what you said. We we just saw this vision of pouring into with my marketing skills and and our gifts, pouring into um churches and nonprofits and faith-based businesses and Christian entrepreneurs and using technical marketing skills to enable them to put God's calling on their life out into the community. And we just felt that calling. And so we we we were like, we got to do this at some point, like probably five years from now, we're gonna do this. And uh, and so we um we put the five-year time frame on it and we went and we we started thinking about names, and we the word faith kept coming up, and and to me, you know, faith for some reason, I just kept also thinking about Noah. And you know, when I thought about building a business, it seemed oversimplified to me. So I understand the naive thing. Very oversimplified. I was like, you just like you build an arc, you build a business. There's a lot more to it. Um, so you know, arc.com wasn't available. Uh and um, and my husband's really bright. So he realized that the arc is was 15,000 qubits, and and so then there's the company. And uh we had our our company name, we bought the domain, and we said five years. And five days later, I get a six-figure contract and the opportunity to start my business. And and so the the thing is is that God's timing's different than ours, and God's timing's perfect because that that's five years ago, you know. Fast forward today, I'm sitting here right now, and uh and I and if I we'd put our timing on it and we hadn't been willing to go with his, we wouldn't be here.
SPEAKER_05So and that's such a perfect integration of your faith in your work and your transparency in what you encountered during that process is phenomenal. And that's what we want this audience to hear is the journey that all of you have had. So thank you for sharing that. So, Bonnie and Tina, why don't you share a little bit each about your faith and how that has been integrated in the work that you do?
SPEAKER_04Okay, I'll be real bold and clear. It's always God. If it if God's not in it, I'm not in it. And it's tough sometimes to be obedient to God, but um, what I really recommend is the first thing to do is at some early point in your life figure out what your passion and your calling is because that's from God. And once you know that, then you focus and stay on the path to get you where your purpose is. And many of us, I wobbled, I'll tell you, I wobbled. I've got my family here, they've watched me wobble over the years, but I always knew I was headed right there for God. And so no matter where you are on your path in life, whether you're a student, uh particularly if you're a parent, I mean, I was a single parent for a good long time. So I'm gonna tell you God first, family second, career third, do not jumble those because your family is a very important God-given family. So um okay, so I started my marketing design business and um it was wonderful. I loved it. I loved the freedom to work for God, to talk about God, and to do things for God and not have to keep it undercover, under wraps. That's important to me. I think America needs more of that today. Don't you agree? It should never be under wraps. He's the number one, and in my opinion, that's what's missing in America. Okay. So every one of you that's sitting out there, particularly young students that are looking at your future and you're wondering, what am I gonna do? Figure it out and just follow the path. Learn like the executive MBA or the MBA programs, all of the programs here are wonderful. So just create a plan, which is what I did. I had a plan and I walked it out. Did not know that God was gonna drop me into another business that would allow me to be there for my daughter and go to all the events and pick her up from school and take her to school. That's a cherished time in the life of a woman, a mom. So that's very important. And I walked that path. I was actually trained by Mary Kay Ashe herself, which find a mentor that you value and trust that's walked the path and you can trust them and just do what they suggest. And just recently uh God opened another door, um, and it's a natural company called Monate. So that's the third company that I own right now. So um, am I answering your question?
SPEAKER_05Yes, and you know what, Bonnie, I can't imagine, but there could be someone who does not know perish the thought. Oh, seriously, Mary Kay Ash is. So would you mind?
SPEAKER_04She she's in heaven as of November 2001, but she was the world's leading female entrepreneur, and she took God as her partner back in 1963, came up with a marketing plan based on the Bible, the numbers in the Bible, and she walked it out like a strong woman. She was told in 1963, because her husband passed of a heart attack a month before they were opening the company. And so she was a woman in 1963, well before some of you were born, but just imagine, okay? Um, so one of the questions is how is it like to be a female entrepreneur? She was amazing. Everybody told her the accountants, the lawyers, everybody, you can't do this. A woman can't do this, but she said, Oh, yes, I can. I don't know if you know this, but her favorite um deal was the bumblebee. Do you know why? The bumblebee be it has thin, frail wings and a heavy body, hydrodynamically, it cannot fly, but it does it anyway. That's what entrepreneurs do. No matter what somebody says, you can't do it, watch me. You shouldn't do it, yes, I will. You set that determination, your mindset, you get the courage, the persistence, the focus, and a plan, and you march forward before God to create in this world what He has you purposed to create.
SPEAKER_05And so the rest of that history lesson, very quickly, is tell us about the pink Cadillac, and then we want to hear from Tina. Okay, from me?
SPEAKER_04Okay, you go ahead, give us the short version of the pink Cadillac. Everybody says when when you say, are you and Mary Kay, oh, do you drink that? Do you drive that pink Cadillac? Yes, I did. I drove every one of the cars, but that's not what it's about. She used that company to reach out to women, families across the world for God. The car doesn't matter, nothing matters but what's your motivation? Who do you work for? I work for God.
SPEAKER_05That's all. And it was her sales executives who reached the pinnacle who received a pink Cadillac. So, Tina, tell us about your career.
SPEAKER_06Well, I I would answer the faith question um by saying that before I started Mind Dance, I worked in radio. And so I worked for 104K RBE and 740K TRH on the AM side. And so when I started my business, my very first client was Chick-fil-A. And radio industry doesn't match the business of Chick-fil-A in the same culture. And I learned something really early on when I was starting my career through the Chick-fil-A brand, which is businesses are not Christian because Christ did not die for a business, he died for people. And so it became really important for me to dedicate my business to people. And so at my company, when I think about hiring people, and I'm always the last interview when we hire someone, my filter for whether or not I want you to join my organization is can I spend eight hours in the car with you and still like you? And sometimes I make people drive to Dallas and back with me just to make sure if they're in the senior position, I'm like, I gotta go on a road trip because I want to know if I'm gonna like them enough to bring them into my work family. Um and so I have other people, by the way, that ask real serious business questions. But for me, I'm gonna get in the car. We're gonna take a road trip. But so I think when I think about how do you infuse what God has planned. Yes, he has it planned for me and how that works in my business. But no, clarifying that he did not die for my business makes it so much easier for me to write a manifesto for my business that we did a few years back that lists 17 priorities in our business. And the first one is that we are family first. And I have three little girls. And so, um, well, they're not so little now, but they're still my babies. And so I went into business saying I'm never going to miss. And I set this distinctive parameters around why my family was my very first priority as a woman and um a mom and a wife. Like my priority is to my husband. That's I stood in front of my friends and and my pastor and profess my love, but also my commitment. And in my head, I did not do that for my children. I I committed to God that I would raise them in a Christian home and show them biblical values and teach them, but knowing one day that they would leave me. So I try not to be confused about what order, as you talk about, Lonnie, what order that I need to make my priorities. So I think if I want to be that way, surely the people that work for me want to be that way. Whether that means their family, as in like their brothers and sisters, or maybe they have children, or maybe they have a dog. We just went through a situation where somebody's dog was so very important to them. And I had to consider that. Um so I want people that work for me to share my same values. And um because I can hire in a way that makes me want to grow through people, I can filter that in a private company that their values meet mine. And um, that's just been a pinnacle that we don't pivot from at mind dance. And uh it's actually not that hard. And I I think about the businesses that um well, they're doing it wrong. The people that chase after something that's not in the pursuit of what God has designed for you because you have to make a profit or show up or say yes because it's the business said for you to say yes. I I remember early in um when I worked in the PR firm that uh my aunt died, and my mom said, You're going to San Antonio, and I was already an adult and I was like, I can't, I have to be at work. And she said to me, You will never remember what you did at work today, but you will always remember that you missed that funeral. And I, young and naive, was oh yeah, yeah, I hear you, I hear you. And I didn't go. But I I remember that. And I think God opens up an opportunity for you and he's showing you, you just have to be ready to listen, despite what people are telling you, because remember, you might not be in the place where he wants you to be. And so that might be the closed door. My boss didn't say I couldn't go, but she also didn't encourage me. And I think about I was in the wrong place. Like I want people to want to know in my organization that they can ask because we want to be live out the mission of the manifesto of being faithful stewards of all that we come in contact with during work and after work.
SPEAKER_05So and that's a powerful story, you know. I think stories are how we learn. And that is so beneficial to be able to share experiences. So thank you for sharing that one. I would also ask that each of you maybe share a story related to how you have walked that Christian walk in making decisions for your company. Perhaps you've had vendors or clients who maybe you've had to walk away from. Do any of you have experiences you'd want to share along those lines? Looks like all three do. Yes, we're all shy. Go ahead, Bonnie.
SPEAKER_04In fact, I wanted to kind of take off of what you said because my recommendation, because we have young people in the audience, is if you're in a position uh where things are being taken away from you, or you're being uh hindered from marching forth for God or you're calling in your passion, then my recommendation is evaluate, learn, and walk away. Because you don't want to get off the path for too long. It takes a long time. You know, the path is a straight path for God. When you get off, you veer, then you get on, then you veer, then you get on, then you veer, then you get on. But my recommendation is just go for it. Just go for it. Okay. Now, as far as how to you ask how to integrate it, how do you deal with vendors? Well, I'm pretty bold. They say you can't ask, um, are you a Christian? Are you a this? Well, I do. I ask them what church do you go to, or what fellowship are you affiliated with? Because I want to know. If you don't know, you don't know how to deal with them. Because if they're not saved, I'm ready. I'll tell you. I'll show you. Right? God is calling us right now to save souls. Okay. So that's one of them. Um I just like working with people of like kind. Now don't think that I'm in a box. I'm way outside of the box. But you just have to know what you're doing and who you're working with so you know how to work with them. Okay. I'm very excited to tell you that I've brought quite a few people to do salvation through business. And you're told you can't do that. Yes, you can. We must do that. And I've walked away from people customers, clients, vendors that just don't want to get it. And you sow the seed and you have to walk away and pray for them.
SPEAKER_06I think it's important to remind as an entrepreneur that you have a choice in the business. A lot of times, I think in my early days, I felt like I needed everything that came this way. Every hustle I went after, I had to get it, or every opportunity I needed to land it. And I remember several years ago, I had this client that was amazing and I loved them, but the way he spoke to his people was unacceptable. And his people tolerated it. And one day it just became really clear to me that I don't want to work with people like that. And he never spoke to me like that. But we had lots of conversations about, hey, this is making me uncomfortable. And we went down the road and we talked, and I gave him references to books and things that I was reading, and it just didn't get any better. And then one day I just decided I'm gonna fire him. And and you don't think that you can. And actually, to be truthful with you, I've fired a friend before. And it was a lot like a firing of an employee. I sat her down and I said, Hey, you're not good for me, and you are not making me feel the best that I can feel, and I no longer can be friends with you. And I I think that's sort of awkward. It was awkward for me to say, but it was necessary for me to just sever that. We can be in control of that. We don't have to take every hustle, you don't have to accept every job, you don't have to tolerate the way people feel or the way people make you feel if it's if it's not representative of who you want to be. Um, because it just when you think about what where God wants you on his path, I mean, he's he's showing you the behavior that comes your way that you don't like and that reaction, that reaction is a whisper saying, This isn't who I want to be or how I want to become. So um I it felt amazing the day that I fired that client. And he did not understand. And he came back about a year later and said, I've done this, this, this, and this, and I would love to work with you again. And I said, I am happy to can to coach you or consult with you, but I cannot accept you as a client because I had moved on from that. But a valuable lesson that I'll never forget. You you can fire your friends and you can fire your clients.
SPEAKER_04Can I add one more thing? Sure, and then we've got to hear from Leah. Yeah, and I apologize. Uh Zig Ziglar, Norman, uh, Norman Vincent Peale, John Maxwell all say you are who you surround your the five people you most surround yourself with. Remember that. And then the second thing is a friend of mine tried to convince me that he was um making a ton of money because he was planning to go up to heaven with a wheelbarrow full of gold. But he got to the gates and discovered that the streets were made of gold. No comment.
SPEAKER_03So um I missed the faith question, and I'm gonna go on that one first, and uh and then I'm gonna go into the next one and I'll I'll pull them together pretty tightly. But faith, um, as a business owner, being five years in, um, faith is not a me question. Um, since I'm married, faith is something that's had to be my husband squarely next to me on um on the faith piece of it. And you know, for me, faith was one of those things that was like a mystical word for a while. Uh I just genuinely didn't, I heard it at church all the time. I people talked about it. I know maybe nobody agrees with me on this, but there was a season in my life and I had no idea what faith meant. I just knew people were like, have faith. And I was like, I'm gonna have faith. And I had no idea what to do with that. And uh, and then I heard this sermon uh at second, and uh I remember a red chair on stage, and uh it was Bin Young, and he said, you know, this chair, um, this is gonna teach you faith. And I would tell you, every single one of you that are sitting are taking an act of faith at this moment, especially if you pick your feet up, because you put your whole weight on that chair. And faith is action. Faith is taking action and believing that something's gonna keep you up. And and for me, I've really kind of gone back to that analogy as a business owner over and over again. And, you know, being five years in, um, we we bootstrapped it. We no funding, uh, we bootstrapped the whole thing. And um, you know, I I remember, and and there's a saying, if any of you aren't in what you know want to go into entrepreneurship and you do, you'll hear it. The saying is cash is king for a small business because cash flow is tight. And when you're funding it and um your pay fuels your family, it can be scary. And I remember um my husband and I outside, I think it was year two or three, um, we had funded payroll because we had some employees at that point. We funded payroll for those employees, hadn't paid myself in a while. Funded their payroll, and it was after Harvey. So that's whatever period it was. My clients were all about two, three months late. And I remember seeing his face as he walked across the street to the mailbox. And we still at that point didn't even have a P.O. box. All the chugs were coming to our house. And and I remember seeing his face, and it was just this space of hope heading to the mailbox, and just this space of fear coming back. And I commend him because that fear never stayed long. He was always that force that said, You've got this, like this is a God's call in our life. And, you know, that that um pursuing or choosing entrepreneurship was not a one-time choice. That was a continual choice, and it has been a continual choice. And um, that, you know, faith, that action of putting our full weight on God, we really believe that the entrepreneurship and this business and using this business in a God-honoring way and impacting the world with it is is a calling on our life, and he's gonna figure it out. And so he's gonna fund that payroll. And um, you know, I have fired clients based on faith. And uh it can be scary, but when you put your weight on him, it he makes it happen. And when he doesn't, then that's not the path anymore. And you have to be willing to kind of diverge. But thankfully, God willing, and praise God, I love it. I love this path. Um, and then to to uh go into how um with vendors and clients and employees. One of the things I did are early on, it was kind of naive, but it was smart. So has anybody ever gone up to somebody that has a tattoo that's in another language and asked them what does that mean? Anybody? Okay, I'm not the only one. That would be really awkward. Um, but so some people have. You go up, you see the tattoos in a different language, and you're like, hey, what's that mean? Uh and they don't just tell you what it means in the words, they tell you what it means in the heart, what what experience happened and why they have that tattooed on their body. And and so 15,000 qubits is obscure uh and very obscure. And it doesn't matter who we encounter, they always say, what does that mean? And you know, that completely opens the door and applies wide open into an opportunity to share my faith. And the other thing that interestingly it does is that my employees share um that story as well, and they share that faith mission. And uh, and so that's my gate. It's real easy. Every time I meet clients, every time I meet vendors, every time I introduce uh myself to a potential employee in an interview, I talk about the first thing I talk about is what 15,000 qubits means, how it came about, and you just gauge it from there. And at that point, it's their choice, you know, because they know. And that's what I would say about it.
SPEAKER_05I want to remind you all that keep your questions in mind. I'm sure you have some right now, but give us just a few more minutes. We have a few other things, a few topics we've talked about that we want to discuss, but we will have a time for a QA. And so, next, uh a topic that I think is very dear to all three women and probably to you all in the audience, is mentors. I don't know if you realize, but January is national mentorshipping month. You know, every month or every day has a national perspective. Well, this is one. So I would love for each of you to talk about mentorship, be it someone who mentored you or someone that you're pouring into that you're mentoring, because I think we have a lot of people, regardless of the age, it does not defy where you are in your career or your age as it relates to having a mentor or serving as a mentor.
SPEAKER_03Leah, do you want to start in with that? Yeah, I'd love to. Um, so mentorship is huge for me. Uh, I, you know, I didn't realize I needed one at first. And like I said, I was mentored for five years and I didn't realize it was happening. And, you know, if I had, it probably would have blown it because then I would have been way too eager and she would have been like, she's crazy. Um, but you know, I was blessed with mentorship early on, and I've gone back and thanked her for it. Um, and you know, when I realized it needed mentorship, I couldn't find it. When I started my business, I couldn't find um a female business, a Christian female business owner. And I had my vision of what my mentor was gonna look like. I thought that she was gonna be a female business owner and she was gonna be further along the path than me, and that uh it was gonna be perfect and we were gonna fall in love and she was gonna mentor me and she was, you know, she's gonna be my best friend and come to the family dinners. But the reality of it is my husband saw me pray for two years for a mentor, and and that bright shiny box never showed up. And uh what ended up happening is that God's vision for something like that is so much better than what our vision is. And uh he ended up um presenting many mentors to me for many different pieces of my journey. And um, you know, I had a piece here and a piece here and a piece here, and it was this pie that kind of came together. And I remember a moment after lots of prayers and all of this evolved over the course of a year, my husband was like, You've got so many mentors now. And uh, and it it I do and so blessed by that. But you know, I think um through that prayer journey and through desiring that mentorship, there's a book I picked up. John C. Maxwell, Great Leaders, Ask Great Questions, is a book that's all about mentorship. And some key facts that I learned, and it's fantastic. Some key facts that I learned in that book are that, you know, many times. So have you has anybody in the audience raised your hand if you've been around somebody that you would really like to be your mentor for more than 15 minutes? Raise your hand. Okay, so you've had a mentor potentially. What the book talks about is that those moments, those interactions, your mentorship that you have, mentorship from somebody is then pouring into you. So if you're open and aware of the opportunities that you have to be around somebody that can pour into you, be open in that moment and absorb what you've got. Because the fact of the matter is many of these mentors that that are that you want to pour into your into your life, A, many other people probably want that as well. And B, they're really busy. They're really, really busy. And so the other thing that really hit me when I started to find these mentors was that um, you know, in John C. Maxwell's book, he talks about go in it with go into it with a service mentality. These these business owners and these leaders are busy. And so I encourage you, if you're looking for a mentor, identify that person and then find out what do you have to offer them that you can support them with without asking for anything. And then you build that relationship because I never had a mentor enter my life through a contract or a written agreement. I every mentor I've had has been a result of me extending out offers and extending out service and and um you know showing that respect and honor and honor towards them. And then after developing a relationship, they chose to mentor me. And that's another thing that I think happens is that I think we sometimes look at mentorship as um uh an entitlement and really it's a it's a privilege. And I just I genuinely started feeling that way. And and as I've kind of been poured into, I felt the desire to pour out. And um, yesterday actually, it was a 40-hour training um uh to become a state certified advocate for victims of domestic abuse, violence, and um rape and uh and sexual abuse. And that 40-hour training was hard. It was hard on my husband, it was hard on me. It was five to nine, Tuesday through Thursday for three weeks in a row. And I remember waking up in the morning and saying, God, just multiply my day, multiply our energy. And love, he will admit that I came home more energized those days than I ever did. And it was because I was learning how to mentor these ladies. And my company is actually developing a mentorship program, a six-month program for um, it's not just women I learned, but for victims of this awful stuff, this darkness. Um, we're developing a mentorship and advocate and apprenticeship program for the junior level in entry-level digital marketing and marketing career field to teach them and mentor them through their pain and through restarting their life, kind of that butterfly analogy. And so um taking steps to be active in getting those mentors and then taking steps to pour out, because if you just pour into yourself, that's not the point of it. You got to pour out to you.
SPEAKER_04That's great. Bonnie? Okay, each of us has um special gifts and talents given to us by God. I don't think we realize sometimes how many mentors we have right in our midst. My husband has been a great mentor to me in ways that I never dreamed possible. My daughter has been a mentor. She's got special gifts and talents that I don't have. My brother has been an exceptional mentor in my life. My sister-in-law, my dear friend, who is sitting right over there, has been a mentor. So look to the people that you receive, and you know that they have knowledge and wisdom, and you listen with your people and be quiet. I looked at that in my career incorporated. I wasn't interested in my business. I wasn't injured. I can't really ultimately there are people out there everywhere in the miniature that can mentor you and help you find out who you are and how you can be the biggest asset that you can be. Is there anyone in this room that does not want to be the biggest that you can be while you're here on earth? I don't think so. Just look for the mentors that he puts in your path and appreciate them and listen to them.
SPEAKER_06That's such good advice. Um, I might add um a perspective that I think that mentorship doesn't need to be a huge long commitment. I think early in my career I was looking for the one that could fill me up and stay with me and help me grow. And um, what I really learned is that I have complexities in my business that need independent mentorship. So um recently I've had a people uh issue in my business about how I want to grow and where I want to grow. And so um I picked up the phone and called Jamie Roots, he's the president of the Houston Texans. I did not know him, but somebody told me he was great with his people. And I called him and um I bribed him with Chick-fil-A, and he accepted one hour with me. And I get one hour a year with him, and it always happens on Martin Luther King Day, and um, he fills me up and I get to utilize that. I see him and now in social circles, and I get to pick up a little bit along the road. But um, I think when people think mentorship, they think huge commitments or perfect fits. And I think when I have little things, I'm I think to myself, I need somebody. You know, and I I find the person that can solve that problem. And what happens is that not only am I developing a mentorship, but then they expose me to other pieces of their business that actually feel growth in my business. Um, the other thing that I would say is that um I also have a millennial mentor. And I think that was probably the wisest thing that I've done in the last five years of growth in my business because I'm reaching up to people who have been there and who have done that. Yet my company is full of people. I would say 80% of the people that work for me might be my age or younger. And so um, I a friend of mine who works for ATT, and they have millennial mentorships in their program at ATT Sports. And um, he told me, and I was like, I need a millennial mentor. And that Jamie, Jamie, who is my mentor, sent me to a person who was phenomenal. And now I have a millennial mentor, and we meet every other month, and she teaches me all kinds of things that I don't know, apps and keywords, and what should I be watching on Netflix? And um, you know, she teaches me things that I just don't know. And then she wants from me, that's as our partnership, she wants for me things she doesn't know, and so that's what we do over one hour every other month. Um, the other thing that I would say is um ask big, like huge big asks. Um, I am really enamored with entrepreneurs that um have started from nothing, like self made entrepreneurs, and so. Um, I wrote a note to Sarah Blakely. She's the founder of Spanx, and I was just super enamored with her contraptions, if you will. And I just said, I want to know what pursued you past the door-to-door photocopying and you know, fax machine selling to where you are now. And I told her just a brief paragraph about me. And I said to her, I want 30 minutes. I have three questions. I'll come prepared. I'll take great notes and I will leave at the end of the 30 minutes. And um, I got a letter back and um it said no, but um, it said, I don't have the capacity right now, would love to keep you on my radar. Here are three things that you can do to further yourself. And she gave me a book and then two bits of advice. And I just thought, I still have that. It's hanging in my office. And I just thought, you know, you have to ask big or you'll never get anywhere. And I say if she came back and she said, no way, Jose, I would have been like, okay, well, but what did it take for me? You know, handwritten note. Um, the last thing that I would say is um when you think about mentors and you think about the people who you want to ask, um, like Sarah, like she's busy. There's no doubt. When you think about people that you want to surround yourself with, it's because they're doing something that's inspiring you and they are very busy. But I would caution us all to not say someone's no for them. We tend to do that a lot. And in entrepreneurship, I do that. I second guess, I'm like, that'll never work. And um, last year, one of the things that we took on in our business was not saying no. We we I don't want to steal it from somebody because very busy people have yeses, and it's just a matter of where they want to give their yes. And so I mentor people now, and my team's always like, She's so busy, she's never gonna say yes. But you don't know what's important to somebody, and so don't steal somebody's yes because it may be in there and it might be waiting for you, and you don't know how God might want to put that together for you.
SPEAKER_04All of us that serve God have servants' hearts, and that's mentorship. Everybody in your path is a possible way to mentor. It can be when you're checking out at a grocery store, it could be getting your car washed, it could be everybody wants to be mentored in one way or another. So when you let your servants' heart, you reach out to them and just let them know that they're special and that you care about them, and you can do that just with a smile or a compliment or whatever, that's mentoring. And I think that's something that's important for us to remember. It's not just a business thing, it's a life thing. It's a mentoring.
SPEAKER_06I would add this funny quote that we talk about a lot at Mind Dance, which is um true, Kathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, said this Do you know how you can tell when someone needs encouragement? Does anybody know? It's when they're breathing. Yes. And so I just think about the simplicity of that and think about we all need it and we can all give it, and it could be a high fiber hug, or it could be I'm gonna sit down with you. Um, so just to piggyback off that one.
SPEAKER_04If you don't know that the Greek derivation of the word enthusiasm is God within, and if you meet someone and they're not very enthusiastic, then just give them a little bit of God.
SPEAKER_02We hope you've enjoyed this episode. And if so, we would greatly appreciate it if you would leave us a quick rating and review for the Christianity and business podcast on iTunes. You can get more information about HBU Center for Christianity and Business at Christianityandbusiness.com. Thanks for listening. And remember to keep integrating biblical values into your business.