Imported | Faith Driven Entrepreneur

Matt Rusten

Executive Director | Made to Flourish

Matt Rusten serves as the executive director for Made to Flourish. Made to Flourish empowers pastors and their churches to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom for the flourishing of their communities. To date, the network has grown to over 2300 member pastors and 24 active city networks. Through local city events, online trainings, free resources, and a relational network, pastors grow in understanding a rich theology of work and economics and learn how to translate these ideas in corporate worship gatherings, discipleship ministries, and outreach in the community. As this happens, congregants increasingly know how faith in Christ can be lived out where they spend most of their time at work. For more information, visit madetoflourish.org.

He has served in churches in North Dakota, Chicago, Kansas City, and Madison, WI. Prior to seminary and pastoral work, Matt worked at Microsoft in Fargo, ND.

Matt and his wife, Margi, have two children, Olivia and Owen.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Featured

Jul 15, 2021

Entrepreneurship Is About Those on the Economic Margins

Jul 15, 2021

What happens when people lose work, have little option of finding a traditional job, but (paradoxically) have access to significant capital? Last year gave us the answer: they start businesses.

Jul 15, 2021

Jun 21, 2019

Where is the Church When You Lose Your Job?

Jun 21, 2019

Each year, nearly 20 million people lose their jobs. That’s how this article opens, but don’t worry—it gets hopeful from there. Hear Matt Rusten from Made to Flourish explain the role of the church when it comes to unemployment and how community can and should play a role in helping people get back on their feet.

Jun 21, 2019

Jul 5, 2018

What Does Big Data Tell Us About the Land of Opportunity?

Jul 5, 2018

Big data has revealed a shocking finding regarding the American dream: you have a better chance of achieving it if you don’t live in America. We Americans generally think of our country as the land of opportunity, that no matter where you’ve come from, you can improve your station in life through hard work. But research by Raj Chetty at Stanford University reveals that for large swaths of people, they’d have a better chance of reaching the American Dream if they grew up in Canada. Or Great Britain. Or Denmark. In other words, America is no longer the leading candidate for the title, “The Land of Opportunity.”

Jul 5, 2018

The Faith-Work Gap for Professional Women

This article was originally published here by Christianity Today

— by Christianity Today

As a millennial Christian, Kathryn Freeman’s experience at work captures both the open doors and stubborn glass ceilings facing many professional women today. The director of public policy at a faith-based nonprofit in Dallas, Texas, Freeman describes herself as “a strong personality, meaning I am not shy about voicing my opinions.” She says her bosses, mostly older men, welcome this strength. Her gifts and ideas are encouraged and expressed in her role advocating on complex issues like criminal justice, gambling, and immigration.

But Freeman also says her singleness comes up a lot at work—and it didn’t at the secular nonprofit where she worked previously. “It comes from the idea that a woman’s highest calling is wife and mother,” Freeman says . “Even as your male coworkers seek to climb the ladder, you, single woman, should be keeping an eye out for a husband, not executive leadership.” She also notes that coworkers have told her to smile during presentations so as not to appear angry. “In more secular settings, I doubt this would be voiced out loud, given how strict most HR departments are about perceived harassment.”

Click here to read the full article!

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[ Image: Fempreneur Styled Stock, Brimstone Creative / Lightstock ]

Featured

Ministry in Word, Women Entrepreneurs

God Can Use You. Embrace the 3 Postures of Calling

Ministry in Word, Women Entrepreneurs

Every entrepreneur is custom-created for a purpose. But how, in a world so full of noise and distraction and fear, do we go about staying on (or getting on – let’s be honest) the road we’re called to travel?

Ministry in Word, Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs, Identity

Confession and Freedom

Women Entrepreneurs, Identity

Confess your sins to one another talk to each other about what’s going on in your life. And that will keep you in a place of freedom.

Women Entrepreneurs, Identity

Women Entrepreneurs

Cultivate What Matters

Women Entrepreneurs

CEO of Cultivate What Matters and C12 Member Lara Casey-Isaacson, shares her story of re-focusing sights and energy to grow things that matter and realizing when it’s time to prune to truly flourish.

Women Entrepreneurs

Mindset of Making It

Women Entrepreneurs

With any change, you cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. You must change your mind and your actions.

Women Entrepreneurs

Game Changer: The Remarkable Story of Caroline’s Cart

Women Entrepreneurs

Drew Ann Long was a mom of three who had a problem: how to navigate the grocery store with three young children, one of whom was disabled.

Women Entrepreneurs

Professionally and Mentally Healthy Entrepreneurship with Jewel Burks Solomon

Women Entrepreneurs

Jewel Burks Solomon has an impressive resume: co-founder of Partpic, managing partner of Collab Capital, and current head of Google for Startups.

Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs, Work / Life Balance

Scaling 10x without Going Crazy

Women Entrepreneurs, Work / Life Balance

Lilian Radke reduced turnover from 85% to less than 14% all while being a young mom of little kids doing a business she was told was a “mans world” and winning small business of the year in Massachusetts for 2018 and woman owned enterprise of the year for new England in 2018.

Women Entrepreneurs, Work / Life Balance

Women Entrepreneurs, Poverty

Sara Miller: This is the Life of My Neighbors

Women Entrepreneurs, Poverty

Sara shares her story of being welcomed into her neighborhood, and her team’s work to build a venture that aims to create generational change for its neighbors within a six-block radius.

Women Entrepreneurs, Poverty

Chaplaincy, Women Entrepreneurs

Is a mentor worth it?

Chaplaincy, Women Entrepreneurs

“As a mentee, my mentorship added a lot of energy to my career trajectory. I had bloomed quickly and then lost momentum, unsure of where I was going and quite frankly, where I wanted to go. I had switched industries but my core competencies had been the same.

Chaplaincy, Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs

The Faith-Work Gap for Professional Women

Women Entrepreneurs

Freeman also says her singleness comes up a lot at work—and it didn’t at the secular nonprofit where she worked previously. “It comes from the idea that a woman’s highest calling is wife and mother,” Freeman says .

Women Entrepreneurs

Firing and Layoffs, Trusting God in Trials, Worry and Anxiety, Women Entrepreneurs, Risk & Failure, Crisis Management

Better and Better

Firing and Layoffs, Trusting God in Trials, Worry and Anxiety, Women Entrepreneurs, Risk & Failure, Crisis Management

I never saw it coming. I started my business part-time in January, 2000, and I completed my MBA in September of the same year. I purchased my second new construction home. Things were going well, and I could not have been happier.

Firing and Layoffs, Trusting God in Trials, Worry and Anxiety, Women Entrepreneurs, Risk & Failure, Crisis Management

Confidence and Self Doubt, Accessibility / Connected, Women Entrepreneurs, Discern

Faith Fuels Work

Confidence and Self Doubt, Accessibility / Connected, Women Entrepreneurs, Discern

“When things get hard, remember God is with you and equips you to work. Remember that He calls you to ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’ (Joshua 1:9). Remember the joy you feel when you see others realize that their work has dignity because God allows us to be His representatives.” Katie Adkins, founder of Adkins Talent Solutions, shows us how our work is ultimately fueled by our faith and our “why”. Every now and then we need to remind ourselves of the “why” of our work.

Confidence and Self Doubt, Accessibility / Connected, Women Entrepreneurs, Discern

Women Entrepreneurs, Accessibility / Connected, Mentoring

Mentoring Lopez with Diane Paddison

Women Entrepreneurs, Accessibility / Connected, Mentoring

Our most recent podcast guest, Diane Paddison, founded 4Word, a nonprofit mentorship program and community for professional Christian women. In this post, she recounts her experience mentoring someone whose life looks almost nothing like hers. Diane felt God’s call to connect with Lopez Lomong, a South-Sudanese, two time Olympian, male athlete. Though she thought they were an unlikely pair, the experience of mentoring Lopez has enriched her life beyond belief.

Women Entrepreneurs, Accessibility / Connected, Mentoring

Ministry in Deed, Women Entrepreneurs, Financing, People Management, Excellence in Our Work, Servant Leadership

Popeyes Serves Up a Turnaround

Ministry in Deed, Women Entrepreneurs, Financing, People Management, Excellence in Our Work, Servant Leadership

When Cheryl Bachelder took the helm at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, sales and profits were declining and shareholders and franchisees were unhappy. Today, sales are up, profits are up, and Popeyes stock has leaped from $13 on Cheryl’s first day on the job to consistently over $50 per share today. So what’s the secret ingredient to Popeyes’ turnaround? RightNow Media presents an @ Work Documentary that looks at how Cheryl’s unique strategy of servant leadership proved to be a recipe for success.

Ministry in Deed, Women Entrepreneurs, Financing, People Management, Excellence in Our Work, Servant Leadership

Women Entrepreneurs, People Management, Criticism, Firing and Layoffs, Servant Leadership

Fired to Hired

Women Entrepreneurs, People Management, Criticism, Firing and Layoffs, Servant Leadership

She never became a high school choir director, but at Popeyes, Cheryl Bachelder has become a conductor of people. Her personal commitment to Jesus’ model of servant leadership has transformed the culture of a corporation. The impact of her faith can be felt throughout the company—from the executive offices to the restaurant’s front counter in the words “How may I serve you?” That’s music to Cheryl’s ears.

Women Entrepreneurs, People Management, Criticism, Firing and Layoffs, Servant Leadership

Women Entrepreneurs, Company Culture, Church and Theology of Work, Servant Leadership

Living a R.I.C.H. and Authentic Life (The Dwyer Group)

Women Entrepreneurs, Company Culture, Church and Theology of Work, Servant Leadership

She might not be the person you would expect to see seated at the top of a company in a male-dominated industry. But Dina Dwyer-Owens, Executive Chairwoman of the Dwyer Group, is very comfortable at the helm of a company operating across the fifty United States and seven other countries around the world. She earned the position and re-earns it, every day in every way.

Women Entrepreneurs, Company Culture, Church and Theology of Work, Servant Leadership

Work / Life Balance, Women Entrepreneurs

Shelley Simpson, EVP of J.B. Hunt – Integrated Faith, Family and Work

Work / Life Balance, Women Entrepreneurs

In today’s short video, from the WorkMatters FUSE Forum, Shelley Simpson suggests leaders try integrating their work, family, and faith in order to live and work more authentically throughout her career at J.B. Hunt.

Work / Life Balance, Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs, Discern

Why Passion Isn’t the Holy Grail of Work

Women Entrepreneurs, Discern

“Our cultural obsession with passion as a prerequisite for work threatens to cut vocational formation off at the head. In other words, if we insist on using passion as a measure for what we ought to do—or worse, proverbially prostrate to passion as if it were the holy grail of work—we will stunt the rate at which we try things, iterate, and reflect. Trying things, iterating, and reflecting are some of our greatest tools for learning about how God is forming us and fitting us for this world.”

Women Entrepreneurs, Discern

Women Entrepreneurs, Recruiting & Talent, Social Entrepreneurs

A Second Chance at Weifield Electrical

Women Entrepreneurs, Recruiting & Talent, Social Entrepreneurs

In this Monday’s video, we take a look at Weifield Electrical’s amazing work to end poverty in Denver — through its hiring. The company offers 4 years of job training and a long career to those out of the penal system. A win for the company’s own workforce development but as Karla Nugent (Partner and Chief Business Development Officer) emphasizes — it’s a second chance for someone to get their life back on track!

Women Entrepreneurs, Recruiting & Talent, Social Entrepreneurs

Les Parrott

master communicator and author

Dr. Les Parrott is a master communicator, having impacted people from all walks of life including executives, international government officials, professional athletes and college students. His charisma, humor and practical advice have placed him in high demand as a conference and seminar speaker. Les Parrott has spoken internationally to a variety of groups including corporations such as Johnson & Johnson, Price Waterhouse, the armed services, and associations of professional athletes. His breakneck schedule takes him across North America and around the world.

Dr. Parrott has been a guest on many radio shows and featured on national television including “CBS This Morning”, “Good Morning America”, “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw” “Oprah,” “The View” and CNN. His work has been written about in newspapers such as USA Today and the New York Times and many magazines including Men’s Health, Family Circle, Redbook and Women’s Day.

Les Parrott III, Ph.D., is founder of RealRelationships.com and a Professor of Psychology at Seattle Pacific University. He is also co-creator, with his wife Leslie, of eHarmony Marriage.

Dr. Les Parrott is an award-winning author of more than a dozen best-selling books including High-Maintenance Relationships, The Control Freak, 3 Seconds, Becoming Soul Mates, Your Time Starved Marriage and Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Featured

Jun 27, 2023

Episode 256 – Keeping Marriages Healthy as an Entrepreneur with Patrick Lencioni, John and Ashely Marsh, Les Parrot, and More

Jun 27, 2023

Compiled insights from leaders like Patrick Lencioni, Les Parrot, John and Ashely Marsh, Ben and Liz Bohannon, and Ashot Iskandarian on how entrepreneurs can keep their marriages healthy.

Jun 27, 2023

Apr 21, 2020

Episode 102 – The Entrepreneur’s Time-Starved Marriage with Les Parrott

Apr 21, 2020

Today, we want to veer off our normal business strategy conversation and talk about life outside of work—primarily, time with our family. Today’s guest is Les Parrott. He works alongside his wife Leslie who shares the same passion for helping others build healthy relationships. We had Les on to talk about their newest book, “The Time Starved Marriage.” It’s a fitting topic for entrepreneurs. Listen in to hear Les share relationship wisdom, the importance of time management, and insight into what makes a great marriage tick…

Apr 21, 2020

Luke Roush

co-founder | Sovereign’s Capital

Luke co-founded Sovereign’s Capital in 2012 and is a Managing Partner in the firm. While living in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta from 2013-2016, he opened the fund’s operations in Southeast Asia. Luke is primarily focused on the fund’s healthcare and consumer product investments. Prior to Sovereign’s Capital, Luke had twelve years of experience in global commercialization and business development at both venture-backed and Fortune 500 companies. His areas of industry experience include medical devices, biotechnology, and consumer products. He also co-founded 410 Medical, a device company focused on pediatric trauma, in 2012. Luke graduated summa cum laude from Duke University and later earned his MBA from The Fuqua School of Business.

He served as a Board Member with TROSA from 2011-2014, and as Board Vice-Chair with Ten Thousand Villages from 2007-2016. He also co-founded Inklings fellowship groups in Jakarta and Singapore, while living in the region.

Luke resides in San Jose, California with his wife, Brooke, and their three children. They are active members of Echo.Church in San Jose.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Featured

Mar 8, 2021

Education is a Basic Human Right that Needs Innovation

Mar 8, 2021

Education allows us to establish a common foundation for communication, and enables expansion of our shared knowledge base over time.

Mar 8, 2021

Jun 22, 2020

Opinions, Beliefs, and Conviction

Jun 22, 2020

One of the challenges we have as a society is that, as individuals, we have difficulty expressing the difference between our Opinions, Beliefs, and Convictions.

Jun 22, 2020

May 9, 2020

Power and Leverage in a Time of Crisis

May 9, 2020

In the midst of uncertain times, Luke Roush and Jake Thomsen of Sovereign’s Capital provides a framework for how Christian business leaders can think about the unusual power and leverage the present circumstances have afforded them…

May 9, 2020

Apr 24, 2020

The Case for Restarting Society Now

Apr 24, 2020

The time is now to urgently begin restarting our society. This is imperative to ensure mid- and long-term human flourishing. With the same level of urgency that we moved toward implementing restrictions, we as citizens must urgently push our nation towards a thoughtful economic restart.

Apr 24, 2020

Dec 16, 2019

“Find Your Passion is Terrible Advice” – Commentary by Luke Roush

Dec 16, 2019

The Atlantic’s article, ‘Find Your Passion’ Is Awful Advice, discusses how we could end up finding more meaning in our work by not finding and following our passions. Since our passions are developed over time, and not fixed from birth, Luke Roush suggests we intentionally nurture passions rather than find them.

Dec 16, 2019

Sep 5, 2019

Creative Destruction and Work as Transformation

Sep 5, 2019

This article was from a collection of White Papers compiled for attendees of the CEF’s 2019 Global Event. We share Luke’s White Paper as the start of many 2019 CEF White Papers launching in the future! Luke is a Managing Partner at Sovereign’s Capital.

Sep 5, 2019

Sep 14, 2018

Consequences of Technology – Intended and Unintended

Sep 14, 2018

Every year as we approach the Christian Economic Forum (CEF), I find myself both dreading and looking forward to the construction of my annual white paper.

I have found myself preoccupied this year thinking about the intended and unintended consequences of technology. The white paper below is the essay that emerged from that inquiry, and I hope you enjoy it. It’s titled *The Icarus Moment*, but might be more aptly called “The Tower of Babel” in a Biblical context.

Sep 14, 2018

Jun 6, 2018

Becoming Formidable

Jun 6, 2018

Silicon Valley celebrates founders with super-human ability to focus, work hard, and survive the extreme pressure startups. We retell their heroic stories and celebrate their successes. However, there is a glaring absence of information regarding how to develop the character traits required to overcome the intense stress and hardships of starting a company.

Jun 6, 2018

Lara Casey Isaacson

CEO of Cultivate What Matters

Lara Casey Isaacson is a mom to three, a grateful wife, and a believer in the impossible. As CEO of Cultivate What Matters, Lara is the creator of the best-selling PowerSheets® Intentional Goal Planner, the Write the Word™ Bible journals, and has authored two best-selling books: Make it Happen: Surrender Your Fear, Take the Leap, Live on Purpose and her most recent book, Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life. Her podcast, Cultivate Your Life, landed in the top charts upon its release. The Making Things Happen Conference, which she leads, is in its 10th year! Lara founded Southern Weddings magazine a decade ago and is passionate about doing business for a greater purpose. She loves getting her hands dirty in the garden with her kiddos in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Featured

May 26, 2020

Episode 107 – Pruning One Business to Grow Another with Lara Casey

May 26, 2020

Lara Casey built Southern Weddings Magazine out of a sheer desire to see something beautiful in a world that felt very broken. The success of that publication is no secret, but today, she shared with us the ins and outs of her decision to let it all go…

May 26, 2020

Jay Stringer

mental health counselor

Jay Stringer is a licensed mental health counselor, ordained minister, and nationally requested speaker on the subject of unwanted sexual behavior (i.e., extra-marital affairs, pornography, buying sex, and others).

Based in Seattle, Jay has spent the last decade on the frontlines of demand for sexual exploitation and pornography. Jay’s clinical work guides men and women to find freedom from unwanted sexual behavior through inviting them to identify the unique reasons that bring them to it. In addition to his therapy practice and frequent speaking engagements, Jay is also a lecturer for the City of Seattle’s “john school,” a program designed for men who have been arrested for soliciting prostitution.

Jay Stringer’s first book, Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing is based on a multiyear research project into the stories of 3,800 men and women to address the key drivers of unwanted sexual behavior, why people remain in a place of shame, and the journey towards a new sexual story. His research is one of the most comprehensive studies on the subject. In collaboration with The Heart of Man film team, Jay Stringer also designed a comprehensive online journey for individuals, accountability partners, and small groups who desire freedom from unwanted sexual behavior. To learn more and check-out a free episode visit: Journey into The Heart of Man

Jay holds an MDiv and master in counseling psychology from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and received post-graduate training under Dr. Patrick Carnes and Dr. Dan Allender while serving as a Senior Fellow at the Allender Center.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Featured

Apr 11, 2023

Episode 245 – Mental Health Counselor Talks Healing from Sexual Brokenness With Jay Stringer

Apr 11, 2023

Psychotherapist and author Jay Stringer joins the show to talk about healing from narcissism and sexual brokenness. This episode is an extension of an earlier conversation we had with Jay way back in episode 77.

Apr 11, 2023

Oct 8, 2019

Episode 77 – The Journey from Sexual Brokenness to Healing with Jay Stringer

Oct 8, 2019

Today our show takes us to Seattle to talk to Jay Stringer, the author of Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing. His book is based on a multi-year research project into the stories of 3,800 men and women to address the key drivers of unwanted sexual behavior, why people remain in a place of shame, and the journey towards a new sexual story. It was recently recognized by Outreach Magazine as one of the top resources of the year. Tragically, this is a huge issue destroying too many Faith Driven Entrepreneurs. His research is one of the most comprehensive studies on the subject, and we’re delighted he could join us on the podcast. Join Henry and William to glean from some of Jay’s experiences and hear the lessons he has for faith driven entrepreneurs…

Oct 8, 2019

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Matt Rusten

Executive Director | Made to Flourish

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

The Faith-Work Gap for Professional Women

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Les Parrott

master communicator and author

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Luke Roush

co-founder | Sovereign’s Capital

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Lara Casey Isaacson

CEO of Cultivate What Matters

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Jay Stringer

mental health counselor

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

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