Podcast episode
Episode 373 – Why Christian Entrepreneurs Must Take Their Blinders Off | Brandon West
Join host Justin Forman as he sits down with Brandon West, Chief Purpose Officer and founder of PHOS Creative, in an honest conversation about what it really means to build a faith-driven business from the inside out. Brandon shares how a 12-year journey from a home office — teaching Greek, Latin, and algebra on the side — became a 24-person creative agency on a mission to cultivate flourishing in people and organizations everywhere they touch.
EPISODE NOTES
Brandon West built a creative agency. Then he handed a key to a sex trafficking safe house and realized he’d been dreaming too small. PHOS Creative founder and Chief Purpose Officer Brandon West joins Justin Forman to unpack the collision of brand strategy, biblical stewardship, and what it looks like when a business decides it exists for something bigger than the next client win.
Brandon shares the marketing principles every faith-driven entrepreneur needs to hear — why over-produced content can actually kill trust, how awareness and trust are two cogs that have to work together, and why excellent work alone has never led anyone to ask, “What must I do to be saved?” But the real turning point comes when Brandon’s leadership team laughs at his idea to launch a sex trafficking safe house — and then God makes it happen in a month. Thirty-seven care centers later, Brandon’s vision has a new measure of success: it is not your business to succeed, but to be faithful.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro: Sex trafficking in Gainesville — blinders coming off
01:23 Welcome from the Hope Center, Dallas
02:56 What makes a great ad — and what makes it forgettable
04:21 The hook problem: Why the skip button reveals everything
06:32 The two things every organization needs online: Awareness and trust
08:20 Tools for faith-driven entrepreneurs: Excellence AND authenticity
09:17 Why being a Christian business owner isn’t enough
11:28 FDE for Teens — video interlude
12:31 Ministry in deed and word — when it’s time to use both
13:56 Intentionality and the Flourishing Framework at PHOS
15:44 Size, scope, and how PHOS started in a home office
16:14 The journey: From teaching Greek and Latin to 24-person agency
18:40 The Compassion International moment that changed everything
20:15 How God uses new messaging to reach even the most inoculated hearts
21:23 Authentic branding: Who are you at your best?
22:21 How to talk to your team about giving — the honest journey
23:21 2022: The hardest year of Brandon’s life and leadership
24:57 From one sponsored child to vision for a sex trafficking safe house
27:50 The problems of the world can feel daunting — here’s the framework
28:29 “Do for the one what you wish you could do for the many”
30:21 How Brandon found the anti-trafficking cause in his own city
33:09 What dignity really means — and how a safe house hands it back
34:01 Stewarding stories: The little sticker at the headboard of his bed
36:18 How sharing the story unlocks generosity in others
39:37 “It Is Not Your Business to Succeed” — the C.S. Lewis framework
41:02 What it looks like to solve problems together as entrepreneurs
43:39 How to take your first step — even if it’s just $50 a month
46:00 The role of community: C12, FDE Groups, and the people who “get it”
48:42 Closing challenge: Don’t be a consumer — take one step
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