Episode 397 – Leaving the CEO Chair for a $500M Mission | Scott Miller

Scott Miller could have stayed in the CEO chair at Interstate Batteries. After 25 years in the business and a decade leading it, he stepped aside to help fuel one of the largest pastoral training efforts in the world.

Scott and Justin Forman talk about following in the footsteps of his dad, Norm Miller. They cover how a consignment model built a national brand around a “grudge buy,” and how a call from Coach Joe Gibbs became what Scott believes is the longest-standing sponsorship in NASCAR history. Scott walks through how Interstate codified its purpose and values through thousands of stakeholder interviews, why EVs became a tailwind for a low-voltage battery company, and how he knew his season as CEO was complete. He also shares the vision behind the Global Pastoral Training Alliance. It is a 10-year, half-billion-dollar effort to equip 240,000 trainers for 3.7 million churches that don’t have an adequately trained pastor.

For every entrepreneur building on a foundation someone else laid, this is a picture of faithful stewardship in business and in giving. Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.

00:00 Introduction

01:20 Is it harder to follow a legendary leader?

05:13 Founder vs. successor: Scott and his dad

06:45 The consignment model that built a brand

10:01 Starting in the warehouse at 14

11:54 What the job taught that Harvard couldn’t

14:05 The phone call that launched a NASCAR partnership

17:01 How a 35-year sponsorship pays back

18:57 From TV to digital: meeting the moment of need

22:32 Are EVs a threat to the battery business?

25:02 Codifying values after four leaders

26:54 The hardest part of carrying the family name

28:47 Why the walls matter

30:52 Knowing when to pass the baton

34:26 Givers, goers, and the sacred-secular divide

35:25 The pastoral training gap in the Global South

38:22 Why giving well is so hard

42:17 Rethinking how pastors are trained

45:38 Training the trainers

47:27 The case for giving together

52:05 Your invitation to give together

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Faith Driven Entrepreneur is an educational platform hosted by Faith Driven Movements, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire, educate, and mobilize people to use their time, talents and other resources in the marketplace. Faith Driven Movements brings together leaders from around the world that seek to make a financial, social, environmental and spiritual impact through their business ventures. The website is intended to be an opportunity to exchange ideas for educational purposes. Faith Driven Movements is not responsible for the opinions, advice, statements, materials, presentations, data, images, videos, documentation and other information (collectively, the “Materials”) expressed or otherwise shared by guest contributors (including without limitation podcast guests, conference speakers, guest writers, participating companies and investment professionals). The Materials are for informational purposes only, and the statements, views and opinions expressed at any presentation or in any Materials are those solely of the presenter and not of Faith Driven Movements. Hosts and Guests may maintain positions in the companies and securities discussed. Further, Faith Driven Movements does not endorse or recommend any presenter, promoter, investment advisor, strategy, company or any views mentioned at any conference or in the Materials. Under no circumstances will Faith Driven Movements (or their respective trustees, directors, officers, employees, or agents) be liable for the accuracy, quality or reliability of any of the presentations or Materials, any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of presenters, or any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising from any presentations or Materials. By visiting the site you agree to comply with the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct.

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Faith Driven Entrepreneur is an educational platform hosted by Faith Driven Movements, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire, educate, and mobilize people to use their time, talents and other resources in the marketplace. Faith Driven Movements brings together leaders from around the world that seek to make a financial, social, environmental and spiritual impact through their business ventures. The website is intended to be an opportunity to exchange ideas for educational purposes. Faith Driven Movements is not responsible for the opinions, advice, statements, materials, presentations, data, images, videos, documentation and other information (collectively, the “Materials”) expressed or otherwise shared by guest contributors (including without limitation podcast guests, conference speakers, guest writers, participating companies and investment professionals). The Materials are for informational purposes only, and the statements, views and opinions expressed at any presentation or in any Materials are those solely of the presenter and not of Faith Driven Movements. Hosts and Guests may maintain positions in the companies and securities discussed. Further, Faith Driven Movements does not endorse or recommend any presenter, promoter, investment advisor, strategy, company or any views mentioned at any conference or in the Materials. Under no circumstances will Faith Driven Movements (or their respective trustees, directors, officers, employees, or agents) be liable for the accuracy, quality or reliability of any of the presentations or Materials, any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of presenters, or any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising from any presentations or Materials. By visiting the site you agree to comply with the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct.