Episode 143 - Why Community Matters with Sue Alice Sauthoff
Community. It’s one of the core tenets of the Faith Driven movement. If you’ve been listening for a while, we hope you’ve heard stories from around the world that have opened up your eyes to see that FDEs are everywhere, and they’re faithfully pursuing God’s will right where they are.
Today, we’re talking with Sue Alice Sauthoff who has recently joined the FDE/FDI team as our Community Manager. She’s going to share all the new initiatives intended to foster community among FDEs all around the world.
We’re so excited she’s on the team, and we think after listening to this podcast, you will be too...
Episode Transcript
*Some listeners have found it helpful to have a transcription of the podcast. Transcription is done by an AI software. While technology is an incredible tool to automate this process, there will be misspellings and typos that might accompany it. Please keep that in mind as you work through it. The FDE movement is a volunteer-led movement, and if you’d like to contribute by editing future transcripts, please email us.
Sue Alice Sauthoff: I think that to bring these entrepreneurs together who often do feel lonely or isolated in their role, not only because of what they do, but because of the great weight of the responsibility that they hold to bring them together with other people, to realize that they're not alone, that there are other people that understand the situations they're in and what they're facing. It brings power. And that's biblical, right. Jesus said the world will know us by our love for one another. And so if we're able to show each other love and we're not competitors, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ coming together, then the world is going to see that love and they're going to ask questions and they're going to see that there's hope that we have. That's really unique. And so not only is it an encouragement to us as believers to be in a community like that, but it also is shining a light into our world. William Rusty, great to see you both.
Henry Kaestner: Welcome back here. Amazing to be here. So today's really good topic. I think that one of the things a quote that I've been kind of just camping out on for a while now is C.S. Lewis. This is a quote attributed to C.S. Lewis. So we're just going to say that it is indeed him, which is something along the lines of friends are when you come across somebody who says, oh, wait, I thought I was the only person that blank, you know, played Parcheesi in the pool or whatever the case is. Right. Fill in the blanks. And there's something about the concept of being a Faith Driven Entrepreneur that is inherently lonely. And when you're an entrepreneur and or business owner were out there and we're trying to make it happen. Right. We're trying to make it happen. We're trying to go ahead and we're trying to hire employees. We're trying to keep employees. We're trying to get customers in. We're trying to get funding. And then actually, even when we come home, our spouses, you know, how is work? And, you know, we kind of almost are even selling them because they thought we should have kept that great job that we had at IBM or fill in the blanks. And so there's something about being a Faith Driven Entrepreneur that is pretty lonely, I think. And I think that our group, the folks that we minister to in our ministered by Faith driven entrepreneurs tend to resonate with that. It's hard to find really good community you get in church, right. And people are saying, I know they're coming from all sorts of different walks of life, but you never really feel like your pastor gets you or the person in your small group get you. You guys ever feel that way when you're in small group?
Rusty Rueff: Totally. Absolutely, totally. I mean, it's like you're in an alternate reality sometimes, right? You're doing your thing and you've got these pressures of these stresses on you. But somebody else who's outside of this sphere of being either an entrepreneur or outside of the sphere of your industry sector, you know, it's like you should be able to relate, but it's not relatable. And so you're on your own. You're on your own.
William Norvell: And then I find actually the most helpful people in that situation are the people with a lot of wisdom that say, you know, actually, I can't relate to that. But here's some thoughts on maybe something else you're going through. But, you know, then it can get really dicey.
My point is, though, when people try to come in and they really don't understand what's going on at all and they try to offer advice and wisdom and it can be misguided and be frustrating and kind of take people down the wrong path at some level, too.
Rusty Rueff: Yeah, well, you would know this, Henry, you know, running sovereign's capital, you know you know how lonely the journey is because we've seen a lot of venture capitalists now who won't or don't want to invest in a social entrepreneur. Right. They want to see a co-founder. They want to know that there's some support system, even if it's just two of you.
Henry Kaestner: So it's a known phenomena where two or more together, which doesn't mean the guy's not with you as a sole proprietor is an entrepreneur. Right. We're talking to somebody on a podcast episode. Recently, I was talking about developing a new technology informed by some twenty three. Right. Even though we go through the shadow of death, you're with me. And that connotes almost kind of I'm alone, but you're with me. And to be clear, you don't need to have a partner. We think that at the ministry that it surely is preferable if you can find that person that's yoked with you and pray with you and cry with you and celebrate with you and all that. But we have tried to get a little bit more intentional about community in the ministry. And we've got a guest today that is helping us to lead that initiative. And we have to Saathoff on the podcast with us. And she's come in as the director of community with what we do, a Faith Driven Entrepreneur. And she's going explain what does that look like and what does it look like and what could it look like but doesn't look like it now, et cetera. But with her, as with anybody else that we have on the show, Swails, who are you? Where do you come from? What's your background to the show?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: Thanks. I'm glad to be here. Yeah, well, first and foremost, I am a wife and a mom. My husband Matt and I have been married for 18 years and we have two girls. Breckon is in seventh grade and Browning is in third. So it's a fun household with lots of energy all the time. And, you know, professionally, I would have to say that everything kind of started at age 14 when I felt like God really gave this clear call for me to go into missions. And I had just come back from a mission trip to Mexico, grew up in Texas. So we just got across the border for a week. And at the time, my fourteen year old self that you know what that is going to mean? I'm going to live in a hut somewhere the rest of my life. And funny how God takes you on a very different journey than what you imagine as a 14 year old. And I thank him for that. So I went to Baylor University and I graduated with a Spanish degree, English and political science miners. I have no idea what I thought I was going to do, but I had a really smart person tell me. If I learned how to think, then I could do anything. And so I can think in two languages and so can Rusty. I've heard that about Rusty I knew.
Rusty Rueff: I mean, I knew you were going to do it. I just wanted to see how long it was going to take. One time I try a little Spanish on another episode of the podcast.
And it's going to stay with me forever, forever. So, all right, I'll take that.
Sue Alice Sauthoff: I'll take it. Yeah. So when I left college, I got married and my husband was getting his masters at Vanderbilt and I got a job teaching Spanish and coaching soccer for several years. And that led into going into the education sector. I worked with a corporation helping them liaise with the Department of Education in Mexico, providing educational programing for offenders who were and in correctional facilities and would be released whatever their home country was afterwards. And so we were providing education for them somehow. That then led me to working with Samaritan's Purse and I was with them for about five years, developing volunteer networks and growing volunteer teams across the United States, equipping them for the work that God had called them to do. So it's been a really strange journey. But what has been the constant is that God has shown me that through all of this, this is missions that the work that I've been a part of has been taking the gospel and taking the name of Jesus to parts of the earth I didn't know existed here in the States and literally to other parts of the globe.
And he's done that in a really unique ways that I could not have thought out myself by any means and so grateful for the journey God has brought me on that now has led me to Faith Driven Entrepreneur.
Henry Kaestner: Indeed, indeed. You are also bobblehead doll fan. What does that mean?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: I have a really special bobblehead doll. I'm a huge women's basketball fan, especially college basketball. And Baylor coach Kim Mulkey is a bit of a hero of mine. And so Kim sits on my desk beside me with her three national championship trophies to remind me that when I'm tired or when I'm feeling discouraged, I can keep going, I can do it and I can spot all. Had to be a Baylor basketball fan. It is a great year to be a Baylor basketball fan.
William Norvell: So I have a much less heroic bobblehead story. If this was video, you could see this. This probably looks like me because it is. And I have always lamented to my wife, better looking than you. Thanks, Bud. I appreciate that.
Oh, no, it's because everything looks good. It looks good.
I've always lamented to my wife I love bobbleheads and I've always just kind of said off the cuff, like, man, I really want my own bobblehead one day and one year for Christmas. This little guy was born.
Henry Kaestner: I was there like the limited release. I mean, can our listeners get them?
William Norvell: You know, there was a limited release of one. But yes, I mean, I'm happy to put these on the site.
Rusty Rueff: Yeah. Yeah, it totally it totally explains one thing about you. That's why you're constantly moving your head like that all the time. I never understood why you kind of bob your head around like that, but there you go. It's definitely not the caffeine and ADT.
Henry Kaestner: So tell us about why you've joined our team.
Sue Alice Sauthoff: Yeah, well, I have come on this team as the community manager to really help grow the community of entrepreneurs together globally and to expand that and see that multiply. I think that to bring these entrepreneurs together who often do feel lonely or isolated in their role, not only because of what they do, but because of the great weight of the responsibility that they hold to bring them together with other people, to realize that they're not alone, that there are other people that understand the situations that are and and what they're facing. It brings power. And that's biblical. Right. Jesus said the world will know us by our love for one another. And so if we're able to show each other love and we're not competitors, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ coming together, then the world is going to see that love and they're going to ask questions and they're going to see that there's hope that we have. That's really unique. And so not only is it an encouragement to us as believers to be in a community like that, but it also is shining light into our world.
Henry Kaestner: It tell us a bit about how you see that coming together and kind of practical. So you've been on board for a month and a half or so now. And right now you're in the middle of this initiative we're doing together the Right Now Media Faith Driven Entrepreneur Partnership video series, eight weeks. We've got entrepreneurs from all around the world that get together via a video resume and we're able to go through this curriculum together with this small video vignettes done in our partnership with Faith and Company, which are so, so good, really just very, very good. High production quality, incredible stories of Faith driven entrepreneurs, followed by teaching by JD Grear. But the magic of it really is this interaction between 12 to 15 entrepreneurs from all around the world coming together and community. And so you're starting to get a sense of that as you see that, aside from doing more of that. And we've got more classes that are starting in March and maybe every month going forward because we're starting to get some momentum and a lot of the people have gone through it. First Time said, I want to teach it to my own local community. But aside from that. Maybe you can talk about that one particular initiative. What does your vision look like in terms of building community over the course of the next couple of years?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: I think it would be amazing to see it really grow on a global scale, to see community what starts with one, grow to more and more in local communities, whether it's Johannesburg or Atlanta or Dallas or Jakarta all over that. We're able to start with the one person, the one person that comes to the group that is activated to really dig deep into what they're doing, integrating their faith and work together and then passing that on to the next person. And that one person then becomes another group of 15 in their area. And those 15 people are activated. And that grows into more and more communities growing together as believers, but also then as entrepreneurs taking their God given skills and abilities, uniting those together or encouraging them in their individual pursuits to do greater things than they thought they could before activated by that faith that they shared together.
Rusty Rueff: So some people have an experience, some do with small groups, very positive in some places. Some people don't even know what a small group is. So let's back all the way up. What's your definition of the FDE small group experience? And really, why is it important?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: Yeah, so practically, I think this FDE small group is a place where Faith driven entrepreneurs can come together, they have, as Henry mentioned, the short video where they're able to really see an example, a story told of an entrepreneur who has walked this journey before them, and then they're able to come together and really discuss it and bring this practical experience. What's really unique about it is that it's bringing a lot of entrepreneurs who maybe they've read a book before, maybe they have read an article, something that's really stimulating this idea of integrating faith and work together. But they don't know what that next step is. They're not ready to jump into something that's a much greater commitment, like a Praxis or C12 convene and something like that. This is a great first step to really connect them first to the Faith Driven Entrepreneur community, get them really thinking about their ideas about that, challenging what it looks like to integrate faith and work. And then after this group, we are always really pushing them to those next steps of what does that look like for each person?
Is it going next to Praxis, to C12, convene ocean or whatever that may be to really help them go even deeper?
Rusty Rueff: I love that. I love that. I mean, I think we all sort of need an on ramp, if you will, to how we go deeper in our faith and how we go deeper in our relationships with others that have similar experiences we have. So I think it's really, really powerful. I'm in a small group in my church and have been for 15 years. And, you know, the journey that we've come along together as we've all grown, you know, has been just so enriching in my own life. So I encourage everybody to think about this. I know we're in the midst of our second cohort of these FDE small groups. So can you tell our listeners, you know, what these groups are about, how they're formed, kind of what they do?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: Yeah. So it really starts with a first step of somebody who's interested, coming onto our website, filling out a registration form, saying, hey, I'm curious about this. I'm going to find out more. I want to be a part of one of these groups. And then we're able to place 12 to 15 entrepreneurs and a group that's led by really incredible facilitators. The people that we have facilitating these groups, they love Jesus. They are experienced entrepreneurs and they have a lot of wisdom to be able to share. But also we're really good at connecting the people in the group. So Henry and William are both some of our facilitators. We also you've heard in other podcasts from Andrew and Vep, and these are some of the people that are facilitating these groups and bringing them together each week. We just meet for an hour, we watch the video, we talk, we share and we celebrate together and talk about challenges that they're facing and problem solve together where possible as well.
Rusty Rueff: Well, you know, we love stories so early on now a month and a half, two months. You have stories for us about what you're hearing about what's happening in these groups.
Sue Alice Sauthoff: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the exciting stories that we just heard a couple of weeks ago is Henry ran one of these cohorts back in the fall and one of the ladies that was a part of that lives in Kampala, Uganda. And she was so encouraged by it that she's taking this group and she has just started a small group in Kampala with 15 women entrepreneurs. She has a vision to see women in Uganda being able to step into the marketplace, give them access, resources and encouragement. They need to do that. And so she's using this study as a first step to do that. Another story that's just been really encouraging has been as we went through week for talking about how excellence matters, one of our small groups had a really personal and intense discussion about what that looks like as believers. And so to watch these entrepreneurs come together and discuss matters of faith and how that applies to the workplace, they were wrestling with specific issues about what it looks like in their particular business to love their customers well, while also maintaining a balance with their family. And they're talking about how it's really hard to pursue excellence while also being excellent in their family and their business and everywhere and what that poll looks like as a believer. So hearing some of those just raw moments with people I think have brought a connection. You say love storytelling. I love storytelling, too. And I think that really loves storytelling. So I think when we tell stories, we're doing exactly what he says throughout the Bible to do, to remember what he has done so that we're able to then speak faith and truth to other people so that their faith will grow, that if I hear, man, God did this amazing thing for Rusty and I can believe that God's going to do the same kind of thing for me in the future.
And it builds my faith by sharing and remembering what Gottstein. For others.
Rusty Rueff: Uh, so I know we have listeners right now who are saying there going, oh, I would love to do this, but, you know, I don't have time. I don't know how I'd fit it in. Is this really for me? Bring them home, give the pitch. You know, why do they need this? And then we'll go to, you know, what they do next.
Sue Alice Sauthoff: Yeah. So there's a million really good things that we can all do with our time. Right. And there's so many great opportunities. I think what makes this unique and what I would say is the reason that they should take the plunge and do it anyway is that this is a place where God can bring growth in a way that is unique to other places.
I can go to my church and I'm finding immense, profound spiritual growth, but it's not always connecting with the work that I'm doing. And so to wrestle with other people in that same place is really unique. And that's not to say that we don't need to be spending our time wrestling with matters of faith and the church. Absolutely. That's where we need to be doing that as well. So I would just challenge our entrepreneurs that are listening right now to really ask yourself, what are you looking for right now? Are you looking to grow in your faith and your work together?
And if so, it's worth taking the time one hour a week for eight weeks to really devote yourself to this study and connecting with other people to see what God can do through you during this time.
Rusty Rueff: I think it's great. And I like the way you talk about this being additive. So I'm a church guy, right? I love my church. I think it's important that we're in church, that we have church community. So we might be in a small group in our church. This is not a replacement for that. This is additive. This is our small group for our vocation, our profession, and how we expand and bring glory to God in our work. So I want to just hit on that point because I would want anybody. We have a lot of pastors listening, right? We don't want him to go. Oh, wait a minute. They're trying to take people out of our small groups. No, no, no, no, no. This is all additive.
Henry Kaestner: Absolutely. I'm glad you made that point. The other thing is we've talked about before, there are some groups and some ministries take a really, really deep with entrepreneurs and local community. They've got just very rigorous approaches to building meaningful community among peers. C12, FCI, convene CIBM. See, of course, the work that is done really intentionally with the ocean accelerator, with Praxis or movement is the top end of the funnel. It's helping a entrepreneur to understand they're part of a larger tribe, part of a larger movement that God is doing in the marketplace, and for them to really lean into that and then as they then interact to find different local communities that we really want to help them to find. We have 50 different partner organizations now on the FDE marketplace all around the world. We're talking about Uganda. And as this group of women are then finished going through the FDE video series, there's Hindiya, which is on the ground in Uganda. You've got the work of Zappos to be able to give some really great training and then further community. So this is a big movement with lots of really key players. And by the way, what we're talking about that as you want to get more involved in some of the incredible ministries in the world, they're doing great work in the space. Please reach out to VEP, who's our director of partnerships for the FDE marketplace, and he can walk you through them. They're all doing incredible work and many of them are getting contributions in terms of mentors, but then also financial support that we provide them and many others do. So important to note, this is part of a larger ecosystem. Thanks, Rusty.
William Norvell: Absolutely. I feel like we are just blessed with relationships. And, you know, you mentioned some around the world. There's Missy Wallace at the National Institute of Faith and Work and now taken over Redeemer Faith and Work Center. There's Jeff Hanan in the difference to the faith and work.
And we really see our goal as being the top of the funnel to help you find your tribe. And what I love about Watsa, Alice is talking about what my group's experiences.
Hey, this is a great almost like a missing step in the movement to come in for eight weeks, be a part of something, and then we get to build that list of what's next. Right. You could start your own group if you're in Denver. You need to be Jeff Hanan. If you're in Nashville, you need to meet Missy. If you're in Uganda, you need to meet, you know, the hincker folks and things like that. So it's been fun to see and help people find their tribe. And I think that's what Sue Alice, it's just really been ramping up over the last few months. And so on that note, I would love to give you an opportunity to talk about what else is there. You know, so this eight week program is a nice bite sized approach to come in, get a little taste of things. One of the things I've loved in my groups is watching the other people. I've been talking to some other people. And this is actually you know, I've been getting together with Stephanie on the side. We've been talking every week. And so, you know, obviously that's really fun to see relationship start that will last beyond the group. But what other offerings are you working on right now that maybe if people don't want to join the group, that other things they could plug into?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: Yeah, that's great. Well, I would say for one of those things, if you feel like you've already kind of done this and this is your. Already, as an entrepreneur, maybe it's your opportunity to lead one of these small groups that you can take the opportunity to do that wherever you are and step into that. Another thing that we're doing is called flight school. So once a month, we are bringing in really amazing speakers, not just to talk because anybody can listen to somebody talk.
You guys are listening to a podcast right now, but this gives interaction as well. So it's an opportunity once a month to come and not only hear from these incredible speakers, but then interact with them, have a live Q&A time with them, have networking time at some virtual tables where you're really able to go a bit deeper. And so coming up over the next few months, we're going to hear from actually, William, you're going to be up very soon in March. And we also have Rusty coming up as well. Jessica Kim, David Sayer's and Cleeve, we have some really amazing people coming. So that's a great place to go. A little bit deeper on specific topics. Those are definitely and more typically focused venue. We also have our conference coming up in September. So on September 9th, we have our FDE conference. One day it's going to be incredible. And it is a virtual conference about what we're trying to do is bring it local. Again, we want to take what is happening kind of at this high level and bring it down to the one, bring it down to each person, connect with each person that really needs to integrate their faith and work as an entrepreneur. And so we're looking to have local site hosts all over the world. We already have a few people committed across the world in Egypt and South Africa and in Atlanta. So you name it, we want to go there. So if that's something that anyone listening is interested in participating with us and partnering with us as a site host, you can go to our website and check that out and find out more information there.
William Norvell: Absolutely. That's amazing. And you just want to point out, I mean, I'm going to choose a minute to encourage Rusty a little bit, for instance. Right. I don't know if we've specifically spent a lot of time talking to Rusty background, but Rusty has got a lot of experience and a lot of hard won wisdom in the Amen people management and corporate culture space. And so he's going to be doing one of these flight schools where he's going to give if you have not heard, I don't think we've given him the opportunity to give his shadow of a leader talk, but he's probably sprinkled in snippets over the years. I mean, that is just such an opportunity to learn from someone who's been in there who understands it. And then it's a great Q&A format to where you can bring your questions and talk to someone. And it's going to be amazing. And I'm so excited for those events and to see how that grows. So thank you for doing that.
And by the way, I feel no pressure now. I feel good. Good. We're going to record it and we're going to send it to everybody. If you're on the mailing list, you're getting it. But it really is. I mean, I learn every time, you know, it's one of those thought-Provoking things.
When you think about being an entrepreneur and building a company, you can hear over and over and over again and always take great wisdom from it.
And the same for all the other speakers coming up through someone listening, an entrepreneur, you've got them hooked. What's some of the first steps? How would they find out about some of these events? Where can they sign up?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: What's the best way to get involved so everything can be found on Faith Driven Entrepreneur, ERG? So under the Community and Events tab, you can find information about joining a small group, leading a small group flight school, the conference, all of those things are there, as well as a lot of other really encouraging content videos, podcasts, the daily blog, all of that can be found right there. So the first step is just go to the Web site and filling out one of those forms, taking the bold step to raise your hand and say, I'm ready to try this.
William Norvell: That's great, and so, Alice, I want to give you one last chance here as we come towards the close, what would be your last plea for entrepreneurs to find a community of minded folks to walk down this journey with?
Sue Alice Sauthoff: You know, statistics show us that entrepreneurs are anywhere from two to 10 times more likely to suffer from mental challenges. The stress is really intense scene that personally, even within my own family, of how that has affected them. And so God didn't design us to live alone. He designed us to live in community. We are many parts of one body, and when the body tries to function, a person tries to function as the body all by itself, not realizing that it's just a part. It doesn't go well. That's not how God created us. And so this is an opportunity for the body of Christ as entrepreneur, specifically in your vocation, to come together and encourage one another and build each other up and be encouraged and be built up and walk this journey with other people that just can't be oversold because that's how God designed us.
William Norvell: Can't say much better than that. Thank you for giving us that vision for what it could be like to be in community. And as we do come to a close, the thing we love to do is try to transcend our listeners and our audience through the word of God. And I would love to invite you to share where God has you in his word, either today or in the season, whatever might come to mind to share with them and walk us through that.
Sue Alice Sauthoff: So three years ago, God said it was time to start walking through the Bible very slowly, cover to cover three years. Then I'm in Isaiah now, very slow journey. But what's been really beautiful to see as I've been reflecting over themes of where God has brought his people up through the time of where I am and Isaiah, is this constant battle between the children of Israel trusting God and his story that he's writing for them or trusting empire? And as we've had kind of a crazy last few months, I think God has shown me where I have wanted to trust Empire, where I've wanted to trust in the security that the world can offer, whether that's a stable government health economy, stabilized things that maybe living in this Western world that I do, I don't even realize how much faith and trust I put in those rather than trusting God and the story that he's writing for me. And like in Isaiah Chapter 30, he says you look to Egypt for certainty and he says your identity is wrapped up in the holy city. It's not wrapped up in God. But then he says in returning and Rusty will be saved and quietness and trust, you'll find strength. And so that's where I'm really trying to sit and rest right now and be quiet before him and let him remind me that I can trust his story, I can trust what he is doing and that he is good. He wants good for me and that my certainty is not in a place or other people, but it's in a God who creates places for me to bring him into the world.
William Norvell: Hmm, Amen, thank you for sharing. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for all you do. Amen FDE and for bringing this Much-Needed piece of community to entrepreneurs around the world. Was really great to be with you guys today.