Posts in Excellence in Our Work
Episode 70 - Entrepreneurs Who Create their Own Category with Trae Stephens of Founders Fund

Today’s episode features Trae Stephens, one of the Partners at Founders Fund. As a venture capitalist, Trae provides excellent insight into what investors are looking for in entrepreneurs. As Trae explains, “we’re looking for outliers.” Find out what that entails and also how Trae measures value by the ability to create abundance and decrease competition. Trae bounces effortlessly between business, theology, and philosophy as he speaks, and we really think you’ll enjoy listening to what he had to share!

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Episode 69 - "One Million Followers Wasn’t in My Obituary" with Sanyin Siang of The Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics

We are so excited to get to share today’s interview with Sanyin Siang. She is the executive director of The Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics, and in addition to sharing what makes Coach K such an excellent coach and leader (hint: it has to do with enabling greatness instead of chasing it), she also told us why having 1 million followers on LinkedIn isn’t the thing she wants to be remembered for. It was so encouraging to hear her share how her identity and value is found first and foremost in what God says is true of her—that she is a beloved child of God. We think her energy and passion is contagious and hope you get a chance to listen in!

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Episode 59 - Saying No to Sam Walton and other Entrepreneurial Stories with Drayton McLane of the Houston Astros

Today we learned that Sam Walton was persistent (very persistent), that you don’t have to know a lot about baseball to successfully own a Major League Baseball team, and that stories are best told by the one who have lived them. And that’s exactly who Drayton McLane is—a serial entrepreneur with a knack for storytelling. Pull up a chair, get comfortable, and prepare to hear story after story of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur for over half a century.

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Episode 56 - The Entrepreneurial Journey of the Museum of the Bible to the US Capital: Steve Green, President of Hobby Lobby

In this episode we’re on the road in Oklahoma City, connecting with Steve Green, President of Hobby Lobby. He shares with us the story behind the Museum of the Bible—a 430,000-square-foot museum just three blocks from the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Hear what brought about this world class exhibit, as well as the entrepreneurial lessons Steve learned along the way.

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Episode 51 - God Owns it All: Alan Barnhart, CEO of Barnhart Crane and Rigging

This week’s guest is Alan Barnhart of Barnhart Crane and Rigging of Memphis, TN. Originally a small family business started by his parents, Alan and his brother, Eric, grew the company into one of the largest Heavy Lift and Heavy Transport organization in the United States with 1,000 team members in more than 40 locations across the country and a nationwide reputation for solving problems (Even if it means building a 200+ wheel truck!).

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Episode 49 - A Rule of Life for Redemptive Entrepreneurs: Andy Crouch, Author, Journalist and Partner at Praxis

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On this episode, the team spends time with Andy Crouch, partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship, as well as an accomplished writer and journalist, having authored several books as well as articles published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine.

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Episode 48 - Unleashing the Power of People and Increasing Productivity 300%: Bryant Ambelang, CEO of NatureSweet

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Today we’re on the road, connecting with Bryant Ambelang, President and CEO of NatureSweet, the largest greenhouse producer of tomatoes in North America. Bryant shares with us the ways he has cared for his employees by doing a better job of connecting their purpose and passions to their work.

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Episode 45 - How to Shorten Your Time in the Desert: Julie Barrios, Founder of Nuos Foundation

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We find the team chatting with Julie Barrios, of Nuos Formation, a spiritual formation enterprise focused on helping the entrepreneur develop healthy inner lives as part of purposeful living as a faith-driven entrepreneur.

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Episode 40 - Mission Ready: Part Two with David Morken, CEO of Bandwidth

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In Part Two with David Morken, the team discusses more thoroughly about what it means to be mission ready both individually and corporately. David talks about the importance of obedience to God and avoiding the pitfalls of both willfulness and passivity and Henry leads the discussion into practical applications of how their company’s HR policies intentionally reflected kingdom values as they target the whole person for impact.

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Episode 37 - Hey Kid, Wanna Test Something on the Space Station? - Valley Christian Schools Entrepreneur Program

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The team spends some time with the students and teachers from Entrepreneur Program and Valley Christian School (VCS) in San Jose, CA. Spearheaded by Hannah Kim and Danny Kim, entrepreneurs in their own right, the program has launched high school students into the world of entrepreneurship in the midst of a community invested in seeing biblical values and principles impacting the world.

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Episode 35 - God Loves Idiots too: John Marsh of Marsh Collective

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The team sits down with John Marsh of Marsh Collective, Opelika AL to discuss storytelling, what it’s like to run 10+ businesses (the collective part of Marsh Collective) and how to be the steward of 10 square city blocks for the glory of God and Kingdom while being totally unqualified to do so.

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Episode 29 - Hunger for Authenticity in a Post Christian Era: Part 2 with Mike Sharrow (CEO of C12)

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Mike Sharrow is back for Part 2 of our interview. As you likely gathered from Part 1, Mike leads C12 one of the largest and most successful organizations that put together groups of like minded, and similarly staged groups of Christian CEOs for local community, fellowship and best practices. Think about all the things you've heard about YPO, but imagine something better :). If you're only going to listen to one of the parts of the interview (but why would you??) , listen to this one.

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Episode 28 - Resurgence of Faith in the Marketplace: Interview with Mike Sharrow (CEO of C12)

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The first of two parts, this week’s episode finds the team speaking with Mike Sharrow, President and CEO of C12, an organization that provides a confidential and intimate environment where like-minded peers share ideas, discover and plan for areas in their business that need improvement, hold each other accountable, and encourage one another to conduct business in a God-honoring way.

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Episode 24 - Interview with Nancy Duarte

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This is a special episode for us. One, we think, definitely worth hearing. Why? Well there are few things more important in our lives than effective story telling.

There are few better people (maybe no one??) that do a better job at helping people tell their stories than Nancy Duarte from Duarte Design. They help CEOs of Fortune 100 companies tell their stories, and maybe something more impressive: they are the “go-to” firm to help TED presenters tell their stories well.

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