BoldIdea Podcast - Put your faith to work and bring your bold idea to life.

Not every idea is meant to last forever, but how do you say goodbye to a bold idea? That’s what Leary and Armin cover in this episode--their last episode (for now) of the BoldIdea podcast.

Does God have a plan for our work, even when that work isn’t done at a church or religious organization? That’s the question Leah Archibald and her team at the Theology of Work ask everyday — and it’s a question she explores on the podcast with Leary and Armin.

Sometimes, we have to say goodbye to a bold idea that we are pursuing. In this episode, Leary and Armin discuss four ways to know when to say goodbye to your bold idea and share their own experiences with learning to let go.

Matthew Thomas has traveled the world, taught across cultures, and planted churches in impoverished areas, and yet there’s two incredibly common questions he’s had people ask: Why am I here? and Does my life have any meaning? He chats with Leary and Armin today to sort through those two questions and how they impact our walk as Christians.

Sangram Vajre took a big risk: he stepped out of a good job and into one with a very uncertain future, and all with a wife, child, and new baby at home. He chats with Leary and Armin today about why the risk was worth it and how we sometimes need courage to take action on our bold ideas.

It’s episode 100 of the BoldIdea podcast! Leary and Armin get asked these questions about the podcast all the time: “Why do you do it? What do you get out of it? What has it done for you? Hey, do you think I should do a podcast?”

If you want to put your bold idea to work, you have to face your inner critic. But that can be tough. Our inner critic is often our harshest one--and the least easy to dismiss, too. In this episode, Leary and Armin discuss what their inner critic looks like and some tips for keeping it from taking over.

Jay Payleitner knows what it’s like to step out on a new adventure. A theatre major turned copier salesman turned radio producer, Jay’s been fired two days after his second son was born and he’s learned that it was all part of God’s plan---God’s dare, really---to take the next bold step. Jay joins Leary and Armin to talk about his new book, The Jesus Dare, and how he’s daring believers and non-believers to step out in faith.

Steve Siler is an award-winning songwriter and producer, but even more than that: he brings people hope through his ministry, Music for the Soul. Writing songs about grief, misscarriage, porn addiction, and adultery, Steve and his fellow songwriters are bringing people of all walks of faith the unique yet universal message they need to hear: that they are loved by God.

Ann White is passionate about getting God’s Word into the hands of every woman in the world. Sometimes, this take a more creative approach than just handing out Bibles, so her team at Courage for Life has released the first-ever female-voiced Bible to bring the Word of God to at-risk women in a voice that that doesn’t cause fear.

Patrick Morley founded the Man in the Mirror ministry nearly 30 years ago and since has helped over 35,000 churches minister to more than twelve million men around the globe. He joins Leary and Armin today to discuss the issues that plague modern men (spoiler: they’re the same as they’ve always been) and the three things he thinks every man needs in order to be growing in his walk with the Lord.

Ty Bennett built a booming business doing $25 million a year in sales when he was in his twenties. But he felt God calling him to something else, even if it meant less dollar signs and more time on the road. He chats with Leary and Armin about his career transition and what relevant leadership looks like in today’s world.

Elizabeth Adams found herself squeezed between adult children and an aging mother with cancer -- all of whom needed a lot of her attention and care. And this was all while she was going through seminary training. When she fell asleep in a fast-food drive thru, she realized she needed to be taking better care of herself, too. Elizabeth shares her journey with Leary and Armin on the podcast today.

Phil Zahn is a bit of a mystery. He doesn’t like to name who he works for, where he’s traveling, or the people that he’s talking to. And he does this in service to the people that he knows God loves, protecting their identities and their stories. But he will absolutely talk about the Jesus that he knows, and he does so on the podcast with Leary and Armin today.

Some of us are idea factories. We can’t stop having ideas. But with every idea comes a tax -- or two, or more -- and if we ignore that tax, we have to account for it later. And that usually comes at a pretty high price.

Ben Peterson has been many things: a doubting high schooler-turned-believer; a soldier and lapsed disciple; a successful salesperson and non-profit builder. Through all of that, He has tried to listen to the voice of God and go where God tells him to go, when God tells him to. That call has lead him to start a nonprofit whose goal is to help military come to know Christ and be discipled in the local church.

Are you bi-vocational? Leary and Armin take a break from interviewing guests and chat about whether or not they are bi-vocational -- and whether you might be, too.

Aaron Walker spent decades as a successful businessman constantly reaching for the next big thing. When a horrendous car accident jolted him out of his reverie of success, he pivoted his life to be one about building significance, and he’s spent years encouraging other men in their own journey through mentorship.

John Morris started serving the Lord at age 19, and has had an incredible journey as both an Army chaplain and United Methodist pastor, both positions from which he recently retired. He shares his story of walking away from the goals that his parents had for him and into one that God did, and how he remained confident in that calling --- even to this day.

There are few things more removed from each other than dropping acid with Charles Manson and preaching the Gospel around the world. Our guest Bill Davis has done both, and he shares his story of transformation from a man haunted by addiction to one forgiven and loved by God.

Like most people, you are probably thinking about what you want to do in the New Year. Leary and Armin are, too. But this year they are asking: How can we live 2019 more courageously?

Dan Chrystal has uprooted his life and built himself a new community again and again and again, all while serving in the church and running a business (or three!). He knows that building relationships with other people is a lost art -- and he’s written a new book to help us all navigate the process. He chats with Leary and Armin on the podcast today about how we were created to be in relationships together.

Have you ever hesitated to choose because you have too little information? Too much information? Have you ever held out on making a decision in hopes that the perfect option will come along? This episode is for you. Leary and Armin are taking a break from interviewing guests and chatting all about how to choose between the many options that confront us.

Phil Cooke is an internationally recognized speaker on creativity and the creative process. So when we has tips for encouraging your team to be creative, we listen up. He chats with Leary and Armin about why managers are eager to hire creativity above all else, how they encourage their teams to be as creative as possible, and how to balance the need for routine with the need for creative freedom in your organization.

Pete Enns is interested in how certainty and trust play roles in the lives of believers. A Biblical scholar, Pete has spent years searching through and teaching the scriptures, confident that he would be more certain about his faith when he knew more about God. Instead, he’s found the opposite to be true, and invites us into this discussion on certainty and trust with Leary and Armin.

Everywhere he goes, Joe Battaglia sees people interacting with the internet and not with each other. As a result, we’ve lost the community God created us to live in. Joe’s new book addresses this crisis, spurring Christians on to reach out to others to live in true community once again. He shares that message here on the podcast this week.

Kelly Resendez knows what it’s like to be successful on the outside but unsatisfied on the inside.In 2002, Kelly was a mortgage lender who had it all: a high six-figure salary, the beach house, the mansion. But she felt joyless. When three family tragedies struck in close succession, she realized that she needed to change her definition of success and chase what God had for her.

Sangram Vajre became a marketer by chance and then went on to lead the marketing department of a 10 billion dollar company before leaving to start something new. He chats with Leary and Armin on how not only did his career change when he became an entrepreneur, but how finding God changed his leadership style as well.

Don Barden has a different model of leadership: He wants the people following him to leave him. It sounds different, and that’s because it is. Don wants to give everyone a chance to learn who they are and what they contribute to the world, and then he wants to equip them to go and serve God in their one unique capacity. Don chats with Leary and Armin about this model, reminding us all the servant leadership is hard, but it’s worth working toward.

JB Adkins is a serious serial entrepreneur. At a guess, he’s started 20 companies and seen many of them fail. His latest venture, Skyride, highlights his desire to keep innovating in an industry that seems mired in the same: air travel. JB chats with Leary and Armin about how failure can’t keep you from moving forward in this episode.

After a trying bout of bed rest with a pregnancy and four consecutive back surgeries, Sarah Beckman was tumbled into walking three people close to her through terminal illness in just three years. The decade of heartbreak and hardship taught her what it means to come alongside someone in their trial and truly be present for them, and she has tips for everyone that she shares with Leary and Armin in today’s episode.

Danita Bye was planning to write a book, just not the one that ended up being written! After speaking with her 23-year-old son following a leadership conference he attended, she felt compelled to explore what leading Millennials looked like --- and what it should look like instead.

John Turnipseed used to lead a gang of 300 or more in Minneapolis, a gang with a reputation big enough and bad enough to have the National Guard called in against them. Now, he’s living a completely different story. The campus pastor and executive vice president at Urban Ventures, John takes his passion for fathering and uses it to minister to men and their families.

Gigi Marvin is an expert at taking action. A professional hockey player and three-time Olympic medalist, Gigi helped Team USA win gold earlier this year at the 2018 Olympics. But that rise to the top almost didn’t happen. Just months before the games, Gigi and her teammates chose to take a stand and demand action in regards to the state of women’s hockey across the country. She chats with Leary and Armin about the courage it took, and why acting was the only thing they could do.

Ryan Carlson is a passionate networker who knows how building relationships with others can help both them and you in your own businesses and careers. And he learned from the best: his dad. Ryan joins Leary and Armin and they discuss ways to be memorable, how to be respectful of other people’s time, and how to keep nurturing those new connections long after that first business card exchange.

Leary and Armin have had a lot of great guests on the show, people whose lives they admire and seek to emulate. In this episode, they’re sharing the guests they use as reference models to level up in their own lives.

Aaron Ginn is a Silicon Valley force. Named to Forbes’s 30 Under 30 list in 2017, Aaron has helped companies like Everlane and StumbleUpon create products that people willingly become evangelists for, and it’s taught him a lot about his own personal faith while he’s at it. Aaron shares his story with Leary and Armin and has encouragement for Christians everywhere to be more courageous right where they are.

Former police officer Adam Davis wants everyone to redeem the pain in their life through being transparent with themselves, God, and others. As someone who has been sexually abused, Adam knows that radical transparency can bring healing to even the deepest of wounds. He shares his story with Leary and Armin, and encourages others to lay down their pain for Christ’s love.

Whitney Johnson knows that personal disruption is the best way to level-up in your own career trajectory. She jumped from earning a degree in music to becoming a sought-after equity analyst on Wall Street and knows that the experience helped her to jumpstart a new learning curve of her own. She chats about her experience with Leary and Armin and shares some tips for how to invite disruption in your own life in order to grow.

Herb Reese had been leading teams of men to serve widows and single moms for over ten years, but when his brother-in-law died and left his sister without someone to care for her and her daughters, he realized that his next bold step needed to be taking his ministry full time. Herb joins Leary and Armin to discuss New Commandment Men’s Ministry and how it is changing the lives of men and women around the globe.

How do you know if you are trusting God with a bold idea? Leary and Armin take a break from guest interviews to discuss the topic, chatting about prayer, timing, pacing, and facing risk. They’ve got practical steps to test your bold idea, and ways to know whether or not it’s the right time to dive into pursuing one.

After meeting failure in childhood, in marriage, and in his finances, Torrey Bates found himself starting fresh --- again. And this time, he found that finding purpose for himself rather than stepping into a role someone else had for him was the ticket to finally breaking out of the cycle of failure. Torrey shares his tough and triumphant story with Leary and Armin, reminding each of us that redemption is always possible.

Is there a place for Christians in popular art and culture? There most certainly is says Brian Bird, a successful Hollywood film and television producer. Brian doesn’t see a separation between the art of the people and the art of the church, just millions of men and women created in the image of God using their talent to share stories of redemption in search of the greatest redemption of all.

After losing both of her parents by the age of 18, Taylor Smith learned what loneliness was. Her mission is to help refugees all over the world feel the sense of belonging that we have as God’s people, and she has a remarkable story of how she got to this point. In this episode, she shares with Leary and Armin her vision for the world, that the nations of unrest might find God’s peace.

Can we make a Kingdom impact while we are here on earth? Jay Bennett is living proof that we can. A former attorney, Jay spent the first half of his life climbing ladders and making big things happen. Then he had what he calls his “halftime moment” when he lost the ability to speak. The moment brought him to a place where he knew God’s peace like never before, prompting him to turn his eyes to making investments for the Kingdom of God rather than just financial ones.

Can we make a difference in the global refugee crisis? John Griffith is living proof that we can. A former real estate developer and early retiree, John found his second life’s purpose in working with the American Refugee Committee and putting his skills in global development to perfect use.

Can we handle the risk that change requires? Nick Tasler thinks we can. An expert in the field of managing change, Nick helps Fortune 500 companies handle the change that comes their way as intentionally as possible. In order to make a big change, you have to take big risks -- and there is a science to it. Nick’s advice for individuals and corporations can help them manage their risk tolerance to be more effective.

Dr. Stecker has a passion to help churches return to the intergenerational communities that they once were. He chats with Leary and Armin about creating a culture where church ministries don’t silo church members away from one another, helping churches function as the families God intended them to be.

Can we create teams that help us reach our bold idea? Chris Mefford knows we can. Chris has taken departments that nobody wanted to work with and turned them into the departments that everyone wanted to be connected to. He talks with Leary and Armin about how radical transparency helped him get there.

Phil Cooke and Jonathan Bock have some shocking statistics for Christians today: Attending church less than 50% of the time makes you a “regular”. More than a third of Christians don’t believe prayer is important. Less than 10% of regular attenders tithe. When we bemoan the fact that our “Christian nation” is slipping away, who can we really blame? Leary and Armin talk with Phil and Jonathan about the broken church and how we can --- and must --- regain our credibility.

Leary and Armin are making work great again! But seriously: they are. By asking some important questions, they’re moving the conversation from whether or not what you are doing is great, to whether or not you are doing great just by doing with the right attitude.