Faith Driven Entrepreneur Asia

This episode highlights the story of Dylan and Anna Wilk, the co-founders of the Philippines' biggest brand of affordable natural personal care products: Human Nature.The couple met shortly after Dylan began questioning the purpose of his life. He had accumulated great wealth through his career in the U.K., but still felt that something was missing. God opened his eyes on a trip to the Philippines and gave him new meaning for his money, his career, and for his entire life. He also met and eventually married Anna there, and the two now run the business together. They join the show to share their story and talk about how God has changed their lives, and the lives of so many others through Human Nature. Let's listen in.

God can redeem any broken situation. Even for a man who had a lifetime of fraud, lies, and shortcuts that led to 3 different prison sentences.Anil David is a living testimony of God's radical grace and transformative mercy. He met Jesus in a prison cell, not long after authorities burst into his home and took him back to jail for the third and final time. It was during that sentence that he decided to change.  Since then, he's started Agape Connecting People, a business that equips inmates and other overlooked people groups for a sustainable career. He joins the show, along with guest co-host Kim Pong, to share how God redeemed his criminal past and how he's using his experience to love others.

Entrepreneurs are far more likely to deal with anxiety than others.So how do we handle the moments when we feel anxious?Australian author Steve Cuss joined the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast to discuss how entrepreneurs can go from being managed by anxiety to managing their anxiety in healthy and productive ways.Check out the episode and don't forget to follow and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts.

How do you balance innovation and tradition in a business that has been around for generations?Reuben Ang has had to ask himself this question as the managing director of Hesed and Emet Holdings, a food solutions company based in Singapore with holdings in various events and institutional catering and food retail businesses.During his time with the company, Reuben has helped scale the company by modernizing the menu and automating processes without sacrificing the important, traditional elements that make the brand special. He joins the podcast to talk about striking that balance, working with family, and how his faith has informed his work.

Some of the biggest questions we get as a ministry revolve around corruption, and on today's show, we're tackling that issue.Our guest is Dr. Mark Lovatt, the CEO and Principle Consultant of Trident Integrity, an internationally-recognised expert at strengthening integrity infrastructure in organisations across Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region. Mark has lived and worked on the continent for over a decade and is passionate about helping businesses build integrity and fight corruption.He joins us today to offer practical tips on how we can steward the power that God has given us.If you like this episode, don't forget to rate and follow the show.

In this special episode originally recorded for the Faith Driven Entrepreneur Africa Podcast, Dr. Kamau Gachigi shares how he is equipping Kenyan students how to turn their product ideas into a physical reality.Dr. Gachigi got tired of seeing brilliant Kenyan engineers leave the industry because they lacked resources. That's why he created Gearbox, a hardware accelerator and makerspace that trains, resources, and equips innovators in Kenya so they can turn ideas into physical reality. In this episode, Dr. Kamau gives an overview of the fourth industrial revolution, and explains why the next Mark Zuckerbergs and Elon Musks are going to come from Kenya. Listen in as Dr. Kamau unpacks design thinking, practical strategies for local job creation, and what African innovators can share with the world. Like this episode? Be sure to rate the show and subscribe on your favorite podcast streaming platform.

Today's guest helps us consider: what does it mean to develop a sustainable life?Tommy Tjiptadjaja is the co-founder and CEO of Greenhope, an organization that reduces waste to circumvent the harm done to the environment and animals. He and his team have developed biodegradable technologies that reduce the lifespan of plastic waste, but he believes even more can be done.Real sustainability, for him, requires collaboration between people working together for the sake of their communities today and in the future. Solutions won't come only by making more sustainable decisions. They'll come when we develop more sustainable lives. That vision includes creation care, but it also goes beyond it. How can we care for our families, our employees, or our work in sustainable ways? How does God sustain us and our identities in our entrepreneurial journeys?We tackle all these questions and more today. Follow the show on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.

Imagine you're waiting on a big promotion that you've worked for all your life, and then God tells you to recommend someone else.That's what happened with Endowus founder and today's guest Sam Rhee. Before his current venture, Sam worked in investment banking and was in line for a new, significant position when he felt the Lord calling him to something different.He didn't know what it would be at the time, but now, he's grateful that he had faith in God's plan.Hear Sam's story on the latest episode of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur Asia podcast and don't forget to follow the show wherever you get your podcasts.

Technology has the power to shape values and economies. But how are Christ-followers stewarding their capital and ventures for the kingdom?Chris Yeo is addressing this question as the Co-Founder of Digital Mission Ventures, an accelerator program that invests in early stage, Christ-following tech entrepreneurs in South East Asia.  As the CEO of DOKU and former Head of Grab Ventures, Chris has seen the influence innovation can have in the region. At Digital Mission Ventures, he partners with Praxis Labs to disciple business innovators and help them think about the redemptive edge of their companies. Chris joins the show with special co-host Pastor Benny Ho to talk about how tech entrepreneurs in Asia can use their businesses to love and serve those around them.

Can finances lead to a more loving world?Former NBA star Jeremy Lin and his business partner, Robert Kim believe so. The two of them, along with Patricia Sun, lead JLIN LLC, an organization dedicated to redefining love through entrepreneurship and investing. In Part 2 of our conversation with Jeremy Lin, the basketball star is joined by Robert Kim, the Managing Director of JLIN LLC, to talk about the organization's efforts to impact culture and why they chose to focus on investments rather than philanthropy.If you missed Part 1 of the episode, you can go back and listen to it on your favorite streaming platform. Make sure to click the follow button so you don't miss out on any others.

When you think of the accomplished basketball player, Jeremy Lin, you may not picture an entrepreneur right away. But after Linsanity took the world by storm, the young star had to think of himself as a brand as well as an athlete.Fast forward to today and Jeremy is still balancing the two worlds, especially as he grows his company, JLINN LLC. Over the years, Jeremy saw the transformative power businesses can play in communities. Mix that with the desire he had to steward the success he has had as an athlete, and you've got a perfect recipe for an entrepreneur. Jeremy  Lin and his business partner, Patricia Sun, join the show to talk about the Linsanity journey that made him a superstar, why he's stepping into entrepreneurship, and how he and others can fight pride and stay rooted in Christ.

The global pandemic has showed us how truly essential frontline workers are, but they are often overlooked in large corporations. Today's guest wants to fix that. Daniel Hazman, CEO and co-founder of Nimbly Technologies found that the work of frontliners was hampered by inefficient standard operating procedures and analog workflows. Through the Nimbly SaaS dashboard system and mobile app, Daniel is making the lives of frontliners easier and more productive. In this episode, Daniel shares his passion for optimizing human potential and connecting corporate strategies to people at the store level. He tackles the struggle he's faced with maintaining his identity in Christ while bearing the pressure of becoming a Unicorn in the tech industry. How do you lean into the love of God while facing the possibility of failure as an entrepreneur? How can you intentionally stay faithful on a daily basis? We're not straying from the hard questions about faith driven entrepreneurship. We hope you don't either. At Faith Driven Entrepreneur Asia, we want to connect and equip business visionaries like you to fulfill your call to create and transform the world around you. Learn more at  asia.faithdrivenentrepreneur.org

Entrepreneurs, no matter where they're from, are frontline ministers in the workplace. As a pastor and the former Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, the largest Anglican church in Britain, Nicky Gumbel believes that it is his task to equip the saints for ministry in the places where they work and live. For the past 3 decades, Nicky Gumbel has pioneered the Alpha course, created as an introduction to the Christian faith primarily for non-churchgoers. The Alpha course has attracted hundreds of young people from around the world who otherwise had no interest in Christianity. It has been run in churches, prisons, government institutions, and workplaces around the world. Nicky joined the global Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast to talk about uniting the church through the goal of activating believers and making the gospel accessible to all.

We talk a lot about creating a culture of the kingdom in your workplace. But how do you do that in a country that has negative perceptions of business and Christianity? In this episode, Joseph Vijayam, founder and CEO of Olive Technology and a catalyst for the Lausanne Movement, shares about the state of missions and entrepreneurship within India. While India hosts a third of the world's unreached people groups, it also boasts a burgeoning population of entrepreneurs involved in tech. And Joseph Vijayam is right in the middle of it. Listen in as Joseph shares how God is building a movement of faith driven entrepreneurs through emerging tech industries within South Asia.

Million Dollar Baby has been designing elegant and sophisticated nursery furniture for more than 25 years. Founder Daniel Fong shares on our Faith Driven Entrepreneur global podcast hosts about the early days of his enterprise. He talks about what it's been like to watch his kids grow up in the business, get involved, and continue to be instrumental in leading the organization into the next phase of development.

As someone who has been involved in tech startups in Indonesia since 2008, Ronald Ishak is familiar with the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. Now, he shares what he's learned through the Hacktiv8 community, a coding bootcamp that trains beginners to become employable web developers. In this podcast, Ronald shares how he's avoided the depths of despair through failures and the deception of pride in successes. Listen in as Ronald unpacks leading development teams, facing the imposter syndrome, and being surrounded by a praying community. 

When your spouse is your business partner, it's easy for business decisions to get personal, and personal decisions to seep into the business operations. John and Ashely Marsh know the tension first hand. The husband and wife team are the co-founders of the Marsh Collective, pioneering the redemption of Opelika historic downtown. Opelika's story, an account of beauty from brokenness, mirrors their personal story. Through sharing and walking out of their personal testimony of reconciliation, John and Ashely have given hope to hundreds of couples facing divorce and have inspired thousands of business leaders who aspire to live out their faith through their work. On this episode, originally aired on the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast, the couple shares helpful tools and stories for entrepreneurs who are partners in business and life.Want to listen to more of John and Ashely? Check out their Redemptification Podcast. 

Entrepreneurship can feel like a juggling act. Leaders often balance a variety of roles and responsibilities, but they also find that one thread or passion that connects everything.That's the case with today's guest, Dr. Suparno Adijanto. As the managing director of Bumi Raya Group, Dr. Adijanto oversees businesses in a variety of fields including mining, plantation, renewal energies, supply chain and distribution, and property development. But there is a constant in the midst of all this variety: his passion for stewarding what God places in front of him. Dr. Adijanto cares deeply about creating a sustainable future, not just in business, but in God's creation. He works in areas of creation care and environmental impact and leads the next generation of leaders to do the same. He joins the show to talk about stewardship, generosity, and the value of loving the future. 

In the late 90's, Dunkin' Donuts found it so hard to break into the Los Angeles donut market that they gave up. Why? Because of our guest today, Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee also known as The Donut King. Ted Ngoy has opened over 70 donut shops in an effort to give Cambodian refugees a chance to earn a living and make it in America. At one point, his donut empire netted him over $20 million and a presidential award for achieving the American Dream from George H.W. Bush. Then, he lost everything. Listen in to this episode originally aired on the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast, as the king himself takes us through every up and down of his unbelievable story. 

As he was starting the Australian product brand, Thankyou, Daniel Flynn asked how he could reconcile a world where the bottled water industry was worth $50 billion annually while people were dying from lack of access to clean water. With childlike faith, he and two partners, began brainstorming seemingly wild solutions that they thought might just work. From there, Thankyou has grown to become a million-dollar social enterprise selling world-class products from food, to soap, to baby care.  The company is known for their creative solutions to serve those in extreme poverty, including directing 100% of profits to a charitable trust, and publishing a book to fund expansion. In this podcast, Daniel talks about the importance of stepping out in faith and how renting helicopters can help your marketing plan.

Jennie Allen is the founder and visionary of the women's organization IF:Gathering, the host of the top rated Made for This podcast (17 million downloads) as well as the New York Times bestselling author of Get Out of Your Head, which was the #1 bestselling religion title of 2020. Her latest book is Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World. She has appeared on shows such as Hallmark Home & Family, Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream, and been featured in various outlets such as Woman's World, Brit+Co, Cosmopolitan.com, and Christianity Today. The estimated viewership for 2021's IF:Gathering exceeded one million women in all 50 states and 144 countries., live streaming from Dallas, Texas, into thousands of churches, family rooms and dorm rooms. We're excited to talk with Jennie on the Faith Driven Entrepreneur Podcast. Together, we're going to discuss in depth some of the powerful topics she writes about and how they relate to us as entrepreneurs.

Edy Sulistyo didn't start out as an entrepreneur, but he has clearly had success as one. The Indonesian native has founded, scaled, and exited four different tech platforms over his career, with the most recent one getting acquired by the Gojek Group in 2017. Today, Edy works as the CEO of Gojek's on-demand video platform GoPlay where he helps develop locally based content from Indonesian film makers. He joins the show to talk about the pros and cons of acquisition, the making of great Indonesian entertainment, and the value of not worshiping one's work.

 Sharon Lim experienced the heights of entrepreneurial success in Jakarta, but nearly lost it all in the Indonesian financial crisis. Overnight, her entire bank account became practically worthless as the currency plummeted. Listen in as Sharon tells the story of how God led her through this season of total loss and brought her to where she is today: the Co-founder and Managing Director of the fashion technology platform Browzwear. Based out of Singapore, with an R&D Center in Israel, Browzwear is now a pioneer of 3D digital solutions for the fashion industry, raising $35 million in their latest funding round.

Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary painter, a well known writer, curator, and founder. At his core, he is a creator. Perhaps best known for his bicultural artwork, Makoto fuses abstract expressionism together with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga and Kachoga (bird-and-flower painting tradition). His desire is to reframe how we talk about art, love, and beauty from a biblical perspective, and provide a hub that draws creative minds together from around the world. Makoto shares more about partnering with God and the coming of his New Creation.See more links related to Makoto's work below:Art and Faith: A Theology of MakingCulture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common LifeSilence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born From SufferingSilence (2016)Rhapsody (2018, Bucknell University)Lux Aertena  by Morten Lauridsen

After 20 years of consulting with McKinsey and spearheading land development in the Philippines, Jim Ayala started to wonder if he was really improving the lives of the most marginalized in his home country. So he left his executive, corporate position to found Hybrid Social Solutions, a gridless solar electricity network that provides energy to the 25 million people in remote, unelectrified communities. The culture at Hybrid Social Solutions can be described as Mother Theresa meets Don Quixote meets the Marines. Jim and his team of Solaristas are committed to this crazy impossible dream to share Christ's love with people by providing energy access to the most remote villages, through an efficient and well-trained team. In this episode, Jim shares with us about the impact of social enterprise, the nuances of providing energy access in a developing country, and the sacrifice required to serve people well.

Wai Hong Fong's entrepreneurial journey may surprise you, but that's okay. It surprised him too.He didn't excel in school; he almost failed. He didn't dream of building successful businesses; he fell into it. But once he got a taste of entrepreneurship, he hasn't looked back.Today, Wai Hong runs Storehub, an operating system that powers over 13,000 omnichannel businesses in Southeast Asia.He joins the show to talk about the surprising journey that brought him to where he is today. 

Not everyone sees technology as an opportunity for humanization, but So-Young Kang does.The Gnowbe founder believes Faith Driven Entrepreneurs can create platforms that empower people to become more human and more Christlike. They just need the right intentions. She discusses this idea more fully in this jam-packed episode that also touches on gender discrimination, music theory, and Jesus' role as the standard for humanization.

Anthony Tan's entrepreneurial journey started with a simple question: how can I best take care of other people?Through that he founded Grab, the leading superapp in Southeast Asia. Grab provides food delivery, ridesharing, and digital payments for its users. It's also valued at $14 billion. Anthony sat down with our global podcast hosts in the midst of the 2020 pandemic to share the story that led to 9 million drivers in 352 cities. We're excited to share it with the Asia Pacific audience with a new intro from our hosts, Wen and Henry.

We are incredibly excited about the launch of our new podcast! This will be a place to hear from Faith Driven Entrepreneurs in the Asia Pacific region. You'll be inspired, encouraged, and equipped by the stories of these innovators living out their God-given call to create. Our hope is that it helps you to go and do the great work God is calling you to in your area as well.Join our host Wen Li Lim in this inaugural episode as she talks with Henry Kaestner about the vision, mission, and goals for the show.