Venture with Virtue

Most of us spend the majority of our day at work. Have you ever asked yourself questions like… What is the meaning of work? What am I supposed to do with all of the hours in the day I spend at work? How do I make the most of them? How do I make my time at work what God wants it to be? David and I dive into these questions and several others.  He also shares some personal and practical takeaways.

Interview with James Hetzel, CEO, The Catholic Company How’s everything going in your life right now?  Hopefully well, but the reality we all know is, life is hard.  And As our guest today said, “life is a series of hurdles.” We’ve got the day to day grind, family challenges, work issues, financial issues, health issues and even faith-related challenges. So my question for you is, how do you deal with the challenges and hurdles of life? Our guest has certainly had his share of hurdles.  He’s a husband and father of 9 children, entrepreneur and business owner and a Stage 4 cancer survivor. Today’s conversation provides us with some essential advice on how to face life’s challenges… and it all has to do with perseverance and the virtue of fortitude.

Allen Hunt Interview - Dynamic Catholic Board Member What is the outcome you want for your life?  What about your children?  What is the outcome you want for their life? Do you want to live what God would consider to be a good life? And What are you doing to help you achieve that outcome? Today, we cover a lot of ground as usual, but I want you to listen for ways you can change your life to achieve the outcome I think we are all striving for…and that is heaven. Matthew Kelly, Allen Hunt and the folks at Dynamic Catholic have a saying “Our lives change when our habits change.” Today’s show is all about helping you form habits that lead you to heaven. And there’s 1 habit in particular, that is the greatest investment you can make, for yourself and your children.

Ryan is the Vice President of Business Development for Covenant Eyes.  Throughout his career he’s had a broad mix of experience serving in the Air Force, a variety of roles in Defense Consulting, as Executive Director for the nonprofit Mission Network and the founder and CEO of his own business. Today Ryan plays a behind the scenes role in several important Catholic ministries including Integrity Restored, Exodus 90, Jason Evertt’s Chastity Project and some of Matt Fradd’s work.  He’s also the founder and Executive Director of ePriest.com. Ryan and his wife Melissa, have 3 children and live in Cumming, GA.

Bob is an entrepreneur and executive with over 30 years experience building and growing innovative life science technology businesses.  He’s been a co-founder and CEO of two high profile startups.  He’s helped raise more than $225 million in capital and participated in the development, manufacture and launch of multiple products, earning plenty of important "scar tissue" along the way. Currently he is the Vice Provost for Strategic Expansion at the Catholic University of America where he also co-founded the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship.

Dan Hesse Catholic CEO. Dan is the former CEO of Sprint.  Prior to that he was CEO of Embark, Terabeam and AT&T Wireless.  Currently Dan is on the board of Akami Technologies, PNC Financial and Just Capital.  Over the years Dan has received many accolades, including “Most Influential Person in Mobile Technology” by LAPTOP magazine and the Wireless Industry “Person of the Year” by RCR Magazine.  Glassdoor named him one of America’s highest rated CEO’s by employees.  For his last 2 full years as CEO, Sprint’s Total Shareholder Return ranked No. 1 among all S&P 500 companies. Dan and his wife Diane have 2 sons and live in Kansas City.

Lance is a lifelong entrepreneur that built and sold two separate companies.  The first was a waste management business and the second was an oilfield construction company.  As a child he wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up and he actually did become a professional steer wrestler for a while.  Lance and his wife Kelly have 3 children and live in Sweet Lake, Louisiana.

Dr. Greg is a Catholic Psychologist who is the founder and director of the CatholicPsych Institute.  He also developed the Catholic Mindfulness online course and is the author of the book titled The Mindful Catholic.  Before getting his doctorate, he spent four years living as a Franciscan Friar serving the poor in New York.

Joseph is a serial entrepreneur who started his first business at 19, which he scaled to over $2 million in revenue in the first 12 months.  He is the founder and owner of CoCreativ a coworking office space with 2 locations in Tampa, FL.  He’s also the host of 2 podcasts First $100K and Broken Catholic.

David is the founder of DAS Companies, Inc. which is a manufacturer, importer, and distributor of branded travel center merchandise sold globally.  He is the co-founder of Brittany’s Hope Foundation which aids in adoption and humanitarian efforts for children worldwide.  He’s also the founder of Stewardship: A Mission of Faith which produces and distributes faith-based materials, facilitates the formation of Scripture reflection groups, and battles pornography.  David and his wife Tierney live in Pennsylvania and together have 17 children and growing number of grandchildren.

Elvis is a retired NFL quarterback and now Catholic motivational speaker.  He had a record setting college career playing for the University of Michigan where he won four Big Ten titles and led the Wolverines to a Gator Bowl victory in 1991 and three Rose Bowls.  He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers and went on to play 9 seasons in the NFL.  Throughout his career he’s received many accolades including an AFC West title, Pro Bowl appearance and Super Bowl XXIX Championship.  Elvis lives in northern Ohio with his wife Lori and three children.

Danny is the founder of Optimum Productions, a full service video production company that  make commercials, viral videos, documentaries, promo videos, corporate overviews and just about every other type of video you can think of.  Danny is also the host of the Industrial Sage podcast.  He resides in Cumming, GA with his wife Julie and four children.

Eric is a Master pianist, composer, and world renown performer.  Every year he performs over 100 concerts from Hollywood to Slovakia in just about every type of venue you can imagine.  He has composed and recorded 5 albums, several of those performed with the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra.  Eric is also the founder of the non-profit Concerts for Hope.  He resides in Kentucky with his wife and four children.

Rich is the CEO and co-founder of Innovest Portfolio Solutions, an independent investment consultant, with approximately $22 billion in assets under management.  He’s been named one of America’s top 100 independent investment advisors by Barron’s. 

Bill is the CEO and founder of the Gold Crown Foundation and analyst for Atlitude TV covering the Denver Nuggets.  Previously he played for 10 years in the NBA.  He was a 1st round draft pick for the Seattle Supersonics, but spent the majority of his career with the Denver Nuggets where he helped the team reach the NBA playoffs 8 times.  In college Bill played for Notre Dame all four years and led the team to the Final 4 his senior year.  Bill lives in Colorado with his wife Maribeth and is the father of 4 children.

Tony is the president and CEO of Colombia Lighthouse for the Blind.  Previously he was President of ICL, an international software company and CEO of several technology companies including iBrite, eStara & Source Digital.  He was also one of the founders and COO of Sylvan Learning.  Tony lives in Virginia with his wife Lynne and is a Knight of Malta.

Dick is the founder and managing partner of Technology Impact Partners a venture capital firm that invests in technology driven service companies.  He is currently on the Board of Directors for over a dozen different private companies.  Previously he’s been the founder or CEO for several technology companies other venture funds.  Dick was also one of the founding members for the Austin chapter of Legatus.

Jimmy is the founder and chief curator of Love Good, a media company that curates music, books and art based on beauty, truth, and goodness.  He’s also an international speaker, host of the popular Love Good Podcast, and an accomplished musician and composer that lives in Nashville.

John is the owner and operator of 37 McDonald’s franchise locations throughout the Central Valley of California.  He is the author of book titled Invest Yourself, Daring to be Catholic in Today’s Business World.  He is the co-founder of Possibility Productions a nonprofit that supports the New Evangelization and a strategic adviser to The Dynamic Catholic Institute.  John and his wife Kaaren are the parents of 3 children.

Bill is currently Chairman of JATCO Americas – the world’s market leader in Continuous Variable Transmissions and the Executive Vice President of JATCO Global a subsidiary of Nissan Motor Corporation.  He is also the chairman of Budget Committee for the of Diocese Nashville and on the board of Father Ryan High School.  Previously Bill sat on the board of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN, American Red Cross, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and several other for-profit & non-profit institutions.  Recently Bill was awarded the 2018 Catholic Professional of the Year for the Catholic Business League.  He lives in Nashville with his wife Lynn and is the father of 4 children.

Peter is the president of AMDG Architects a full service architectural firm with experience in residential, recreational, educational, faith-based, not-for-profit, commercial, industrial, and environmental design.  Peter and his wife Michelle have 7 children and live in Grand Rapids Michigan.

Looking Back.  Lessons Learned from the first year.

Eric Groth is the president, founder and executive producer of ODB Films, an award-winning non-profit Catholic video production ministry.  They’ve produced over 250 short films as well as two full length films.  The first film was released in 2015 and titled Full of Grace.  Earlier this year they released Paul Apostle of Christ staring Jim Caviezel and James Faulkner.  Eric and his wife Becky have 8 children and live outside of Chicago, IL.

Paul is the founder and CEO of WL Benefits Group.  He started the company back in 1991 and was a pioneer in the field of human resource outsourcing and benefits administration.   Paul is also an investor in real estate and several other private ventures.  He’s a member of the Lumen Institute and lives with his wife Janet in Lake Forest IL and is the father of 4 children.

Deacon Larry Oney is the president and founder of Hope & Purpose Ministries and an author and speaker. In addition to his ministry work, Deacon Oney is the CEO & Chairman of HGI Global the largest African American owned third-party administration firm in the US. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Renewal Ministries.

Jim Keyes is currently the Chairman of Wild Oats Marketing and formerly the CEO of 2 Fortune 500 companies, Blockbuster and 7-Eleven.  He serves on the board of Murphy USA, College of the Holy Cross, Columbia Graduate School of Business, the Dallas Symphony and the Cooper Institute and previously served on the board for the American Red Cross.  Jim is also the founder of the Education is Freedom Foundation, a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award and a painter, pianist, and pilot.

What’s love got to do with it? What’s love got to do with business? The short answer. Everything. Love has everything to do with life, so it has everything to do with business as well. Today’s conversation takes you on the journey of how "Love In Action" inspired our guest to launch several successful businesses. It’s also full of practical takeaways to help you better practice "Love In Action." Tom Moreland is the founder and CEO of Spirit Cares, Iowa’s largest home health care provider. He’s spent almost 2 decades in the home health care and hospice industry and founded several other companies including Iowa Hospice, Saint Jude Healthcare, Saint Jude Hospice, Saint Jude Homecare, Hospicecareers.com, Hospice of the Miami Valley, Marian Homecare, Marian Homes and A Great Love Company. Tom is also a Knight of Malta and lives in Iowa with his wife Katrina and 3 children.

Tom is the founder and president of Catholics Come Home and Virtue Media.  He's also the host and producer of the Catholics Come Home TV series, which airs worldwide in prime-time on EWTN.  He’s author of the book Catholics Come Home.   Before he started these ministries Tom had a 25 year career as an award-winning advertising executive and entrepreneur.

Robert is the founder of Mighty in the Land a speaking ministry where he teaches others to know God and live a life of no regrets.  He is also the author of several books including Into The Deep, Rise Above and 7 Steps to No Regrets.

Brian is president and CEO of the Caster Group, a family business that owns A-1 Self Storage, the 10th largest privately owned self storage company in the US.  He and his wife, Denise, have been active in the Cursillo movement in San Diego for the past 25 years.  Brian also sits on several boards, including Caster Family Charity, Dynamic Catholic, All for God, and Nativity Prep Academy.

Chris Lowney is chairman of the board for Catholic Health Initiatives one of the nation’s largest health care systems with over 100 hospitals and $16 billion in revenue.  He’s also a popular key-note speaker and author of 7 books including his newest that was just released called Make Today Matter: 10 Habits for a Better Life and World.   Chris is a former Jesuit seminarian and former Managing Director of JP Morgan.

Chef Folse is known as “Louisiana’s Culinary Ambassador to the World.”  Since opening Lafitte’s Landing in 1978 he has cooked for Popes and Presidents and opened restaurants in over 14 countries.  His other business endeavors include White Oak Plantation and a food manufacturing company that supplies products for foodservice distribution, retail sales and national restaurant chains.  He’s produced 10 cookbooks, is the host of the TV show “A Taste of Louisiana” and host of the radio show “Stirin’ It Up”.

Sam is president of Hunter Buildings the leading manufacturer of blast-resistant buildings.  He started his career as an attorney focusing on environmental and safety issues.  Sam’s been involved with Legatus for many years and is currently a member of the national Board of Governors.  He’s also on the board of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students).  He and his wife Sally live in Houston, Texas and have four children.

Currently Sandy is an attorney, speaker and author of the book Humanity at Work: Encouraging Spirit, Achievement and Truth to Flourish in the Workplace.  He has over 40 years of professional experience, serving as an executive in the pharmaceutical, health care and life sciences industries.  He’s also sat on the board for over 20 public and private companies and lives in North Carolina with his wife Jean. Sandy shares many personal stories about the exemplars in his life that have formed him into the man he is today. Stories of faith from his mother and wife.  Stories of virtue and servant leadership from his father.  Stories of humility from his uncle.  The thing is, he learned these life lessons by watching and observing the lives of others.  They didn’t just speak about what one should do, they lived it.  They led by example.  They were true exemplars.

Deacon Jeff is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show and podcast The Catholic Cafe, heard on over 750 stations worldwide - including EWTN, Guadalupe Radio, Relevant Radio and Immaculate Heart Radio. He is also a full-time Campus Minister at St. Benedict High School. He and his wife of 30 years have 9 children and live in Memphis, TN. Are you where you’re called to be? Where God is calling you to be? Deacon Jeff is in a radically different place than when he started his career. At the time, life didn’t always make sense and there was a burning, a desire, a hunger for more that couldn’t be filled. Yet looking back, he can see God’s plan at work through the various stages of his life.

We recap the last 10 episodes and identify habits and practices of our guests that could be helpful to you as you try to form your own habits that lead to virtue.

Dr. Thierfelder is currently President of Belmont Abbey College.  His background is incredibly diverse.  He’s been a sports psychologist, NCAA Division 1 coach, Olympian, two time all American, an entrepreneur, an executive and author of the book Less Than a Minute To Go.  Dr Thierfelder is also a Knight of Malta, lives in North Carolina with his wife Mary and is the father of 10 children. You'll learn the 1 thing that leads to success and happiness & how the virtue of gratitude can help you achieve peak performance in sports, business and life & much, much more.

Brig is the founder and co-CEO of Two Men and a Truck, the 1st and largest franchised moving company in the US. He’s also been involved with YPO, Legatus and Knights of Columbus. Brig lives in Michigan with his wife Francine and is the father of 3 children. Brig came from humble beginnings and has built an impressive family business. He’s certainly had his share of challenges along the way. As he’ll share later…If we’re aware, The Holy Spirit will help us look at something and learn from it and realize not every bad thing is a bad thing. He had everything the world promises will make us happy, yet he suffered from depression. But the story doesn’t end there. We learn about his real conversion, how he’s now all in for Christ and reaping blessings on earth while building real treasure in heaven.

Jack is the CEO and founder of Portofino Pools one of the largest pool service contractors in Florida. Jack shares his story of achieving his dream of worldly success. But then in his mid 50s he had all of those worldly accomplishments stripped away and even had to accept money from his children just to eat. We learn how he found strength, persevered and got back up. We learn how God used this experience to ignite a faith that had gone dormant.

Today’s podcast is going to be a little different.  I have to be honest.  I don’t have a bunch of pre-recorded shows at the current time and our guest for this week rescheduled at the last minute.  Instead of just skipping this episode, I thought I’d try something new just for today and keep it short. Since we are at the end of Lent and in the middle of Holy Week, I wanted to share something personal that’s recently helped me and I hope it can be of help to you as well.

Doran's an accomplished executive that’s led teams and businesses from startup to Fortune 50.  Currently he’s the COO of West Edge Energy and the CEO for one of their portfolio companies called Colorado Asphalt Services. Doran is a past president for Legatus’ Denver Chapter. He lives in Colorado with his wife Christa and is the father of 6 children. Question for you…  Are you living an authentic life?  A whole life?  A completely integrated life? If we’re honest with ourselves, I think we could all find there’s room for improvement.  Many of us, myself included struggle with integrating our faith into business. Our guest today has struggled with this as well.  He takes us on his journey that started with discontent as a rising star at the top consumer product companies to a major mid-career pivot that’s proven successful over time, but we also discuss the most difficult moment in his professional career.     Towards the end of this episode he shares a practical prayer formula, I want to make sure you don’t miss.  It’s a simple prayer that only takes 10 seconds to incorporate into your day, but it can have remarkable power in transforming a meeting, an encounter or even an entire day or a life.  It is a prayer formula he actually discovered from St Francis de Sales and it follows the acronym AOA – Ask Offer Accept – Ask Offer Accept I don’t want to give away too much, but wanted to make sure you caught this great piece of advice.  So stay tuned…

Steve Ray is an intrepid traveler that’s led well over 100 (if not 200) pilgrimages to the Holy Land.  He’s a Popular Catholic apologist and documentary film producer of the Footprints of God DVD series.  As well as a best-selling author and captivating speaker that’s been dubbed "Jerusalem Jones" by the National Catholic Register. Steve takes us back to his entrepreneurial childhood, how he started a janitorial business out of high school for only $5 and how he became a leading Catholic apologist today. Like all life journeys it wasn’t a straight ride up.  He had his share of failures, challenges, and difficult decisions along the way.  We get a look behind the scenes into his decision making process and how he integrates his faith into all areas of his life.

Jon is a seasoned executive and investor.  He’s successfully started, built and sold two companies that generated a 50x return to his investors.  Currently he’s an investor in and COO of Freeze Sleeve, a cold therapy compression sleeve that provides relief and recovery for muscles and joints. What’s your why?  Why do you get up every day?  Why do you go to work?  Why do you treat your family, friends and colleagues the way you do?  Why do you spend your time on the things you do? Knowing your why, gives you purpose and clarity in life.  Knowing your why enables you to plow through walls that seem unbreakable and keep on going when the world says you should quit.  Jon shares how he found his Why though Surrender.  If your why isn’t crystal clear already, then I hope it is by the end of today’s show.

Today’s conversation takes you inside a journey that started with the pursuit of wealth on Wall Street to a fast flip with a startup that ended in bankruptcy to the seminary to the discovery of what a personal vocation really is and how you can cultivate your own personal vocation as well. Luke Burgis is a serial entrepreneur that’s started 4 different companies and he’s currently the CEO for 2 of those. He’s an entrepreneur in residence at the Center for Entrepreneurship at Catholic University of America, Executive Director of Inscape and author of the forthcoming book Unrepeatable.

Larry Kudlow takes us on his life journey, which is a true roller coaster of a ride.  He starts out on the fast track to professional success, but hits bottom with an addiction to drugs and alcohol.  By the grace of God he recovered, converted to Catholicism and returned to prominence in the financial world.    While he’s always been an optimist, he lost it under the addictions.  However when he found the Catholic faith, his optimism returned with an even greater force.  The secret…Gratitude, Humility and Hope. Gratitude.  He’s extremely grateful for his “wonderful journey”, even the addictions and hitting bottom. Humility.  He’s humble and takes no credit for himself and recognizes he owes it all to God. Hope.  He is hopeful, because God has provided and will continue to provide in the future.

A real life saga of courage, inner strength, overcoming adversity and a return to the Catholic Church.  Phil started his business over 40 years ago with less than $200.  He should have been driven out of business several times, but he’s just about as tenacious as they come and yet humble as well.  Despite the financial success of his business, he lost his motivation until he had as he calls it…a Revelation of a Higher Purpose.  We discuss all of this as well as how he went from being agnostic to a true believer who is clearly on fire for his faith today.

Richard is the CEO of DMPO Marketing which runs CatholicDentalPlans.com and DentistSavings.com.  He’s also an attorney and author of Catholic Capitalism, Applying Scripture and Catholic Social Doctrine in Everyday Life, Work And Business.   Today’s conversation is a great example of someone intentionally seeking to integrate their Catholic faith into business.  We get into the details of this integrated journey, which is full of ups and downs, gut punches, perseverance and trust.

I’d like to take a step back and review my conversations with our past 10 guests.  As you know I try to bring you amazing guests every week to share their inspirational stories to help you do better in business and live your faith. I spend a lot of time researching the guests, interviewing them, editing the audio and typing the show notes.  So I get to revisit each conversation several times.  I have to admit, it can be tedious at times, but when I look back it offers me the opportunity to dive deeper and in a strange way get to know them even better and find hidden gems in our conversation I missed the first time around. When I take the time to review each conversation I’m amazed at what I continue to learn.  There are definitely common themes running through the answers of our guests.  At the same time I am always struck by the personal journey each one of us takes through life.  As you know all of our guests are quite accomplished in business, but they’re all at different points in their faith journey.  They all have different practices, habits and ways they strive to grow in their faith.  A lot of times the quote unquote “Successful” business people get put on a pedestal.  We assume they have it all figured out.  And they DO have a lot figured out about business, but they’re pilgrims just like the rest of us on their faith journey.  They have to work and strive every day just like you and me to respond to their call to holiness. I don’t know about you but I’ve really enjoyed getting to look inside the personal faith journey of our guests.  I’ve got a busy life.  You have a busy life and they have busy lives.  Hearing these real life stories of how they manage their busy work and home lives while striving to grow in their faith has been inspiring.  If they can do it, then I can do it.  You can do it.  We can do it.  Hopefully you’ve been able to take something from these real life examples and incorporate it into your day to day life.   

Christine Rich is the co-owner and CEO of My Saint My Hero, a Catholic jewelry company whose mission is to bring faith, hope and purpose into everyday life.  The company started as a web and wholesale business and experienced exponential growth in home shopping with QVC.  Previously Christine worked in the news and entertainment industries.  She is also a wife and mother of 4.  

Mike shares not only how he grew a business to over $40 million in sales, but how his decision to convert to Catholicism led to the darkest time in his life, how he worked through it and the blessings he’s received since then. Mike is a founder of SBI a management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing.  He’s held a variety of sales and leadership roles for over 25 years at companies like TradEx and EMC.  Mike’s also served active duty for 8 years in the US Navy and is the father of 8 children.

Jennifer Baugh is the founder and executive director of Young Catholic Professionals, one of the nation’s fastest growing Catholic nonprofits. We discuss her business journey, why she created YCP, her faith journey and her insights on achieving real success.