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Bible Reading: Psalm 71:14-18As part of a service project, the kids in Callie's class at church made a weekly check on the senior church members who lived in their neighborhood. "It takes longest to check on Mrs. Deaton," Callietold Elena, her project partner. "She always talks and talks!" Elena agreed, but they dutifully called on the elderly lady once a week.One day, Mrs. Deaton showed the girls some faded photographs. "Who's this?" Elena asked, pointing to a picture of a little girl.Mrs. Deaton smiled. "That's my daughter." "How come she never visits you or takes care of you now that you're old?" Callie blurted without thinking."She was in a car accident many years ago, and the Lord took her to be with Him," Mrs. Deaton explained. Callie's face flushed when she heard that. "Now don't you fret," Mrs. Deaton said, patting Callie's hand. "Losing her was the hardest thing I've ever faced, but Jesus was with me through it all. When He says He will never leave us or forsake us, He means it!"Not long after that, Mrs. Deaton didn't come to the door when the girls rang the bell. Callie peered through a window. She couldn't see clearly, but it looked as though Mrs. Deaton was slumped over a table. "Oh no!" Callie cried in alarm, but just then Mrs. Deaton's head jerked up.Seeing Callie's frightened face, Mrs. Deaton quickly came to the door. "Come on in, girls. I was so busy, I didn't even hear you." She smiled at them. "You see, I may be old and unable to do much, but I can pray," she said with a wink. "Today I was praying for the kids in our neighborhood--including the two of you!"When Callie got home, she told her mom what had happened. "When we started this project, I just saw Mrs. Deaton as a burden," Callie admitted. "But she's been teaching me a lot--and praying for me too!""Jesus promises to take care of us our whole lives," said Mom. "Even when we're old, He will continue to work through us so others can know Him better." Callie nodded. "If I live to be as old as Mrs. Deaton, I hope I'll be praying for others and telling them about Jesus just like she does!" -Jan L. HansenHow About You?How do you feel about older people? Do you respect them? Do you spend time with them and listen to what they have to say? You'll find that older people can teach you valuable lessons from the experiences they've faced. God has given His senior saints, as well as younger Christians, a job to do. He's still working in their lives so they can point people to Jesus. They're valuable to Him, and He wants you to value them too.Today's Key Verse:Even while I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, while I proclaim your power to another generation, your strength to all who are to come. (CSB) (Psalm 71:18)Today's Key Thought:Learn from older Christians

 About our guest:Brian ArdingerBefore Inside Outside, Brian founded the seed-stage accelerator NMotion and co-founded the corporate innovation consultancy Econic. He has worked in Silicon Valley and Asia and served as Chief Marketing Officer at Nanonation working with some of the best brands in the world including Apple, Pepsi, Target, Nike, and Harley-Davidson.InsideOutside.io About Hashtag Midwest:HashtagMidwest.comExecutive Stories PodcastMeet the TeamOur Show Sponsor - New Resources Consulting   Transcript:30:31SUMMARY KEYWORDSmidwest, create, companies, people, entrepreneurs, nebraska, opportunity, innovation, big, business, advantages, startups, talent, coast, build, founders, resources, ability, networks, changingSPEAKERSJason Montague, Brian Ardinger Brian Ardinger 00:06Williams, the founder of Twitter is from Nebraska and left for the coast to build Twitter. I don't want the next Williams in 25 years to have to go to Silicon Valley to create the next Twitter. How do we create a healthy environment where those seeds can be planted, you can start a company, you can raise your hand and say, I want to be an entrepreneur, and you're not laughed out of the room. That's Brian ardinger, creator and founder of inside outside.io and director of innovation at nelnet. In Lincoln, Nebraska, Ryan's here to share the strengths of the Midwest, the incredible scale at the Midwestern marketplace has and companies and entrepreneurs alike can benefit. Special thanks to new resources consulting for sponsoring today's episode. I'm Jason Montague, and welcome to Episode 107 of executive stories on hashtag Midwest. Jason Montague 00:53Well, hello again, folks, we are back again with our second of six interviews on the strengths of the Midwest. And really all the opportunities we have for our region. We spoke to six executives all with expertise in topics like innovation, startup creation and incubation talent attraction and retention and even experts in the Midwest itself and classic Midwestern industries. We got their opinions and advice on our region and wanted to share it with you our audience. Definitely hope you enjoy. Brian, welcome. Sure. Can you introduce yourself and share a little of your background? is Brian Arden GM director of innovation at nail net, and maker of inside outside.io, which is a newsletter podcast and events all focused on innovation. What would you say some of the advantages for businesses and entrepreneurs in the Midwest have in maybe in general? Yes. So some of the advantages I think that startups have here in the Midwest is obviously a connected network of folks that really care about helping new people, new opportunities and new things grow. The other core advantages, I think you have different than this, the kind of the tech hubs is, quite frankly, this this differentiation of capital. So if you think about how you start a business in Silicon Valley, there's a right amount of venture capital, and a lot of ideas can get funded and get moving that way. We're in the Midwest, it's much more about how do you find a core problem that a customer can solve, and then create a business around it, I think the ability for Brian Ardinger 02:24companies in the Midwest to find traction early work with partners, and really build a sustainable business is much different than, again, swinging for the fences, or getting venture capital in the in the tech hubs. And I think some of the advantages the Midwest brings is its central location, you know, the ability to, especially now, if you think about COVID, and this ability for remote work, the ability to work from anywhere, in places where the cost of living is not quite as expensive, where, again, access to people and talent is is readily available, wherever it is in the world, I think gives the Midwest a big advantage in the years moving forward. You know, the other challenge, I think that that the Midwest faces is, is the fact that just lucky, we're just unfamiliar with it, you know, especially from the coasts, you know, I host a conference every year, and we bring in people from all over the world. And when they come to our backyard in Lincoln, Nebraska, they're quite surprised that innovation is happening. But innovation is happening everywhere. And it's like, how do we tell that story? And how do we get folks, wherever they're at to recognize that there are smart, talented people, no matter where they go, and their advantages and opportunities, wherever they're, wherever they're putting their tent down and, and creating value. What do you think our natural advantages are in the Midwest? And for example, I guess I would say things like the benefit of being in close proximity to what I would consider the pioneering industries of the Midwest like agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, etc. Yeah, so I think some of the core advantages that Midwest startups have is access to customers access to a network, and access to kind of existing businesses, you know, and being able to reframe, and remix and reshape old industries into whatever is going to happen next, to be able to take those existing customer bases and those those existing tools, and really reshape them for the new world of work.  Jason Montague 04:24So I'm going to give you a statistic, and I just want you to react to it. So if you take the Midwest and just call it a country, we would be the fourth largest economy on the planet. Bigger than India, bigger than Brazil, bigger than Russia. What do you make of that?  Brian Ardinger 04:40Yeah. So the fact that the Midwest has a huge customer base, and basically it's a massive market, it's much bigger than, you know, a lot of people think of you think of the flyover states, you know, often think of a big economic impact. But places like the Midwest have access to customers and access to talent that you can't necessarily have. On the east and west coast, so it's a different access. Again, a lot of the existing industries that have happened in the have grown up from the Midwest, and your ability to access that, that capital, that talent, the that network, I think is extremely valuable for new companies, again, trying to solve real problems. It's different than, you know, a new app that you want to create. It's it's about really, how do we solve core problems that we've been facing from the beginning? And how do we evolve and change and grow? As the world changes?  Jason Montague 05:32Yeah, I think the statistic is something like 35, or 40%, of Fortune 500 companies are actually located right here inside the Midwest. That's just enormous.  Brian Ardinger 05:42So when you think about the Midwest, and access to capital is clearly different. Obviously, in the coast, you've got this concept of venture capital. And that while you're seeing a rise of that, in the Midwest, Matt is still somewhat of a foreign concept from the standpoint of, there's a huge amount of philanthropy dollars in that there's a lot of dollars in general in the Midwest, but it's not always going to the earliest stage venture backed startup companies. Part of the reason why I think is because it's hard to see where that money goes. And you don't have the the track record, necessarily you have on the coasts. And so we're just now seeing these rise of these early stage startups that are getting to the point where they're raising capital, and then creating huge companies and then returning that capital back into the ecosystem. And so the ability for that, that longevity of to start a company to grow a company to exit that company, and then put that capital back into new companies is just beginning here in the in the Midwest, compared to Silicon Valley, for example.  Jason Montague 06:41So, culturally speaking, some of these massive companies and brands haven't had much experience innovating. I know you said, at one point in our conversation that oftentimes, founders were the last people in, you know, last true visionaries in a particular company. And sometimes those founders haven't been around for 100 years, which is just a very interesting perspective. Maybe talk about that, and the impact that has on these organizations ability to understand the incubation of novel ideas. Brian Ardinger 07:15I think one of the challenges startups face and corporations face here, when it comes to innovation, is the fact that innovation is very different. And starting a brand new company or brand new ideas are different than running an existing business. If you think about the biggest largest companies in the Midwest, and they've been around for hundreds of years, and they haven't had a founder that's been driving that organization for hundreds of years, they built these businesses, and they've, they continue to operate these business models that have been around for a long time, the challenge is that those business models are changing. And you need new people and new faces and new ways of tackling those new business models to adapt and change and to these new market forces. And that speed of changes is accelerating. So if you think about, you know, you used to be able to be on that s&p 500 list for 60 years. And I think the new research shows that, you know, the chances of you being on that list for a long period of time is, you know, down to 12 to 14 years. And so you have to, if you're running a major corporation, you have to think more entrepreneurially, you have to think about this business model that I'm currently optimizing, and building may not be around in the next 1015 years. So how do I think more entrepreneurially? How do I create new value and change the way I'm doing business? in an environment where quite frankly, you haven't had to stretch those muscles in the past before?  Jason Montague 08:35Do you think we have an advantage? I guess, given our proximity to many, let's say 30%, of 35% of major universities in the nation? I mean, these are world renowned research institutions. What do you think, effect that has on on our ability to deliver Brian Ardinger 08:54 the access to talent, and that talent, obviously comes from universities and places where we're educating youth and opportunities to create new research and things along those lines. So I believe there's a huge opportunity, if we tap into not only, you know, educating our youth and giving them an opportunity to learn new things, but then teaching them how to apply that, you know, and not just learn the theoretical things around that. But how do you create value and create new businesses based on what you've learned and and know that you don't have to go to the coast to get that idea, you know, kicked off, you know, that's why I work so strongly in the startup ecosystem is like, how do we create an environment, a healthy environment where those seeds can be planted, you can start a company, you can raise your hand and say, I want to be an entrepreneur, and you're not laughed out of the out of the room. And I think we're doing that now. I think all around the Midwest, you're seeing these cities and these ecosystems that are popping up, that are giving the rise for people with talent and say, hey, I want to start something. How do I do that? How can I get networked? And then how can I grow and build that and so in the next 20 years, we're going to see the The fruits of that labor paying off.  Jason Montague 10:02Let's shift a little bit here, maybe let's talk about some challenges. So in general, what do you think the challenges are in the Midwest, and that the ones I guess, that we really need to overcome?  Brian Ardinger 10:12I think some of the poor challenges that we have here in the Midwest, and that is the fact that we have these existing businesses, we have these existing infrastructures, we've been doing this for a long time, and we've been very successful at it. And that success doesn't always equate to success in the future. And so how do we create a mindset, a skill set, and the toolset necessary to think differently and build differently than we have in the past? And I think that comes from entrepreneurship, I think that comes from looking beyond our borders, and beyond our own, you know, local realm. It's like, how do we create these connections to other Midwestern cities? How do we create these connections to the coasts? How do we create new opportunities for the talent and the people in the business that we're creating?  Jason Montague 10:57Regarding creating connections to other cities inside the Midwest? Do you feel this natural, competitive nature? Maybe the competitive tension of businesses across Midwestern cities? Do you think that's conducive for sharing across boundaries? That would be state boundaries, city, city boundaries, etc.  Brian Ardinger 11:17You know, when it comes to competition, I mean, obviously, whether it's economic development, competition, and you know, cities vying for companies, and that's moving their backyard, I think that's changing the old ways of economic development where, you know, you hope to land a big manufacturing company in your backyard, and you spent millions and millions of dollars to make that happen. And then the jobs would come to that, I think the reverse is actually happening now, where the companies are coming based on where the those talent pools are. And so if we look at where we're doing business right now, and we look at it from a competitive perspective, you know, the challenge becomes, I don't think, you know, a lot of cities in and of themselves can have everything that a company needs. And so to try to not have those connections to other cities and have not have this connection to other networks is a disadvantage. So the better way to think about is like, how can we create these opportunities to do what we're good at, but also have opportunities for networks and resources that we can pull on to help our companies grow in our own backyard? You know, I think, from a competitive perspective, we're not big enough to compete direct head to head to head, you know, a city like Lincoln, Nebraska, to Silicon Valley. But what we can do is we can provide a unique base for our companies, and then provide them resources and connections in that when they do have to go to places that we don't have all the resources for them. Jason Montague 12:42In my conversations with Brian, I was incredibly impressed with his perspective on building and connecting ecosystems. And where he sees the strength is in the Midwest and in relation to our cities and sort of how he sees that I, I agree with him, I think it's very challenging. Even our largest cities could benefit from using and utilizing the skills, resources, talents, industry expertise, across our cities, my hope is that his perspective, which is we need to build those connections, and we need to make them stronger and deeper. And we need to use these resources more fully across across our region. My hope is that perspective is actually shared by our entrepreneurs and innovators, as well as our enterprises and those that are trying to support and build these ecosystems. My hope is that they're not working hard to compete with their neighbors, I think our region has so much to offer. And it would just be a shame, if, as Betsy Ziegler would say, it would be a shame if the matching problem is going unsolved, when it's such a solvable problem, you know, an entrepreneur with a great idea. And the resources happen to exist 150 miles down the road, it sure would be nice if that entrepreneur was able to connect with someone in their city, who would then bring in the ecosystem and the resources from 150 miles away and can have some awareness that that's a big win for our region, no matter where that exists, and not to view wins that happen in other cities as somehow degrading our ability to win collectively. Jason Montague 14:32I'd like to stop and take a minute to say thank you to our sponsors, new resources consulting. I actually know a lot about NRC because I use NRC. I've actually used them in every organization that I've run big or small. And the one thing that I would say about an RC That is impressive and important is that they take a deep deep interest in understanding what success looks like to me and they are as committed Delivering that success with me as any partner that I've ever had. So they have done an amazing job they're very interested and, and focused on my success and our success. And I can't say enough good things about new resources consulting. Jason Montague 15:18As we were joined our conversation, Brian and I talked about the role our universities play in our broader success, the importance of viewing the industries that we pioneered as enormous advantages. And finally, we talked about why Midwesterners are so darn nice. Brian Ardinger 15:42One of the questions I always get asked is about brain drain. And, you know, there's it's a double edged sword, because to a certain extent, some of those folks really do need to go out and explore and understand what the world is around them. I think one of the things that we don't do a good job in the Midwest is his brain draining to other Midwestern cities, and then having those folks come back because, you know, I know for a fact, there's a number of folks that would be happy to come to a big city like Lincoln, Nebraska, that are living in maybe a Bloomington or, you know, another big tent area, but don't want to necessarily be in their hometown for forever, they want to explore and go out. So why not, you know, attract them to another big 10 City, for example, and have them experience something different from what their own backyard, but still be able to go back and have those connections with that with their, I guess, their home city. You know, I'm a firm believer that exploration is key to innovation. And the more we can give access to our younger talent to explore both in our backyard as well as outside, and then, you know, recruit them back from the standpoint of providing them with an opportunity and the frameworks and the tools and the things they need. So when they're ready to come back, they can go back and share what they've learned and build something in their own backyard.  Jason Montague 16:56Do you believe that we struggled to tell the success stories of the Midwest? I mean, is that a problem? And if it is, how do you suggest we fix that?  Brian Ardinger 17:06Yeah, so I think one of the challenges that we have here in the Midwest is our, our inability, quite frankly, to bang the drum, to set to to raise our own profile, there's that humble nature of you know, don't brag and don't boast, we need to get better at that, you know, we need to have an opportunity to say, Hey, there are things going on here, there are opportunities for our talent, there are ways to make money. From an investor's perspective, there are new things that are being created every day here on the Silicon Prairie, or the Midwest, however, you wanted to find that. And our ability to tell those stories, I think is going to be one of the key things of whether we succeed or fail in the next century. You know, how do we tell the stories of our entrepreneurs? How do we tell the stories of our corporate innovators that have, you know, pivoted and changed from their 200 year old business to create new value and new things? And, you know, telling the story so hard, but, you know, sometimes we have to get a rat, get around that Nebraska, nice In my case, or, or something. And, and, and be willing to say, hey, it's okay to tell the stories of success. There's nothing wrong with that.  Jason Montague 18:13You know, it's funny, you just mentioned Nebraska. Nice. I'm assuming it feels like there's a Minnesota nice. Oh, Wisconsin nice. Is it just something as simple as Midwestern nice,  Brian Ardinger 18:24so that that idea of nice, as I've heard from people that have come from founders that have moved from the coast to Nebraska, for example. And one of the first things they always talk about is how easy it is to get connected, and how easy it is to find their way around and get to the access of resources that they need immediately. You know, I know, in fact, in my own backyard, if an entrepreneur comes to our city, you know, within one or two phone calls, I can get them probably connected to the people that they need. And that's just not going to happen in other places. I had an entrepreneur tell me the other day, it's like, when I moved here, I was a little bit taken aback, because I thought everyone was trying to take something from me. So I was like, everyone is so nice, what are they? What's their angle? Then I realized that's just the way people are. It's like, how do we how do we help and grow those new new things that are being created and how we support that. And I think that's what you find in those Midwestern cities that that natural empathy to support new growth. Yeah, that's a very good point. And being, I guess, quote, nice, seems to be a common perception and probably as part of our culture is speaking of that, what do you think the misconceptions are of folks outside of the Midwest about Midwesterners? So obviously, some of the misconceptions I think of the Midwest, from people that I've talked to that have, you know, come here or seen it, and they told me this is different misconceptions are that there's there's no entrepreneurs here. Well, that's clearly not the case. There are clearly people trying to build new businesses and that and clearly people that are trying to build businesses that don't necessarily want to move to New York. Boston to make that happen. Brian Ardinger 20:03You know, I think some of the misconceptions are that there's no capital. And I think, while it is more challenging to find traditional venture capital, I think that is changing, you see the rise of angel networks, you see more and more venture funds coming up in the Midwest. And so that's changing. Brian Ardinger 20:20And I think another misconception is the fact that the, the best talent isn't here, the talent moves away, I just don't think that's the case, I think talent always moves back and forth into particular areas, I've seen a number of folks that have moved back to the Midwest, specifically, because they were burnt out on the coasts, and they were burnt out by the, the way, business was done sometimes. And, you know, the ability to come back to your, your hometown, your home, state, your home region, and put down roots, and actually have an impact. You know, I think, you know, my background is I actually was a boomerang, I left and went lived in Hong Kong for a number of years within Silicon Valley, moved back to Nebraska, because I really felt I could have an impact here, I could really have an opportunity to build something. In my case, it was a, you know, startup accelerator, it was a, you know, a series of events, and, you know, my own company, and then just helping other entrepreneurs get off the ground. And, you know, I could do that here in my back backyard, once I came back and use the experiences and that that I learned from other places, and then, you know, really put my roots down and, and create the next level of things that are going to happen here. And Jason Montague 21:37yeah, I think the statistic is four or 5%, maybe a bit more of venture fund, or sorry, venture spending was based in the Midwest, which is a tiny fraction of of the whole thing. How do you view that number? And I don't know that we need, again, I'm viewing that number in isolation from the system. And that's probably not great. But how do you view the number? And what do you think it tells you about an opportunity or maybe a gap we need to fill?  Brian Ardinger 22:10Yeah, so obviously, venture capital comes to places where there are opportunities to invest in high growth companies in that. And so we're just now kind of about the early stages of creating those types of companies that have the ability to grow and scale such that it returns a venture return, there's plenty of capital in the in the Midwest, I think a lot of it is just education from the standpoint of, you know, in my own backyard, there's a lot of people that made a lot of money off Berkshire Hathaway and, and betting, like Warren Buffett does, and you know, that is definitely not, at least, you know, his original thesis, and that was not about technology, he didn't really do a lot of investing in technology. And it was, you know, value based investing. Now, you know, there's nothing wrong with that particular way of investing, it certainly can, can happen. But there's also an opportunity now for taking a small part of your portfolio, and and betting at that earlier, riskier side, for those out size gains and returns. I think that's, that comes from, you know, that, that that knowledge comes over time, and you have to see examples of that. So if you think about it, you know, angel investing 20 years ago in the Midwest, like, where do you put your money, all the angels, all the angel investing was done at the coast, because that's where the that type of company kind of, kind of flocked to now you're seeing companies, again, created created here in the Midwest that are trying to be, you know, 10, x 100, x types of companies, and you're seeing capital come to try to help those companies succeed, you have to have some success, to both have that capital return into the market, as well as just to showcase that these things can be built in our own backyard. So one, you know, specific example here, and Lincoln, a company called huddle. You know, three guys at the university students, they started a company and you know, 10 years, they grew that company, from three people to 600 people, they now have a six storey building with their logo on it. And, you know, 10 years ago, you might not have thought that that could happen, that three people within the university, I could create something from scratch, and then you know, employ that number of people and build something from scratch. But But you're seeing more and more those types of examples. You know, Indianapolis, for example, with the different types of startups that are happening there, Chicago, there's all sorts of places where you can point to now that they're that they're early stages of these companies growing, exiting, and then returning that capital to seed the next round of startups.  Jason Montague 24:37Yeah, absolutely. Why do you think the nation maybe the world should have the Midwest on their radar?  Brian Ardinger 24:46I think people around the world should really focus on the Midwest for the for the next future. Because I think we're underserved market this point. And and when there's underserved markets, there's an opportunity for early base value investing that you can get you can access early stage startups at an earlier stage, you can get them in relatively inexpensive valuations compared to the coasts and that, and you don't have a lot of the BS that goes around the whole thing. It's like, you can actually meet the founders. And, and and understand what they're building and help them, you know, create the next thing is you're introducing the customers introduce them to networks. And you know, I, I'm really bullish about what's going on in the Midwest, because I think we're just the early, earliest stages of this, like, how do we create new value new creations, new businesses that have never been created before, using the values and talent and resources that we know are in our own backyard? I think the opportunities are endless.  Jason Montague 25:43Yeah, this is where manufacturing was born, manufacturing and building things is really important to us. It's in our DNA. And, you know, we pioneered that. Same with agriculture, innovation in those domains seems like an obvious opportunity. I mean, can anyone else in other parts of the US, or the world really replicate that advantage that we have.  Brian Ardinger 26:07So I think one of the advantages that we bring to the table again, is we're knee deep in these industries, and that we're knee deep in trying to solve these particular types of problems. You know, if you think about a herd of a lot of Ag tech companies trying to spin up in Silicon Valley, and none of the founders have ever been on the farm. And, you know, while they can certainly, maybe talk to the machine learning or the artificial intelligence or things along those lines, at some point, you got to get your hands dirty, and understand what it's really like to deploy to deploy or create these types of solutions. So I think that's where we can either be a bridge to the valley or other places that are creating these types of technologies and in the digital world, and then how do we pair that to the physical world? I think we have the expertise, it's a matter of again, how do we create those networks and the ability for our farmers, for example, to understand that, hey, you're an entrepreneur, too. I think a lot of times, they don't even think that they're entrepreneurs. But by default, they do a lot of the things that entrepreneurs do. And same with, you know, people who are doing manufacturing, they don't necessarily always think of themselves as entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurship and innovation is really all about creating value. So how do you do that, and I think we have the skills to do that. Jason Montague 27:17Maybe before we take off, I really would like to get a little bit more info about the things that you do in your personal work, and some of your incredibly exciting projects, and maybe the things that you're very, very proud of.  Brian Ardinger 27:34Over the last eight years, I've had a really great opportunity to grow and learn and help build a foundation of entrepreneurship and innovation here in the Midwest, whether it was starting end motion when the first startup accelerators here in the Midwest, and helping to fund and seed early stage companies. To the extent that now they've grown and they've exited to Merck animal health, or you know, they've actually created jobs, they've created new things in the world. And being part of that journey, and helping bring a network and people together to make that happen has been, I'm really proud of that. I'm also really proud of the fact that we're educating the Midwest about what innovation is all about. It's not just about startups, it's like everybody in my mind has to have these entrepreneurial skills. As the world changes, as the world evolves faster and faster. The things that got us to where were we were great, are not going to necessarily be the same things that get us to the next level of greatness. And so how do we educate our students? How do we educate our business, existing businesses? How do we educate our startups to learn these new skill sets of innovation and entrepreneurship? And so through things like our inside outside.io platform, which is our weekly podcast, and newsletter and events that we host, you know, our goal and job is really to how do we create that new level of innovator that has the skill sets the mindset and the tool sets necessary to build whatever that next thing is?  Jason Montague 29:05Brian, thanks again for all of your time. Yeah, and I really appreciate your insight here. I know you've been at this a long time and I definitely learned something and I know our listeners will too. Jason Montague 29:17Thank you for listening to this episode of executive stories on hashtag Midwest. Special thanks to azinger media productions for producing the show. Todd Dunst for the original music and new resources consulting for sponsoring today's episode. The team here at hashtag Midwest is working incredibly hard to try and bring you stories from around the Midwest and share the Midwestern story with others. If you want to learn more about what we're trying to do, please go to our website hashtag midwest.com. There you can listen to all of our previous episodes as well as finding us on your favorite podcasting platforms. You can also find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Until next time, take care

1 Thessalonians 5:18As we start the new year many people are writing faith goals or plans for the year they want to find out the will of God. Pastor Ariel helps us understand what the will of God is — and that is to give thanks to God in every circumstance. #DailyDevo

Text: John 1:1-18As we begin a new calendar year, we will be looking at the life of Jesus, who came and lived with us, and how we can model our lives to live in His grace and truth.

My conversation with Ralf just as lockdown started to ease was around what questions we should be asking ourselves as leaders of systems and organizations. As I said to Ralf, this isn't about alchemy for answers. Rather, it's a review of what some of the useful questions are that leaders could be asking to build collective success in this rapidly changing world. In this episode we discuss:New world, same humans 2:00A key question for leadership, how do you newly re-engage 7:14Band-aiding and re-trenching isn't the answer 10:42Asking the right questions is the leader's biggest work right now 12:40Leaders stepping out of internal crisis mode 18:33Alpha personas will not sustain what leadership needs now, vulnerability required 23:55What drives leaders?     - Tension between personal achievement and the collective 30: 41    -  Play lead violin or conduct a beautiful piece of music? 33:56What are my boundaries and from what place is that informed? 37:18As a leader, am I giving myself the space for silent reflection? 39:08Inner independence: a practical not mystical exercise 40:53Covid might help us learn what to cultivate (the inner and outer work)  43:35 

6.7.2020 | John 3:16-18As you put yourself in the position of the Pharisee Nicodemus, what is it like to hear that a personal God would send a Son for you personally? How do I struggle to see myself and others in the way that God sees me? What does it mean mean for me to live with eternal life in the here and now? Music: “November” and “Sunset” by Kai EngelFrom freemusicarchive.orgCC BY

8am Sunday 2 June 2019. Exodus 14: 1-13. Hebrews 10:1-18As we continue our study of Exodus, John Reid talks about how God acted to undo the chaos created by humans. He discusses how:– God rescues to declare His glory– God rescues to declare His jealousy for his people– God rescues us for pilgrimage

Text: Ruth 3:1-18As the drama continues, we see Ruth take bold steps and the picture of the Redeemer shines through even brighter.

Luke 3:15-18As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.//In Advent we get to sit still, to be still, and to meditate in quiet anticipation of the great celebration to come. Luke’s telling of the importance of John is just the kind of nourishment we need in a season like this. The world is so good at grabbing and holding our attention, demanding our engagement—unfortunately in so much that is trivial, mere distractions from what really matters, and if it isn’t the trivial then it’s another tragic event. We can’t change that kind of hatred overnight. Part of our work will always be: relationships, truth, forgiveness, giving, being and doing in the world—acts of kindness and mercy, transforming work to change the balance of power, to redistribute God’s abundance among especially those who are too often left outside in the cold. After all the meditating is done, not forever, but for the moment—we are called to act—to follow Jesus into the world—doing the gospel. -Rev. Michael Livingston//How would you explain what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit to an eight year old?What else would you add to Rev. Livingston’s list of what “our work will always be”?//This episode was written and recorded by Amanda Meisenheimer. It was produced by Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish, Downtown, We Make a Good Team, and Rain On Glass by Podington Bear.Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to download the 2018 Advent devotional and to listen to more episodes of Be Still and Go.

Luke 3:15-18As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.//In Advent we get to sit still, to be still, and to meditate in quiet anticipation of the great celebration to come. Luke’s telling of the importance of John is just the kind of nourishment we need in a season like this. The world is so good at grabbing and holding our attention, demanding our engagement—unfortunately in so much that is trivial, mere distractions from what really matters, and if it isn’t the trivial then it’s another tragic event. We can’t change that kind of hatred overnight. Part of our work will always be: relationships, truth, forgiveness, giving, being and doing in the world—acts of kindness and mercy, transforming work to change the balance of power, to redistribute God’s abundance among especially those who are too often left outside in the cold. After all the meditating is done, not forever, but for the moment—we are called to act—to follow Jesus into the world—doing the gospel. -Rev. Michael Livingston//How would you explain what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit to an eight year old?What else would you add to Rev. Livingston’s list of what “our work will always be”?//This episode was written and recorded by Amanda Meisenheimer. It was produced by Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish, Downtown, We Make a Good Team, and Rain On Glass by Podington Bear.Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to download the 2018 Advent devotional and to listen to more episodes of Be Still and Go.

Share your response to this sermon in our Facebook group.Find us online at www.adventnyc.orgJoin us for worship any Sunday at 9am & 11am in English, and 12:30pm in Spanish.Readings for this SundayActs 1:15-17, 21-2615In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16“Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus—17for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 21So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” 23So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.Psalm 11Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel | of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats | of the scornful! 2Their delight is in the law | of the Lord, and they meditate on God’s teaching | day and night. R 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that | do not wither; everything they | do shall prosper. 4It is not so | with the wicked; they are like chaff which the wind | blows away. 5Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when | judgment comes, nor the sinner in the council | of the righteous. 6For the Lord knows the way | of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall | be destroyed. R1 John 5:9-139If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. 10Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.John 17:6-19[Jesus prayed:] 6“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Matthew 4:12-23 12Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”17From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. 23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. First, to understand this text we must unlearn what we think we know about the word repent. When you hear the word repent, what comes to mind? “Repent you sinner!” I am a bad person, who must first repent so that I can be saved! But what if the word, repent, meant to turn, to change directions? What if it had nothing to do with sin or being a bad person? What if Jesus’s use of the word meant to change the current direction that your life has taken you to a new direction, one that is far more fulfilling? What if the use of the word repent meant that you turned from a life that left you aching for something more to one of which Iranaeus spoke about when he said, “The glory of god is a human truly alive.” In English the word repent means to turn from sin, to feel regret or to change one’s mind. But in the original Greek there is no sense of sin. From the original Greek, the word means to change one’s mind, to go a new direction. If we take this definition, “to go a new direction,” and apply it to this story in Matthew, the story starts to take on a very different meaning. The fishermen in the boats to whom Jesus calls out “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” were actually hearing, “Come and join me in going a new direction in your life, for God is with you!” Now that is an invitation that many of us would love to hear or need to hear. Secondly, to understand this text we need to know something about what it means to be a fisherman in Jesus’ day. For years, I struggled with this text as have countless other preachers and biblical teachers. We struggle with it because of its brevity. Many have come to the conclusion that there are parts of the story missing. Who would answer this call to follow Jesus without more information? Many have made up what that missing part of the story must have been. I have wondered too, until I read an article by Brian Stoffregen where he was quoting from the book Matthew and the Margins by Warren Carter. In this book Carter informs us what the world thought of fisherman in Jesus’ day. Carter writes that, “While fishermen have some economic resources, their social ranking is very low. In Cicero's ranking of occupations (De Off 1.150-51), owners of cultivated land appear first and fishermen last.” (Cicero was writing about a century before Jesus lived) “Athenaeus indicates that fishermen and fishmongers are on a par with money lenders and are socially despised as greedy thieves (Deipnosophistai, 6.224b-28c).: (Athenaeus lived about 2 centuries or so after Jesus). So for at least 3-4 centuries around the time of Jesus, fishermen were a despised lot, something on par with tax collectors. If this is true, then this story is not so much about the response to Jesus’ call as it was about who he was calling. He was calling fisherman to follow him. He might as well have been calling tax collectors. By calling fisherman, Jesus was saying to those whom society had said were not worthy that he saw something in them that made them special. Special enough for Jesus to want to say to them, “Follow me.” By calling these fishermen, he is putting into action his teaching, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.” This is a radical statement. If what Cicero and Athenaeus says is true about the role fishermen play in their society’s, it is worthy to note that from the very beginning of Jesus’s ministry that Jesus is upsetting the norm of going to the rich and powerful to ask them to lead his movement. Instead he turns to those who are most despised in their day. This call to the fisherman would have been a huge challenge to the elites in Jesus’ day. Jesus is boldly saying to the rich and powerful, that those whom you have declared as unworthy, that in them God sees something of value, God sees people with gifts. Instead of seeing what others saw, Jesus had eyes to see what had been hidden underneath. He saw not only that they were children of God, but that they had gifts that would serve the kingdom well. It makes me wonder if I was one of those fishermen what I might be thinking. “Is he talking to me?” “What does he see in me that I do not see? This is just the first of countless stories to come where Jesus looked deeper into the person in front of him and invited that person to begin to see themselves with new eyes, with loving and grace filled eyes. Recently Luke and I were talking about what it takes to serve a church as an ordained pastor. In that conversation, he shared a bit of information that he had learned about those who are serving as senior pastors of churches. He had learned that a recent study of those serving as senior pastors had observed that 80% of senior pastors did not feel qualified to serve in that role. That number may surprise you but it does not surprise me. It is true for leaders in many professions. Ann Friedman in the article, “Not Qualified for Your Job? Wait, You Probably Are,” shared this observation, “Two-thirds of incoming students at the notoriously selective Harvard Business School raise their hands when they’re asked: “How many of you in here feel that you are the one mistake that the admissions committee made?”” She goes on to write, “that the name for that fraudulent feeling is ‘impostor syndrome.’ It’s a phenomenon in which people — usually high-achieving professionals — don’t consider themselves qualified for their position and convince themselves that they’ve cheated their way into it. It doesn’t matter how much work they’ve put in or how much experience they’ve acquired.” From my experience, I have learned that this feeling of inadequacy is far more prevalent than most people realize. My experience indicates that what is true of the students at the Harvard Business School is a common thought for many of us. In many of us, there is a tape running in our heads that repeated plays the line that goes something like, “if those around me truly knew of inadequacies… I will let you finish the line since it play slightly different for each one of us. For those among us today who have this tape playing in your heads take heed. Today’s text offers you good news. God, through Jesus is calling you to a life of fulfillment. All you need to do is to turn and live into that good news that you are gifted, that you are worthy. One of my most favorite stories to tell is the story of Isaac, a poor Rabbi from the city of Cracow. “Once upon a time there was a Polish rabbi from Cracow named Isaac. He had a dream. In the dream he was told to travel to Prague. Under the great bridge leading to the royal castle he would find a hidden treasure. The dream was repeated three times, and he decided to go. He found the bridge, but it was guarded by soldiers, so he did not dig. As he loitered in the vicinity, one of the soldiers asked him what he had lost. The rabbi told his dream and the soldier burst into laughter. “Really, poor man,” the soldier said, “have you worn out your shoes coming all this way simply because of a dream?”… “I, too, once had a dream,” said the soldier. “It spoke to me of Cracow, ordered me to go there and look for a treasure in the house of a rabbi named Isaac. The treasure was to be found in a dusty corner behind the stove.”… “But,” said the soldier, “being a reasonable man and not trusting in dreams, I decided not to go.” The rabbi thanked the soldier, returned to Cracow, dug behind his stove, found the treasure, and put an end to his poverty.” In this story of the rabbi and in the story of the calling of the fishermen, we learn that there is a treasure in each one of us that God has eyes to see even when we cannot. Today listen for Jesus’ voice. To you who have been made to feel less than worthy, hear Jesus’ call to turn from that way and to become the person that God has intended you to be. You are worthy. The treasure which you seek is in you. Turn, see it and grasp it.

Set down those FBI-approved bolt cutters and join hands with Mike, Meredith, and Ultimate Gold Star HistoriTen Ashley as we raise a long-dead episode of TBTL from the grave. We discuss Ashley's adorable pugs, her prolific archiving habit, and she turns the tables to finally get some of her burning TBTL trivia questions answered. Then we listen back to some found audio of two '90s metalheads discussing the merits of totally destroying this dude Terry over $20 and a parking space, courtesy of Davy Rothbart from Found Magazine. The clip this week (from TBTL #1650) starts at 00:31 and goes till 01:18As discussed on the show, you can watch the videos that go along with these tapes here: http://www.dailymotion.com/playlists/user/foundmagazine/1

Set down those FBI-approved bolt cutters and join hands with Mike, Meredith, and Ultimate Gold Star HistoriTen Ashley as we raise a long-dead episode of TBTL from the grave. We discuss Ashley's adorable pugs, her prolific archiving habit, and she turns the tables to finally get some of her burning TBTL trivia questions answered. Then we listen back to some found audio of two '90s metalheads discussing the merits of totally destroying this dude Terry over $20 and a parking space, courtesy of Davy Rothbart from Found Magazine. The clip this week (from TBTL #1650) starts at 00:31 and goes till 01:18As discussed on the show, you can watch the videos that go along with these tapes here: http://www.dailymotion.com/playlists/user/foundmagazine/1

Connexus Church wants to work together to unleash a wave of generosity in our community!Through the Be Rich campaign we hope to inspire those who are rich in this world to be rich toward others. We are partnering together with over 30 churches across North America and around the world to do more, give more and be rich.“Command those who are rich in this present world to… be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and always willing to share.” 1 Timothy 6:18As a church community, we will have unique opportunities to love and serve friends and neighbours in need around us. Through a selection of local and global partners we will be doing more and giving more over this holiday season.

Genesis 2:18As we've gone through the opening chapters of Genesis, one of the things we've seen is that what God created was good. Seven times in Genesis 1 we read that God saw what He had made and it was good. But now we come to something really interesting. In Genesis 2:18, we read that something was not good. This morning we'll look at what wasn't good and what God did about it.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/g/hillsidechgr?src=hpp)