Did you know that the beginning stages of Paul the Apostle’s ministry were greatly affected by a woman? And not just any woman: Lydia, a successful businesswoman, who many scholars believe to be his first known convert.
Specifically, she sold purple cloth—which, back then, was valuable and expensive. It was a sign of wealth, nobility and royalty. Purple cloth was purchased and worn by members of the royal family and Roman senators. So Lydia’s customers—her demographic and target market, in fact—were upper-class people. And we can assume that Lydia was successful and prosperous because she owned a home with enough rooms to host Paul and three of his friends overnight at the same time!
What I love about Lydia’s story is that it’s a biblical example of how God cares about our life as a whole, not just our spiritual life. The biblical account of her life doesn’t shy away from the fact that she was a successful businesswoman. And why would it? God cares about our business pursuits! He is the One who gave us those gifts to be used in the first place.
If it weren’t for Lydia’s business, would she have had the means and the space to house Paul and his companions overnight? Maybe not.
Later in her story, she once again offers up her home as a place for the early church to meet. Lydia didn’t operate what we would call a “Christian” or faith-based business, but her business and her lifestyle of faith was certainly helping Christians.
Related: What Happens When You Use Your Gifts
One of my favorite Bible passages speaks to not only using your gifts, but also using them as a light for others:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14–16 (NIV)
As a Christian, when you live a life of faith, you are being true to yourself. But you may have wondered how prominent your faith should be in your business.
There are two ways to approach faith in business:
Choosing which approach to take in your business is an important decision, because it will affect your:
In this episode, I’ll explain the real differences here and give lots of examples. I want you to decide which path makes the most sense for you. That way, you can reach the most people!
Alli is an author, speaker, mom of five boys (send prayers), and the executive director of Propel Women. She’s an amazing entrepreneurial coach, helping everyone from small-business owners all the way up to fortune 500 companies!
But being a successful businesswoman wasn’t always part of Alli’s story. She shares her journey of dealing with an unsettling force that so many of us deal with: anxiety. Alli remembers one day in a Target parking lot when she broke down in tears. She called a friend for help, and her friend told her, “You’re so held down by the weight of fear and worry—and you’re trying to make safety your god.”
But Alli thought that was normal. She thought anxiety was just part of modern life.
It wasn’t until the release of her first book—while simultaneously walking with her husband through a serious illness—that she was able to confront her fears head on and break free from anxiety.
Alli’s story is a very real example of how tough, terrifying and downright unpleasant it can be to put one foot in front of the other, trusting God and pursuing what you love in the face of fear. In this podcast, Alli and I talk about:
Stephanie and her husband, Isaac, own and operate Five Daughters Bakery in Nashville, Tennessee—and y’all, their donuts are like a drug. These are not your typical donuts; they are gourmet, croissant donuts . . . and they’re next-level good.
The bakery is named for Stephanie and Isaac’s five daughters, and that’s not the only element from their personal lives they incorporated into the business. While they don’t run a business that falls into the Christian sector, they are business owners of faith. Their faith influences everything about their approach to business: from the way they treat their employees and customers to what they charge for donuts (and guess what—they’re not “cheap!”).
In this episode, Stephanie and I talk about:
Plus, I’ll answer a question from one of our live Business Boutique events about operations.
How has your faith impacted your business? I’d love to hear from you in the comments for this episode!
1:15 Balancing Faith in Business
16:19 Interview with Alli Worthington
40:15 Interview with Stephanie Meek
61:57 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT
66:20 Homework
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There’s this idea out there that building relationships is just easy for some people. And sure, if you have a social personality and are naturally an extrovert, or if you love to talk and connect with people, then yes, maybe building relationships is easier for you. But your personality style doesn’t have to dictate your ability to build relationships! After all, everyone has a little bit of insecurity in them.
As you can probably guess, I’m a huge extrovert. But I still get a little nervous walking into a party or situation where I don’t know anyone. We all know what it’s like to feel like the new kid at school. So for those of us who have a super extroverted personality style, it doesn’t mean that we won’t ever struggle with building relationships.
And building relationships isn’t only vital in your life, but it’s also vital to your business.
Everything you will ever achieve in your life will come through people—so becoming good at building relationships is one of the most important skills you can develop. In fact, if you don’t have key relationships, you won’t get anywhere.
Related: 4 Friends You Need in Business
Even if the only person that works in your business is you, you still don’t have to go it alone. Building strong business relationships will set you up for success in these areas:
And who doesn’t need help with at least one of those things? So, in this episode, I’ll give you the five steps to making strong business connections.
Emily is a publicist, consultant, and the founder of Richett Media. She is a former TV news reporter. While in that role, she covered over 6,000 inspiring stories about entrepreneurs, businesses and nonprofit organizations.
So, she’s basically an expert on how to share the story of your business and get exposure. Sharing your story is one of the strongest ways you can build business relationships and get PR, and we’re going to learn so much from her!
In this podcast, Emily and I talk about:
I was reading a Forbes article the other day called “Best Small-Business Loans For Women in 2018,” and I was encouraged to see the latest stats on female-owned businesses. Basically, y’all are killing it.
But the article goes on to talk about all the different ways you can get small-business financing. Now, you know I’m all about y’all growing your businesses. What I don’t want you to do is believe that taking out loans is the only way to do that. In fact, taking out a loan isn’t an indicator of success or growth—it’s a risk and a loss of power.
But I am here to tell you that you can chase your dream and achieve success—and do it all debt-free! In fact, I know and have personally seen countless women who’ve done just that. Just listen to my podcast interview with Melissa Hinnant, founder of Grace & Lace, who did $800,000 in sales her first year in business without borrowing a penny. In this episode, I’m going on a bit of Christy-rant to address this issue head-on!
Plus, I’ll answer a question from one of our live Business Boutique events.
1:05 How to Build Relationships
16:38 Interview with Emily Richett
39:42 Busting Business Loan Myths
43:14 #ASKCHRISTYWRIGHT
50:49 Homework
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Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy.
If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com.
New podcast episodes are available every other week.