Faith Driven Entrepreneur

Where’s the Unlock? Innovation Inside the Fence LineHost Justin Forman sits down with David Farmer, Vice President of Innovation and New Ventures at Chick-fil-A. Together they look at how a company grows for 80 years without losing the things that make it what it is.The first Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in 1967. It was about 350 square feet inside an Atlanta mall, with room for roughly six seats. Today some Chick-fil-A operators move 500 cars through a single drive-through, which means a customer leaves with food every seven and a half seconds.David leads innovation and new ventures at one of the most admired restaurant brands in America. He traces that innovation back to its source. Founder Truett Cathy deboned a chicken breast so he could turn tables faster. He brought food into the American mall before food courts existed. He also built an operator model that has barely changed in five decades. David connects that founding DNA to everything Chick-fil-A is testing today, from drive-through canopies to drones.Key Topics:- How a 1946 diner near the Atlanta airport gave birth to the Chick-fil-A sandwich- The operator model: why Truett built his own capital structure, with a $10,000 refundable deposit and a 50/50 profit split, and turned down conventional franchising- Why “nines don’t wanna work for sevens,” and how it shapes who Chick-fil-A selects as operators- Dan Cathy’s rogue lemonade recipe and how one bottleneck became a single juicing facility in California- Knowing what cannot change: closed on Sunday, privately held, and a short list of non-negotiables- From 100 cars an hour to 500: canopies, tablets, NASCAR pit crews, and healthy competition- The three-legged stool test for every innovation: customer, operations, economics- Why Truett spent years making “my pleasure” feel normalEvery founder eventually faces the question of how to change without losing the thing that made the business worth building. David’s answer is simple and hard to live out: get clear on true north, then play freely inside the fence line.Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.

Better Than a Touchdown PassHost Justin Forman sits down with Matt Hasselbeck, 18-year NFL quarterback and Pro Athletes Outreach leader. They talk about what an NFL locker room can teach a boardroom about generosity, identity, and depending on God.Only one NFL team showed up to Matt Hasselbeck's pro day. Andy Reid stood in a Boston College snowstorm just to see if the kid would throw in it. Eighteen years later, Matt says a few moments rank right alongside any playoff touchdown, and none of them happened on a football field.Matt was drafted 187th overall and spent three years backing up Brett Favre in Green Bay. He then became a starter in Seattle, took the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, earned three Pro Bowl selections, and entered the team's Ring of Honor. He finished his career with the Titans and Colts, mentoring Andrew Luck. Today he helps lead Pro Athletes Outreach, the ministry where his parents surrendered their lives to Jesus in 1981. Filmed at South by Southwest, the episode opens with a short film on the Hasselbeck family and the trip to Malawi that changed how they give.Key Topics:- Why generosity got harder, not easier, as the NFL contracts got bigger- The family vision trip to Malawi Matt kept saying no to, and the school it inspired to fund two water projects- Identity when the thing you're known for gets taken away- Why NFL locker rooms pray more often than most faith-driven businesses- How overanalyzing where to give can become a built-in excuse- From "the man upstairs" to naming Jesus: what changed in sports culture- Three timeouts a half: spiritual maturity as knowing God's playbookFor every entrepreneur who plans to get generous "when we scale," Matt's story is a challenge to obey in the middle of the season. You'll leave with a fresh picture of dependence, open-handed stewardship, and bringing your family along for the ride.Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.

Host Justin Forman sits down with Tom Nelson, senior pastor and founder of Made to Flourish, for a conversation about how pastors and entrepreneurs can rebuild the bridge between Sunday worship and Monday work.Five years into pastoral ministry, Tom stood before his congregation and confessed what he called pastoral malpractice. He had been more concerned with how he did on Sunday than with how his people did in their Monday world. That confession started a 30-year journey toward becoming a church for Monday.Tom has pastored for 37 years and leads Christ Community Church. He founded Made to Flourish, a network of roughly 17,000 pastors who equip their congregations to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom. He is the author of several books on vocation, most recently Why Your Work Matters, and his work has carried him into a national and global conversation on faith and work.Key Topics:- Why work existed before the fall, and what the first verb in the Bible reveals about God- Rabbi Heschel's warning that we "see what we know rather than know what we see"- Redefining work as contribution before compensation in the age of AI- The parallels between first-century Roman roads and today's global marketplace- Workplace visits and This Time Tomorrow, two simple practices transforming churches- Overcoming the mutual intimidation between pastors and entrepreneurs- Why faith and work should be woven into everything a church does instead of added as a departmentEvery entrepreneur who has wondered whether their church sees their Monday will find language and practical next steps here. Tom names a starting point for pastors, and the conversation hands entrepreneurs a simple invitation to extend in return.Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.

The Shade We Sit UnderHost Justin Forman sits down with Scott Miller, former CEO of Interstate Batteries, for a conversation about building on a founder's foundation, naming the culture you inherited, and hearing God's call to the next seat.Scott Miller started hauling 60-pound boxes of lead in his family's Dallas warehouse at 14. He spent 25 years inside the business and 10 more leading it. Then he stepped out of the CEO chair on purpose, to help fuel a half-billion-dollar effort to train pastors for 3.7 million churches.Scott is the son of Norm Miller, who helped build Interstate Batteries into a national brand after John Searcy founded it out of the back of a Studebaker pickup in 1952. Scott worked his way up from the warehouse floor and a small-town Texas sales route before becoming CEO. As CEO, his team codified Interstate's purpose statement, values, vision, and long-term strategy. Today he is helping direct his family company's giving into the Global Pastoral Training Alliance, the single biggest investment the company has ever made.Key Topics:- Why following a legendary leader turned out to be easier than expected- How Interstate codified its purpose and values through thousands of stakeholder interviews- The consignment model that turned a grudge buy into a national brand- How a phone call from Coach Joe Gibbs became a 35-year NASCAR partnership- Knowing when your season as CEO is complete- Training the trainers: the plan to close a pastoral gap across 3.7 million churches- Why collaborative giving offers an efficient return on Kingdom investmentFor entrepreneurs carrying something someone else started, Scott offers a clear picture of stewardship at every stage. That means honoring the foundation, naming what's true, building on it, and knowing when to hand it off. For builders wondering what their giving could become, his story shows what happens when business excellence and generosity grow together.Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.

A Dream on a Sheet of PaperHost Justin Forman sits down with Joe Gibbs, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and founder of Joe Gibbs Racing, for a conversation about building something bigger than you planned and holding on to God when the plan falls apart.In 1991, Joe Gibbs walked into Interstate Batteries to pitch a race team. The first question was who his driver was. He didn't have one. He didn't have a car either. All he had was a dream on a sheet of paper, and a CEO willing to say yes.Joe Gibbs started his coaching career as a volunteer under Don Coryell and John Madden. He went on to win three Super Bowls in Washington with three different quarterbacks. He then founded Joe Gibbs Racing, which grew from a 17-person "hobby" into a nine-car operation racing across three divisions. He leads the ministry Game Plan for Life and wrote Game Plan for Loss after the deaths of his sons, J.D. and Coy.Key Topics:- Volunteering under Don Coryell and John Madden, and why Coach Gibbs believes God blesses average people with great experiences- Pitching Interstate Batteries a race team with no driver, no car, and no track record- Why sponsors are really partners, and how a race team survives on 60 to 70 percent sponsorship revenue- Picking people and building culture when you aren't the technical expert in the room- The time with family that driven leaders lose, and the second chance racing gave him- Losing both of his sons, wrestling with God for 18 months, and what Romans 8 taught him about suffering and glory- The Sunday school teacher who showed him what a person actually leaves behindEvery entrepreneur keeps score. Coach Gibbs has more trophies than almost anyone, and he still points to people, not trophies, as the real measure of a life. This conversation gives founders a framework for building with ambition, preparing for loss, and leaving a legacy that outlasts the business.Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.

The Dream He Couldn't ShakeHost Justin Forman sits down with Chris Tomlin, worship leader, songwriter, and founder of For Others, for a conversation about what happens when the platform God gives you turns out to be for something bigger than the thing you're famous for.He was 18, knew three songs, and had never led worship in his life. At the end of a youth camp week in East Texas, the speaker put a hand on his head and prayed that God would make him a psalm writer for his generation. Three decades later, the man whose songs the global church sings on Sunday mornings is in statehouses talking about the 400,000 kids in America's foster care system.Chris Tomlin helped shape modern worship music from the inside, back when radio stations told him his songs were "Sunday morning music" and nothing more. It took three albums before one got played. That same pioneering instinct — hacking a trail where no template existed — is what he brought to For Others, the organization he founded after a dream he couldn't forget and a question from his pastor he couldn't answer. Today For Others convenes best-in-class child welfare organizations, states, and donors around a single goal: ending the foster care crisis in America.Key Topics:- The prayer at 18 that set the trajectory of a 30-year career, spoken over a kid who didn't have any songs yet- Pioneering a new category: why radio wouldn't play worship music, and what six years of knocking on doors taught him- Hebrews 13:15-16 and the conviction that worship which doesn't change the world isn't finished yet- The dream of a filled stadium and an abandoned baby in the street, and the decade it took to understand it - Good Friday Nashville: why he decided to give away every dollar before he knew there would be any- 400,000 kids in foster care, 400,000 churches in America, and the math that lit him up- Building For Others as a neutral convener rather than another agency, and why that became the secret sauceChris's story is the entrepreneur's story in a different key: no template, no permission, no clear next step. Just enough light for the step in front of him. If you've been sitting on a calling you can't fully explain yet, this conversation is a case study in what obedience looks like before the plan exists.

The Richest Person in HeavenHost Justin Forman sits down with John Maxwell, leadership author and founder of EQUIP, for a conversation that reframes what it means to build wealth, take risks, and finally stop being embarrassed about the gospel.It started with a cassette tape colored pink by accident and a five-dollar ask to 39 strangers in a Jackson, Mississippi hotel conference room. Four decades later, that same instinct — just get good, and add value to people — has made John Maxwell the bestselling leadership author in the world and the architect of what may be the largest quiet evangelism movement on the planet.About John Maxwell: John Maxwell is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and founder of EQUIP, a global leadership training organization that has trained over six million leaders in every country in the world. He has written 92 books on leadership, with 14 more underway. Through EQUIP's "Beyond Success" small group curriculum — now running in over 191,000 groups worldwide — more than four million people have come to Christ in the last six years.Key Topics:How a $5-a-month cassette tape club in the 1980s became the foundation of Maxwell's global platformWhy insecurity, not disagreement, is what actually keeps entrepreneurs and pastors apartThe theology of risk: why Maxwell believes potential only exists outside of safetyRethinking the "financial finish line" — and why picking a number for significance beats picking one for securityThe real difference between accumulating wealth and stewarding itHow Maxwell "crossed over" from 25 years as a pastor into the secular business world — and what it cost him in credibility before it paid offInside EQUIP's Beyond Success model: training leaders first, then earning the right to ask a single, permission-based question about faithFor entrepreneurs wrestling with what to do with what they've built, this conversation is a direct challenge to the idea that safety, security, or a finish line is ever the goal. Maxwell makes the case that the biggest regrets aren't what we did — they're what we were too afraid to try.

From a Billion Downloads to a Bigger Vision: Bobby Gruenewald on Building the World's Most-Used Bible AppHost Justin Forman sits down with Bobby Gruenewald, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of YouVersion, for a conversation that pulls back the curtain on how a donor-funded ministry built and scaled the most downloaded Bible app in the world.Bobby just crossed a milestone: 1 billion devices with a YouVersion app installed. But instead of celebrating the number, he's already recalibrating around a vision for 3 billion by 2033 — because for Bobby, "more" was never the compelling part. In this conversation, he walks through the funnel metrics, the streaks feature, and the machine-learning-driven personalization that power YouVersion's engagement strategy, and connects every one of those business decisions back to a theology of stewardship, humility, and trust.Key Topics:• Why YouVersion measures success by daily engagement (DAU+4), not downloads• The donor-funded business model — no subscriptions, no data sales, no ads• How Bobby's team uses passive personalization to meet people where they are• The "streaks" feature and the psychology of habit formation• Why Bobby hires learners instead of experts• Stewardship vs. ownership — and what the parable of the talents has to do with company culture• Why "problem casting" is a broken fundraising model, and what to do insteadFor entrepreneurs building anything mission-driven, this episode is a masterclass in translating business rigor into Kingdom impact — without losing the soul of the mission in the process.

From the Rose Bowl to Real Estate: Colt McCoy on Identity, Injury, and the Long Obedience After FootballHost Justin Forman sits down with Colt McCoy, former University of Texas and NFL quarterback, for a conversation that traces how a career-altering injury on the biggest stage of his life became the foundation for a faith that never wavered — through 14 years in the NFL and into a new season as a commercial real estate entrepreneur in Fort Worth.Colt McCoy played quarterback at the University of Texas and spent 14 seasons in the NFL before retiring to found a commercial real estate company alongside partners at HPI in Fort Worth, Texas. Raised in West Texas by a coaching family, Colt has spent his entire adult life "in a glass box" — watched, known, and never quite off the record. This conversation traces that journey from a national championship injury that shattered his sense of identity to the quiet, unglamorous grind of starting a business from scratch.Key Topics:The night before the national championship game and the injury that changed everythingWhy Colt says his identity was "totally on football" — and what it meant when that was taken awayGrowing up in a coaching family in West Texas and learning leadership as a young quarterbackLiving in a "glass box" — faith and integrity when everyone is watchingThe elbow injury that ended his NFL career and the hard conversation that followedPraying through a life transition with his wife after 14 years of football-first structureWhat playing quarterback taught him about leading a team through crisisBuilding a faith-first commercial real estate company from the ground up in Fort WorthFor entrepreneurs walking through their own transitions — whether that's a career ending, a new venture starting, or an identity being re-formed — Colt's story is a picture of what it looks like to hold tightly to Christ and loosely to everything else. This conversation is a reminder that our calling doesn't end when the game does.

Two Tunics and $7.5 BillionHost Justin Forman sits down with Finny Kuruvilla, MD, PhD, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Eventide Asset Management, for a conversation that moves from a 32-year-old jacket to a $7.5 billion investment thesis — and asks what it actually means to own something, whether it's a stock, a business, or a life.Finny still wears the jacket his mom bought him for medical school interviews in 1994. That's not nostalgia — it's conviction, traced back to a single verse about tunics that rearranged how he thinks about money, ownership, and enough. That same conviction became the founding thesis of Eventide: investing is ownership, and ownership carries ethical responsibility. Nearly two decades later, Eventide manages $7.5 billion under that idea, and Finny — father of nine, homeschooler, and a physician-scientist by training — is still wrestling with what it means to hold power, capital, and gifting without letting any one of them define him.Key Topics:• Why Finny still wears one jacket — and the Bible study that started it• The founding thesis of Eventide: investing as ownership, ownership as ethical responsibility• Raising nine kids with zero screens before junior high and no phones until 18• The family worship streak that hit 200 days — and what happens when it does• Why "the powers that be" today are algorithms, not nations• The Great Commission, Great Commandment, and Great Cultivation — and why entrepreneurs need all three• Why science deepened Finny's worship instead of shrinking it• The communication gap that makes people distrust business and medicineThis conversation is for any entrepreneur who has confused simplicity with sacrifice, or capital with control. Finny makes the case that ownership — of money, of a business, of a calling — was never meant to be casual. Walk away with a sharper sense of what you actually hold, and Who it belongs to.Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.Finny Kuruvilla is the Co-Chief Investment Officer at Eventide Asset Management, LLC. Views expressed in this podcast are intended for information purposes and do not constitute investment advice. Eventide does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. Eventide's values-based approach to investing may not produce desired results and could result in underperformance compared with other investments. There is no guarantee that any investment will achieve its objectives, generate positive returns, or avoid losses. Assets under management data is as of 02/12/2026.