BB Ep 68: Inviting Faith Into Your Business with Heather MacFadyen

It’s hard to believe that nearly five years ago, Business Boutique was just a dream in my heart. Wow. That’s hard to grasp on so many levels, but especially because Business Boutique is such a huge part of my life now. But, y’all, talk about humble beginnings. All we really knew is that we wanted to create a place where women could get the support and training they need to make money doing what they love. That’s it. So we went straight to the source: women who knew they were made for more. We talked to a lot of them and asked what felt like millions of questions. And we noticed something interesting. All of these women seemed to describe their pursuit of “more” in different ways. Some called it a side business. Others referred to it as a side hustle. Some even called themselves mompreneurs. Suddenly, we knew coming up with a name for our project that perfectly encompasses what all of these women do—and one that clearly communicates exactly how we can help them—was absolutely crucial to our success. No pressure, right? In all our meetings and brainstorming sessions, my leader Dave Ramsey kept referring to a small side business as a boutique business. But that name didn’t feel quite right. Would people immediately think we only help people start boutiques? I mean, we were going to help them grow a lot of different things. We continued to run into this wall until I decided to pray about it. I know, it should have been the first thing I did. But unfortunately, it was my last resort. My prayer that day was this: Lord, what are we going to call this? We can’t call it Boutique Business because we’re not helping people start boutiques. We’re helping them grow a lot of different things. How do we describe this market when these women describe themselves in so many different ways? He answered me that very day. I heard God say: Flip it. It’s not Boutique Business. It’s the Business Boutique. And you’re not describing what all of them do. You’re describing what YOU do. You are the place where women come to get help with their business—any type of business. Y’all, I knew in the moment that Business Boutique was it. I immediately sent a text to the team telling them we were supposed to flip the name. It was like this lightbulb had finally come on. And everyone agreed. Of course they did! Because it was God’s idea. And you know what? God is full of really good ideas. That’s why I invite my faith into my business every single day. Seeing God’s fingerprints all over Business Boutique takes the pressure off me and reminds me of who’s really in control. Have you invited God into your business yet? I’m here to tell you it’s never too late. Seeking God in Your Business  Too often, we keep our personal lives and our business lives separate. We are so faith-filled in our personal lives but, for some reason, we get all practical and non-spiritual in our business. It’s as if we believe God doesn’t have any part to play—as if He can’t provide for our business, doesn’t understand the industry, or can’t help us scale it. The truth is faith and business go hand in hand. Guess who gave you the gifts and skills you use in your business? Guess who gave you the finances needed to start your business? Guess who gave you the courage to finally do it even though you were scared? That’s all God. The business you own is actually God’s business. Do you see a pattern here? God is already in your business because God is in you—and you are in your business. I want to challenge you to start thinking about your business as a place where you can invite God to partner with you. Our business problems are not outside of God’s control. He wants to be immersed in every aspect of our lives, so don’t leave Him out of this part. I created this 7-Day Devotional to help you do just that. I pray this devotional will help remind you that God cares not only about you, but He also cares about your dreams and your business, too. He loves to come through for you—not just on Sunday, but during the week. Is your business thriving right now? Have you praised God for that? Is your business struggling right now? Have you prayed for wisdom and help yet? Is something holding you back from starting? You can pray for courage, too! I also want to challenge you to start a new habit this week. Set aside time every day to pray over your business, your team members and your customers—and the way they will be impacted by your product or service. God wants to build your business with you. Invite Him in! Discovering Your God Assignments With Heather MacFadyen My guest today knows all about bringing faith into your business. Heather MacFadyen is the founder of Don’t Mom Alone and the host of the Don’t Mom Alone Podcast. After blogging for three years, Heather thought she was on track to write a book. But God had a different plan for her—podcasting. Organically, her show began to center around three themes: mentorship, friendship and discipleship. And, amazingly, those topics all reinforced the same thing: Don’t Mom Alone.. In this episode, we talk about: The difference between an assignment and a calling Embracing where you are no matter what you’re going through Working on the areas where you’re weak Releasing yourself from the pressure to do everything well Why you need to invite God in Take Your Thoughts Captive Too often, my mind is being pulled in a thousand directions. Can you relate? The problem is that it’s not always the right direction or the truth direction. Guess what? This is an area where the enemy can really get a foothold and paralyze you. It can start with something as small as one mean comment on your blog post or one bad review about your product. The enemy takes that tiny seed and waters it so it grows and begins to spiral out of control. All of a sudden, what started out as an insignificant comment compounds into a giant insecurity. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. If we don’t do that, our thoughts will shape our beliefs and our beliefs will shape our behavior. If you’re not careful, these negative thoughts can change your actions. You’ll no longer try as hard. You won’t go for opportunities that scare you because your courage is shot. You might even give up. And it can all be traced back to that one tiny thought. I want to tell you what I do when that starts to happen to me. I stop and ask myself: Is this true? Is this what God says about me? Those simple questions immediately cut through the lies and bring me back to reality. No, I’m not a bad mom. Yes, I was made for business. Of course, I CAN do this. I want to encourage you to make a list of everything you believe about your business. Don’t edit it. Write down all the thoughts that go through your head during the day and hold them against that litmus test. Is this true about me? Is this true about my business? Is this what God says about me? Is this what the Bible says about me? Just wait and see how God changes the way you think about yourself. You were created on purpose, for a purpose. Don’t let the enemy take that from you. #AskChristyWright On today’s #AskChristyWright segment, we talk about: How to know if Facebook advertising is right for you Finding efficiencies in your business If you have a question, give me a call on my toll-free line at 844.944.1074. You might hear your question on a future episode!  1:23 Inviting God Into Your Business 14:25 Discovering Your God Assignments With Heather MacFadyen 37:16 #AskChristyWright 40:37 Encouragement: Take Your Thoughts Captive Resources Get your own Fear or Wisdom Filter by filling out the form here! We are opening enrollment for the Business Boutique Academy! It will be open for only a few days, and I’m telling you now because I want you to plan for it. The cost is $489 for the entire year to have me as your business coach and a tribe of women by your side every step of the way. Budget for it, mark your calendar, join the waitlist, and get in the Academy on March 18! Text the code ACADEMYWAITLIST to 33444 to sign up for the Business Boutique Academy Waitlist to be notified the moment enrollment opens! Sponsors Check out our friends at DesignCrowd. If you’re looking for design work for your business, anything from a logo - to business cards - to your website, DesignCrowd is offering you, my Business Boutique listeners, a special offer to save up to $100 when you start your next project. Simply enter the discount code “BB” when posting a project on DesignCrowd. Or visit DesignCrowd.com/BB. If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at [email protected]. New podcast episodes are available every other week.