What do you do when God asks you to build something that doesn't exist yet?

In this episode, I sit down with Patti Garibay—founder and Executive Director Emeritus of American Heritage Girls—for a conversation about calling, courage, and what it means to trust God with a vision that feels far bigger than you.

Patti shares the remarkable story of how one conversation with her father sparked what would become a nationwide ministry that has now impacted more than one million girls. But this isn't just a story about starting an organization. It's a conversation about learning to trust God's timing, embracing humble confidence, and choosing to become a source of light in a world that often feels consumed by darkness.

If you've ever sensed God nudging you toward something new—but felt underqualified, overwhelmed, or unsure where to begin—this episode is for you.

🔑 What We Talk About

• The childhood passions that became clues to Patti's lifelong calling

• The conversation with her father that inspired the founding of American Heritage Girls

• Why focusing on the reasons "why" matters more than the reasons "why not"

• How to move forward when you don't have the resources, experience, or roadmap

• The role humility, patience, and perseverance play in faithful leadership

• Why God often provides through people—and why you have to be willing to ask

• How to overcome the feeling that you're "not qualified enough" for what God is calling you to do

• Practical ways to keep your focus on God instead of the noise and darkness around you

• Why leaders need to spend more time in the Light than they do consuming the darkness

• How investing in the next generation shapes the future of the Kingdom

🧠 Key Takeaways

1. Don't let the reasons "why not" drown out the reasons why.

Every meaningful calling comes with uncertainty. Instead of rehearsing all the reasons something can't work, ask whether God may be inviting you to take the next faithful step.

2. Lead with humble confidence.

True humility isn't believing you have nothing to offer. It's recognizing that whatever God calls you to do, He will equip you to do. Your confidence comes from Him—not from having all the answers.

3. God's provision often comes through people.

Sometimes we're waiting for God to miraculously provide when He's already surrounded us with the relationships, skills, and community we need. Pray, ask, and trust Him to work through others.

4. Don't despise small beginnings.

American Heritage Girls didn't begin as a national movement. It began around a kitchen table with a handful of girls. Faithfulness in the small things is often how God prepares us for greater influence.

5. Spend more time in the Light than you do in the darkness.

The world gives us endless opportunities to focus on what's broken. Patti reminds us that faithful leaders intentionally spend more time in prayer, Scripture, worship, and God's creation than they do consuming fear, outrage, and endless headlines.

🔗 Resources & Links

🌍 Learn more about American Heritage Girls:https://americanheritagegirls.org

🎙️ Listen to the Raising Godly Girls Podcast:https://open.spotify.com/show/3xYW29TBukmcyq6dSpM5Wv?si=1cc90040ae084f78

📘 Get Patti's book:Why Curse the Darkness When You Can Light a Candle?https://a.co/d/00tjDFOL

💼 Connect with Patti:https://www.linkedin.com/in/patti-garibay-b292b94/

What happens when God begins leading you somewhere you never expected to go?

In this episode, I sit down with entrepreneur, developer, and community builder Joshua Johnson for a fascinating and deeply faith-filled conversation about discernment, identity, risk, and learning to trust God one step at a time.

Josh’s career journey has been anything but predictable.

After beginning in the tech world and helping build Cincinnati’s startup ecosystem through Mindbox Studios, Josh eventually sensed God leading him and his family toward a dramatic pivot—one that ultimately moved them across the country to Redding, California and into an entirely new season of work and calling.

But this conversation isn’t just about changing jobs or moving cities.

It’s about learning how to recognize the voice of God in your career.

It’s about understanding that your work is often one of the primary ways God reveals who He created you to be.

And it’s about having the courage to say yes—even when you don’t yet understand the full picture.

Josh shares openly about ambition, patience, transferable skills, community building, leadership, discernment, and what it means to trust God with both timing and outcomes.

If you’ve been sensing a nudge toward something new… wrestling with uncertainty… or trying to faithfully discern your next step, this conversation will encourage you deeply.

🔑 What We Talk About

• Josh’s early decision to shift away from vocational ministry and into the marketplace

• Learning to recognize God’s voice through posture, discernment, and confirmation

• Why understanding your wiring and gifts matters in career decisions

• The difference between forcing opportunities and faithfully stewarding your growth

• How Josh helped build Cincinnati’s startup ecosystem during a season of city renewal

• The surprising dream that eventually led his family to move to Redding, California

• What it looked like to navigate a major geographic and professional pivot with wisdom

• Why faith-led decisions are not necessarily impulsive decisions

• The importance of transferable skills during career transitions

• Letting go of identity tied to titles, industries, or previous success

• The challenge of learning to say “no” in seasons of increased opportunity

• What it means to trust God even when you don’t fully understand the “why”

🧠 Key Takeaways1. God wastes nothing.

One of the most encouraging parts of Josh’s story is seeing how the skills he developed in tech and entrepreneurship became foundational in completely different spaces later on. So often we think transitions mean starting over, but God is usually building on what He has already developed in us.

2. You don’t have to force your way into the right opportunities.Josh shared beautifully about learning not to fight for tables he wasn’t meant to sit at—and trusting that, over time, the right invitations would come. There’s freedom in realizing your job is not to prove yourself, but to faithfully steward who God created you to be.

3. Faith requires both courage and patience.Near the end of the conversation, Josh shared a prayer that really stayed with me: asking God for the kind of heart that can both say “yes” to Him and trust Him enough to not need the full picture right away. That’s mature faith—the willingness to step out in obedience while also trusting God with timing, outcomes, and legacy.

🎯 Listener ChallengeSpend a few quiet minutes with God this week and ask:

“Lord, where are You asking me to say yes right now? And where are You asking me to trust You more patiently?”

You may not have the whole picture yet. But God is faithful to guide us—one step, one season, and one invitation at a time.

🔗 Resources & Links📘 Book Josh Mentioned: Falling Upward by Richard Rohr

🌍 Learn more about the work Josh is doing in Redding: Good News Rescue Mission

🏡Josh’s company: Buildwise Supply

🔗 Connect with Joshua Johnson: LinkedIn

What do you do when your life takes a turn you never would have chosen?

In this episode, I sit down with Debbie Simmons—keynote speaker, bestselling author, and founder of Anchor Point—for a deeply honest conversation about trust, surrender, and what it looks like to follow God when your plans fall apart.

Debbie’s story is powerful. From a successful career in engineering to walking through profound personal loss, to leading a multi-million dollar nonprofit and equipping leaders around the world—her journey is anything but linear.

But that’s exactly what makes this conversation so relevant.

Because so often, our careers don’t unfold the way we expected. And the real question becomes: how do we trust God with what we didn’t choose?

If you’ve ever felt stuck, uncertain, or asked “why is this happening in my work or career?”—this conversation will meet you there.

🔑 What We Talk About

• Debbie’s early career as a mechanical engineer—and the mindset that shaped her definition of success

• The unimaginable loss that changed the direction of her life and calling

• Why the question “why?” can keep us stuck—and what to ask instead

• The shift from surviving to thriving (and how to walk that out practically)

• How to trust God when your career path doesn’t make sense

• The tension between control, hustle, and true trust in leadership

• Debbie’s frameworks: Architecture of Trust™ and the role of trust under pressure

• Why surrender, humility, and obedience are essential for growth

• How your past experiences (even painful ones) shape your leadership and impact

• What it really means to build a legacy—starting right now

🧠 Key Takeaways

1. What got you here won’t get you there.Growth requires change. In your career and leadership, the habits and patterns that once worked may not be what God is asking you to carry forward.

2. Stop asking “why”—start asking better questions.The question “why?” often keeps us stuck. Instead, ask:

• How do I survive this season?

• What’s my next best step?

• How might God be inviting me to thrive?

3. Trust is revealed under pressure.We say we trust God—but pressure exposes what we actually rely on. Pay attention to your default response (control, hustle, avoidance) and begin making small shifts toward trust.

4. Breathe—and take the next best step.You don’t need the full plan. Just the next step. God meets you in movement, not perfection.

5. You leave a legacy by living one.Legacy isn’t something you build later. It’s shaped in how you live, lead, and trust God today.

🔗 Resources & Links

• 🌍 Learn more about Debbie’s ministry:

• Anchor Point: https://www.anchorpoint.us

• 📘 Get Debbie’s book (FREE):

• The Heart of Legacy: https://www.theheartoflegacy.com

• 🎤 Connect with Debbie (speaking, coaching, and leadership frameworks):

• https://thedebbiesimmons.com

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedebbiesimmons/

What if the moments that feel like detours in your career are actually the ones shaping you most?

In this episode, I sit down with Dan Owolabi—CEO of Branch Leadership, leadership consultant, and author of Authentic Leadership—for a conversation that gets to the heart of what it really means to lead with authenticity.

Dan brings both depth and practicality as we talk about how God uses every season (even the hard ones), why insecurity shows up more than we think in leadership, and how to navigate tension, conflict, and growth without losing yourself in the process.

If you’ve ever felt like something is “off” in your work…or you’re being stretched in a way you didn’t expect…this conversation will meet you there.

🔑 What We Talk About

• How a basketball injury became a turning point in Dan’s identity and leadership journey

• Why insecurity is often the hidden driver behind leadership challenges

• How to recognize your fears—and what they reveal about you

• The concept of being a “velvet brick” (and why great leaders need both care and conviction)

• Navigating conflict through both invitation and challenge

• What to do when something feels off in your role or career

• The difference between “beef” and “baby” work—and why purpose matters

• Why authentic leadership starts with your backstage, not your front stage

• How challenging yourself leads to deeper self-awareness and growth

🧠 Key Takeaways

1. Nothing is wasted. God uses every role, every season, and even the painful moments to shape you. The question is—are you paying attention to what He’s teaching you?

2. Lead with both care and conviction. The best leaders are “velvet bricks.” They lead with empathy and relationship and are willing to challenge, correct, and call others forward.

3. When something feels off—pause and realign. Don’t ignore that signal. Go back to purpose. Ask what’s shifted, and where God may be inviting you to adjust.

4. Your backstage matters more than your front stage. Who you are when no one is watching shapes how you lead when everyone is.

5. Growth requires intentional challenge. If you want to know yourself—and lead authentically—you have to be willing to stretch beyond what’s comfortable.

🔗 Resources & Links

• 📘 Get Dan’s book: Authentic Leadership

• 🌍 Learn more about his work: 

• Branches Worldwide

• Branches Consulting

• Dan Owolabi

• 🎤 Global leadership development: Global Leadership Network

Careers rarely unfold in straight lines.

Sometimes they look more like roller coasters—full of unexpected turns, bold decisions, and moments where the next step only becomes clear after we take it.

In this episode of the Faith Driven Leader podcast, Ann Thompson sits down with Megan Milar, co-owner and COO of The Garage Group, to talk about what it looks like to follow God through a career that doesn’t follow the traditional script.

Megan’s journey has included corporate work at Procter & Gamble, entrepreneurship, franchise ownership, living with her young family in India, launching a social enterprise, and eventually stepping into leadership at The Garage Group.

What connects those chapters is a deep commitment to trusting God with the next step—even when the path isn’t clear.

In this conversation, Ann and Megan explore how courage shows up in everyday leadership, why God often forms us through unexpected seasons, and what it means to move forward faithfully when life feels uncertain.

In This EpisodeAnn and Megan discuss:

• Megan’s non-linear career journey, from P&G to entrepreneurship to leading The Garage Group

• The bold prayer that led Megan and her family to move to India with three young children

• How God often uses unexpected seasons to shape our calling

• Why courage isn’t about fearlessness—but about taking action in the presence of fear

• How introverted leaders can build rhythms that protect energy and create space to recharge

• The importance of solitude, reflection, and listening to God’s direction

• What courage looks like in everyday life—from big career moves to simply showing up faithfully each day

Three Takeaways from This Conversation1. Courage often looks like faithfulness in the present moment.While planning matters, courage often means trusting God with what today brings rather than trying to control the entire path.

2. Courage looks different for everyone.As Megan puts it, courage is like choosing a flavor of ice cream—there isn’t one right answer. The courageous step is simply the one God is inviting you to take today.

3. God rarely wastes a chapter.What may look like a zigzag career path often becomes the very preparation God uses to shape our calling.

Resources Mentioned

• Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO)https://www.eonetwork.org

• Gallup (CliftonStrengths / StrengthsFinder)https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths

• DiSC Assessmenthttps://www.discprofile.com

Connect with MeganLearn more about Megan and her work:

• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganmilar/

• The Garage Group:https://www.thegaragegroup.com

Connect with AnnIf this episode resonated with you and you’re navigating a career transition or leadership challenge, Ann would love to walk alongside you.

Learn more about coaching or schedule a conversation:

https://calendly.com/anneileenthompsoncoaching/executive-coaching-free-initial-consultation

In this thoughtful return conversation, Ann sits down again with Chuck Mingo, teaching pastor at Crossroads Church, to explore what it looks like to follow God faithfully through seasons of transition—and to trust Him not just with direction, but with pace.

Chuck reflects on his non-linear vocational journey, spanning the marketplace at Procter & Gamble, ministry leadership, nonprofit work as a co-founder of Undivided, and his return to the local church. Rather than framing these moves as a carefully plotted plan, Chuck shares how each season required surrender—sometimes of role, sometimes of title, and often of timing.

Together, Ann and Chuck unpack the difference between calling and seasons, why God’s faithfulness doesn’t require rigid or linear career paths, and how discernment so often comes through slowing down rather than pushing ahead. This episode is especially encouraging for anyone feeling restless, uncertain, or quietly resistant to the pace God seems to be setting.

🔑 Three Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Your calling is bigger than your current season—and God doesn’t waste any of it. Calling is the through-line of how God has wired you; seasons are the assignments where that calling gets expressed. When a season shifts, it doesn’t mean you missed something—it often means God is still faithfully at work, using every chapter to form you.

2️⃣ God is steady and faithful—and He invites us to hold our plans with open hands. God’s character doesn’t change, but the ways He leads us often surprise us. When we release the pressure to make everything linear or predictable, we create space to experience God’s faithfulness in deeper, more personal ways.

3️⃣ God cares about the pace of your life—not just the direction. What feels like slowing down may actually be God’s kindness—protecting what matters most and shaping you for what’s ahead. Discernment often comes not through pushing harder, but through pausing long enough to let God lead the timing as well as the path.

📚 Resources & Mentions

Undivided — the nonprofit Chuck co-founded focused on racial healing and justice

Kings and Priests— a book referenced in the conversation exploring leadership, authority, and vocation

Faith at Work: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Career with Who God Created You to Be by Ann Eileen Thompson

🎧 Listen & Share

If this episode encouraged you, consider sharing it with a friend or colleague who’s navigating a season of transition, restlessness, or discernment.

Subscribe to Faith Driven Leader wherever you listen to podcasts—and keep leading with faith, clarity, and courage.

In this solo episode of the Faith-Driven Leader Podcast, Ann Eileen Thompson invites you into a deeper question than career strategy or next steps:

Who is actually authoring your career—you, or God?

Drawing from her own winding professional journey—from early leadership roles, to Procter & Gamble, entrepreneurship, failure, rebuilding, and discernment—Ann reflects on how easily care for our work can turn into control, and what changes when we release authorship back to God.

This episode isn’t about career advice or formulas. It’s about trust. Identity. And learning to see your work as part of a larger story God is already writing.

If you’ve ever felt successful and grateful—yet still unsettled—this reflection is for you.

In This Episode, We Explore

• Why the pressure to “get your career right” often creates anxiety instead of peace

• How ambition and faith can quietly drift into control

• Lessons from Ann’s career across retail, corporate leadership, and entrepreneurship

• A defining dream that reshaped how she understood trust, abundance, and calling

• What changes when you stop trying to author your career and let God lead the story

• Why discernment often matters more than momentum

• How recognizing the season you’re in can bring clarity—even before action
  

A Key Reflection

Your career isn’t something you have to solve—it’s a story God is telling.

When we loosen our grip on control and return authorship to Him, clarity doesn’t always come faster—but peace often does.

About the Book

This episode also marks the release of Ann’s new book, Faith at Work: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Career with Who God Created You to Be.

Written as a companion rather than a prescription, the book helps readers:

• Identify the season of career transition they’re in

• Discern God’s voice amid ambition, fear, and uncertainty

• Navigate decisions around roles, networking, interviewing, and next steps with faith and clarity

At its core, the book returns to a simple but grounding truth: God is not absent from your work—He is deeply invested in it.

Resources & Links

• 📘 Get the Book: Faith at Work → [Click here]
  

• 🧭 Career Transitions Quiz: Not sure what season you’re in? This short quiz can help you name it. → [Take the Quiz here]
  

• 🌐 Learn More About Ann’s Work: → [Click here]
  

• 📬 Connect or Reach Out: → [Book here]
  

A Final Invitation

As you listen, consider this question: Where might you be carrying responsibility for your career that God never asked you to hold?

Whether you’re striving, waiting, wondering, or preparing to step forward, you’re not alone. The Author of your story sees the whole path—even when you can only see the next step.

Thanks for listening to the Faith-Driven Leader Podcast.

In this inspiring episode, Ann sits down with Dr. Jen Bennett, an educator, author, and host of She Impacts Culture, whose career has been anything but linear. From youth ministry to entrepreneurship, from the classroom to higher education leadership, Jen’s story is a beautiful reminder that God’s calling rarely follows a straight line.

Together, Ann and Jen unpack how to recognize God’s hand in the unexpected turns of your career, the importance of rooting your identity in Christ rather than your title, and why fear often signals that you’re standing on the edge of something holy. Jen shares practical tools for discerning next steps, including a journaling exercise that can help you quiet the noise and hear God’s direction more clearly.

Whether you’re in a season of uncertainty, transition, or possibility, this conversation will remind you that God’s plans are always purposeful—and that your pivots might just be His preparation.

🔑 Three Key Takeaways1️⃣ Your career path doesn’t have to be straight to be sacred. God uses every detour, delay, and pivot to shape your character and calling.

2️⃣ Your identity isn’t your job title. When your worth is grounded in who—and Whose—you are, you can take risks without losing yourself.

3️⃣ Peace is often the green light. You may not have all the answers, but you can have peace. Trust it more than certainty.

✍️ Quote Worth Remembering“I never want to get to the end of my life and wonder what could have been if I hadn’t let fear stop me.” — Dr. Jen Bennett

📚 Resources & Mentions

• #BeWorthFollowing by Dr. Jen Bennett

• She Impacts Culture Podcast

• Miami University’s Center for L.I.F.E. — Leading the Integration of Faith & Entrepreneurship

• Faith at Work: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Career with Who God Created You to Be by Ann Eileen Thompson
  

🎧 Listen & Share

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend or colleague who’s navigating a transition or discerning a new direction. Subscribe to Faith-Driven Leader wherever you listen to podcasts—and keep leading with faith, courage, and purpose.

In this powerful and practical episode, Ann sits down with Lyle Wells, president of Integrus Leadership, former pastor and college basketball coach, and author of the new book Easy to Follow: Trading Toxic Leadership for the Love of Christ.

Lyle shares a refreshingly simple framework: leadership isn’t a title—it’s a behavior that influences others and creates outcomes. Together, Ann and Lyle unpack what it truly means to lead like Jesus, exploring how diligence, humility, and service shape leaders who are both faithful and effective.

They also dive into why servant leadership is about helping others learn, grow, dare, and change, how to craft an 8–10 word mission statement that actually guides your decisions, and how to become a lighthouse leader—someone who brings direction, connection, and protection to those they lead.

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to model your leadership after Jesus in today’s world, this conversation will equip and challenge you to start right where you are.

🔑 Three Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Leadership is behavior, not position. The way you act—not your title—determines your influence and impact.

2️⃣ God measures diligence and service, not perfection. Faithful, persistent service is the true mark of leadership that pleases Him.

3️⃣ Clarity beats complexity. A short, memorable mission statement—what Lyle calls your “tweet or tattoo”—keeps your leadership grounded and consistent.

✍️ Quote Worth Remembering: “Jesus was easy to follow—but He wasn’t easy on His followers.” — Lyle Wells

📚 Resources & Mentions

• Easy to Follow: Trading Toxic Leadership for the Love of Christ by Lyle Wells

• Integrus Leadership — leadership training, coaching, and resources

• The Five-Day Leader by Lyle Wells

• StoryBrand by Donald Miller

• Scripture references: Deuteronomy 3:28 and Luke 9:51–56

• Bob Goff’s Writing Workshops

🙌 Connect with Ann

• ⁠Website⁠

• ⁠Instagram⁠

• ⁠LinkedIn⁠

• ⁠Join the Launch Team⁠ for Faith at Work: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Career with Who God Created You to Be → ⁠Sign up here

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Ann sits down with Rebecca Czerwonka—educator, writer, and certified Emotional Health Life Consultant through The Compassion Method. Together, they unpack the connection between emotional health, faith, and leadership—and how learning to meet pain with compassion can transform not only our personal lives but how we lead others.

Rebecca shares her own journey from living in a constant triggered state to discovering what it means to move from survival to abundance. You’ll hear practical wisdom on identifying triggers, understanding the four stress responses (fight, flight, freeze, and fawn), and learning to lead from a place that’s clear-minded, tender-hearted, and at peace.

This conversation is for every leader who’s tired of managing reactions and ready to experience freedom, peace, and wholeness in how they lead and love.

🗝️ Key Takeaways

• Triggers aren’t failures—they’re invitations to healing.

• Compassion bridges the gap between what we know to be true and how we show up.

• True leadership starts from the inside out: clear-minded, tender-hearted, and at peace.

  
  

🔗 Resources & LinksLearn more about The Compassion Method
Listen to the Triggered & True Podcast with Laura Duncan and Brian Freise 

Connect with Rebecca Czerwonka or book a session
Connect with Ann Eileen Thompson or schedule a coaching consultation

🙌 Connect with Ann

• Website

• Instagram

• LinkedIn

• Join the Launch Team for Faith at Work: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Career with Who God Created You to Be → Sign up here