From Hiding to Thriving

Growing up shy, Rebecca Greenhalgh ran upstairs to hide in a toy box whenever someone outside her family came to the house. There she would stay until her mom came to fetch her a few moments later. The two repeatedly played this "game" of hide-and-seek for no apparent reason other than Rebecca's later explanation that people made her nervous.

Though she would eventually view this shyness as part of being an introvert, as a youth, Rebecca had to push herself to endure social situations so she could attend school, attend church, and get a job. However, when she entered college with education and career goals in mind, this timid teen decided she would need to adopt some outgoing characteristics to get where she wanted to go.

Rebecca recalls, "I would look around me and see other people being successful by being extroverted, and I thought I know what I want to achieve and I know what I want to do. ...And so I started putting myself in situations where I would have to practice being an introverted extrovert, and that started making a difference."

Now an accomplished content and course creator for Harvard Business School Online, Rebecca sees her more quiet and reserved qualities as superpowers because she uses these skills to interview and connect with people on a deeper level before retreating to her solo self to write and research after the meetings. "It literally is the perfect mix," she says.

Have a Listen: In this interview, Rebecca shares strategies she used to get "outside of her bubble a bit," the types of jobs she excels at, and how her career has evolved (and is still evolving) thanks to divine guidance and inspiration.

What You'll Learn In this Episode:

• How Rebecca got to Boston and how she discovered the HBS opportunity
• Why she quit working after having her first child
• How being an introvert is a gift she now appreciates
• How she and her husband make decisions together
• What calms her "forward thinking" mind when making decisions
• Why she said "yes" to an opportunity she didn't have time for
• A leap of faith she had to take to get where she is now
• An unexpected blessing that came from following the promptings
• How she's seen the hand of God in her career
• And so much more.

Mentioned on the Show:

• QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
• Harvard Business School Online

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

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Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

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The story of Jenny Doan and how she (and her family) created the incredibly successful Missouri Star Quilt Company.

Work Your Magic

Have you ever worked for a company that required employees to cross-train in multiple jobs in case someone called in sick or quit unexpectedly? I have, and it doesn't work very well.

At the start of my programming days--over 30 years ago--the organization required each programmer to rotate through the other job functions in the department. We all took the same leadership training classes, learned how to run applications on the mainframe, took turns doing production support, and more. When I got to do the rotations I enjoyed and excelled at, I loved my job. When I had to take my turn on the mainframe or do support, I struggled and felt deflated. I'm embarrassed to admit that when others rotated into my wheelhouse, I thought those who couldn't do the work lacked smarts and probably didn't belong at the company. Only later did I realize how silly it is to make everyone do the same job regardless of their aptitudes and interests. Doing so is not good for the employees or the company.

This week, I'm speaking to Jenny Doan, co-founder of the Missouri Star Quilt Company. In addition to telling us how she and her family started a business that transformed their lives, revitalized a town, and modernized the entire quilting industry, Jenny says that people work best when their jobs align with their "magic"--the things they are really good at and enjoy doing. She also explains how she discovered the power of sharing her own magic.

What You'll Learn In this Episode:

• What prompted the Doans to start a YouTube channel
• How the Missouri Star Quilt Company evolved 
• Why Jenny says YouTube is the great equalizer
• What this business means to the people of Hamilton, Missouri
• How to work together in a family business
• What it means to find your magic and why it matters so much
• Stories of people who found healing through watching Jenny
• And so much more.

Mentioned on the Show:

• Read Jenny Doan's book: How to Stitch an American Dream 
• Visit the Missouri Star Quilting Co: Website and YouTube Channel
• Discover your magic! Pick up my book: Return to Work with Confidence.
• Take my course: I'll walk you through the process.
• Connect with me: LinkedIn
• Find out when a new podcast drops: Join the Mailing List

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

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Dr. Susan R. Madsen is challenging the entire state of Utah to step up and ensure that Utah women and girls thrive in critical areas by 2030.

MAKING A BOLD MOVE

By her own account, Dr. Susan R. Madsen is unlike the role models of her youth. Raised in a traditional family with a dad who worked and a mom who stayed home, she expected to parent her kids similarly. And for a few years, she did.

But as much as she loved being with her children, Dr. Madsen felt unfulfilled as a stay-at-home mom. She remembers, "When I had my first baby, I thought that all of a sudden, I would enjoy being at home. It just didn't kick in for me."

Instead, denying the part of herself that longed to pursue educational and career goals led to situational depression and discontentment that continued until she made a big move.

Rather than solely being at home with her kids or spending her days at school or in an office, this then-mother of two (eventually four) dared to do both. En route to becoming Dr. Madsen, Susan cared for her kids while returning to school, working part-time, volunteering in the community, serving at church, and more--all with the support of her husband and encouragement from above.

"Through every single decision to go to school and to do all the pieces I've done, I have been on my knees and sought guidance from God... Sometimes you yearn to do things and think you can't, but then you figure out, maybe it's not either-or. Maybe there's a space in between," says Dr. Madsen.

Of course, finding that space and building a career while raising kids is challenging. But in her case, single-tasking was not an option. God needed her to move forward fast.

TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

Nearly 14 years ago, Dr. Madsen started the Utah Women in Leadership Project  (UWLP) to research why so few women in Utah attend college and graduate. Though intended to last only a couple of years, the assignment evolved into more than a decade of finding ways to strengthen the impact of Utah girls and women. The organization now delivers research, resources, and training to "inform, inspire, and ignite growth and change for all Utahns."

But it's not enough.

Listen to the full interview to better understand the breadth of the issues, the depth of Dr. Madsen's commitment to solving them, and how you can get involved.

Mentioned in this Interview

• Utah Women and Leadership Project (UWLP)
• A Bolder Way Forward (BWF)
• How Change Happens by Leslie R. Crutchfield

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

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• Facebook @FaithfulCareerMoves

Brittany Ratelle wanted to be a wife, mother, and practicing attorney. To be all three at the same time, she had to get creative.

Brittany Ratelle is an attorney. But she doesn't work in a fancy, downtown law office. She doesn't wear dark power suits, put in 60-80 hours a week to make partner, or argue cases in a courtroom. Instead, her business is the opposite of that in almost every way.

She works online, wears colorful attire, is present for her kids, and does everything possible to keep her clients out of court. Besides taking her legal practice seriously, everything else about her business is fun and creative. So how did she devise this unicorn legal practice? Brittany says she "fell into it."

But upon further examination, we learn that's not the truth--and Brittany knows it.

During questioning on this podcast, Brittany divulged key evidence proving she took deliberate steps to build a family-friendly law firm, even if the resulting business wasn't premeditated. I submit the following examples:

• Brittany worked in the marketing department at a law firm after getting an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University. Although she wanted a law degree, Brittany didn't like the typical "law firm" experience. However, she enrolled in law school anyway.
• As the mother of a newborn at the time, Brittany could have delayed taking the bar exam until she had more sleep and more time to study. But she studied while up with her baby and took the exam anyway.
• Unsure of where to apply her new legal skills, Brittany chose family law because she could build a part-time practice that worked for her schedule. And though she found the work emotionally draining, she kept practicing to remain an active member of the Bar.
• When creative friends asked for legal assistance building and protecting their online influencer businesses, she used her expertise to help.
• And when another friend told her to listen to a podcast about online marketing, Brittany did.

Each step nudged Brittany closer to creating an online law firm that helps other creatives build and protect their online businesses. Though she may not have intended to create this one-of-a-kind firm, the evidence is clear she made conscious choices to get there anyway. Her success is not accidental.

But that doesn't mean she didn't get pushed.

Brittany says, "I really got a strong answer that I was supposed to go to law school and that Heavenly Father was basically saying, 'I know you don't know what that will look like and what that will look like having a family...but it will unfold in time, be patient with the process.'"

So she did, and she was. She enrolled in law school, sought personal revelation in making each career move after that, and allowed God's will to prevail in her life. Now a successful online attorney, Brittany helps other women "fall into" dream businesses of their own--all of which she sees as an answer to their prayers and her own.

Listen to the interview to learn more. It's another great example of how God knows our desires and wants us to use our talents and abilities to help oth

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

• Instagram @FaithfulCareerMoves
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Seeing A Problem She Could Not Ignore

Rachel Joy Baribeau quit working as a sportscaster to change the narrative in college sports and help people find more joy.

Rachel Baribeau had a dream job--seriously, the kind that sports fans worldwide covet. She worked as a college football sportscaster for nearly two decades, interviewing top players and coaches on the sidelines and in Fox Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, and SiriusXM studios. But don't let the glamour of it all fool you. Rachel had to break gender barriers, fight to be seen for the right reasons, and overcome personal challenges to reach this goal. And she loved it until she didn't.

In 2016, the news she covered turned overwhelmingly from inspiring stories to tales of scandals, domestic violence, assault by players on campuses nationwide, and more. In response, she wrote an article entitled "College Football is Breaking My Heart."

The article went viral and, more importantly, led Rachel to decide she needed to leave her dream job to fight for change.

Using Her Platform to Make a Difference

Rachel developed a movement called #ImChangingtheNarrative to help student-athletes find purpose, develop better mental and emotional health, and drop habits that lead to the headlines nobody wants their name to appear in.

Then in 2020, when events shut down due to the pandemic and many of her speaking engagements were canceled, Rachel pivoted again. She launched an online business to help people, including herself, find more joy in their lives. A few months and interviews later, she got a book deal and is minutes away from releasing her new book, "Relentless Joy: Finding Freedom, Passion, and Happiness (Even When You Have to Fight for It)," along with a membership called JoyStarters Club.

Listen to the interview to learn more about Rachel's new book, the message she wants people to hear, and how you can invite more joy into your life. It's good stuff.

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

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Taking Turns Building Their Careers

Lisa Valentine Clark is not living the life she planned. After several years of supporting her husband's artistic career, raising five kids, and working freelance to be at home and provide for the family, Lisa's husband, Christopher Clark, got diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and later passed away. 

The story is tragic, but it's not entirely a tragedy because she has no regrets about the choices they made together. Toward the end of her husband's life, Lisa recalls Christopher saying, "I don't have regrets. I went for it, did as much as possible, and did the best that I could." 

She agreed. 

At the start of her career, Lisa taught junior high and high school English before transitioning to at-home work to start a family. From there, she got creative, literally and figuratively. Lisa took on various projects, from developing an online curriculum to voiceover work, acting, writing, and more, to earn income while her husband pursued master's and doctorate degrees. But Lisa had goals too. She also wanted an inspired career.

Her husband agreed.

Together, the couple supported each other in building the life they wanted, primarily by taking turns. Lisa said, "it worked because it wasn't about the money. It was about supporting our family, using our creative gifts, making a difference in our little corner of the world, and making it count. I feel a lot of satisfaction that we earned that together."

Trading Places 

By all accounts, the family had a beautiful life packed into too-few years. Then, just as Christopher reached the pinnacle of his career, he told Lisa he was ready to switch places and stay home more, so she could pursue her career more earnestly. Unaware of the foreshadowing in that statement, his health declined until he eventually lost the ability to move and speak, forcing him home on permanent disability. With the loss of his income, Lisa sought full-time employment to get health benefits and a salary--not quite the career "leaning in" she longed for, but a move that would turn into an unexpected blessing.

BYUradio hired Lisa to host a podcast in a time slot that, by divine design, lined up perfectly with her family's schedule so she could work and still be her husband's primary caregiver. After he passed in 2020, she slowly returned to a little freelance acting and writing in addition to her work on The Lisa Show.

Despite the unfairness of the plot twist, Lisa remains faithful and grateful, describing her feelings as a "weird mixture." She explains, "I didn't get what I wanted. This isn't my Plan A, but I have to be careful to express the gratitude that I really do feel. It gets so complicated with grief...being so grateful and seeing 100% the Lord's hand in caring for my family and me" while suffering simultaneously.

Listen to the episode as Lisa shares her journey with heartfelt authenticity and her typical sense of humor. She is grateful for all she's experienced, God's guiding hand, and the unexpected blessings received. So it's worth the listen.

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

• Instagram @FaithfulCareerMoves
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Despite her busy schedule, Brandy Vega listened when an Apostle said she needed to do more with her spiritual gifts. Later she found out why she needed to act on his words.

WARNING: This post (and podcast ) mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or thoughts of suicide, visit Good Deed Revolution to find resources.

Creating the Ideal Career

Brandy Vega has always worked hard. Without financial support from her parents, she had no choice but to self-fund her education and career, especially given her lofty goal of becoming the "next Katie Couric" on national television. So upon learning that the military had a broadcast journalism program and would pay for the training, Brandy enlisted at 17 years old and headed out.

Within a few years, she returned as a reservist and landed an on-air reporting job for FOX News. Her career went according to plan (maybe even better than planned) until she got pregnant and found herself telling bedtime stories instead of national news.

Not to be deterred, Brandy took some baby steps backward and worked various jobs in TV as an employee and a freelancer for different clients, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then, about ten years later, she left the grind she had formerly aspired to and took a job as the Vice President of Media & Marketing for a company based in Utah. Later, in an even more dramatic leap of faith, Brandy left the stability of the corporate world and started her own video production company--Vega Media Studios. 

Somewhere in that mix, she had a second child, fostered (and later adopted) another, and became a surrogate mother too.

With so many work and personal projects underway, it's hard to imagine someone telling her she wasn't doing enough.

But that's what happened.

While working on a broadcast for The Church on the impact of social media and how critical it is that we use this tool for good, Elder David A. Bednar approached Brandy with a question.

He asked, "What spiritual gifts did Heavenly Father give you?"

Brand replied, "Well, I knew I wanted to be in journalism and broadcasting at ten years old, and so here I am. I'm helping you and The Church get their message across to the world."

Brandy recalls, "He said, basically, that's not enough. Heavenly Father gave you those gifts so you could reach all ends of the Earth. ... You need to do more with the gifts He gave you."

Gulp.

That's when Brandy started Good Deed Revolution, a non-profit organization initially dedicated to sharing inspirational stories of good deeds performed throughout the world. But the mission changed after Brandy's daughter attempted suicide.

In this podcast episode, Brandy shares more about her career journey, the hardships she had to overcome, and how those original aspirations led to developing the skills and connections she would eventually need to make a more significant impact by sharing her own story rather than simply publicizing big moments in other people's lives.

Mentioned in this intervi

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

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Diana Gladney helps entrepreneurs get past the fear of making videos so they can share their expertise with the global audience who needs it.

A Tale Worth Telling

When I first started writing this blog post about Diana Gladney, I focused on three pivotal experiences in her life:

1. Growing up in an entrepreneurial home where she helped run her mother's business.
2. Surviving a health crisis that almost took her life and forced her to think beyond "punching a clock" for work.
3. Having a business coach who pushed her to get "way outside" of her comfort zone and create videos.

Those details are essential to understanding how Diana got where she is today professionally. But the words felt uninspired until I realized that Diana didn't come on this podcast to merely tell a tale. Her time is more precious than that, and her purpose is more significant.

So is yours.

A Story Worth Sharing

As a YouTube and video marketing strategist and consultant, Diana helps entrepreneurs simplify the video creation process so they can reach the global audience who needs their expertise. Simply put, she says, "I get the tech out of the way so people can get to the sharing-the-message part."

If you watch her videos, you will also see that she encourages creators to make good enough videos--"lean into the mistakes"--so they can share content more often and avoid chasing perfection. Diana explains, "If you're creating content around something you love or enjoy...we don't care about the photography and filmmaking stuff."

The audience comes to connect with you, learn, and sometimes engage with other audience members too. That's called community, and video is at the core. Getting mired in making flawless videos wastes your time and withholds information from people who seek your knowledge and insight. Neither delay is acceptable to a woman who nearly died. "When you get a second opportunity to live, you don't waste it," she says.

Diana, now a prolific content creator who has published over a thousand videos, gives this example of the importance of sharing your message. In 2020, the year now defined by worldwide lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she received an email from a pastor in Africa. He reached out and said, "Because of your videos, my ministry survived. We were able to help so many more people."

Diana continues, "You always hope that you help people, or you hope that people get value out of what you're doing... Of all the things, that [email] showed me, I am doing what I'm created to be doing."

Mentioned in this Interview

• @DianaGladney on Instagram
• @DianaGladney Video Simplified on YouTube
• DianaGladney Website

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

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When Nicole Adair felt prompted to turn off Netflix, she got out a book to read instead. Now she's written two of her own.

Turning Off the Noise

When her local women's organization leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Stake Relief Society) asked members to replace one thing in their lives with something better, Nicole Adair knew she should give up Netflix. But she didn't want to. She "needed" the entertainment service to help her stay awake during seemingly endless nights caring for a newborn. Then her reluctance to give up the vice bothered her more than turning off the device.

Nicole recalls, "I kept having this feeling, and then I was disturbed by how much I didn't want to [turn off Netflix]...So I decided for 30 days to not watch any TV."

"I'm not saying that TV is bad or that Netflix is bad. I think the Lord was trying to communicate to me that I needed some quiet time. I needed some space to hear Him because He had something to tell me that was really important," she adds.

Accepting the REAL Challenge

Up with her wee one in the wee hours of the night, when she usually "zoned out" watching television, Nicole picked up a book instead.

Though she had always loved to read, this stay-at-home mother of three had gotten out of the habit for two reasons. First, the busyness of caring for little kids left her no time to sink into a book. Second, when she did get a chance to read, she would get so engrossed in the story that she didn't want to put the book down. So to avoid the frustrating starts and stops, Nicole quit reading entirely.

That is until she started a Netflix fast during late-night feedings.

And here is where this tale takes an unexpected turn.

In the quiet of the night, with a book and a baby in her hands, Nicole suddenly understood that she needed to do more than just read other people's stories. She felt prompted to start writing some of her own. Then, almost as shocking and immediate, characters nudged their way into her thoughts along with plot lines, settings, and dialogue. Unable to quash the developing novel, Nicole rose to what turned into an even more significant challenge--becoming a writer.

Listen to this interview to hear the rest of the story and learn how Nicole (now the author of two teen novels) found time to write, why she felt inspired to share her journey on social media, and how taking this leap of faith led to divinely inspired collaborations and several other unexpected blessings.

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

• Instagram @FaithfulCareerMoves
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When Kaitlen Polatis got the idea to build a mobile flower truck, she wanted to bring joy more than she cared about making money. Now she does both.

"It's Not About the Money"

Kaitlen Polatis couldn't stop thinking about creating a mobile flower truck. With three little kids, she didn't have time to start a business, but she couldn't shake the urgency to do it anyway. When her husband Ryan asked about the financial feasibility, she responded, "It's not about the money." So then, what is it about?

Fun. Initially. That's what Kaitlin thought.

She remembers, "We were just coming through 2020. What a year. I thought that this would bring so much joy."

So Ryan agreed, and the couple started scouring the Internet for a truck they could afford and convert into a traveling storefront without much effort. When they found a 1953 Chevy a few miles from their home, the couple couldn't believe their luck. Kaitlen's dad and his friend took over from there--welding a structure into the truck's bed to hold a canopy and all the gear needed to transport and sell fresh flowers on the go.

Next stop. Flowers.

Kaitlen has to get up at 5 o'clock to drive to a wholesale flower market in Las Vegas, where she buys fresh flowers to sell by the stem. Her dad often rolls out of bed early to accompany her on the trip. His involvement in this labor of love turned into an unexpected blessing.

She fondly shares, "[My dad] is in his 70s, and he's just this darling old man. It's been on my mind a lot lately that a blessing that's come from doing this [business] is the time I've spent with him because of this truck. He had a little bit of a health scare, and I'm really close with my dad. So I just kept thinking how grateful I am that I get to spend all this extra time with him because of this. We would be spending time together regardless, but it's just different."

And let's not forget Ryan and his question about the numbers.

Now, just a short time later, Billie (the truck's name) and her blooms are turning a profit. Thanks to modern technology, Desert Daisy Flower Truck brings in a steady income from subscription services, pop-up markets, farmer's markets, workshops, social media sightings, delivery services, and more.

But the money is still not Kaitlen's primary focus. To her, the best part of the business is that the truck brings joy. She says, "It is so much work. When I first started, I thought it would be fun. It is a lot of fun but also so much work. It's way more work than I anticipated, especially when you're juggling family life... Then we're out with the truck, and it's like, 'Oh, that was so fun.'"

This busy mother of three will never know exactly why she felt prompted to start this business when she did. But, had she waited, the opportunity may have passed, the truck may have been gone, and her dad may not have been able to be as involved. This story is an excellent reminder that God's promptings to act are seldom convenient and often for purposes beyond what we can see. The numbers are important, of course, but a loving Heav

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PLEASE: Rate and Review this podcast so other women can be inspired in their faithful career moves.

Visit the website:
FaithfulCareerMoves.com: Faith-based Career Coaching for Stay-at-Home Moms

Get the book:
Return to Work with Confidence: A faith-based guide to help stay-at-home moms re-enter the workforce

Follow us:

• Instagram @FaithfulCareerMoves
• Facebook @FaithfulCareerMoves