Heaven in Business Podcast

In this episode of the Heaven in Business Podcast, Andy Mason sits down with Keith and Alexis Fedor to share their journey from financial hardship to building a thriving financial advisory business.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

From delivering pizzas to make ends meet, having their electricity disconnected, and experiencing a car repossession to eventually seeing their business flourish, Keith and Alexis share what it looked like to trust God when His provision didn't match their expectations.

Their story is a powerful reminder that difficult circumstances don't necessarily mean you've missed God. Sometimes the greatest growth happens in seasons when the outcome is uncertain.

Discover how to remain faithful through financial challenges, develop your skills while trusting God, surround yourself with encouraging community, and recognize His provision in unexpected ways.

4 NEXT STEPS:

1. Surrender your expectations. Ask God where you've placed limitations on what His provision should look like and invite Him to show you what He's doing in your current circumstances.

2. Surround yourself with the right people. Build relationships with people who will encourage you, offer wise counsel, and help you recognize what God is doing when you can't see it yourself.

3. Take your next faithful step. You don't need the entire journey mapped out. Ask God what He's inviting you to do today, and take that step with Him.

4. Join us at an in-person event: Join us at the Nashville Conference, March 3–5, 2027, to connect with Christ-centered business leaders and grow in partnering with God in your work. Heaveninbusiness.com/nashville

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Introduction: When God's Provision Looks Different

01:37 — Discovering God's Unexpected Calling

04:19 — Starting a Family and Finding a Career

07:46 — When Following God Leads to Financial Hardship

10:36 — Learning to Trust God with Very Little

12:23 — When God's Provision Doesn't Meet Expectations

17:13 — Discerning God's Purpose in Difficult Seasons

20:48 — What Years of Hardship Taught Them

23:49 — How to Stay Faithful Through Adversity

26:16 — The Power of Encouraging Community

29:12 — Why Perseverance Matters in Business

31:45 — Finding Purpose Beyond Financial Success

36:13 — Discovering Your Calling and Taking Action

What do you do when disappointment happens so often, that you stop believing anything will ever change?

In this episode of the Heaven in Business Podcast, Andy Mason shares what he and Janine have experienced while visiting Zimbabwe—extraordinary faith and resilience alongside heartbreaking stories of economic hardship, broken promises, and hope deferred.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

When you've invested precious time, money, and your whole heart into something only to experience another setback, it's easy to believe there's no point in trying again. You start focusing on what's missing, who hasn't followed through, and why things can't change.

But what if the breakthrough begins not with your circumstances changing, but with remembering who your Source is?

NEXT STEPS:

1. Join us at the Heaven in Business Conference in Nashville, March 2027: Heaveninbusiness.com/nashville

2. Subscribe for weekly insights to grow your faith and business: Heaveninbusiness.com/newsletters/weekly-insights/subscribe

3. Help multiply hope. Share this podcast with someone who needs encouragement!

4. Support the work of Hope Directive:

Hopedirective.com/give

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 What Is Learned Hopelessness?

02:39 Recognizing Hopelessness in Your Own Life

03:21 Step 1: Return to God as Your Source

06:55 Step 2: Stand Up and Take Ownership

07:54 Step 3: Focus on What You Already Have

08:43 Step 4: Walk It Out One Day at a Time

10:49 A Prayer for Renewed Hope

Sometimes a simple conversation, a word of encouragement, or taking a moment to pray for someone can have a greater impact than you ever imagined. Because you carry more hope than you realize.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

Join Andy and Janine Mason from Harare, Zimbabwe, as they share a behind-the-scenes look at what God is doing in Zimbabwe From gathering with hundreds of pastors and leaders, to witnessing 7,000 people come together in worship and unity. They also share that you don't need a platform, a title, or extraordinary resources to make a difference.

Three Ways to Catalyze Hope

Give to the Hope Directive to help extend practical training, books, resources, and encouragement to leaders serving their communities. Your financial partnership helps us walk alongside people whose influence reaches far beyond our visit. Make a gift and help strengthen the people carrying hope on the ground. Hopedirective.com/give

Bring your experience, skills, and willingness to serve. If you would like to travel with us, apply to explore an upcoming opportunity. We consider each applicant carefully so the team fits the needs of our local partners. Heaveninbusiness.com/events

This week, choose one person to encourage intentionally. Thank an employee. Invite a couple for a meal. Affirm a developing leader. Ask a customer whether you can pray for them. Tell someone what you appreciate about them.

Ask God: “Who can I strengthen today?” Then take the next step.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Greetings from Zimbabwe

00:30 — Supporting local ministry and friends

01:26 — The Hope Directive’s mission

02:24 — Finding and strengthening local leaders

02:55 — Extending the trip to serve the church

03:23 — Lessons from the pastors and leaders gathering

04:14 — Avoiding leadership drift and returning to foundations

05:13 — Preparing the next generation to lead

06:09 — What resilience looks like in Zimbabwe

08:27 — A citywide worship gathering in Bulawayo

12:57 — Encouraging worship leaders through prayer

18:33 — How farmer cooperatives multiply impact

20:27 — Simple ways to encourage others where you are

What if feeling under qualified isn’t a sign you’re in the wrong assignment, but evidence that God is inviting you to depend on Him?

In this episode of the Heaven in Business Podcast, Janine discusses what it looks like to lead when you don’t have all the answers, feel out of your depth, or wonder whether everyone else in the room is more qualified than you.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

God often places us in situations where our experience, expertise, or résumé isn’t enough. Instead of withdrawing, striving to prove ourselves, or giving in to impostor syndrome, we can learn to stay engaged, listen to God, and trust Him to provide the wisdom we need. Sometimes being the least experienced person in the room keeps you curious, teachable, and dependent on Him in ways expertise alone never could. You don’t need to have all the answers to lead well. You need the humility to keep learning, the courage to stay engaged, and the confidence that who you are is enough because God is with you.

Next Steps:

1. Save the date for the Heaven in Business Conference in Nashville: Heaveninbusiness.com/nashville

2. Subscribe for weekly insights: Heaveninbusiness.com/newsletters/weekly-insights/subscribe

3. Share this with someone you know who will be challenged and encouraged.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 — Feeling like a fraud and out of your depth

00:58 — Facing a meeting with a successful business leader

02:22 — “Who I am is enough”

03:44 — Feeling dismissed—and deciding how to respond

05:07 — Staying engaged and sharing what she sensed

07:05 — Taking on a new role in education without experience

09:50 — Could feeling unqualified be what qualifies you?

11:45 — A teacher aide’s idea makes an impact

13:39 — Practical ways to navigate feeling unqualified

17:10 — You are able to lead because God is with you

18:07 — Step boldly into what you’re called to do

What if your recurring employee challenge isn’t just an employee problem—but a disciple-making opportunity?

Andy Mason sits down with Dave Buehring, founder of LionShare, to explore how Christian business leaders can intentionally develop the people God has entrusted to them.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

Discover the difference between coaching, mentoring, and discipling; how to lead with integrity, humility, and gentleness; and how to identify people hungry to grow. Dave also shares practical ways to start small, build trust, and multiply disciple-makers through your workplace.

You are a follower of Jesus first and a business leader second. What would change if that order shaped the way you develop your people?

Next Steps: 

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – What if you don’t have an employee problem?
01:16 – Meet Dave Buehring
03:30 – The disciple-making challenge in business
04:11 – Follower of Jesus first, business leader second
09:33 – Stewarding the people entrusted to you
12:32 – Coaching vs. mentoring vs. discipling
16:27 – Influencing people through how you lead
19:11 – “In whose ears are my words big?”
20:54 – Start small and multiply disciple-makers
24:22 – When you can’t openly teach the Bible
25:23 – Relationship and trust come first
26:40 – Gentleness and the character of a leader
29:06 – Practical discipleship resources
32:28 – How to start this week

After 15 years of Heaven in Business, one thing has become increasingly clear: we were never meant to navigate faith, family, and business alone.

In this episode, Andy Mason reflects on what we learned from the recent Dallas conference, why leaders are hungry for more than information, and how relationships, discipleship, and even “covenant friction” help us grow.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

He also shares what’s ahead through the Hope Directive, including trips to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Brazil, and the heart behind strengthening and equipping local leaders rather than simply hosting events.

But the biggest challenge is much closer to home: Who has God already placed in front of you? Your employees, coworkers, family, customers, and community may be your greatest opportunity to make a Kingdom impact.

You don’t need another platform to start. Pray for them. Listen to them. Encourage them. Walk with them. Help them grow. Plus, hear what’s coming next with Heaven in Business, including Scottsdale, Nashville, and Growth Path, and how you can give, go, grow, and help multiply what God is doing.

Next Steps: 

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 — Welcome & why you’re part of this

00:53 — The hunger for connection and belonging

02:17 — The mission of Heaven in Business

04:03 — What is the Hope Directive?

06:45 — Zimbabwe: strengthening marketplace leaders

07:37 — Mozambique & Iris Ministries

09:27 — Brazil and multiplying Kingdom business

11:09 — Scottsdale, Nashville & what’s coming

12:15 — Why discipling others helps you grow

13:37 — Stewarding the people God has given you

15:25 — Start here: pray and love people

16:17 — How you can give, go & participate

17:41 — Growth Path and what’s ahead

18:34 — Thank you for being part of the journey

19:28 — Final encouragement & blessing

What if grace—not grind—became your business's operating system?

In this episode, Andy Mason sits down with Shae Bynes, author of Grace Over Grind and co-founder of Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, to explore what it looks like to build and lead in partnership with God.

Shae shares how fear, anxiety, control, and hyper-independence can quietly shape the way we work—and how trust and surrender create a different way to lead. She also shares her journey from corporate life to entrepreneurship, Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, and The Grace Effect.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

You’ll discover practical ways to recognize when you’re operating from grind, bring God into business decisions, and ask whether you’re truly following His assignment—or simply staying where you’ve become comfortable.

Plus, Shae shares three simple questions for your next “wisdom meeting” with God:

• Father, what is on Your heart concerning this?
• Jesus, what is Your strategy concerning this?
• Holy Spirit, what is the wisdom You want me to know?

There is more available when we stop relying solely on our own understanding and learn to lead from trust, surrender, and partnership with God.

Shae Bynes is the author of Grace Over Grind and Grace Under Pressure, co-founder of Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur, and creator of The Grace Effect. Learn more about The Grace Effect, its newsletter, and leadership community at GraceEffect.co

And Grace Over Grind: https://graceovergrind.com/ 

Next Steps: 

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 — Introducing Shae Bynes
01:14 — What is Grace Over Grind?
02:29 — From corporate to entrepreneurship
03:32 — Learning to do business with God
05:43 — Signs you’re operating from grind
07:48 — Is your business really operating according to the Kingdom?
09:49 — Introducing The Grace Effect
12:04 — Taking Kingdom principles into broader business environments
13:34 — How do you explain grace?
17:45 — Making grace accessible without compromising conviction
19:22 — Kingdom over everything
21:44 — Following God through changing assignments
23:09 — You never graduate from grace
25:15 — Why Shae keeps saying yes to Jesus
26:26 — Are you called—or just comfortable?
27:59 — Trust and surrender
30:39 — Three questions to ask God about your business
31:48 — There is so much more
32:49 — How to connect with Shae
33:25 — Final encouragement

After their recent Heaven in Business event in Dallas, Andy and Janine Mason found themselves processing both incredible testimonies and some very real disappointments.

In this episode, they unpack a practical framework for navigating those moments without allowing disappointment to turn into shame—or what Andy calls a “filthy narrative.”

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

You’ll hear why it’s important not to debrief while you’re exhausted, how to separate the facts from the stories you’re telling yourself, and why wise counsel is different from both flattery and criticism. Andy and Janine also share how honest feedback helped them identify what needed to improve while still recognizing everything God had done.

Whether you’re processing a disappointing launch, a lost client, a difficult business decision, a relationship setback, or something that simply didn’t turn out as expected, this episode will help you slow down, get perspective, learn, and move forward.

In this episode:

Next Steps: 

Timestamps:
00:00 — What do you do when things don’t go according to plan?
01:15 — What actually happened in Dallas
02:20 — Testimonies, connection & encountering God
03:30 — The power of peer masterminds and honest feedback
05:15 — Where the event didn’t meet expectations
06:45 — Empty seats and the stories we tell ourselves
08:20 — When you don’t meet your own standards
09:20 — Why you shouldn’t debrief immediately
11:45 — Give yourself 48 hours before evaluating
13:25 — Facts vs. “filthy narratives”
15:00 — Finding wise counsel instead of flattery or criticism
17:20 — What healthy feedback actually looks like
19:10 — Receiving difficult feedback from customers
20:35 — How honest feedback produced an unexpected financial win
21:30 — Bringing the situation back to God
22:30 — A simple two-column exercise to reset your perspective
24:15 — Learning without beating yourself up
26:15 — What is God saying in the middle of disappointment?
27:40 — Keep moving forward
28:30 — Save the date: Nashville 2027

Have you ever second-guessed your ability to hear God because you got it wrong before?

In this episode, Janine Mason explores how to grow in discernment and trust the Holy Spirit’s leading in business and life. She shares why one wrong decision doesn’t disqualify you, how discernment develops through practice, and why it should work alongside—not replace—good due diligence.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

You’ll also learn how to distinguish discernment from suspicion, recognize when past experiences may be influencing your judgment, and respond when you sense hesitation but don’t understand why.

If you want to make decisions with greater confidence while staying sensitive to God’s leading, this episode will give you practical tools for the journey.

In this episode:
• Growing in confidence when you’ve missed it before
• Developing discernment through practice
• Using discernment in hiring, partnerships, and business decisions
• Combining discernment with due diligence
• Recognizing discernment vs. suspicion
• Avoiding criticism when you can’t explain what you sense
• Identifying personal biases that can influence decisions

Next Steps: 

Timestamps:
00:00 Can you trust your discernment?
01:30 When past decisions shake your confidence
05:25 When God speaks without words
07:05 Discernment in business and hiring
08:45 Discernment takes practice
10:25 Discernment + due diligence
13:25 Discernment vs. suspicion
15:15 You don’t always need to know why
18:15 Practical safeguards for discernment
20:20 What if you get it wrong?
21:00 Recognizing personal bias
23:06 Andy’s recap + next steps

What happens when God gives you the green light—and then everything seems to go wrong?

Joseph and Brittany Williams know what it’s like to build under pressure. While launching and acquiring businesses, they faced a lawsuit, the loss of a major contract, growing payroll, young children, exhaustion, and serious strain on their marriage.

In this vulnerable conversation with Jonathan and Kara Sparks, Joseph and Brittany share what that season exposed: where identity had become attached to achievement, where trust in God was actually trust in their own gifts and resources, and what happened when their normal ability to “figure it out” stopped working.

Read the blog here: Heaveninbusiness.com/blog

They also get practical about marriage under entrepreneurial pressure, learning to stop using each other as the source, break cycles of toxic complaining, receive correction, seek wise counsel, and discover that failure doesn’t necessarily mean you missed God.

One of the most challenging ideas in the conversation: What if success isn’t always the win? What if obedience sometimes means taking the loss, letting something go, or trusting God with an outcome you desperately wanted to control?

Next Steps: 

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 — What do you do when competence isn’t enough?
00:55 — Brittany’s journey into senior living
01:34 — Why starting a business can’t just be about money
02:07 — Joseph’s unexpected journey into tech
02:33 — Leaving corporate leadership for entrepreneurship
03:55 — Facing the fear and responsibility of business ownership
04:12 — When an acquisition doesn’t go according to plan
04:47 — Lawsuit, lost contracts, and financial pressure hit at once
05:53 — Why would God lead you into something He knows will be hard?
06:29 — What suffering can produce in us
07:29 — What surrender to God actually looked like
08:00 — When success, reputation, and identity get stripped away
09:27 — What the pressure did to their marriage
11:17 — God doesn’t measure success by your fiscal year
12:58 — What if the Holy Spirit asks you to take the loss?
14:36 — Reaching the end of yourself
16:19 — Brittany: “I was drowning”
19:41 — What pressure revealed about them as leaders and a couple
21:01 — When your spouse can’t be your source
23:17 — Recognizing toxic patterns of complaining
24:04 — How do you get out of the spiral?
25:23 — Rebuilding identity on the right foundation
25:48 — Why they chose entrepreneurship again
27:01 — What they wish someone had told them sooner
28:03 — Failure can be part of the process
29:27 — The entrepreneur’s greatest strength—and Achilles heel
29:55 — Why you need wise counsel and community
31:06 — Where to go deeper