4 Lessons From 1 Year of Catholic Founders
And our goals for the next 12 months
For any of you who follow me on LinkedIn, you know I’m a sucker for retrospection and anniversaries.
Today marks 1 year of Catholic Founders — so you’re getting some of that sappy-look-back-type vibes.
It’s also the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. He’s the reason I launched this when I did. On his feast day, I had publicly announced the start of my recruitment consultancy. That evening I felt I hadn’t given him enough glory for the day, so I decided to launch this that evening by whipping up a logo and hitting send on the first post.
We’ll cover:
My 1-year reflection
Ode to St. Joseph
Current ‘stats’
Our goals for the next 12 months
Lessons and learnings
1 Year of Catholic Founders: My Reflection
Wow, that flew by. It feels like it’s been longer. For recent followers, we started with just random blogs whenever I felt inspired.
Eventually, I slowed down a bit. Mostly because I got really busy with my business. But also because I ran out of a lot of the thoughts I had collected. It was time for new ideas.
That’s when I started to realize I needed to launch the podcast. This way, I could meet the people in the trenches, figuring it out. The pod went live at the end of January. Check it out.
There were many times when I was frustrated and wondering why it wasn’t taking off more. Times when I was frustrated and people’s unwillingness to share this mission with others.
Despite the difficulty, I’ve never entertained quitting.
Even with all the work that goes into it, that’s never seriously crossed my mind. That’s because I know I’m exactly where I need to be. I’m doing what God put me on earth to do: help Catholics to run their businesses like saints so that together we can revitalize the Church on earth.
It’s the one thing that keeps me up late at night, chugging along. Because I’m excited to keep uncovering the principles of being a Catholic Founder.
However, I couldn’t do any of this without all of you. So many of you have given me the questions and ideas for what comes out in Catholic Founders. So thank you! Without you, this would not be what it is.
Here’s to another year of that!
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Ode to St. Joseph
On this feast of St. Joseph the Worker, let’s recall him as our model.
He had a specific goal for his life on earth. Provide for the family and protect Jesus.
He worked hard but put all his trust in the Lord. He didn’t have anxiety about where his next project would come from. Just diligent work with a humble demeanor.
Regardless of what work we find ourselves doing, this is our model. This is the way.
Pray as if everything fully depends on God, and work as if everything fully depends on us. There is no place for anxiety and fear because God is with us — we only need to put ourselves in His presence.
Let’s Talk Stats
For those of you who geek out about numbers. Here they are.
580 Substack Followers
12,065 total post views (this increased a lot when we started publishing the pod, and then another big, more substantial jump with The Saintly CEO)
531 total audio downloads of the podcast
181 YouTube Pod Views (I unfortunately do not have video play stats from Substack bc their analytics platform kind of sucks)
2.3k impressions on YT Shorts
6,180 on Instagram
5.1k on LinkedIn
14 paid members
I share these to be transparent with y’all. It’s clear, this isn’t the biggest community out there. But there are people like this. We are not alone. Now you know it.
It’s not my anticipation that this will grow to some huge phenomenon, at least not anytime soon. I’m just a nobody, and I don’t have enough money to force the issue.
However, I know there are plenty of founders out there who, like you and me, want to know how they can better live the faith in their business and use their business as a force for good.
Those are the people we are looking for.
Help Us Hit Our Goals
100 Catholic Founders
The number one goal for the next 12 months is getting to 100 Catholic Founders.
Wait, aren’t we already at about 600?
No. Because many will follow, but how many are truly committed to being a Catholic Founder? While there may be some in the blinds, I’m thoroughly convinced the people who are serious will become paid members.
It’s a form of commitment to run our business like Jesus would.
I thoroughly believe that if 100 people commit deeply to this idea, we will start to change the world.
That’s 100 founders who seek to treat each of their employees with the charity Jesus would.
That’s 100 founders who aspire to be like Saint Paul and proclaim the good news wherever they go.
That’s 100 founders who will use their financial success to fund the building of new churches and schools.
That’s 100 founders who will ensure their employees put their family first.
That’s 100 founders who will make Holy Days holidays again.
That’s 100 founders who will help the next generation with mentorship and advice.
That’s 100 founders who aim to be a conduit of Jesus in everything they do.
That’s 100 founders pursuing sainthood through how they build their business.
Just imagine what those 100 founders could achieve in the course of a year. Then look out a decade.
Pretty exciting eh!?
If you’re one of those Catholic Founders, let’s chat today. I want you to join our community of Catholic Founders. If you’re committed to this journey, we are your tribe. Become a Catholic Founder!
What Have We Learned?
There are a lot of things. But here are the most stand-out items.
Success isn’t measured in dollars. In fact, it’s really not measured. Because we cannot begin to measure the ‘success’ of our venture, since God knows what He’s doing with us. The only potential ‘success’ metric is how close we are to Him. How willing we are to fully relinquish control to Him. We are His instruments. But we have free will. So we have to make a conscious effort to hear Him daily.
A strong daily prayer routine is the only way to get there. If you’ve not already, check out the episode we did with Alessandro DiSanto from Hallow about how to Pray as an Entrepreneur.Having a supportive wife/spouse is one of the main reasons people make the leap. This was true of my story, and of so many people I’ve encountered throughout the past year. When they approached their spouse about starting the business, they were really on board. Often more enthusiastically than the founder.
I don’t know what to make of this other than… God speaks to us through our spouse. Probably a good reason to pursue more listening than talking.We have no reason to be afraid. If we are doing the right thing and we’re putting in the effort, God will take care of us. Even if we ‘fail’ and have to shut down our business, if we are working as hard as we ought, without neglecting our first duties to Him and to our families, He will take care of us.
From here, the only thing we can conclude is that we should proceed without fear. How many entrepreneurs fold because of fear? How many achieve great success because they stepped into fear?We must pursue an undivided life. A life where we are never afraid to share our faith. Where we acknowledge the truths of life, including the truths of our faith. Not putting it on hold by ‘leaving it at the door.’ Nothing is more important than eternity. So why would we leave the eternal consequences at the door?
On this point, I recommend listening to our show with Jeff Schiefelbein.
Okay, that’s all for today. I’m writing this from the balcony of my Airbnb in Nashville and I still have another newsletter to get out for 7 am tomorrow.
If you want to help us out, I think you already know what to do.
God Bless and Happy Building.
~Silas Mähner
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