Listen on: Fio (Catholic Spotify) | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
News / Updates:
Today I’m in SF for a gathering of Catholic Entrepreneurs — if you’re in SF and not attending, LMK, would love to find time to meet while I’m here
In NYC, on December 16th, we’re hosting our Catholic Founders dinner. Location TBD, and total space available TBD. We could use help pulling this together, so if you have a location or can help sponsor, please reach out. Register here.
Join the Catholic Founders Guild Today
Get access to all CF Guild online events, the recordings, paywalled content, the CF Guild community/group chat, and CF Guild member directory.
Many members have reported doing business with other CF Guild members within months of joining.
With an annual membership fee of $100, it’s a total no-brainer to join. Consider this an association of Catholic business owners, not a high-commitment community that will sap your time.
Join today for $100 a year or $10 a month.In Today’s Issue:
Intro to the Guest and Topic
Core Takeaway
Episode References
Select Quotes
Key Moments
First time here? Learn more about our mission. And don’t forget to subscribe.
Today’s Topic & Guest:
Mike Parrott is a former Marine Corps officer and Wall Street finance professional who transitioned into the film industry (working on projects like Sound of Freedom and Cabrini) before becoming a serial entrepreneur, successfully building and selling three home services businesses. Currently, he teaches at Benedictine College and researches the connection between modern franchising and medieval guilds. His core philosophy, which he developed through his career and as a father of eight, emphasizes the importance of making life and career decisions “in service of their families,” valuing self-employment and tangible work, and passionately advocating for a return to dynastic family businesses as the ideal social and economic unit, viewing the sale of a family legacy for cash liquidity as a cultural tragedy.
Hire Talent That Actually Shares Your Mission with Verso Jobs.
Verso Jobs has built a gamified, data-driven job platform to help you hire people who actually share your mission and values.
Their team understands your needs, goes out to qualified candidates, tests them through the gamified application. Then presents you with candidates who truly share your mission.
If you’re a Catholic or conservative organization looking to cut through the fog, reach out to Verso Jobs to help you today.
Whether you’re hiring for your startup, school, parish, or nonprofit — Verso makes it easy to find mission-aligned talent ready to build the Kingdom.
Visit versojobs.com or book a demo to get started — To the heights. ⛰️Core Lesson:
Through building God-centered businesses, we can cultivate a true sense of identity for our families. In so doing, we help our children avoid years of wandering in the desert to ‘find themselves,’ thus allowing for more compounding in life.
An idea exists that man must ‘find himself’ through some sort of discovery process. But truthfully, we have been given the cards God wants us to play.
We were born into this specific family, at this time in history, in this geography, with all of the other circumstances that surround us.
Do you really think God just rolled the dice on that?
No, He gave you those specific circumstances.
Now, look at it the other way. As a parent, you get to build something to pass on to your children. Not the money or the business — but the identity.
Through building a life (personal and business) centered around God, you can bestow on your children a true sense of identity. Nothing quite like this in life.
Don’t take this opportunity for granted.
God Bless & Happy Building!
~Silas Mähner
Launch Your Podcast — Build Trust With Customers
Trying to bring in more leads? Launching a podcast might be the best move you haven’t made yet.
Saint Kolbe Studios helps Catholic entrepreneurs launch professional, mission-aligned podcasts that build trust and increase leads.
Their team walks with you every step of the way, from strategy and recording to branding and editing, so you can launch your podcast in under 90 days.
Get 20% off all services for the rest of 2025 because you listen to Catholic Founders. Just mention Catholic Founders when you reach out.
158 million people listen to podcasts every month, and that’s just in the US! Your ideal customer may already be listening to a competitor’s podcast.
Visit saintkolbestudios.com to get started.Key Episode References:
Select Quotes:
“The fundamental building block of a society is a family...” –Mike
“I think we should mark the death of a family when the entrepreneurial venture that was family-owned for 100 years now gets sold to some private equity vulture, merely to placate the liquidity desire for the children.” –Mike
“It is French revolutionary principle that the idea that your estate is equally divided amongst all your heirs... One of the things that held Christendom together was a contrary idea to that called primogeniture, in which the firstborn son was sort of dubbed as the heir to the empire and the family assets.” –Mike
“The guy who can come and fix your clogged toilet. That guy has real value and that will never go away and AI cannot replace it.” –Mike
“The home is a sacred space, it’s where families are raised, it’s where children are raised. We believe that the home should be beautiful, that children should be surrounded by beautiful things...” –Mike
Key Moments: (outline)
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
Mike Parrott opens the conversation by stating that elite franchising is the “new Ivy League.”
03:00 Mike Parrott’s Background
Mike summarized his varied career in the Marines, finance, film, and home services.
09:20 Family Legacy and Identity
Mike discusses how his career decisions were guided by family needs and relying on God’s providence.
18:00 The Role of Mentorship
Mike talks about mentorship across generations in companies and organizations.
26:00 The Family is the Basic Unit of Society
27:00 Franchises and Medieval Guilds
Mike argues against modern individualism, stating that true freedom is choosing the “good path” laid out by one’s father.
36:00 The French Revolutionary Principle
Mike critiques the “French revolutionary principle” of equal inheritance, which he says forces the sale of family businesses.
45:00 Building a Legacy
Silas reflects on how disconnected work can lead to a general decay in stewardship over one’s home and life.
58:13 On Subsidiarity
Discussion on subsidiarity as a Catholic Social Teaching
1:04:00 Rapid Fire and Conclusion
Hire Catholic Overseas Talent
In LatAm and the Philippines, there are millions of Catholic remote workers (across all domains) who want to work for ethical bosses.
Often they’re treated as second class citizens or work for organizations that ask them to do questionable things. They reach out to us in search of a Catholic boss.
So, we started ParacleteVA (website coming soon).
With ParacleteVA, we’ll find you vetted, Catholic overseas talent who will help you move your business forward.
How it works: Pay a $500 finders fee when the candidate starts and $500 if you’re still happy with them after 30 days.
To get started reach out to catholicfounders@gmail.com with what you’re looking for and we’ll get started. 
