8 Ways to Prompt Questions About the Faith
Plus! How This Man is Using His Talent & Treasures to Fund a Catholic Musical
Thursday is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker — don’t forget to find a way to honor him. That day is also the 1-year anniversary of Catholic Founders. Help us celebrate by sending us your favorite St. Joseph devotions.
Welcome back to The Saintly CEO. A free weekly newsletter from Catholic Founders.
Each week, get (1) tactical ways to integrate your Faith w/ your business, (2) a curated list of Catholic biz owners, and (3) miscellaneous resources to help you with your business.
In Today’s Email:
CF Role Model: He’s using his time and treasure to promote a Catholic musical
+ 5 more Catholic entrepreneurs (Heavenly Hustlers)
8 Ways to Prompt Questions About the Faith
Miscellaneous Resources
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Heavenly Hustlers
A common challenge for Catholic entrepreneurs is finding peers who think like them. We’re trying to help solve that.
In this section, we highlight other Catholic entrepreneurs/business owners (Heavenly Hustlers), what they’re doing, and their LinkedIn profiles so you can expand your network of like-minded individuals.
CF Role Model:
🎥 Pierre Ferragu started his career in consulting with BCG, climbed the finance ladder, and eventually went on to become the Managing Partner at New Street Research.
But the reason we’re covering him today is the musical he’s producing—Bernadette de Lourdes. It’s a musical that saw great success in Europe and he wanted it to come to the US.
The remarkable part of this is how he saw this as a valuable way to share the faith. Then took the initiative to help promote it.
He didn’t just talk about it. He spent his own time and money getting other investors on board and making the necessary connections to move the project forward.
This is an outstanding example for other Catholics who have achieved any amount of success, to use it to advance the kingdom of God.
Here is an article from NCR that goes into more detail.
Other Heavenly Hustlers:
🤝 Bryant Suellentrop is building Elevate & Delegate, an agency helping small businesses hire offshore talent for less. He also runs the site, Catholic Careers.
👩💼 x Brooke Joiner is the creator of Catholic Owned. A site to index other Catholic-owned businesses.
✈️ Colin Stroud is building Go Somewhere, a consulting agency that helps you hack credit cards to afford more travel. I’ve used him many times now—he’s amazing at what he does.
🪚 Christopher Mahner (yep, that’s my dad) the owner and operator of Better Built Custom Cabinetry.
⏱️ Derek McMonagle runs Beyond the Veil Coaching to help Catholics with autonomous schedules (think sales professionals) to build holy habits.
Help us Out! 🙋♂️ Nominate a Heavenly Hustler (including yourself) - It takes 1 min.
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8 Ways to Prompt Questions About the Faith
At the core of every Catholic Founder is a deeply held belief in the truth of the resurrection. It’s so powerful that we want others to share it. But we have businesses to run. How are we supposed to spend all day convincing people of the faith?
It’s easy. We’re not.
However, we are called to share when we feel called. Most often, this happens when someone asks us about The Faith.
But here’s the thing, people aren’t going to ask super often, unless we ‘prompt’ them. We can drop little hints or nuggets that will pique their interest.
Here are some ways to do that.
#1 Wear a Catholic item visibly.
I just learned today that Bryant Sullentrop (mentioned above) wears an intricate Catholic cross. I think he said it was one of those super ornate ones that has some other pictures on it too.
He told me people often ask what it is and it leads to conversations. They can’t help their curiosity.
#2 Give God Credit.
When you achieve success, learn to give credit to God. And learn to mean it too. Don’t just say it as a fake humble-brag. Learn to mean it deeply.
This can apply to your business success, an award, particular accomplishment… the list goes on.
#3 Talk about your weekends.
When people ask how your weekend was on Monday, be honest. If you’re living your faith, you’ll often have religious events to talk about. If you don’t, this is your sign to get more involved at your parish.
The Church has many feast days throughout the year, these are great. Also things like confirmations or first communions or ordinations, maybe the Church picnic. All of these are great examples.
#4 Take Breaks for Catholic Activities
Each day, stop to say the noon angelus or go to mid day mass. Make it known that you can’t encroach on that time and why.
This also has the benefit of helping you spend time with God throughout the day.
#5 Mention Your Grounding Catholic Beliefs.
When someone asks you how you do things or how you stay motivated, find ways to tie it to The Faith.
#6 Practice The Virtues, Especially Generosity and Charity.
Maybe an employee made a mistake or stole from you. Approach the situation with the same charity Jesus would.
Also develop a habit of generosity. Generosity towards your employees, your patrons, your community, your Church. Generosity is armor piercing. (see meme)
#7 Use the Traditional Feast Day Greetings.
Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, Happy St. Valentine’s Day. Everyone knows these. Just be stubborn and use the trad greeting.
You can also pick a few of the feast days the secular world is not familiar with, like St. Joseph or Epiphany and choose to greet people on those days.
You might even decide to hand out holy image cards on those days with a brief explanation on the back for secular folks.
#8 Observe Holy Days & Feast Days
“Show me your calendar and I’ll show you what matters to you.” - Kevin Kelly
If The Faith matters to you, schedule time off to attend mass on Holy Days. For the big feasts, also give your team the day off.
It’s worth selecting a patron saint for your business and making that day a big day for the team. Even if not everyone is Catholic that’s okay. You are and you know the truth. Don’t be afraid to really live out the Faith.
Now—Doing any of these will increase the chances someone asks you ‘What’s that mean?’ or ‘What’s that all about?’ This is why we do it.
It’s worth noting—the best way to do any of these things successfully is not to approach them as a ‘gotcha’ tactic. Focus on implementing them into your daily and weekly habits so the questions come automatically.
Here’s why. We don’t want to simply fish for these conversations. It could lead to a prideful disposition or false humility. We should do these things because we love our faith first and foremost. The rest will come naturally, and the Holy Spirit will inspire us.
Take Action: Pick at least one of these to start doing. The easiest one is the Catholic item (#1) but you should choose whichever one stands out to you the most.
God Bless & Happy Building
~Silas Mähner
Misc. Resources:
Community:
Join the Catholic Founders Guild (peer group) $10/month or $100/year
Check out The Catholic Professional Community from past guest, Cristofer Pereyra
Prayer:
The Litany of Trust from the Sisters of Life — Great for Entrepreneurs
Investors:
Join CatholicAngels.co (Angel Investors network for Catholics)
Hiring:
Hire a Catholic Virtual Assistant through ParacleteVA (email us: dearcfpod@gmail.com)
Hiring exec talent, reach out! I’ve been headhunting for 5+ years. Glad to use my skills to help Catholics hire the best talent. silas@erthtechtalent.com
Secular:
“My 2024 Lessons in Business That Will Make You Rich (Alex Hormozi - The Game)
(I personally found this episode SUPER helpful)
How did we do? Reply with 1 (Great 😄), 2 (Mid 🫤), or 3 (Needs Work ☹️)