Saintly CEO: The Unexpected ROI of Radical Presence
The Power of Presence + Discover 12 Catholic Business Owners
Hey you!
Notice how I didn’t say everyone? Well, that’s because despite this being a 1:N relationship, this post - and every post - is written for you.
Welcome back to the Saintly CEO. To say I appreciate you reading this is an understatement. After all, I’m literally obsessed with Catholic entrepreneurship, and to know that you are also into it makes me happy!
Today, we’re going to do things a little differently (do I have your attention now?)
I’m going to give you some updates / news (same old same old)
Then I’m going to highlight one specific thing that has stuck in my brain from a recent podcast episode (shorter than usual)
And then… drum roll please… I’m going to give you a little bit longer version of Heavenly Hustlers. More profiles and more detail. You could say, it’s going to be YUGE
At any rate, if you do enjoy today’s format - please do be a good fellow (or las) and let me know. Because, you know, it can get a little lonely writing into a void.
Oh an psst! As a reminder, the reason you should read this newsletter is that it’ll help you become a saint because of your business, not despite it.
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News / Updates
There is a kickass event for Catholic founders happening in SF this week — join if you’re around (and text your SF Catholic entrepreneur friends - we need to stick together) - Attend (yes, we are one of the sponsors)
We’re looking to launch a monthly meetup in Columbus, Dallas, Nashville, and Austin - if you’re in those areas, get in touch to be involved.
WE NEED MONEY! 🤣 This project isn’t free to run — if you’d like to support our mission AND make money (I know, give money to make money, such a concept), reach out to sponsor the podcast and newsletter (or maybe just one, who knows, depends on what you like). Email admin@catholicfounders.com to get in front of hundreds of Catholic business owners.
We’re hosting a dinner in Dallas on March 12th. If you want to join (or sponsor) hit me up. VERY limited space.
Nashville dinner/meetup: We are aiming tentatively for March 24th. DM me or email me to get on the list.
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The Unexpected ROI of Radical Presence
A few weeks ago, Dr. Daniel Tataje came on the pod(check it out here). He relayed something he does with his employees that struck me deeply.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve actually witnessed this in real life when I met him at the SENT Summit in 2024.
He becomes fully present with the person he’s speaking with. As if you’re the only person in the world. When I experienced this, it was obvious that he was busy with something else prior to that. But when I put out my hand to introduce myself, he set it aside instantly and looked me in the eye.
That year’s summit had a lot of conversations and key moments, but that specific interaction was the most memorable for me.
What he does with his employees is a bit further. He tells them that they matter and that the world is incomplete if they don’t use their gifts.
In his clinics (he runs a large dental group in Madison, Wisconsin), he gets every employee to develop this same skill for each of their patients. When they are with a patient, they are a gift to that patient, and that patient is a gift to them.
Those two people are not anywhere else. They exist ini this moment. Not in the future and not in the past. Because the present moment is the only one they have, they focus on realizing the weight of it.
Through doing this, their clinics have grown like crazy because their patients know they are going to be well cared for. They also have incredible retention of talent compared to others in the space because, again, they are cared for.
The crux, humans enjoy being treated as if they have infinite dignity because they are created in the image and likeness of God. It just clicks.
Pro Tip of the Day: Recognize that each person you encounter is a gift, and treat them like it’s true. You’ll be returning the favor.
God Bless & Happy Building
~Silas Mähner
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Heavenly Hustlers
These are other Catholic business owners. Nominate one (including yourself).
🤖 Nhan Dinh is the Founder and CEO of Seller Labs, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, where he builds AI-forward software for Amazon sellers. I got to meet him last weekend at the BuildWithChrist.AI event, where he was leading a table. He also has 9 kids (so yeah, he’s super Catholic). In the past he scaled his own e-commerce venture to an impressive $11M in annual revenue. Now, he focuses his talents on simplifying complex software architectures and integrating agentic AI to help sellers automate growth. He’s also very involved in his local parish. Someone we can look up to.
🎥 John Blanford is a filmmaker and entrepreneur who co-founded Pastime Pictures, based in Atlanta, Georgia, a production company dedicated to crafting timeless stories that inspire and offer moral virtues. John is currently producing projects that elevate the human spirit, including the "Great Battles for Boys" series and the feature film Monster Summer starring Mel Gibson. A unique aspect of his journey is his commitment to the intrinsic creative value of every crew member—a philosophy reflected in his company's name, which subtly honors his and his co-founder's humble roots as Production Assistants. I also need to note that I think he has one of the coolest websites/landing pages I’ve ever seen.
🪚 Chris Czarka is the President and Founder of Ellington Custom Cabinetry LLC, based in Nashville, Tennessee, where he leads a family-owned custom cabinetry business. Obviously, this is dear to my heart as the son of a cabinet maker. Their focus is to create functional art for the heart of the home. What’s really fun is that he actually has an educational background in Philosophy. I wonder how much that influences how he runs the cabinet business. The story of how he started his own cabinetry business is pretty fascinating. We hope to tell it soon here on the pod.
🎻 Alex Wolaver studied at Juilliard and also co-founded ManAlive Studios, a production company specializing in high-end music and television content. He and his five siblings, as part of the acclaimed Annie Moses Band, create faith-based media—including the Emmy-nominated PBS special The Art of the Love Song and the Catholic children’s series The Wonderful World of Benjamin Cello—aimed at restoring beauty and spiritual integrity to modern entertainment. They run Packard Playhouse, a theatre in Columbia, TN that puts on some incredible productions. Alex is notable for his family’s collective conversion to the Catholic Church in 2013, a powerful journey sparked by their deep study of the arts, sacramental theology, and the writings of Pope Benedict XVI.
🏋️♂️ David Joniak is an Air Force veteran and seasoned fitness leader who founded Rescue Coffee + Fitness, based in Nashville, a mission-driven hybrid gym and coffeehouse concept. Drawing on over 16 years of managing top brands like Orangetheory and TITLE Boxing, David's venture combines functional strength training with specialty coffee to foster community. A remarkable aspect of this business is its central commitment to fighting child trafficking, with 10% of all proceeds and 100% of donations going directly to organizations that rescue local children. He’s joined by Stephen Hill in this endeavor.
🕵️♂️ Stephen Hill is an insurance advisor and Assistant General Agent at Nelson Insurance Advisors based in Woodstock, Georgia. His specialty is helping business owners and self-employed professionals maximize tax deductions and retirement benefits. Stephen and David are doing some incredible work to end Child Trafficking. If you’re interested in helping, reach out today.
🔍 Pedro Cadena is the co-founder of Servorum, a specialized recruiting firm based in Monterrey, dedicated to connecting Catholic business owners with values-aligned candidates across the globe. Pedro was a seminarian in the past, but after doing some work with my firm, he decided to launch his own thing. He’s doing some amazing work helping companies hire great talent offshore.
🚀 Jimmy Coleman is many things! Among them, he’s the Chief Growth Officer at Arimathea, Founder of X Cathedra, and a recent podcast guest of ours (in case you hadn’t noticed these past two weeks). You already know about Arimathea from the pod we did with Daniel Catone (or at least I hope you do). On top of all this, he’s the President of the SENT chapter for Charlotte. In the past, he ran over 50 miles carrying a flag that said “Eat my Flesh” — if he’s not a winner, I don’t know who is. Jimmy is a joy to our Catholic entrepreneur community. You should reach out to him if you’re looking for help getting more leads.
☕ Matt Johnson, Colm Kirwan, Clay Campbell, and Chris Coyne are building Gloria Patri coffee. An unapologetically Catholic coffee brand. They are based out of the Nashville area (you might be noticing a pattern with this week’s profiles). Their goal is to create Transcendental Goods, to inspire daily prayer. I also need to say, the video on their home page literally gave me goosebumps without even having the sound on. Well done!
🙋♂️ Nominate a Heavenly Hustler (including yourself) - It takes 1 min.
Thank you to Catholic Owned for helping us find some of these folks each week. Get listed today!
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Highlight(s):
In case you missed last issue, we are changing the “Misc. Resources” (super original name) to be called Highlight(s) (even more original, amirite?)
Instead of a large list of resources, we’re just going to highlight one or two interesting things. Get the full list of resources here: The Ultimate Catholic Founders Resource Guide.
Feel free to bookmark it as we’ll continue to update it (we just added several events). And if you have suggestions on what to add, ping us (even if you want to promote your own stuff).
How Catholics Should Approach Layoffs in the Age of AI (CF Guild Discussion)
This Tuesday (tomorrow), March 10th, the Catholic Founders Guild is getting together (at 1 pm CT) to discuss how we should approach layoffs in the age of AI. There has been a lot of discourse about this since Jack Dorsey laid off 40% of Block.
As Catholic business owners, we know we have a responsibility to our employees because they have families to care for. So we’ll be discussing this. If you’re a member of the Guild, join us. If you’re not, consider joining us really fast to get added. You can do so by upgrading to paid here.
Fio — Catholic Spotify (App)
Fio just released audiobooks on their platform. So, now they have a ton of Catholic audiobooks for you as you journey through Lent. I just had the chance to hang out with Will Hickl in person yesterday as he’s visiting Nashville. He’s also a member of our Catholic Founders Guild. So be sure to check out Fio.
My favorite thing about their model is that they have decided to pay their creators a LOT more than Spotify does, because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Excited to see where these guys keep going.
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