Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today is the feast of St. King Louis IX. He was involved in the Crusades; he was known for his care for the poor and his justice (among other things). In other words, he’s a great example for Catholic business owners, who are often building ‘empires’ of our own to look up to. Consider reading more about him in the Catholic Encyclopedia here.
Welcome back to Saintly CEO: the Tuesday morning newsletter for business owners whose first objective is to become a saint.
IN TODAY’S ISSUE
News/Updates/Events
Feature Content: The Angelus: A Call to Accept the Word of God, and Act On It
Heavenly Hustlers x 6
[read time: ~8 min | word count 1, 639]
Join the Catholic Founders Guild Today
If you’re a Catholic — looking to launch or grow your business, Catholic Founders is made for you. 200+ Members and counting.
Join today for $100 a year or $10 a month.
Curious? --> “What is the Catholic Founders Guild?”
Community | Directory | Monthly Calls | Industry Masterminds
News / Updates / Events:
📰 Check out my latest article on The Catholic Herald titled How business owners can rebuild communities to see how Catholic business owners can bring real accountability and connection back to our neighborhoods. PS: Sign up for an annual subscription using code FOUNDER50 for a hefty discount.
🤝 We’re getting the D.C. founders and biz owners together for another meetup. Get ready for an evening of good conversation with fellow entrepreneurs this Thursday. Mike Lehmann will be leading the group for this. Register here.
Some recap from the Nashville and Dallas gathering last week. If you want to join a meetup in your city, check out all of our in-person events on our Luma page. 📆
Check out last week’s episode with Joe Markey (we had great feedback, so if you’ve not listened already, check it out)
Don’t Waste Your Parish’s Money
A mismanaged budget is a headache in business. In the Church, it’s a tragedy. Every dollar wasted on a poorly run construction project is a dollar taken from the mission.
When your parish or diocese is building something, goodwill isn’t enough. You need professional, unyielding stewardship.
Our Father Constructors and Associates acts as your expert owner’s representative. They support projects from $1M to $45M. Cristian and his team manage the architects, protect the capital, and find the money you didn’t know you were losing. They ensure what you build today serves the Church for generations.
Run your parish’s next project like a pro.
👉 Visit ourfather.us or email cristian@ourfather.us today.
A Reflection On The Angelus for Catholic Entrepreneurs
For some time now, I’ve been promoting the Angelus Bells app that our friend Daniel Egan created (add it to Chrome here). A tab pops up at 6, noon, and 6 with bells of your choice ringing. A visceral reminder to pray the Angelus.
Growing up, we prayed the Angelus very consistently as a family. But I honestly didn’t start to realize the power of the prayer until recently. I think it’s a prayer that is particularly of interest for Catholic business owners — aka, ‘doers’ in society.
If you’re like me and you’ve grown up saying the Angelus, or perhaps you picked it up more recently, perhaps this post will deepen your appreciation for the prayer, or at least refresh you on it (we can all use refreshers from time to time).
“The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.”
This is the first line. We hear words being exclaimed, and action taking place.
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.”
Here we have Mary accepting the word of God. The angel has declared, and Mary has accepted. She’s welcomed the word into her heart. She wills whatever it is that God wills.
“And the word was made flesh. And dwelt among us.”
God becomes man. The Word becomes man. The Word becomes action.
Word —> Acceptance —> Action
This is our blueprint to imitate Mary (and all the saints).
Is Your Money Being Stewarded — or Just Managed?
What is God calling you to build?
That’s where Tom Rooney and Matthew Mohlman start their conversations. They work with Catholic business owners to bring real stewardship to their finances across retirement plans, private markets, and wealth management.
Tom and Matthew want to extend an invitation for an estate health check with their team. Think healthcare directives, powers of attorney, risk and insurance gaps... your spouse will thank you!
PS: Tom and Matthew aren’t just advisors — they’re Catholic founders themselves, building this alongside guys like us.
If you’ll recall, the intro to John’s Gospel starts with this literary banger (in the Latin Mass, this is the ‘Last Gospel’ read at the end of every Mass).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) — “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)
The ‘Word’ is God the Son. He proceeds from the Father. The words coming out of His mouth are the Son. He is a living thing coming straight from the Father. But not only is He (the Son) word; He becomes man… he becomes action.
I found this really interesting to consider as an entrepreneur. So much of our personality is tied to taking action. After all, the one with an idea for a business never makes any money. However, the one who takes action does. He is the real entrepreneur.
If we are truly in pursuit of heaven, if we desire God above all things, are we allowing the Word of God to truly enter our hearts and lead us to action?
As entrepreneurs, we know we are capable of action because of where we are now. That means we know we are capable of acting on our faith. We just have to accept it in our hearts and take the actions God is calling us to.
So today, let us take action, both in our faith and in our businesses.
If you’ve been putting off doing business development — stop procrastinating. Get out there and do it.
In your faith.
Start acting on that ambitious project for the Church. Raise the money for the mural.
Get together some fellow parishioners to buy the duplex next to the church so it can be rented to a good Catholic couple.
Invite your business partner to Mass.
Say the Angelus out loud in the office with your other Catholic employees.
Start going to an extra Mass during the week.
Get together a group of other business owners to attend the next city hall meeting and oppose the anti-family policies.
Offer to match the funds for the Church fundraising effort.
There are infinite things you can do to act on your faith. Pick one and do it.
Perhaps if you start praying the Angelus consistently and attentively, you’ll be moved to action. Having heard the word of God, and accepted the Word of God in your heart, maybe you’ll become more like Mary, an instrument in the salvation of men.
God Bless & Happy Building
~Silas Mähner
PS: Don’t forget, through receiving the Eucharist, Jesus, the Son, is in your heart. You’ve already accepted Him physically — all that’s left is for you to accept Him spiritually. The action will follow.
Reach Over 1,000 Catholic Business Owners
Become a sponsor today --> Admin@CatholicFounders.com
Heavenly Hustlers
These are other Catholic business owners. Nominate one (including yourself).
📊🌾 Lee Greer is the founder of SPECCX, a Nashville-based marketplace technology company that utilizes pricing algorithms to empower farmers and buyers in the agricultural industry. By focusing on integrity and excellence, the company strives to maximize profit for farms and wellness for buyers through sophisticated community-driven exchanges.
🎨👩🏻💻 Anna Maria Yates of .am-yates Web Design, based in Calvert County, Maryland, is a web designer and developer building digital solutions and infrastructure to give brands a creative start.
🏡👣 Jason Murphy leads The Martyr’s Walk, a Charlotte-based non-profit organization offering intensive three-day spiritual programs designed to guide men through profound life and faith transitions. He is also the owner of Daedalus Properties, a premier construction, real estate, and investment firm raising values in Charlotte's hottest hood since 2004.
👨🏻💻💰 Kevin Dale is an Army Infantry veteran, Vanderbilt BA/MBA, and serial entrepreneur. After leading combat operations in Afghanistan and scaling tech/software products, he’s now tackling wellness at scale. Starting with microplastic-free, all-natural non-GMO tea.
🧔♂️🪜 Todd Uterstaedt is an Army veteran, C-Suite advisor, and CEO of Baker & Daboll, bringing executive coaching and intentional mentorship to executive teams. They are based in Ohio.
👩🏼💼🎵 Bea Whitmarsh is the founder of My Holy Crescendo, a formation ministry started in Oklahoma City, helping Catholic women discover God’s unique design in their body, mind, and spirit. Through structured programs like her 15-week A Symphony of Grace, she empowers women to embrace their true identity, stop fighting themselves, and live fully as the masterpieces God created them to be.
🙋♂️ Nominate a Heavenly Hustler (including yourself) - It takes 1 min.
Hire Catholic Offshore Talent
We help you find vetted Catholic offshore talent to help your business grow.
$500 upon hire and $500 if you’re still happy in 30 days.
Email us your needs -> hire in days -> admin@catholicfounders.com
Here is a huge list of various resources that we have compiled over time: The Ultimate Catholic Founders Resource Guide.
Feel free to bookmark it as we’ll continue to update it. And if you have suggestions on what to add, ping us (even if you want to promote your own stuff).