In 2014, I led a Bible study for entrepreneurs in my church. During those weeks, I felt the Holy Spirit calling me in a new way in my business. At the time, my agency did logos and websites for different companies. Clients would come to me if they were launching or re-branding their businesses. But during this Bible study, God was showing me that if an entrepreneur didn’t have a bigger vision for their business – a godly vision – then the venture would likely fail. This thought burdened me because, being in the position that I was in where I help businesses launch, I had the opportunity to share this thought and help guide the entrepreneur to launching the business that God created them to start. That’s when I discovered my personal calling business – I help entrepreneurs uncover their calling in business, and my agency brings it to life! My personal calling (helping people discover what they are born to do) was different than my agency’s calling (bringing that calling I helped discover to life). This was the foundation of my personal brand, The Born to Do Method. You would think that once I discovered this, I stopped everything I was doing to ONLY focus on my calling. Right? You’d think that a Godpreneur like myself, that teaches other people to ONLY pursue their calling, would himself heed to his own advice. Right? Well, that’s NOT my story. Instead, the story of launching the business God created me to start has chapters that, until now, I didn’t want to share with anyone. From that moment of discovery in 2014, all the way to 2019, I ended up in places I never wanted to be. I blew my calling off. I made decisions that took me farther away from my purpose than I ever intended to go. I chartered my own path that cost me more than I ever thought I’d have to pay. I hurt people. I compromised my values. I broke promises to myself, God, and the people I worked with. I was running from my calling. We all have a story we’re going to tell one day about the journey towards uncovering and bringing to life the business God created us to start. Our story might look like an immediate, meteoric rise to fame and fortune, or a battle of frustration, failure, resistance, procrastination, and delay. But our story isn’t over. It’s not too late for us to change the brand launch story we’ll tell one day! The Bible says “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18‭-‬19 NIV) The entire Bible is a story of the good news: His story is not over! It’s never too late for you to change the story of your calling in business. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done (or haven’t done), your entrepreneurial future is unwritten! When you decide to start writing the NEW story God has shown you, victory is coming, more connections begin to line up, your journey of making a difference begins, and you start to the goodness God had for you all along. The old has gone and the new is here. (2 Cor 5:17) It doesn’t matter what’s been written in the past, with God’s help, you can transform your entrepreneurial life into one you’re proud to share. So how do we begin to write our new story? We must LAUNCH SOMETHING NEW! The Bible says “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22‭-‬24 NIV) It doesn’t matter how uncertain, afraid, or stuck we may feel right now, our story continues today and tomorrow. We have a choice of what we LAUNCH TODAY. Imagine if we all launched into the direction of the entrepreneurial story we want to tell! What personal brand has God called you to start that you haven’t launched yet? Is it a blog? A book?  A community? A course to teach? A coaching service to provide? Write what’s coming to your heart. Don’t think about the resources it will take, God, got you covered! #NewEntrepreneurs #WhatBusinessIShouldStart #LaunchingMyBusiness 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand There are seven key factors for succeeding at launching the purpose God has placed in your heart for you to fulfill. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

In late 2014, I was making some major changes in my business that left me depressed, broken, and redefining my complete identity. Since 2005, my company had served the nightclub industry. I had built an agency niche around the nightlife and my personal brand as a “nightlife marketing authority.” I had books, a blog, and I was speaking at events across the United States to help nightclub marketers with ideas on how to pack out their clubs. Then, Jesus found me in 2008. I started going back to church and discovering this new way of personal development through Christ. It was all so new and exciting for me. It felt like literally being born again… As exciting as it was for me personally, my ethics and morals were beginning to change and my agency and personal brand were no longer lining up with my new set of values. I was about to go through one of the biggest public transformations someone can make – from nightclub promoter to follower of Christ. After years of battling my old and new identity, I made a decision in 2014 that would change my life and the lives of my partners and employees. I shut down the nightlife side of my agency and personal brand to begin to build a new brand. What was the new brand? I had no idea. I just knew it wasn’t what I was doing. Many of us feel in our hearts that there’s an opportunity to share a God-inspired personal message with the business world. As that fire starts to build within us, every day we make choices that are getting us closer to coming out with this personal brand message or continuing to watch others launch theirs while we stay on the sidelines. What would your business and your life look like if God was using your calling to reach hundreds, thousands, even millions? I pray for you to receive the spiritual and practical business guidance you need to play out a God-honoring personal brand story you’ll love to share with the world! #FindingMyBrand #ShareYourTestimony #ChristianBloggers 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand There are seven key factors for succeeding at launching the purpose God has placed in your heart for you to fulfill. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

I’ve been a brand strategist since 2001.  Almost all of my entrepreneurial career I’ve spent helping businesses have cool logos and websites. Naturally, I pay attention to my own identity.  My logos and websites are always in tip-top shape.  I am obsessed with how I am perceived by my target audience and people that work with me. But in 2014 I had an identity crisis that forced me to go back to the drawing boards of my own life and company brand and rethink an entirely new approach to branding. Long story short, my company was the top branding agency for nightclubs around the world.  In 2008 I started going back to church, and over the following years, I felt God pulling me away from that world completely. In 2014 I dropped every nightclub client to follow God completely and trust he had my back.  Almost overnight I lost it all…Employees, contracts, partnership…Myself…My identity as the king of nightlife marketing. What did I do when my life flip turned upside down? Where did I go when I lost almost everything that had been there to me for almost a decade? How do I find my way back to a brand identity that would make me feel like I matter like I have a purpose? This is exactly where God needed to take me in order to show me my true identity – His identity through me. What I’ve discovered since then is that branding is the external spoken word of the internal embodiment of God within us, trying to express Himself through us. I know, it’s a mouthful. It’s a very advanced thought.  I’ve been at this for years now – I’ve dedicated my life to this topic of identity. When things aren’t right at home or in business, when life is crumbling around me and it seems like I’ve lost hope, I’ve come to understand that this is God’s way of correcting my brand and trying to line my company up with who He is, not who my selfish self wants us to be. The dictionary defines identity as “who someone is, the name of a person, the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others.” I’ve come to understand brand identity not as who my company is, but WHOSE my company is.  It’s not so much about the cool logo and website, but more about lining up my qualities and beliefs with God’s qualities and beliefs.  It is in this mirroring effect that God begins to attract to Himself, through me, the clients, and people He needs me to work on. The Bible says: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 NIV To find my true brand identity, all I need to do is focus on one thought: I am a child of God. The foundation of my company is grounded in my faith in a God that loves me, gives me purpose, sees the big picture, and reveals to me what I was born to do – the greater plan for my business. What’s my company’s brand identity?  It’s an object of His love, poured out from me for my customers to taste. So while the roller coaster ride of Entrepreneurship takes its sharp twists and turn, that foundation truth doesn’t have to change in me: this business is God’s business.  Even if I wrestle with internal feelings of not being clear on the external appearance of my brand, I can hold on to God’s truth. I know He’s got a plan for my business, even when I don’t know what it is or when it seems to look totally different than what I’ve imagined. This is what brand identity is about. The only constant is that it comes from God. Everything else is ever-changing because as we draw closer to God and allow our companies to be used by God, the company always changes. God gives us the growth we so desire. How do you see your company’s brand identity? How do you think God sees your company? P.S. I did a Business bible study called 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand. Check it out: 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand This business Bible study will help you launch a God-first personal brand that will help you strategically, financially, and personally. Developing your personal brand starts with launching something new and completely different from what you already have. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #BusinessBibleStudy #FindingMyBrand #BuildMyPersonalBrand

I have friends that religiously listen to podcasts. Personally, I used to listen to them more, but I’m more into video content. However, podcasting is enormous, and it’s here to stay. It’s not surprising that podcasts are popular. For us personal brands, there’s a low cost to producing them. For consumers, it’s easy to find something extremely targeted that they are interested in listening to. The possibility of building a tribe through niche audiences through the medium makes it the perfect vehicle for those who would like to create a powerful Christian personal brand. I have a dual approach to the world of podcasting. I have my show on Soundcloud, and I’m frequently a guest on other people’s podcasts. Both ways have helped me grow a following and get my message across. The Bible says But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” (Luke 4:43 ESV) When building a Christian personal brand, your business should be to spread Christ's fame in every place and to use our influence in guiding listeners to God’s word, and that your message may positively serve someone’s life. If you’re up for the challenge, podcasting is undoubtedly a medium the Lord created for you to build a following to bring people to himself. There are two ways we can leverage the power and clout of podcasts to get our message in front of the right people. One is by starting your podcast. The second option would be to get invited to someone else’s podcast as a guest. 1) Creating Your Own Show My show is Daily Godpreneur with Alex Miranda (https://soundcloud.com/dailygodpreneur). It’s been powerful to run a personal brand podcast. I get to host my own show and tailor the content any way I feel the spirit leading me towards. And, podcasting is not that difficult nor that costly - music to my ears! It doesn’t take much to get the right microphone on Amazon and start sharing and spreading your message. By now, in this book, you’ve likely found the message that will set you apart in the Christian personal branding space. To help you best share your testimony and teach your message to your target audience, you need to first decide on a format that perfectly suits your brand. The 4 Options Are: Solo host. A trendy style. You’re the host of your own show, and you take it wherever you want to take it. There’s an outline to the presentation; however, you’re more freestyle. Interview style. I get asked to be a guest on other podcasts because their style is the interview style. This format will add an exciting element to a show and allow you to leverage influencers to help build your follower count. Narrative style. This one is my style. It’s story-driven podcasting. It’s inspirational. It’s based on a message I want to share with the world. Each one is almost a mini-sermon. That is the toughest, though. It will need a significant amount of editing, so a cohesive story is put together. Multi-host format. My partners and I always talk about hosting a show for Christian entrepreneurs to listen to for lunch. We haven’t pulled the trigger, but I always think it would be cool to host a show with them. It is ideal for your listeners to get more than one perspective or input about the topic at hand. 2) Be A Guest On Other Podcasts Getting interviewed, especially on top podcasts in the Christian entrepreneur space, can wonders for your brand. However, you first need to get on the radar of those top podcasters and give them a reason to have you over. While this can seem challenging, it’s pretty easy once you know-how. Start by: Researching the top podcasts in your niche. Listen and study the shows you want to appear in. Craft a fantastic pitch. Follow up Like with most things in life, consistency will determine what you can get out of podcasting. P.S. I did a Business bible study called 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand. Check it out: 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand This business Bible study will help you launch a God-first personal brand that will help you strategically, financially, and personally. Developing your personal brand starts with launching something new and completely different from what you already have. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #BuildMyPersonalBrand #PersonalBranding

I have a confession: I’m not the best at recognizing when I need to pray. My prayer life is something I work on. I know its not my strength. Usually, I try to solve things on my own. When the sales pipeline dries up, I frantically look for business. When I have a new idea, I implement without seeking counsel.  It’s just my nature. For entrepreneurs, there's nothing wrong with feeling the pressure and acting accordingly. However, sometimes we’re missing one key element in the pressure cooker: going to God in prayer FIRST. If we go to God and ask for strength, THEN we can move to doing what we were going to do. This is efficient because we've got the mindset we need to continue: God is backing me up. In the Bible, Nehemiah was being attacked while rebuilding the wall at Jerusalem. Instead of caving in to the pressure by trying to take on the enemies through his own strength, he asked God for His strength. Nehemiah 6:9 says, "They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” God wants us to come to him for strength as we build our God-first businesses. Are you implementing prayer into business decisions? We can start today! P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #StrengthenIntegrity #BecomeDisciplined

The biggest hurdles I've had to overcome as a Christian entrepreneur are distractions. For example, I'll start to put together a new Business Bible Study, and I'll be halfway through completion, and something comes up in one of my companies and I'll pause the project for an extended period of time to go tend to that issue. By the time I come back around to finishing what I've started, the chess game has changed and now I find myself unmotivated to continue. My mind wants to do so many things.  I want to start other book reports, more devotionals, open new channels of revenue in my business, form new partnerships, increase my marketing efforts, hire more staff, and the list continues! We entrepreneurs have so many opportunities.  What we have to watch out for is which opportunities are from God, and which are the enemies tactics to distract us from the task at hand. How can we smell when something is from the enemy trying to derail us from the project God has called us to complete? In the Bible, Nehemiah was near the completion of the wall when the enemy comes in to try and distract him, take him off course, and possibly derail the entire project. Nehemiah 6:1-4 says When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates— Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer. Nehemiah displays the ultimate show of discernment. He has the ability to judge matters according to God’s view of them, and not according to their outward appearance. Picture Nehemiah going to the Word of God and equipping himself with discernment. Perhaps he read Proverbs 27:6: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." That passage alone would remind him to not look to outward appearances, but to judge soberly. You've likely been the victim of deception by outward appearances of opportunities. This lack of discernment produced some kind of suffering. You've listened to others who give a good appearance, but don’t walk in the nature of Jesus. You've likely accepted things blindly because it looked good or sounded good, without carefully judging it against the whole counsel of God’s Word. We've all done this. So the question becomes... How can we develop entrepreneurial discernment? First, if you want to see things as God sees them. This means you need to get to know His Word. A "Daily Godpreneur" isn't just a cute name for a blog...it's a calling for entrepreneurs to get to know God's Word so that we can stand up against the deception of the enemy that wants to take us from our purpose and calling. Second, discernment comes through spiritual maturity; Hebrews 5:12-14 says that discernment is something spiritual babies don’t have (a baby will stick anything in his mouth). Third, discernment can be given as a gift from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10). Seek Him for it. Without discernment in business, we can think a dangerous opportunity from an enemy is really a blessing from God. We can think a good idea is a God idea. We can think our own noble desires to serve are God’s promises for success. We can think God is saying “now” or “later” when He is really saying “later” or “now.” We can think another entrepreneur is a great guy or a spiritual leader when they are really doing damage to God’s people. Look around.  Where is the enemy trying to attack you?  Is it the lure of a giant contract?  Is it a new business opportunity your brother in law is presenting? The enemy will often hit you when you're down - you've lost a key player on your team or sales drying up and the bank account is slim. This is when you are most vulnerable to the deception. We all need to watch out for the tactics distracting us from God’s original calling for us to lead God-first businesses. We need to keep our eyes on the next step. We need to focus on the ONE THING we need to do today to keep building our wall. All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #BusinessBibleStudy #EnhanceFocus #SharpenLeadership

I was once involved in a startup where, once the first money started coming into the business, my partner began buying expensive furniture and artwork for himself. This would have been fine if he was using his own profits, but he was taking from the company money to furnish himself with perks. When I started to see my partner doing this, I became very concerned. It got to the point where I decided I didn't want to be in a partnership with him anymore. If this is the way he was going to be spending the company's money, I didn't want to be any part of the building of this company. Then, disaster struck. My partner figured we would keep making these amazing profits that we were experiencing, but one day, the business ran into big supply chain problems and the money stopped coming in. He was left with over $100,000 in debt to repay because he had personally borrowed over what he was supposed to take. We entrepreneurs are sometimes in positions where we are ‘entitled’ to do things because of our position that can end up playing a burden on our own employees, vendors, and contractors.  We give ourselves perks, take off more days, take longer breaks, more vacations, etc. God is searching for hearts that are aligned with His. He’s seeing how you treat the perks that are rightfully yours. In the book of Nehemiah, we read that he was appointed Governor of Judah. As Governor, he was entitled to tons of perks.  He was given allowances for food and wine, money, and more.  He could get anything he wanted, however, he took a different mindset. Nehemiah 5:14-15 says, "Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also Lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that." Like me, maybe you also find yourself as part of a startup. Or maybe you're like Nehemiah and you find yourself rebuilding your company. Both mean that your business is in building mode.  It’s all hands on deck. When you're starting or restarting your company, especially if you're doing it because God is moving you to do so, this means that God is going to be seeing how you manage the "perks" that are going to start coming your way. Will you be enticed to bathe in the luxuries of your position, or will you stand side-by-side with your lowest rank employees in building the business? We serve a God that is training our hearts to be aligned with his.  It’s not about the product or service you provide, it's about the purpose and the heart behind the business. We all need to stay focused on our mission to produce a business that glorifies God. Once the business is up and running, from our own profits, we will enjoy the fruits of our labor. All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #AgencyOwners #SharpenLeadership

A groundbreaking lesson I learned as a leader is the concept of responsibility versus rights. Taking on responsibility will require you to give up some rights. John Maxwell calls this "The Law of Sacrifice: A Leader must give up to go up.” Leaders have to give up more than others in order to effectively fulfill their responsibilities to move the team forward. For example, a pastor gives up the right to order a beer at a restaurant because followers in the church could see that and think its ok. Yes, its ok to have a beer.  But the leader understands that others are watching and following, so he gives up the right to drink a beer in public. I used to think that as the owner of the company, I could go play golf whenever, walk into the office at the time I felt, and wear whatever I pleased to work. Boy was I wrong. If we're building a God-first business, we need to rethink the way we used to operate in the past. Adding God into the mix gives us entirely new responsibilities and strips us of some rights we used to enjoy before. If we aren't going to sacrifice our old ways, we can easily build up pride of ownership and go down the wrong path of entitlement. Godpreneurs are not entitled. We can’t afford it. We lead by example.  We are last and our people are first. The only time we're first is being the first ones up and running and ready to advance the cause. In the Bible, Nehemiah shows us first hand how God wants leaders to lead. As Governor, Nehemiah could have received a whole bunch of perks.  But he chose to not burden the people, paving the example God was looking for. Nehemiah 5:18-19 says "Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.  Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people." Are there any areas of the business where you can show awesome leadership by giving up your rights? In times of great change in a company, we’ve heard in the news of CEO’s taking pay cuts, eliminating perks, rolling up their sleeves and getting to work with the first ranks. As we build our God-first businesses, we need to be conscious that others are looking at our work ethic, humility, generosity, tenacity and resolve.  They are following the leader and making positive decisions that will impact the entire organization. All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #SharpenLeadership #WorkLifeBalance

I've been having issues with one of my employees. He's normally a rock start and leads most of the projects in my company. However, for a couple of months, his production reduced dramatically. I confronted him about his productivity and asked him to explain what's going on. He admitted that he's been demotivated because of recent changes as we're rebuilding the agency. The new structure has him reporting to someone whereas before, he was pretty much the top guy. While I understood his frustration, I communicated all of the reasons why these changes were for the greater good of the bigger vision, and at the end of the conversation, he apologized and made a commitment to show up differently. And to seal the deal, I gathered the leadership on a call with this employee and he shared his new commitment with the team so that we could all move past this minor speedbump in our quest to rebuild a stronger agency. As entrepreneurs, It’s important that we get private and public ‘buy in’ from those working with us on the vision that we have. If we want to change the world, we need a team behind us that sees the vision and wants to help. In the book of Nehemiah, we see how the integrity of those working to help rebuild Jerusalem was made public through an oath. While Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall, it came to his attention that Jewish nobles and officials were unfairly taxing lower-class Jewish people...their own people! This was an outrage to Nehemiah. Not only was it an outrage, but it also threatened the rebuilding project because Nehemiah relied on some of these lower-class people to help him rebuild - those are his employees. Nehemiah confronted the nobles and officials, called them out on their unfair behavior, and eventually, convinced them to change their ways. Nehemiah 5:12 says, “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised." There are two key lessons to learn here. First, as you rebuild (or build) your company, you need to confront any wrongdoings and get a commitment that things are going to be different moving forward. Second, you have to bring your partner or other people higher up in the company together so that the employee can publicly declare their new commitment. This final step of taking a public oath is the secret sauce. See, although Nehemiah could have taken the nobles and officials at their word, he took it a step further and had them take an oath in front of the priests…representatives of God. The major lesson here is that there's something magical about taking an oath in front of a group of people.  It tattoo’s a commitment to the cause. Are there any issues going on during your building or rebuilding of your company? Who can you confront privately about a change that needs to be made? Who have you confronted about something privately, that now needs to be declared publicly to others in the company? Maybe YOU are the one that needs to make a public oath for something you realize you were doing wrong? Watch how integrity in your company is taken to new levels as you make the ultimate leadership power move of publicly declaring your commitment to new ways of operating. All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.

One of my favorite business books is The No BS Guide to Ruthless Management of People and Profits by Dan Kennedy.  It revealed to me how LITTLE I knew about management - and how management correlates with leadership. One of the things I learned is that I have to stomp out problems with people right away, and I have to be able do it privately and publicly. I don’t know about you, but I shy away from conflict.  I avoid it like the plague. In business, there will be conflict with people.  We have to learn how to deal with it in order to move forward. God helps us confront conflict with people.  In fact, God uses the conflict to move to new levels in our relationships, and thus our businesses. In Nehemiah, we get a great example of dealing with conflict. Nehemiah 5:6-8 says, "When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say." Nehemiah did two key things to deal with conflict. First, he reprimanded the nobles privately. Then, he dealt with them publicly. This gave Nehemiah the opportunity to speak one-on-one with each official to get their buy-in. Then, he addressed everyone in a large meeting to make sure his point was made clearly. Nehemiah wanted to make sure this wasn’t going to happen again. How you deal with conflict between people in your company will either move your company forward or take it backward.  Conflict will do one or the other.  Which will you choose? #HumanResources #ConflictManagement All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.

I love doing logos and websites for churches. Obviously I’m going to feel good about hooking up one of God’s churches with awesome identity. I even have a special rate for churches, lower than what I would charge another company for the same deliverables. Why? First of all, those are my peeps! I’m Christian, I go to church, I understand the struggles churches go through to survive off of the tithe, and I want to help. Second, every church practically needs the same exact stuff when it comes to graphics and web, so I benefit from ‘economies of scale’.  This means that I’m not reinventing the wheel with each client, but instead able to make a solid system and process more efficient, thus lowering my costs to produce the product. As Godpreneurs, God has a plan to use our businesses to help the church and our fellow Christian brothers and sisters. However, sometimes we focus on our own needs (profit) and we don't even consider what others - especially those in need - are going through. In the book of Nehemiah, we run into a situation where Jewish ‘business owners’ were treating their own Jewish brothers and sisters unfairly. Nehemiah 5:4-5 says "Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” The world's problems are not yours to solve, and your business must generate revenue in order to manage your finances correctly. You aren't expected to provide free services for the Christian community. However, you must leave room in your heart (and budget) for special occasions where certain brothers and sisters in true need can be "hooked up" with your services. It's not about providing a free service, it's about meeting someone at their place of need. It's about God using your business to work in someone else's life. We aren't expected to provide free services all day, however, we are expected to have a heart for our brothers and sisters and do whatever we can to help those that are less fortunate and in a special need through their circumstances. Personally, when people reach out to me on my social media to tell me they want to take my courses, but they can't afford to pay for it, I send an email to my team to grant that person access and I bless them with what they asked for. I do what feels right for my brothers and sisters in Christ, especially when they have the courage to share their financial situation and ask for the help. Look into ways you can serve your church with your business.  Use your power and influence to help your church community, too. If you want to brainstorm ways your product or service can serve the church, or brothers and sisters from the church, comment below and we'll come up with ideas to help you. All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.

My company was heavily involved in nightlife graphic design. We were the leaders in designing the flyers that would be distributed to promote the club’s events. Along with the nightclubs came all of the other types of "clubs" that entertain people at night: strip clubs. Oh, and we also did work for gay and lesbian clubs. And, I can't believe I'm writing this, however, I have to also confess I did some work for dating websites where we needed to manipulate pornographic photography. My philosophy at the time was...."Whoever paid us would get flyers from us." However, as I grew in my relationship with God, I became convicted of all this work, even the "normal" nightclub work. I was convicted because I'm trying to draw closer to God, but I knew deep down that some of the work we were doing was for industries in direct opposition to God. I was playing for both the good guys and bad guys. Most concerning to me was the example I was setting for my employees - the crew closest to me and witnessing my transformation. We all have people watching us: our children, spouses, friends, family, vendors, employees, clients, and contractors. As Christians, we have magnifying glasses over our every move, especially from skeptics.  God wants us to be leaders that will stand up for what’s right so that we can be great representations of Him in the eyes of nonbelievers. In the book of Nehemiah, we witness Nehemiah’s leadership throughout the rebuilding of the wall at Jerusalem. At some point during his rebuilding campaign, he calls out the Jewish leaders for their wrongdoings in charging interest to their own people. Nehemiah 5:9-11 says, "So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.” Nehemiah knew that, even if he did succeed in rebuilding Jerusalem's walls, the city could not be safe if there were abuses going on within his own people. The building of a God-first company allows you to go deeper than just profits. Godpreneurship is also an opportunity to reform men's (men and women) lives. Your decisions as a leader can convince consciences that God is real. If you walk your entrepreneurial journey in the fear of God, you will not be covetous of worldly gain or cruel toward your brothers and sisters. But nothing exposes religion more to reproach than the worldliness and hard-heartedness of the professors of it. I'll admit that, for a period of time in my Christian walk, I would play the spiritual guy, but then serve the nightlife world. People saw that and were probably calling me - and religion as a whole - a hypocrite. Good words are good things, but good performances are better. Other Christians showed me grace during my transformation and transition out of nightlife, but skeptics don’t know what grace is.  They see things black and white, as it really is. I eliminated doing any kind of work for strip clubs and eventually nightlife as a whole.  I told my employees why I was doing it because they thought I was crazy letting go of the consistent money. Is there anything in your business that makes you look bad, that makes people wonder, that makes you seem hypocritical in the eyes of your employees, vendors, or clients? We entrepreneurs are leaders.  People look up to us.  Let’s set the best example by eliminating any business practices that would be considered ungodly. #StrengthenIntegrity #DifferentiatingMyself All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.

It’s important to me that my team know that God is the real CEO.  I’m more like a manager. This is a nice thought, and I’ve actually proven it to my team. I tell stories of how God has come through for us at this last minute.  I’ve even blogged about my experiences here on DailyGodpreneur.com. We need a CEO that will fight our battles for us. We need a place to go and ask for help, guidance, and vision for what to do next. In the book of Nehemiah, we meet a leader who has taken on the task of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. As Nehemiah and his team are rebuilding, they've reached a climax in the conflict brewing up between the forces that want to REBUILD vs the forces that want to stop all construction. As the leader in charge, with nobody else to go and ask for support from, how do we fight battles that seem insurmountable, especially when the odds are stacked against us? In the Bible, we see that if we put God first, he’ll give us the confidence needed to continue the work in the face of our trials. In Nehemiah 4:19-20 "Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!” When you find your back up against the wall, you must do these 3 things: First, you need to go to prayer Then, you need to unite your team. Finally, you need to reassure them that God fights for you. If you've been a Christian for long enough, you've already seen God come through for you in some way. Share those stories with your team. Since you’ve proven in the past that God comes through, it will give your team the confidence to continue moving forward. We entrepreneurs are often fighting these battles alone…or at least it feels like it.  We need to call on God, our CEO, to reassure ourselves that we can go to him whenever we need. If we can get our vendors, contractors, freelancers, and employees to know the vision and stand behind it, we will be in the best position to finish the job we’ve been inspired to start. #DifferentiatingMyself #FindingMyPurpose All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.

My schedule is packed.  I wake up early in the morning, make my coffee, read my bible, pray, and it's off to the races. And when I’m done with the long day, it's right back to work, building the business from home. It’s important for my team to see me working day and night, it motivates them and shows them they have a leader that works just as hard, if not harder than they do! I love watching the show, The Profit. Marcus Lemonis, the host of the show, is always eager to get into the process and figure things out. I’ve seen him cleaning, painting, getting dirty in his new ventures. We get motivated and encouraged by leaders that are willing to get their hands dirty, get in the trenches to make things happen. In Nehemiah 4:21-23, we read about a leader that’s standing side-by-side with his team while the threat of an attack loomed. "So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.” Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water." As you read about Nehemiah and his leadership style, are there any comparisons to you? Do you need to change some things to step it up as a leader? We Godpreneurs need to fight side by side with our team, day and night, with weapons of prayer and praise. All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.

I used to work at Carnival Cruise Lines as a Personal Vacation Planner. That’s a fancy way of saying I was an in-house travel agent in a call center for Carnival. There were about 500 of us spread out over three floors in a corporate building. Every Friday at 9 am we have a team meeting. Everyone needed to be off the phone and upstairs on the 3rd floor to hear from the big boss. The fascinating part of this team was how it kicked off each Friday. Suddenly, the speakers would start playing “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves. If you haven’t heard it, play it today on Spotify. It will cheer up even the Grinch! 😂 And when you listened to the song, that was your cue to stop everything you’re doing because the meeting would start by the songs ending. How do you think the mood was by the time the meeting started? Yes, you guessed it. Pretty much all of us were walking on sunshine! It didn’t matter how your day, week, or month was going, when that song came on, all of a sudden, all your worries went away, and joy and happiness would flood in. I didn’t fully understand why Bob (the head of the department) did this at the time. Now I do. He did it because it put us all in a state of praise and worship. You didn’t just walk to the meeting; you danced your way there. And he kicked off the meeting by praising people that did well in sales. Almost hypnotically, we’re all one big bunch of positive praising personal vacation planners! 🙌 Something is amazing what happens when we play praise and worship music. Like only a positive, uplifting song can do, the music changes our attitude. We all of a sudden are transported away from our problems. Married entrepreneurs, I believe there’s something good to be learned here. What if we purpose to PRAISE God for things we’ve been going through? What if we sing songs of victory as if it’s already happened?! This isn’t some theory of mine. The bible says About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. (Acts 16:25‭-‬26 NIV) Here are two devout followers of Jesus put in jail for performing great works for God. If anyone needs a breakthrough or more like a BREAKOUT, it’s these great men of God. But instead of wallowing in their despair, they begin praying and singing. They praise God. Their jail represents the trials and tribulations in business and marriage you face today. Your situation is not hopeless. I’ve developed a habit of turning on some good Christian lyric music in the morning. Like Walking on Sunshine did for me back in my Carnival days, some praise and worship music in the morning gets my heart and mind feeling good. Great music lifts my spirit and helps my mind BREAKTHROUGH to the positive place of expectancy. Once our hearts and minds are praising and worshiping God, He begins to work immediately on our situation. He suddenly broke Paul and Silas out of their jail cells, and He wants to break us from our trials too suddenly! If we want to see God make big changes in our business and marriage, let’s all begin to PRAISE Him! God will start to work on our behalf immediately. Start now by creating a Spotify list of Christian worship songs that LIFT you up while lifting God up and praising Him. Father, I’ve seen you move, you move the mountains! And I believe, I’ll see you do it again! #MarriedEntrepreneurs #BusinessBibleStudy #GodpreneurAcademy 21 Days of Breakthroughs in Business and Marriage This course provides needed strength and faith, in the truth of God’s holy Word, for breakthroughs in both your business and marriage. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account