From the 🚀 to the 🍇...
The Calling of St. Matthew - Caravaggio
This post was originally published on LinkedIn on November 3rd, 2018.
2 months ago I did the unthinkable.
I turned down an offer for my dream job in tech.
It was the seat on a rocket ship I had been wanting since moving on from ProfitWell in July.
It would have put me at the center of the startup universe in San Francisco while still being able to work remotely from Florida.
It checked all the boxes I was looking for in a new role, namely:
Work for and learn from one of the savviest CEO/Founders in the tech space alongside an all-star team.
Leverage my strengths to creatively find new opportunities for growth for the company.
Connect with tons of new smart people working hard at startups and large tech companies.
Great compensation and long-term upside potential in the form of equity.
So why the heck would I turn that down?
The short story is that at the same time that dream job offer presented itself, I was hit with a new and surprise invitation I didn't see coming.
One that asked me to come work in the vineyard.
One that asked me to take everything I'd learned in marketing, tech, and storytelling over the first 10 years of my career and apply it a new and innovative way.
One that I ultimately couldn't say no to.
As a result, I'm excited to share with you today that I've been working for the past two months, since I turned down that dream job offer, as the interim Director of Marketing for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Yes, the Catholic Church.
Yes, the one that has consistently been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Yes, the one who's growth curve has been pointed in the wrong direction for years.
Yes, the one who's marketing and communications has been lagging behind.
Why I'm Excited to Be Working in the Vineyard
There are 3 main reasons I'm excited about the opportunity in front of us in the Archdiocese of Detroit:
Leadership
It starts at the top.
Archbishop Vigneron has led his flock in Detroit through a year of prayer, through a Synod on discerning how the Holy Spirit is calling us to radically change the culture of the Archdiocese, and then has given us the roadmap in his Pastoral Letter: Unleash the Gospel, which calls everyone to reorient themselves to be radically mission focused and Spirit led.
Not many leaders in the Church have asked for realignment to the mission AND for innovative new methods to be deployed to help Catholics return to the original mission Jesus gave his disciples to go out and boldly share the good news.
To help transform Unleash the Gospel from a letter into a movement, Archbishop Vigneron also appointed Edmundo Reyes to help lead the Archdiocese's marketing & communications in a whole new way.
I had the pleasure of leading a Story Sprint for Edmundo last year soon after we met, and when we reconnected in August his fire and passion for the opportunity to come to Detroit to help him retell the "Greatest Story Ever Told" and share it in new and innovative ways to evangelize the faith, was simply one that I didn't think existed.
I know that my strengths are best-flexed working alongside a strong and passionate leader like Edmundo, who is committed to the mission and willing to go the extra mile to carry out the important work at hand.
Mission & Spirit
I believe the call to leave my previous pursuit of finding a seat on a rocket ship in the startup world and come work in the vineyard could only be explained as coming from the Holy Spirit.
This was reaffirmed to me in early September when after initially accepting the call and turning down that dream offer in tech, I was able to attend the Catholic Creatives Summit in Dallas, TX.
At the Summit I was able to experience the Spirit working through me and so many amazing and talented people that have brought their talents in marketing, communications, business, branding, design, art, and music to the Church in new and profound ways.
Likewise in Detroit, I'm now lucky to be a part of a talented Communications and Archdiocesan team that is aligned to this most important mission - to boldly share the Gospel and bring souls closer to Jesus.
As the best startups know, amazing things happen when a team is all bought in on a mission and rowing in one direction. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be rowing in the same direction with such a talented team toward bringing souls closer to Christ.
God's Plan
It's amazing to look back at the twists and turns my work experience has taken me on the past 10 years and all the different lessons, plays, stories, first principles, and frameworks I've picked up along the way - all leading up to this opportunity to apply it in a new way to boldly sharing the Gospel.
To most recently having had the opportunity to learn from some amazing founders and thought leaders in B2B marketing like David Cancel, Dave Gerhardt, and Patrick Campbell, on how to create compelling content and build brands that consistently get attention in our increasingly noisy world, to further back managing innovative consumer-focused marketing campaigns and finding ways to go viral online with the help of professional eSports gamers and that one time with some guy named LeBron James. All of those lessons are going to help me now in ways I didn't fully realize or imagine.
I have so many people to thank that I won't list them all here. Pretty much, everyone, I've worked with or for, all the friends and connections I've made along the way.
But my wife's love and support, especially over the past 4 years as we've bounced between different jobs and opportunities searching for where God might want me to work, is nothing short of remarkable. Thank you my love!
This Weekend
I'm publishing this as I head to Detroit today for what we are calling Unleash the Gospel Weekend.
After 5 months of planning, I'm excited to have played a small role in helping the team launch a huge new initiative this weekend to invite and challenge all Catholics in southeast Michigan to consider how God might be calling them to become joyful missionary disciples in their lives and help unleash the Gospel.
If that sounds intriguing you should sign up at UTGChallenge.com and join us in reflecting this week on what God might be calling you to.
Who knows maybe he might even be calling you to join me in the vineyard.
Did I mention we're hiring? 😁
#VersoLAlto 🏔
