Have you ever felt like God has called you to be a CEO one day and then totally doubted it the next? Or have you ever really wondered what it actually means for you to be called by God to be a CEO? If so, then you are in the right place because in this blog post, I’m going to be sharing with you…

• What it looks like to take a step of faith and step into your role as CEO of your own business
• How to know you have been CALLED to CEO by our Heavenly Father
• My story of obedience and handing over my obsession with success to God
• How to change your heart posture towards your business from fleshly desire to a spiritual mission

You’ll also learn how you can steward your role as a faith-fueled CEO with our brand new membership, the Called to CEO Collective. I seriously cannot believe this membership is finally here!!

Let’s dive in!

My Journey to Being Called to CEO

I have felt this pull towards entrepreneurship ever since my college days. Now, back then, I had no idea what that really looked like. I mean, Instagram had just recently become a thing back then, so I was never really exposed to all of the possibilities of entrepreneurship until I started discovering Instagram accounts that were just blowing up from blogging.

It never really occurred to me until then that I could potentially have a business that ran online like this. And again, I didn’t even really see it as a business then I just saw it as, “These people are making money like they’re living their best life.” I say this because as soon as I started realizing this, I just felt a nudge.

And now I know that nudge was from the Holy Spirit, but back then I just felt this draw towards creating something online, and potentially an online business. Somehow I just had this desire to start making money. 

So, I actually started a blog in college and I called it, “When She Hustles”, even though now I don’t even like the term “hustles” anymore lol.

After that, I started a beauty YouTube channel, which still exists by the way. If you go to my channel, you can scroll all the way back and you can see my beauty YouTube videos. 

This actually led me into network marketing and then finally coaching. So, I have just been all over the map.

I was a freelance makeup artist as well, so I really have had my hand in a bunch of different areas of entrepreneurship. And not just entrepreneurship, but the creative route of entrepreneurship. 

It has been a really interesting journey for me, but I guess you could say it has not been linear by any means.

There have been lots of twists and turns, but I share this because even though there have been lots of twists and turns, looking back, I know that the Lord was very obviously directing my path. 

As I mentioned, I was definitely feeling a nudge to build an online brand and was feeling that nudge almost a decade ago now, which is just so crazy to say.

But over the last three or four years, the nudge has turned into a full-on call from the Lord. And not just to build an online brand or make money, which of course is part of that, but to be a CEO.

I’m going to be really honest here… A decade ago that thought would have scared me. 

And to be honest, it still kind of does, in a sense.

Even though I actually am the CEO of my business, it still just feels very surreal to me. 

Question: How Did I know that this call to CEO was a call from God and not a worldly desire or want?

One of the biggest and most important questions that I receive a lot is how did I know this was a call from God versus a worldly desire or want? 

It’s such a great question, which is why I knew I had to devote an entire podcast episode to it.

But in addition to answering that question, I’m also going to share with you what the Lord has shown me in regards to what it actually means to be called to CEO. 

But before we get into the nitty-gritty of today’s episode, I want to go ahead and let you know that the Called to CEO Collective is finally open and you can join right now.

It is a community-driven membership for faith-based business owners, creators, dreamers, and leaders who know it’s time to take bold and obedient action on their God-given callings and ultimately steward their role as a faith-fueled CEO.

I’m going to share more about this membership later, but just know that when you are inside of the membership, you get a faith-driven community and you get coaching from me, and you even get access to my faith-fueled framework That’s almost three hours long.

Which, if I’m being totally honest, is really, really low considering the value you will actually receive from being a part of the membership. Now with that being said, if you wanna learn all the nitty gritty details or just go ahead and join us at the founder’s rate, you can do so by heading to www.hannahbrindley.com/membership.

Please note that the founder’s rate will be expiring after Friday, April 7th, 2023. So if you are feeling a nudge from the Holy Spirit, after you pray and after you take a look at the info page, please make sure you go ahead and get in. So you can secure your rate.

But that being said, I do want to go ahead and answer the question. 

How do I know if God has called me to be a CEO, and how do I know if it’s just a fleshly or worldly desire or worldly want? And if it is a fleshly desire, can that change? 

This is honestly one of my favorite questions ever because even though I know the Lord initially put the nudge to have an online business and brand on my heart, there was a time in the very early stages of entrepreneurship, specifically when I was in network marketing and the first year of my coaching business, when I was being totally just fueled by worldly desires.

And even though I was stepping into the call I knew God gave me, my heart was just not in the right place, and it was a huge breakthrough and learning experience for me. 

God actually just took me on this incredible journey of redemption and taught me what it really meant to seek Him first and have a thriving Holy Spirit-led business.

And I will honestly never forget the moment He came for me. And He came for me in a season where I was just more or less obsessed with my business success.

If you just want to hear all the details of that story, I just want to encourage you to go back and listen to episode one of this show.

I share the story of how this podcast came to life, my business journey, and the major breakthrough that led to an incredible realization and turning point in my life and business that just set me up on this journey of helping others develop a fruitful faith-fueled business and life.

 But just to give you a little snapshot of what this major breakdown and breakthrough looked like.

The Moment Everything Changed In My Business

I just remember being in the backyard of my parent’s house at the time because I was living at home since my business had not taken off yet. 

I just got myself in a financial pickle. I made a lot of investments and I was in a lot of debt. Not just from investments, but from school and just credit card debt I had accrued. 

I had just invested in coaching and I think it was about three months in or so, and it just seemed like nothing was working. 

I wasn’t getting an ROI yet and I still had this big bill.

And I wondered, “What am I gonna do?” 

And I just had this major breakdown in the backyard, just walking around at my parents’ house. I just remember crying, and I opened my mouth to pray to God and just ask Him to bring a financial blessing… to bring some money and to bring a financial breakthrough.

And I kid you not, what came out of my mouth was not from me. I know it was the Holy Spirit, because like I said, I was planning on praying for a financial breakthrough and what came out of my mouth was… 

“Please take away this obsession I have with money and success and replace that with a desire and an obsession to know you and to serve you and to love you.”

And I just remember I stopped crying because I just knew God had it. I just felt this peace… This overwhelming peace that truly did pass understanding because something just changed in me.

Then the next day, I was disciplined. I was stewarding what God gave me, but I wasn’t obsessing over it. And I literally ended up somehow getting on two sales calls and I closed them both on the phone. I collected payment on the phone back to back.

I remember thinking “God, what in the world?” 

And I share this because I believe it inadvertently answers this question that you might have about whether or not God called you to be CEO and what it means to be called a CEO by God. 

It means if you are solely obsessed with your business success like I was, that is a very worldly desire over seeking Jesus.

If this is the case, you may be being fueled by your flesh in your business rather than being fueled by your faith in God. 

Now, if you feel like this may be where you’re currently at, does that mean you haven’t been called by God to be a CEO? 

Not necessarily, right? 

It just means you may not be currently fully living out the call He has for you.

It means you might be calling upon yourself and ignoring the call He has for you because you’re being fueled by your flesh and your worldly desires. 

But can that change? 

Absolutely.

Because the truth is, if you are feeling that nudge or have felt that nudge to build an online business or an online brand, or feeling a nudge to be a writer or a speaker, etc…

That nudge was planted in your heart for a reason, but it’s up to you to fully live it out as a God-giving calling.

It is totally up to you. It is up to your heart posture. 

Does that mean you won’t ever stumble? No, absolutely not. You will. We all will. I still do, but you can change. And God has the power to change that. He has the power to change your heart, but you have to seek Jesus first. 

Above all else, above your business, above your family, above money, above success, above any goals that you have.

And now I’m sure you’re probably wondering, does that mean you shouldn’t even want those things or shouldn’t steward those things? No. It is absolutely okay to want those things, and you should absolutely steward your money, your business, your time, and your relationships. 

But owning and stepping into your God-given call to CEO requires a change of heart posture.

It requires a heart posture that is purely faith-fueled, not flesh fueled, and that comes down to seeking Him first, and seeking Him first is also a heart posture. It doesn’t just mean we’re going to read our Bible study or a devotion first thing in the morning. 

You can seek Him first at every moment of every day.

We are going to be talking about faith-fueled versus flesh-fueled in a future podcast episode, which I am super pumped about. But please know that if you have a nudge to build whatever it is you want to build, it’s there for a reason. 

But it is up to you to allow the Holy Spirit to transform your heart so you can be faith-fueled and seek Him first.

And it’s also up to you to stay disciplined by taking faithful, obedient action on your call by God. And it’s also up to you to remain steadfast, even when it feels like your business success isn’t where it “should be.”  

Because if you don’t, you’re basically just calling yourself to the role of CEO

And if you call yourself to CEO, you’re never going to get to experience the fullness of what God has for you. 

Next Steps

Now, all of that being said, if you loved this episode and you know you are being called to CEO by God and you want to make sure you’re getting the support and you’re being held accountable to live out the call He’s placed on your heart, and you want to do it fueled by your faith and not by your flesh, then I want to invite you to just join us inside of the Called to CEO Collective.

The Called to CEO Collective is a community-driven membership for faith-based business owners, creators, dreamers, and leaders who know it’s time to take bold and obedient action on their God-given callings and ultimately steward their roles as faith-fueled CEOs.

I have absolutely no doubt it is what you’ve been praying for! Why? I’ve been praying for something like this for an awfully long time. 

This membership has been totally designed by the Holy Spirit to help you cultivate a deeper relationship with the Lord. We will also go deeper on topics and faith, life, and business that you learn about because honestly, it’s time to say goodbye to overconsumption and say hello to implementation.

And it is also time to work from a place of overflow from the Holy Spirit versus overwhelm and stress. And it’s also time to finally overcome these spiritual battles against the enemy that has been keeping you stuck in your life. 

Basically, it is a faith-based, community-driven membership where we go deeper on topics in faith, life, and business.

And the thing is, I have known for a really long time that business owners, creators, and leaders really need a place to process and share what they’re going through in their life and business in a safe space to receive feedback, support, and accountability… 

All without the high ticket price point.

The Lord has just pressed this on my heart for a really long time and I know you’re probably wondering…

Is there any coaching involved? 

Absolutely, there is coaching involved. 

Not only will you be with other like-minded individuals, but you’ll have an experienced and certified life coach and faith-fueled business coach at your fingertips (that’s me, btw lol), but you will have a group of other talented individuals there to support you too!

And yes, we are going to go deeper on topics together, but I’m also here to help you grow your business or whatever God-given call you have right now. 

You can get coached by posting inside the community or on our live coaching calls happening twice a month. 

That said, if you want to learn all the nitty gritty details or go ahead and join us at the current rate, you can do so by heading to www.hannahbrindley.com/membership