This is a companion blog post to Episode 18 of the CEO Kingdom Seekers Podcast. Listen to the full episode HERE (or wherever you stream podcasts.)
I recorded this episode in my car because I had things on my heart that I could not wait to get out. What I am sharing in this episode is not polished, nor a perfectly structured teaching. It's the most vulnerable I've been on this podcast to date.
So if you are reading this and you have been waiting for someone to tell you the truth about what it actually looks like to build a business God's way (not the Instagram-esque, "I prayed and everything worked out perfectly" version) this one is for you.
My Word of the Year Wrecked Me in the Best Way
At the beginning of this year, God gave me 2 words for the year: profit and prophet (I go more into how I received this spiritual nudge in the episode- God is so creative!)
For the 1st 6 moths of the year, my focus was more on PROFIT.
And before you roll your eyes or assume I am about to talk about revenue goals and quarterly targets, let me tell you what profit actually means — not the way the business world defines it, but the way God defines it.
Profit is Margin. Space. The Gap between what is absolutely needed and what is available.
Think about it this way: a business with a healthy profit margin is not just making money, it has capacity: for growth, change, and to handle the unexpected without falling apart.
And y'all, I had none of that.
For most of my life, I have operated with the pedal to the metal. All or nothing. Max capacity, all the time.
I wore my exhaustion like a badge of honor.
I thought that was what it looked like to be committed, to be faithful, to be serious about my calling.
What I did not realize was that I was operating in what Psalm 127:2 calls "anxious toil." And anxious toil, without God, is vain.
"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep."
— Psalm 127:2 (NKJV)
God was not asking me to work harder. He was asking me to create space.
What Happened When We Actually Did It
Here is the part that most people do not want to hear.
Creating margin in your business means letting some things go.
You're going to have to initiate hard conversations.
You're also going to get to follow God's direction even when the people around you do not understand it (or worse, get upset about it.)
We restructured our agency TWICE.
We had clients leave.
We had relationships change.
And I will not sugarcoat it: some of those conversations were painful. While some people were gracious and understanding, others felt slighted. And a few just disconnected entirely.
It was tough to hold, but in EVERY situation, we paused, prayed, and made sure that we had kept our word and had done our best to go above and beyond to deliver. And if we hadn't kept up our end of the deal, we made it right- financially and ethically.
We now have fewer clients than when we started our agency... and we are making more profit than we were making last year.
Let that sink in.
Our profit didn't increase because we hustled harder, or because we ran a big launch or found some new marketing strategy.
It increased because we stopped saying yes to everything when we released the clients and the opportunities that were not aligned.
And suddenly, there was suddenly space for the right things to come in.
That is not a metaphor- it's a promise.
The Wish.com Version of a God-Ordained Opportunity
Can I tell you something that I think the enemy does not want you to know?
Not every open door is from God.
Some opportunities come across your desk that look good, sound good, and seem like exactly what you have been praying for, but are really what I like to call the Wish.com version of what you actually want.
(If you have ever shopped on Wish.com, you know what I mean. You see something that looks incredible in the photo, order it, and what shows up is a five-inch version of what you thought was going to be five feet tall.)
The enemy is really good at this.
He takes the thing you are believing God for and he creates a counterfeit version of it. It looks "close enough to fool you" if you don't look closely.
And not "looking closely" will cost you your alignment, your values, and your peace if you say yes.
So how do you tell the difference?
You slow down long enough to feel it. You drop into that inner discernment, the one the Holy Spirit has been developing in you, and you ask:
- Does this require me to drift from my mission?
- Does this require me to compromise my values?
- Does this require me to be someone I am not?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, that is a sign that the opportunity is not a God-ordained opportunity.
And often times, saying no to the Wish.com version is the very thing that creates space for the real thing to arrive.
What God Has Been Calling Me Back To
God also laid the word PROPHET on my heart this year.
And in the middle of all of this restructuring and releasing and creating margin, God started
The first was speaking. The second was writing.
Now, if you know my story, you know that writing has been part of my life for a very long time. I have been a writer since I was a child. And for a season, I moved away from it to chase, build, and focus on other things.
But God kept pulling me back to writing, through READING.
Here is what I have come to understand about myself: my primary spiritual gift is that of the professor.
I am wired to teach, to break down complex truths and make them accessible, and to take what God has shown me and put it into language that other people can actually use.
And the way I do that (aka the way God has designed me to do that?)
It's by taking what I've learned, and sharing it through writing and speaking.
This podcast (and blog) are both part of that.
The content I create on TikTok and YouTube and Instagram is part of it too.
And this summer, we are going to go even deeper, because I am planning a full series on the seven spiritual gifts- what they are, how they work, and how you can use yours to build a business that actually looks like Jesus.
What the Good News Has to Do with Your Business
Here is the thing I want you to sit with.
The "good news", aka the Gospel, is not just something we proclaim on Sunday mornings.
It also not just something we post about on social media or talk about in church circles.
It is something we are supposed to embody in the way we run our businesses, lead our teams, serve our clients, and show up in the world.
I believe with everything in me that when people experience interacting with us, it should make them want to know Jesus more. When they watch how we handle conflict, how we respond to disappointment, how we treat the people who work for us and with us, they should se HIM reflected back.
Not because we are perfect. But because we are different than those who don't know Jesus (yet!)
We have peace in situations that should produce panic.
We forgive people who do not deserve it by worldly standards.
We trust God even when the numbers do not make sense.
And because we create margin in a culture that worships hustle.
That's what the Good News looks like lived out in the real world...
And your business is one of the most powerful platforms you have to share it.
But here is the part that I think we miss:
Sharing the good news means sharing both the love and the truth.
Jesus' love will bring people in. But if we never tell them the truths about what following Him actually costs, what the Holy Spirit will require of them, and the beautiful, painful, life-altering process of real transformation...
We are only giving them half the story.
We have to talk about the both/and of following Jesus.
What Regulated Roots Academy Is Really About
I want to take a moment to share what we are building at Regulated Roots Academy, because I think sometimes people hear "business academy" and they assume it is just another course platform.
It is not.
Yes, you will learn how to build offers and structure your operations and grow a team and scale sustainably.
Yes, you will take the SAGE Spiritual Gifts Diagnostic and discover how God uniquely designed you to show up in the marketplace.
Yes, you will get access to masterclasses, Bible studies, and live training calls.
But the real goal, which is the thing that gets me out of bed every morning, is this:
When people learn inside Regulated Roots Academy, they learn how to build businesses that make people want to know Jesus more.
That is the mission, the good news we are here to proclaim.
My Invitation to You
Have you been building without margin?
If you have been saying yes to everything and wondering why you are exhausted and misaligned and quietly resentful, I want to invite you to do ONE thing this week.
Ask God what needs to go.
Not what you should add.
Not what new strategy you should implement.
What needs to GO?
What relationships, what clients, what commitments, what habits are filling up the space that God is trying to create in your life and your business?
And then (this is the hard part) be OBEDIENT.
Even if it costs you something.
Even if some people do not understand.
Even if it feels like you are going backward before you go forward.
Because on the other side of that obedience, there is margin.
And in that margin, there is space for God to do what only He can do.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
— Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
He is faithful.
I have seen it in my own business. And I believe you will see it in yours.
Always Rooting for You,
Dr. Lee
Ready to Build Your Business God's Way?
If this resonated with you, here are a few ways to take the next step:
Join our FREE Skool Community — Connect with other faith-led entrepreneurs who are building businesses rooted in God's design. It is free, it is real, and it is full of people who get it.
skool.com/regulatedrootsacademy
Discover Your Unique Spiritual Gift Prfile — Take the SAGE Spiritual Gifts Diagnostic, access our core masterclasses, and get the tools you need to build a regulated, aligned, and profitable business.
growinyourgifts.com
Work with Our Agency — If you are ready for high-level, personalized support in your offers, operations, team, or scaling strategy, we would love to connect.
regulatedroots.com/agency
Or just shoot us an email at hello@regulatedroots.com and tell us where you are- because we are here, and we want to hear from you.
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Dr. Lee C. Cordell
Co-Founder of Regulated Roots Academy & Agency
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