Have you ever felt unqualified for the dream God has given you? You are not alone. Polly Payne shares how she learned the value of her creative nature, given by the Creator, and how He transitioned her out of a career in corporate advertising to use her gifts for a ministry and business that would glorify God and serve His people. You’ll learn about the challenges, strategies, and faith journey in her career shift, how she’s sharing her knowledge and experience with other creators, and the profound effect of surrendering our dreams and their outcomes to God's control.
249 || How to Go All in with Your Dream Right from the Start || Simone Ispahani
As a college student, Simone Ispahani learned the devastating truth about the millions of victims worldwide who suffer from human trafficking. With newfound perspective, she began to learn as much as she could about the issue, and in 2021, she founded Social Brew, a global e-commerce coffee marketplace devoted to fighting human trafficking through profits shared with organizations committed to the cause.
246 || [Solo] The #1 Reason to Start Pursuing Your Dream before You Feel Ready || Merritt Onsa
One of the biggest lies keeping dreamers stuck is thinking you are lacking something necessary to begin. It’s like there’s a box to check, an accomplishment to achieve, or a degree to earn before you can truly begin on the dream in earnest. Well, that’s just not true. In this episode, you’re going to hear what’s at stake if you wait to feel ready, the truth about what pursuing a dream is really like (instead of what you’ve made up in your head), and strategies for starting before you feel ready.
221 || Is It Possible to Find Meaningful Work in Our Changing World? || Michaela O’Donnell
The world of work has changed in the last decade. Yet the question remains: Is it possible to align work with a sense of calling while also navigating equally demanding personal roles and responsibilities? Michaela O’Donnell is no stranger to questions like these. Through starting her own company and listening to others, she has come to believe that we are all called to be part of God’s big redemptive work in this world.
201 || [Mini] This is What Happens When You Suddenly Go Viral on TikTok || Katie Bulmer
Katie Bulmer returns to the Devoted Dreamers Podcast to remind us of what really matters, especially once you achieve something you’ve worked toward for a long time. When a 30-second video she created went viral on TikTok, she felt blindsided. This short conversation is all about the unexpected reactions, how she dealt with criticism from strangers, and what she learned as a result.
167 || Freedom to Show Up in the World with Your Gifts || Katie Wussow
Business coach Katie Wussow launched her dream out of necessity. Instead of giving in to fear and doing something safe (like getting a job) she faced her fears, took a big risk, and chose her dream instead. God used that practical necessity to bring her dream to life, and today Katie is serving the clients she loves in the ways she always dreamed: helping early-stage service-based creative entrepreneurs put a strong foundation in place so they can make a full-time income doing what they love.
135 || How to Make Time for Your Dream Every Day || Stefanie Gass
This one is for the dreamer who thinks she’s too busy to pursue her God-shaped dream. Stephanie Gass shares a little tough love and a reminder that there IS time for your dream; it just might mean planning out your days differently, prioritizing what matters, and forgetting about the rest. She’ll teach us that where we are right now may not be the destination and that it’s important to get healthy—and how she did that—before you really get busy on your dream.
134 || Because Your Dream Is Not Too Big for God || Rachel Pellegrino
In the midst of grief, Rachel Pellegrino couldn’t have imagined what she’d be doing today; the dream to publish children’s books wasn’t even on her radar. But a few business courses, lots of prayer, a conversation with her husband, and some outreach to people in an industry she’d never worked in brought this dream to fruition. Today, she’s building a legacy for her daughter, serving families in search of high-quality, values-based books for kids, and helping authors launch their books into the world.
133 || How to Center Your Life on What Matters || Tonya Dalton
Productivity expert, writer, speaker, and owner of inkWELL Press Tonya Dalton shares her vision for helping women center their lives not on doing more but on doing what’s most important. Tonya teaches us that having clarity on your dream doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to pursue and how facing challenges helps grow your dependence on Jesus. You will grow in confidence as you hear her story about not giving up and the choices she made when she had no idea what she was doing.
114 || How to Let Your Faith Lead Your Dream || Amber Brannon
Entrepreneur Amber Brannon wants to unleash stunning design on the world. You’ll learn from her the importance of being clear about who you are (and who you aren’t) as you pursue your dream. She describes what that process was like for her company, Copperheart Creative, and how it helped them discover the types of clients they love to serve. Amber teaches us what she learned from trying to control everything – including that it’s not possible – and how she’s letting Jesus take control, instead.
099 || Because Building Community Matters to Your Dream || Jessica Reinhart
In this episode, Jessica Reinhart shares her journey to encourage others toward authentic community. She talks about her favorite personality profile tool, The Elements Assessment, and reminds us of the value in knowing ourselves and others. You’ll be inspired to uncover new ways to build community whether in pursuit of your dream or among your neighbors. She also teaches us how to search out people to work alongside us in our dreams and what to look for as we seek the right fit in these relationships.
095 || Because You'll Never Be Fully Ready to Start || Megan Sjuts
In this episode, graphic designer Megan Sjuts of Building 07 teaches us her favorite strategy for combating the ugly feelings that come with comparing yourself to others. You’ll hear how she discovered graphic design (and it wasn’t because she went looking for it as a career) and why not knowing the path in advance doesn’t make it wrong. She also shares the lessons learned from a difficult conversation she had early on with one of her first clients. These will be vital to anyone who is starting a business or dealing with client communications.
086 || How to Lean into God’s Purpose for You || Wendy Bohling
Wendy Bohling is passionate about building a community of working women with faith. Along with her team of speakers and facilitators, Wendy is hosting the Not Just a Rib Conference for Working Women with Faith in Louisville, Colorado on April 28th. In this interview, you’ll hear why she has felt “not good enough” to pursue this dream and learn how God has grown and equipped her to follow it anyway. She talks about the importance of getting quiet before God, so you can hear what He’s saying to you, and believing He knows your needs even when you have no idea where provision for your dream will come from.
084 || How to Align Your Dream with God's Dream for You || Elizabeth Grace Saunders
Author and time management expert, Elizabeth Saunders, talks in this episode about the value of owning and sharing your truth, even if some people might not like it. She shares her dream of helping others connect with divine time management principles and draw closer to God as well as revealing how God used her dream to convict and change her heart. She also explains how we can trust God with our time and the choices we make about how we use what He’s given us.
080 || Letting Grief Fuel Your Dream || Halley Mastrolonardo
As she prepares to meet their first child, Halley Mastrolonardo shares the best advice she’s received thus far: to know your season of life. That applies to all of us as it relates to our God-shaped dreams. Halley teaches us about letting go of what people think of us—and how that connects to confession and transparency in our lives. She talks about how grief, surprisingly, was the thing that spurred her on to pursue her dream. In fact, she says taking those risks to move forward was the thing that kept her from drowning in despair.
076 || Believing God's Faithfulness Above Your Self-Doubt || Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
In this interview, Dorcas Cheng-Tozun reminds us a that just because the path is difficult, or we cannot see the fruit of our work, or that we feel stuck and alone in this moment, that doesn’t mean God’s not with us or we’re not following the right dream. She also shares about the value of knowing yourself and learning to accept and embrace who God made you. She reminds us about keeping the Sabbath and that no matter your calling, you need breaks from work, technology, and the day-to-day demands. And finally, she suggests that if you’re feeling stuck it might just be God inviting you into deeper communion with Him.
All this and more including how to stay married to (and in love with) your entrepreneur spouse and their family’s rules about date nights, cell phone breaks and family time make this a don’t-miss episode of the podcast!
069 || How To Prioritize Your Kids AND Your Dream || Rebekah Scott
Rebekah Scott has loved sewing since she was four years old, kneeling next to her mom and begging to cut some scraps of fabrics to create something on her own. She started Rebekah Scott Designs in 2003 because she wanted to have children and be able to stay at home to raise them by her side--and she wanted to help others do the same. She loves what she has grown over these years through her business, and her four little ones continue to inspire her, put smiles on her heart, and remind her of the reason behind it all.
052 || Moving from Overworked Employee to Profitable Entrepreneur || Kelsey Chapman
After launching her own dreams at Radiant Collective & The Radiant Podcast, Kelsey has funneled her efforts into helping other women launch theirs. It is her heart to equip women to turn their dreams into profitable ventures that can allow them to live with both freedom in their finances and their time. Kelsey wholeheartedly believes dreams are worth pursuing and loves walking alongside women to bring their visions to life in a tangible way!
Devoted Dreamers: 47 - Hope Mangiafico: Entrepreneur | Health Enthusiast | Encouraging Hearts
Hope Mangiafico’s mission is to help others recognize that whatever their current situation may be, there is always hope. Because of her own experience living with a Type I Diabetes diagnosis, Hope wants to help people recognize their worth beyond a label or life-stage that could currently be holding them back from living the life God created them to live. Hope is passionate about working with people through their health journey, and she works locally and online with clients on personal training, nutrition coaching, and business mentoring.
032 || Getting Past Fear to Find Your Dream || Amber Brannon
Instead of listening to God, graphic designer Amber Brannon says she was fearful of the unknown in the dream He’d given her. And then there was that day He made it abundantly clear that she was to leave her agency job to create a business of her own. So, with fear and trepidation, she took that step and found herself in a dream job that’s provided more than enough for her needs and allowed her to build a design business full of heart for telling her clients’ stories.