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Differently
The Purpose Gathering with Ashley Freehan
If you’ve wondered what it would look like to bring your faith into your business - this conversation might be just what your heart needs today.
What happens when you decide to weave your faith into every aspect of your business? That's the question at the heart of my conversation with Ashley Freehan, Founder of the Purpose Gathering.
Our friendship began with a simple podcast swap, but God had bigger plans. This divine connection came during seasons when we were both seeking clarity in our businesses—a time of uncertainty that ultimately led to an unexpected partnership.
We share the story of saying yes to God, what it looks like to weave faith into every part of our work, and how our journeys led us to collaborate on The Purpose Gathering Collective.
If you are tired of feeling like you're failing at everything while trying to balance motherhood and business? Join us at our upcoming event on September 24th in Gilbert, Arizona. We are designing a workshop where you can refocus, reconnect and recharge. We will go deeper into moving from fear to faith and building a business that aligns to your values. We'd love to see you there.
Save your spot:
Ashley's previous episode: Creating Your Ideal Week: Making Time for What Matters Most
Learn more about Carla:
Website: https:/www.carlareeves.com/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevescarla/
Connect on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@differentlythepodcast
Go to https://carlareeves.com/free-class to get The Class schedule, sign up, and/or pass it on to a friend. Each month is a new topic. Come hang out and learn with us for FREE!
Book a Complimentary Strategy Call with Carla: https://bookme.name/carlareeves/strategycall
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Thank you for listening!
A deep change in the way that we live requires a deep change in the way that we think. I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently. If you've been wondering what it looks like to weave your faith into your business, I have been too, and today you're going to listen in on a conversation I had with Ashley Freehand, the founder of the Purpose Gathering. We talk about an unexpected friendship, listening to invitations from God and how all of this has intertwined our journeys. The Purpose Gathering is where faith, family and business collide.
Speaker 1:Ashley has been on the podcast before talking about creating your week, so you have time for what matters most. That was on September 5th of 2024. If you want to go back, the conversation I'm going to share with you. We talk about entrepreneurship, about stepping into fear, what it looks like to listen to God, motherhood, aligning your business and more. If these topics speak to you at the end of our conversation, don't miss our special invitation for you to join us at an upcoming live event that she is putting on. So settle in, grab your coffee, get comfy and get ready for some real connection and conversation about things that matter to us and, I believe, things that matter to you too. Enjoy.
Speaker 2:Hello friends, welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 2:I am so excited to be here yet again with Carla Reeves, who has turned into such an incredible friend, and I cannot wait for today's episode, which is going to be a little bit different.
Speaker 2:It is not gonna be your traditional interview where I am just interviewing Carla. This is a collaborative interview where we are gonna just be having a candid conversation, just like we would voice, messaging each other back and forth and really talking about how we have connected on a deeper level, how we have both said yes to this invitation that God has given us, what it has looked like to have this fast-tracked friendship where we were just talking before we hit record about how this friendship has evolved quickly and it's so aligned and it was like the friendship we never knew we needed. So I'm really excited to get into it. But I wanted Carla to just remind you who she is, in case maybe you're hearing from her for the first time. So, carla, I'm so glad you're here. Will you let everybody know a little bit about who you are, who you live with and what you do?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I'm excited to be here too and excited for the conversation. And who I am? I'm a mom. I'm a wife. We've been married almost 24 years. I have two adult sons. I live with my husband and our dog, hair elderly dog Harry. I think last time I was on the podcast our son was living with us still, but we are now have an empty nest, like 2010. I started out on a team of coaches and went out under my own brand. My brand today is Differently Co, so I'm a founder of Differently Co and it's a life strategy company where really it's about renewing your mind to renew your life. So it's all focused on managing your mind to really make lasting, important change in your life.
Speaker 2:I love that, and she has an amazing podcast that you should listen to that will link in my show notes so that you guys can go connect with her even more, so good, okay, so let's take all of the listeners back just a little bit to how we actually connected. So do you want to share that story about how we even decided to connect?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I just want to extend so much gratitude to Karen Harris, because I think she listens to your podcast and it really is all her. She was helping me at that time and she found you on that podcast collaborative, which I'm not even a part of anymore, I'm not either and she I can't remember if she listened to your podcast before that or if she found you then, because I know she started listening to your podcast and she brought it to me and was like I think this would be a great podcast for you. And I looked at all you were doing and I was like yes, yes, yes. And I can't tell you the gratitude I have of her making that connection to you, because we did the podcast and then I mean that was amazing and great. And then you came on my podcast and then I don't think we talked for a while.
Speaker 2:I know we lost touch.
Speaker 1:You reached back out and asked me to speak at your event, and I was just so honored that you asked.
Speaker 2:We were just looking at the date on this too, because our podcast swap was back in September of last year, so 2024, and a lot of time had passed and I was hosting this event. I can't remember when I reached out, but I'm pretty sure it was like Christmas time, so maybe a few months later. Um, because my event was coming up April 2025. And I just remember, like, thinking about who, I was kind of nervous, honestly, of putting up a podcast app or, I'm sorry, not podcast, but a speaker application for people to apply to speak, because I was just like I don't know what kind of people I'm going to be getting, and so I did that.
Speaker 2:I put that up, but while I had, like you know, random people coming in applying to speak, I just felt like the Lord put your name on my heart and I was like man I haven't talked to her in a while, but I remember our conversation and just being like man I haven't talked to her in a while, but you're, I remember our conversation and just being like there was something so different literally different about you and I was like I really resonated with, with our conversations and I was like I really I want to reach out and just see what she, what she thinks. So I reached out and just asked you know, hey, I would love to have you speak. What do you think?
Speaker 1:So when you got that email, how are you feeling? Well, like you. I just remembered now, like I think there's still connections that you and I are still discovering in this, but like I just remembered now that I had dreamed of speaking somewhere where I could speak about my faith too, because I had never done that and like that had been a dream of mine. And so when you sent that email, I was just like, oh my gosh, like this is the perfect opportunity to do that, and so that was like it had been a dream in my heart for a while and honestly, I was so thrilled to be able to weave all the important parts of my life together at that event in a talk and share that and I mean the experience of doing that is a whole nother thing. I don't know if we're going to get to, but that experience was really profound for me too.
Speaker 2:Yes, we will definitely get into that, because I think that is what has led us to where we are. It was that, just that connection that we both felt, and I don't know, though, that I would have reached out in that way had you not approached me. So we'll get to that. We'll get to that, yes, but I think it's just so interesting how divine like these connections are, and we have to be paying attention, right. And I know a lot of people, you know we like to say like, oh, it was such a coincidence that we found each other Right, and, as believers, I don't believe in coincidence, I believe that everything is appointed by the Lord, and so that little nudging on my heart to reach out and invite her, that was divine, and her response to actually come and to be a part of it also divine, right. So I want to share that, because I think so often, like we, we get a little bit nervous about reaching out or maybe putting ourselves out there and, sorry, I'm a little bit trying to get over a cold, so I'm clearing my throat a lot, that's why but I feel like, where was I going?
Speaker 2:Um, the just the idea of reaching out to someone, right? Oh, I know what I was going to say was just the idea of hosting a faith-based event. That was a big leap, for me too, um, and that's something that the Lord invited me to do and called me to do. And I was terrified because I was like I have an audience of some believers but a lot of non-believers, and you know, if I put this event out like I don't even know if anyone's going to come, right, and so it was just answering God's call and his invitation, even when it felt scary and even when I had no idea if it was going to turn out, and I just took that leap and went for it.
Speaker 2:And and so I want to talk a little bit about this connection and this friendship, and so we can kind of, um, like fast forward a little bit to the actual like event piece and kind of where that has led us today. Um, so maybe share with us a little bit about we're at the event, so we're fast forwarding to the event. So it's April, whatever day that was, I don't even remember and we had just finished day one of the event. It was a two day event and I remember you walking up to me the second day and you just felt so called to talk to me and you were like I think there's something here so like can you just share with us like what happened on day one. What was that transformative experience, what drew you to come in to talk to me and we'll kind of chat through that more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, gosh, there's so many pieces to that. But yeah, day one was just such a beautiful, incredible day no-transcript created. And then after I spoke, like that whole day, I had so many women come up to me like more than any other speaking event that I had spoken at, that like something struck them, whether it was the writing piece or the journaling, or like they felt called to like start writing and getting in their journal again, or there were just so many things, not to mention just the rest of the speakers that day, the interactions that are you know, our family table, I think you call them where we stayed at the same table with the same women and had very deep conversation and tears and there was an openness and a like almost just a connection already with the women that were there that day. It was really amazing and I left that day Normally I leave events like that feeling very drained and tired from all the outward energy and I felt just invigorated.
Speaker 1:I felt energized and on my drive home I felt God prompt me, like you need to talk to Ashley tomorrow and there's something here and just talk to her, and I was like what? Like I just it felt like crazy, right, like sometimes, when God impresses something and for people who may not have maybe you haven't experienced this yet, but sometimes it's just like an impression. I feel almost it's not like an audible voice for me, um, but I just it's like an impression and you just know it's not from you. And so I did. I went home and I prayed about it and sat with it, and the next morning I came up to you and I just said like I think there's something here, like I feel so aligned to what you're doing. I would like to help in any way I can. And you just fell to tears and that was like even more, just like, oh my gosh, what's happening?
Speaker 2:Those tears. I still remember them because I had been feeling the same prompting and the same impression of being like you're not meant to do this alone. You know, and like I, it's funny because the Purpose Gathering Collective has been the name of my program since I started in 2019. And it's funny, but it's not funny, it's a little God wink, but I literally started in 2020 was my first membership community called the Purpose Gathering Collective, and it's called a mastermind community for mompreneurs and full circle. I mean, if you've been following me for the past six years, you know that the Purpose Gathering Collective has been five different things. It's kept the same name, but I've changed what it looked like. Sometimes it was an in-person meetup group, one time it was an online membership, right, and now it's back to being an online membership, but with a in-person component as well. And so I just so.
Speaker 2:It's always been the collective and I never understood why it was called the collective until recently, when I just felt the Lord saying like you're not the only coach, like you're not the only leader of this collective, you are not going to do this alone. You are here to amplify other voices as well as your own, but not to stand on a pedestal and be better than or more wise than You're. You're on their level and you're just pointing them to the one who is on the pedestal right, the Lord, the one that everyone should be looking towards. We're going to get into it more detail, but this beautiful transformation of just being like.
Speaker 2:I showed up at that event feeling so confused and like lost, pretty much Like I knew that I was doing what the Lord was calling me to do, but I didn't know the next step. And I knew he was calling me to build this collective, but I didn't know what it was. I knew parts of it, I knew some. I felt like in that moment it was the most beautiful gift that God gave me you, because we then went on this journey of trying to figure out what it even would look like to be partners and what it would look like to work together, and maybe you can share a little bit about that story, of your perspective of like, how that has played out of like how that has played out.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, like because I was in the same place. I'd been in this year and a half of uncertainty and in my business and not knowing, knowing things had to reset, like I um, I had like was experiencing so much fruit in our life, in all the other places, but my business wasn't feeling fruitful like it had and I knew things had to reset. And I'd been in this dialogue with God for like a year and a half of trying to figure it out and Him basically telling me stop, stop trying to figure it out and just show up and I'll reveal the next step. So that's where I was when I came to the event and my talk was called to be different and it was really about, like, staying in step with God, even when you don't know. Like that day I spoke, I didn't, I didn't have clarity on my business then and then and then.
Speaker 1:So, after I approached you that day, we got together for lunch and honestly, we've never talked about this, ashley. But that lunch I came home thinking I don't think there's anything here. Like it was kind of weird. It was a little bit awkward, we didn't really have any clarity and I'm like I just came home. I remember talking to my husband like I'm not sure there's anything there, and I remember feeling like a little sad and then I can't remember what we did next because we didn't stop there, we did something else, and then I think it was just a zoom call.
Speaker 2:You were like maybe we just hop on a zoom call for two and let us kind of marinate on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I felt like I felt called to just support you and what you were building. You were in a still in a little space of like uncertainty or fear I can't remember exactly what that was and I just felt called to support you and so we just kind of went down that path for a while and, honestly, I think that's where everything started to like just got in motion. Like that is way beyond me. There's just like things just started moving and we're just on the God bus going. This is cool, like we're excited about what's happening Seriously.
Speaker 2:And it was so cool, though, to be able to get on the call with you and, literally unapologetically, just cry and be like I don't know what I'm doing, like I don't, I don't know, and you're like it's OK not to know, and that was so freeing for me because I was like, really, but I thought I had to have it all together, right, like I thought I had to know the next step.
Speaker 1:Well, and Ashley, this is like I want to capture this for the listener because I had just been through a season of 18 plus months of not knowing and like having to walk through uncertainty for like months after months after months, and like, when you look at that, what you just said, it's like God prepares us to. Then I was prepared to help you through that season, right, and say, it's okay, you don't have to know, I've been through this, it's okay and this is what God does, and he has us show up in other people's lives and I used to be so focused on, like serving in my business and I've just given that up. I'm just here to serve people every conversation and I don't know. It's just cool to watch what has happened.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, I wish that like. I remember after the first couple I was like we should record these. These are so good, like, so good. I wish that we could go back and like hear we should record these. These are so good, like, so good. I wish that we could go back and like hear what we talked about, cause I know we didn't record many of them, but the but I did take notes, Like I just remember being like she has so many nuggets of wisdom that I need, you know, like you've been through what I'm going through and just giving me that courage to keep going, even when I didn't know, and to step out in faith. And funny enough, like another non-coincidence, carla and I were both going through the same Bible study, you know, and the Armor of God by Priscilla Shire that I have turned many people on to. So if you're not on that train yet, get on it.
Speaker 2:It's the most life-changing Bible study that you will do I have ever done.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, it's incredible. And I mean this is why it is the pillar foundation in the collective is because it's just everything that you need to get through the hard parts of life and the joyful parts is like God gave you everything that you need and access to him, and so I think it was just really cool to also be able to share that with each other and that was just another layer of depth that we were able to have to share and to talk about. Able to to have to share and to talk about. And I just think that was not a coincidence that we both were going through that at the same exact time and I mean there's just so many conversations that we had where I left just being like you were the gift I didn't know I needed.
Speaker 2:You know like you were the encouragement to keep going when I had no idea what I was doing and I don't know where the idea of the partner coach came in, but I was like I think it would be so helpful to not you know again what the Lord was speaking to me, like it would be so helpful not to be the only coach, like, so someone else could hear a different perspective, where someone would be able to talk to Carla about the mindset piece, right, because that's so huge and and I have some, you know, knowledge about mindset, but not as much as Carla, and we're not meant to know everything, right, and and I am not afraid to tell people that I'm not gifted at everything. And so I propose that idea to you of, like, what do you think about a partner coach and what that might look like, and we're still figuring it out. But when I came to you with that idea, what was your initial thought?
Speaker 1:Oh, my gosh, I was so excited, going back to that day, of that event and me being in a space of like a lot of still a lot of uncertainty and not knowing, still dealing with a lot of fear, doubt and confusion in my head. And that was I think that was maybe I don't think I had started the armor of God study at that time, but anyways, a lot of fear, doubt and confusion and that day, a lot of the women in the room I was a lot older than the women in the room, even though I didn't really realize it, like I just don't think about that. But at the table, at my table, they started calling me their table mom and I'm like, oh yeah, I think I could be your mom, but it felt like it was so that was such a gift to me. And some of the other mom business owners in the room like they came up and said, like you brought such a space of calm and like we need this voice.
Speaker 1:I think young women, moms, feel so much pressure to like be a mom and build your business and like do it all, and they feel so hurried. And I think that that was something. Like you know, I'm on the other side of all of that, looking back and I did have a business when my kids were little, but I think I could bring like a space that is calm, that helps calm people down and realize you have time for all the things that really matter and don't get caught up in these other things, right, that we're so prone to just get me, too, to get caught up in. And so when you asked me to bring a partner coach, like that day was very like God showed me who I am and what I could bring to the table. That was really different than you like, because you bring so much, but there was never for me like a competitive thing with you, like I, just in the more we work together, the more I see like where we each fill in very different pieces. So I was honored and excited and still am.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love it. And the other thing that we talked about too, which kind of goes back to what we said of not having all the answers, and that being okay, is that we kind of just talked about like what if we just try this for four months and see how it works, you know, and then after that we can tweak, we can revisit, we can always change things, and I am a recovering perfectionist where I feel like everything has to be perfectly figured out.
Speaker 2:I was telling Carla this on one of our calls, where I was just like, but what if this happens? And I'm like the old me would have went down that rabbit trail and been like I need to figure out all of the potential problems and find solutions for them now, instead of being like do I really need to worry about problems that are not there yet, or can I just wait and then, if that becomes a problem, I can tackle it? Then Right, and I think like that has been a blessing too is just having that freedom and you just reminding me like it's okay for you to change your mind, it's okay for you to say this is not working. Right, like, and I don't have to feel bad about coming to you and saying I don't think this is working. Can we try something else? Right, like the old me also would have been like I can't say that I don't think this is working. Can we try something else?
Speaker 2:Right, like the old me also would have been like I can't say that I don't want to make, I don't want to hurt her feelings, I don't want to make her feel bad, you know, and it's like when you, when there's that trust built and that open door, but we also are not relying on our own strength which I think is what makes this even better is because we can both go to the Holy Spirit, we can both pray about it, and then we come together, like with this podcast, how we came together, and I was like this is my idea, and she was like I was having the same thought, like we should do that too, and so it's just so helpful to know that it's not all on us, like we have the power of God who's working within both of us, and we know that he is here, that he is, his hand is in all of this.
Speaker 1:That's the biggest like relief to me, like really blending faith and business in my life, like all together in like one big pot of soup. You know it's like because it wasn't always that way for me. It, you know I kept it more separate, um, but it takes so much pressure off and for people listening, like I'm just learning, like we don't have to operate with so much urgency and pressure and stress and like it's just not necessary. And now it's like when I am doing that I know I need to like back off and surrender and let go because I'm trying to do too much and it really is possible. You know it's, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. So do we want to transition and talk a little bit about the collective and what that is Okay, about the collective and what that is Okay, okay. So you mentioned that at the very like day one I hadn't really talked about the collective. I maybe like briefly teased that I was going to be inviting people to like, if you want more of this, I have, you know, something coming tomorrow. But so after the, the second day, when I talked about the collective which, by the way, was terrified to talk about because again, I, had no idea like what it really was.
Speaker 2:I kind of knew like the logistics but I didn't really know, like what the transformation was going to be. But like over the time, I mean you started to hear my heart about what the collective was and what I wanted it to be and like what do you feel? Like kind of drew you in where you were like yes, I want to be a partner coach, like yes, that sounds like something I want to be a part of.
Speaker 1:Yes, I want to answer that. Do you want to share, like your original inspiration? First for it, sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know Now I'm trying to think. I'm like Back in January of this year, I launched a new program and, for those of you listening who are program launchers, you just like to create programs and create offers. I can 100% relate. I was very, very good at creating new offers, not so great at selling the offers I'm working on that but I would get an idea and I would create an offer and then I would like sell it and then I would be like, okay, what's next? Like I want to create something else and I really had a hard time like refining and just being okay with, like, letting the offer evolve and grow and change.
Speaker 2:And so in 2025, january, I launched a brand new program called the Organized CEO Bootcamp and it was a six-week program all about how to get organized in your business A lot of the same things that I teach in the collective. But it left out one of my favorite parts, which is the personal part, and the most important part, which is the faith part, and so it was just business most important part, which is the faith part, and so it was just business, and I knew when I launched this that there was more coming. I'd like the Lord had already been stirring in my heart that I was pivoting my audience from mom business owners to Christian mom business owners. I knew that there was going to be a new offer. It was going to be called the purpose gathering collective but I just didn't understand what it was going to be. And so I had this other offer, this offer that I was like I love this, but I want more. And so I launched that and I knew that I wanted to incorporate that faith and that personal peace, but I just didn't know how. I didn't know how it was going to work. And so just over those four months it was just constant, like prayer, reflection, journaling, you know, chatting on Voxer with my friends and just being like I don't know what I'm doing, but this is what I feel like I'm doing.
Speaker 2:And so it just evolved and eventually, like I think at the event, what I had decided on was that it's going to be a membership, an ongoing membership, because I didn't want it to be a program where it started and stopped, because I wanted people to join at any time, at any you know space in their business, any place of their business, right?
Speaker 2:I wanted them to be able to pop in, get support, but to stay for at least four months so that they could, you know, connect with the community and really become a sisterhood, like that was. One of the key components was I wanted people to feel like they didn't have to shoulder the burdens alone, knew like the logistical, like time piece. I knew we were going to meet once a week because I'm a habit coach and I know that if you want to form a habit, you can't just show up twice a month or once a month. So I was like it has to be weekly and and I knew I don't actually even know if I knew the foundation, like the pillars that we, that we're talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't. I don't know that you you did either, because I don't think you shared those that day.
Speaker 2:I don't either. I think I was just like if you like what this is, this is what it's going to be.
Speaker 1:But I was like like.
Speaker 2:I was basically just like I don't know what it's going to look like, but it's going to be a sisterhood and we're going to have God at the forefront and we're going to talk about business, we're going to talk about your family and we're going to tie it all together. I am like a time management coach. I talk about accountability and habit formation, and I was like it's going to be all of that like in a package, but I don't know what it looks like and that's all I had, you guys. And I just showed up and I said this is all I have. If you're interested, let me know, you know. And so that was terrifying for me because I like to know. I almost didn't. I almost didn't pitch it at all, I almost just didn't.
Speaker 1:It was so beautiful the way you did it, because it's just so real. Yeah, really, really, really really.
Speaker 2:I don't remember what I said, but I just remember feeling like that sucked, like I did not do a good job.
Speaker 1:No, you did do a good job. You did a good job. That whole event and that I think I mean the way who you were being at that event is also what drew me in. But what's crazy is like, fast forward in my story, like you again, you and I haven't talked about this, but when I was going through that 18 months of like not knowing the shape of my business or where God was leading me, um, he told me, like people, like he created this, a little bit of like, um, not urgency, but like, act swiftly.
Speaker 1:People are going to need greater tools, that there's so much change in our world right now and so much fear and things are moving faster than they ever have and people are going to need to be equipped with tools. And you've been teaching these tools all these years and like, give them away and that you know. That day that I spoke and everybody you know you'd already been taught like journaling was already a part of what you were doing in your work also, that was like another connecting thread and that day, everybody that came up to me were so moved by the writing piece of things and I just saw this, these puzzle pieces coming together and that feeling that God had been calling me. Like just give it away, equip people. So just show up, help her, like I didn't know where it was all going.
Speaker 1:But that's what I felt Wow.
Speaker 2:That is so cool. I know he just moves in such amazing ways. You know, like because had we never connected at this event, I mean we would have been doing our separate things, but we're already so aligned and why? Why not come together and amplify each other's voices? You know, what you have to offer is definitely different than what I have to offer, but we both have the same general idea of like.
Speaker 2:We want to equip moms with another way, like with God's way, like there is a easier, lighter, more fruitful and peaceful way than what we have been fed, which is the worldly way that's in our face every day, and it was like we both just have the same overall vision of supporting women that are trying to do both raising a family and growing a business, and it's it feels impossible, and I think a love for God and a love for our families, right?
Speaker 1:Oh, there was something I was going to say just to what you said, that there is a different way. Oh, that like I you know, know, because I think we're going to transition to kind of the event, right, that's coming, um, but I had been a slave to fear for so long in my life and that's it that this event, like there was so much beauty, like I just I don't know, I know you'll transition us into that, but yeah, the fear, running a, running a business on pressure and fear and urgency, like I'm just done with that. That doesn't have to be the way. There is a different way.
Speaker 2:Right that that doesn't have to be the way. There is a different way, right? Well, and now with the collective, I feel like it's a lot more pointed towards helping moms break through overwhelm. I have found the transformation that I was trying to articulate. That took me forever and it was like the collective is a way that moms can come who are just feeling beat down, overwhelmed, stressed, tired of the hustle culture, tired of feeling like they're failing at everything, and they want to just align to the most important priorities.
Speaker 2:That's how we came up with the foundational habits of making sure that you are suiting up for armor every day, that you are taking care of your physical, emotional, mental capacity. Right, you are being intentional with your family and not just waiting for perfect moments to connect, but that you're creating perfect moments, or not perfect, but you know what I mean. You're creating those moments, you're waiting for them, you're expecting them, whether they're small or big. Like you're being intentional with your time and with your kids, with your spouse, with your family, like everyone. Right, that intentionality. And then you know moving into aligning your life I'm sorry, your business with the Lord and what that looks like, and how to discern God's voice and how to actually know what he wants you to do.
Speaker 2:And then that fifth final foundational habit is how are you stewarding your time? How are you stewarding the talents that God has given you and the treasure that he's blessed you with? So all five of those foundational habits are things that we talk about on a regular basis and really helping moms just implement habits that are going to serve them Right and that are, you know, ultimately going to be glorifying to God. So that's what we landed on and that's like how we're pouring in and and we have Carla as a partner coach, and then we also brought in Christy, who is a nervous system and holistic coach, who is really helping with the actual physical part, and so I really feel like we're the triple threat here with, like the mind, body and spirit.
Speaker 2:It's like all the things that you need in order to you know really point you to the Lord and the peaceful life he wants us all to be living out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so beautiful, so share the event.
Speaker 2:I know, yes, okay, so we have another event that is coming up and these events are going to be on a smaller scale than the TPG live event and they are going to be every other month. So that's my goal is to be able to create a really amazing space for moms to come and to be poured into, but to like continue right, like we don't want this to just be a one once a year event, like we want to show up and have that consistency, because the enemy does not like care, right, if you went to an event a year ago, he's going to be like I'm in your face today. So we have to like stay connected and really suit up and surround each other. So we have an event coming up September 24th. If you are local to Gilbert Arizona or want to travel in, we would love to have you.
Speaker 2:We'll have everything linked in the show notes, but we wanted to just share a little like teaser about what we're going to be talking about at the event. So Carla and I will both be speaking. We're going to be doing our sessions the same way that we did at TPG Live, which each session is one hour long, and we break it down into 20 minutes of teaching, 15 to 20 minutes of journaling and like quiet reflection, and then the rest of the hour we spend in group discussion with our table families, communities I can't remember what I called them either but with your small group that you stay with for the remainder of the workshop. So maybe you can share a little bit, Carla, about, like what you're going to be talking about and kind of what has prompted that as being a topic that you like to talk about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, um, I don't want to share the story, I want to save it for the event but, something happened in my life a lot of years ago that like just kind of woke me up to this idea that everyday life I have about 10 minutes left, guys Everyday life really gives us like countless opportunities to live out our faith and to step out in faith when we feel afraid and honestly I was a very afraid little girl, grew up with a lot of just feeling afraid of life in the world and I was afraid to sleep in my own bedroom for a good part. I just had a lot of fear in my life and what has helped me with that is God's call in my life. I've always felt a calling in my life from God and that's why I step out. But the talk will really be about how do we step from fear to faith in everyday moments, because there's so many more moments than you realize and they're not always these big grand leaps. They're tiny moments where when you can step from fear to faith, that action, one allows God to then come in and strengthen you, but also it starts to turn the ship of your life in the direction that you want it to go.
Speaker 1:And I think so often we think that change has to come in these grand gestures and they feel too scary, and so we just stay paralyzed and we don't do them, when in reality there's countless moments every day that we can leap into faith to really shift our experience and quality and results in our life. So that's really the inspiration. And the inspiration actually came when I was in Costa Rica and I think I messaged you. I'm like I think I have the topic, but I had a dream and then I sat in the bathroom and wrote for like an hour and a half and so the idea came from that.
Speaker 2:I love that and I cannot wait to hear about that, because I and I was telling you this and one of how I I was journaling I don't know where I got this prompt, but it was probably the armor of God. Bible study kind of gave me this prompt of like naming my fears and I was writing in my journal and I'm like I don't have any fears right Like yes, I remember that.
Speaker 2:But I don't have any big fears, right, like I'm not afraid of the dark and I'm not afraid of, like spiders or anything like that. And so I just started writing and I was just trying to say, like all the things that like I will. I was like, okay, well, maybe I'm afraid of this and maybe I'm afraid of that, and and they were like smaller things, but everything was all surrounding fear. You know, like everything was like saying I was just afraid of something, you know, and I, I just know that that is what holds so many people back, you know. And so I can't wait to hear your talk. It's going to be so good. Talk, it's going to be so good.
Speaker 1:So tell us about yours and where the inspiration came.
Speaker 2:Yes. So I feel like a lot of people have been coming to me and sharing with me that they're so interested in the collective. They were so interested in TPG Live because it was so different, right, like they were like everybody else is very flashy and it's all about marketing and these surface level strategies and and they're like. But then when your event came up and you were talking about alignment, aligning your life and business with God they were like what is that? Like, how do I do that? Like that's not a topic that people talk about very often and I honestly like feel like maybe not the most equipped person in this way sometimes of like, well, lord, why would you have me speak about something that I'm just like I'm just learning how to do? You know, like I'm just getting started and and the reason why I feel like is he's strengthening me through this and he's showing me that I'm not that far behind. You know, like ahead of these people, right, and I feel like that's so much more relatable than somebody who is so far ahead that they're that the other people feel like, well, she can't even relate to me anymore. And so in this season that I'm in, like I am still walking through daily what it looks like to align my business with the Lord, like how do I discern his voice? How do I make sure I'm putting on the armor every day? How am I staying in connection with him so that I can make sure you know that what I'm hearing from him is not my own thoughts, right? Or it's not Satan who's trying to distract me, right? And so during the talk, the Lord is just impressing on my heart how much, like how I guess, how important it is for me to teach people how to also figure out how to align their business with godly standards and not worldly standards, and what it looks like to have a healthy and successful business in God's eyes versus the world's eyes, because it's very different.
Speaker 2:And we're going to be talking about building your business on a solid foundation. You know, like the the scriptures say, like the man who built his house on sand. You know and that is the exact like vision that I keep getting of all of us who are building on worldly standards like that's shaky, and when things get hard, like that's shaky. And when things get hard you're going to want to run, and when things feel scary, like you're not going to have the solid, firm stance that you will have if you build it on a solid foundation. So we're going to be diving into all of that, like practically what that looks like, and it's just. I mean, you and I both can attest to this, because I know we've talked about this, but the amount of peace that we feel in our business now that we've gone through the armor of God study is crazy, like crazy, crazy, crazy. I can't even like articulate in words yet. I'll figure it out, but like I can't articulate into words yet how incredible it feels to not have this heavy burden of.
Speaker 1:I have to do it all.
Speaker 1:I was just telling on the phone with a friend this morning, like just saying, like it is by the grace of God, like this peace I it is sort of unexplainable, not only the peace I feel in my business since doing that study, but the peace I feel in my heart about my son who is in the Navy and our youngest son who is now in the US Forest Service firefighting. And like, as a mom, like I had so much fear and it is by the grace of God that I have so much peace and like it's. It is unexplainable but it's beautiful and I feel new at that too. But I think we only have to be one step ahead to like show someone you know.
Speaker 2:I agree, I a hundred percent agree, and it's also something that I don't think you and I are ever going to just be like oh yeah, we got this. Like, if it's daily, you have to decide whose banner you're waving. You have to decide every day, like am I going to rehearse those negative thoughts that Satan just put in my head, or am I going to say absolutely not. No, Like I speak the word of God. Here's my dagger, like back off Right, Like that is. That is the kind of the kind of life that we're living in, though is like it's not a one and done situation.
Speaker 1:We have to decide daily what we're going to put on this armor. It's daily work to manage your mind. It's daily work to align your business. It's daily work to work on your marriage. It's daily work to lead your children.
Speaker 1:I think that that is really like an illusion. I see with my clients, like people tend to think and I think I did too that I'm going to reach a destination where I just have mastered all these things. My experience this far into my life is that no, this is daily work, this is the work, and then that work gives you your life right. It's so powerful. And I think, ashley, one other thing about what you're doing that is so different that attracted me is, like we are not finding these things at church at least, I'm not, um, and this, it is different. We're not taught these things at church.
Speaker 1:I think we should be taught these things at church how to align your business. Like what a brilliant topic to be talking about. How many people are in business. Um, and and this armor that we, that God gives us access to, to walk through every daily life Like, why aren't we talking about this more? And so that's what this is? Um, you know, for you listening Like it is different and it's really cool. Thanks for doing what you're doing and inviting me to play along.
Speaker 2:I am just obediently walking Like I don't know what I'm doing yet either. I'm just saying like okay. Lord, like you, paved the way you bring the people and we will pour into them, you know. And so if you're listening to this and you're like it's just three hours, I don't know if I should travel in for it. Travel in for it. I'm telling you like you will. It will change your life like that, this, and it's not me and it's not Carla.
Speaker 1:It's the Lord that's right, Like we we are not anything.
Speaker 2:I mean we are special, but you know what I mean. Like we are not any different than other people. We are just willing, Right, and that's all you have to be is be willing to accept God's invitation. Right, that's what this whole podcast episode is about. Just say yes, even when you don't know the answers. Just say yes to him, even when you feel like it's scary. Just say yes, because we are literally living proof that on the other side of yes is this amazing, beautiful thing we could have never done alone. Yeah, yeah. So if you really literally can't come, we'll miss you, but come check us out inside the collective. Maybe the collective is something that is more attainable for you because it's virtual and you don't have to travel in for it, and we would love to have you. So I think that we should close out in prayer. Carla, do you want to? You want me to? Should we like tag team it? I can start and then, do you want to, you want?
Speaker 1:me to. Should we like tag team it? I can start and then, if you want to jump in, yeah, let's do it. God, thank you for this conversation, thank you for the listener and all the people that will listen to this podcast. God, I just pray that your presence was here and that the listener would feel that. I pray that this message just landed in your heart, in the hearts of the people listening, god, and that it would just be a seed that would sprout something in their life, wherever they find themselves. Maybe they've never even listened to you, God, but this would be just the beginning of a listening and a paying attention and maybe stopping some of the noise in their life so they actually can hear from you. God, we're so grateful, thank you, that Ashley and I can just be vessels for you at this event, that we would honor you, and I thank you for Ashley and being obedient and following this idea that you planted in her heart, and I'm just grateful I can be a part.
Speaker 2:Lord, we just thank you. Thank you for this time, thank you for the conversation and the heart change that you are helping this mama experience. I know that there is something that is on their heart. You have convicted something in their heart and, lord, I pray that they would respond and that they would step out not in fear but in faith, knowing that, with you on their side, they're unstoppable. Lord, I pray, as this mama leaves our conversation, that she has such a blessed day that she just feels a lightness, that she feels excited about life, she feels rejuvenated and she feels like she's not alone, because that's truly what the Purpose Gathering is all about is bringing together sisters in Christ who can support each other and shoulder the burden of life, because you never created us to do this alone, and we pray this in your name, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen, thank you for making it all the way to the end and thank you for listening to differently. If you enjoyed this episode, will you please go leave a five star review and share it with someone you love. Goodbye for now. I'll see you next week.