November 22, 2023 • 35 mins
Embark on an electrifying journey with your host, Angelic Gibson, as we delve into an exhilarating conversation with the remarkable Casey Crawford in Part 1 of our dynamic interview!
What happens when faith, leadership, and love align in the workplace? The answer lies in an inspiring conversation with Super Bowl champion turned business entrepreneur, Casey Crawford. As the co-founder and CEO of Movement Mortgage, Casey’s commitment to serving God and his community is as evident as his passion for the game of football.
We explore his journey in founding a financial service company that isn't just about the bottom line, but also about giving back to the community, creating a culture that values its people and fostering a workplace environment that embodies 'love one another'. Casey's dedication to living authentically in alignment with his faith, and embodying the teachings of Jesus in the workplace will leave you pondering how you, too, can bring more love and faith into your own community and workplace.
But the love doesn't stop there. With the establishment of the Love Works fund, Movement Mortgage takes the concept of love in the workplace to a whole new level, offering tangible support to its team members in times of dire need. Hear how this program epitomizes the heart of what the company stands for and how the impact it has made on a particular kindergartner’s family exemplifies the power of a love-based work environment. So, tune in, be inspired and discover how you can infuse your own workplace with an ethos of faith, love, and community.
Casey Crawford BIO:
Entrepreneur. Leader. Catalyst.
Casey Crawford is the co-founder and CEO of Movement Mortgage, a $30 billion retail mortgage lender and six-time member of the Inc. 5000 list. He is also the chairman of Movement Bank and founder and chairman of Movement Schools, a network of tuition-free public charter schools committed to teaching world-class academics and virtues in areas where families have historically lacked access to education options. Casey founded the nonprofit Movement Foundation as a vehicle to bring life, light and hope to others. To date, it has invested more than $260 million in schools, communities and ministries around the world.
Casey has been recognized as a John Maxwell Transformational Leadership Award recipient, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, HousingWire Vanguard award recipient, and a Charlotte Business Journal Most Admired CEO. He has been featured by national media outlets, including CNBC, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Fox Business, Inc. Magazine and HousingWire.
A Super Bowl champion, Casey played tight end for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2000-2003. He graduated from the University of Virginia with All-ACC honors in football and academics. Casey is an avid outdoorsman and accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor. He lives outside Charlotte, N.C., with his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Cadie and Josie.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Grow,
where God reveals our way.
I'm Anjali Gibson, your host,and I can't wait to explore the
vast riches of God's Word withyou.
So don't forget to subscribeand stay tuned for upcoming
episodes packed with biblicalteachings, inspirational stories
and a fresh perspective on theworld around us.
Now let's get started on thisbeautiful journey.
(00:24):
May God bless you abundantly.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome back to the Grow podcast where today I have
the privilege of bringing you aninterview with Casey Crawford.
If you are not familiar withCasey, I have included in the
show notes his complete bio, buthe is a phenomenal man of God.
He knows how to live out loudin love for the Lord in the
(00:51):
marketplace.
I mentioned him at the close ofepisode three as a teaser that
he would be coming onto the show, but I really think you're
going to be blessed by thisinterview.
And just a reminder that I didmention I'm going to break this
interview into two parts.
As Casey and I did spend anhour of time together discussing
various topics, I wanted tomake it more digestible to you,
(01:15):
the listener.
So this will be an interviewbroken into two parts.
You will be fully blessed, so Iencourage you to listen from
the beginning to the end of bothparts so you don't miss a beat.
But Casey is absolutelyincredible.
He is the co-founder and CEO ofMovement Mortgage, an
absolutely incredible companythat literally spans our nation.
(01:37):
He's done several other things.
He's been recognized and he hasbeen winning awards left and
right across several of veryprestigious organizations,
including John Maxwell andErnest and Young several others,
and not only that, he is aSuper Bowl champion.
(01:58):
So if all that other goodnesswasn't enough, yes, casey has
had the honor of being a part ofa Super Bowl win.
So without further ado, I'mgoing to get this interview
started.
Enjoy.
Hello, mr Casey Crawford.
Welcome to the Grow podcast.
It's so wonderful to have youon today.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I am excited to be on this.
This is going to be super fun.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It is, and I just want to start by thanking you
for not counting at robbery togive your time to the Lord today
.
We know you're a very busy manand when you shared with me that
you just felt the Holy Spiritsaid say yes to this invitation.
It blessed my heart immenselyand it is so good to have you.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Well, no, it really is good to be here.
You know you told the story,but when I got your invite and
heard just what your passion wasfor being a person that is in
the marketplace like myself, andthen also just kind of talking
through what that looks like,feels like and how the Lord is
leading and guiding some otherconversations in this space, I
did I kind of pray about everypodcast invitation and this one
man.
(03:04):
I just felt like we're supposedto do it.
So I can't wait to get into itbecause I think God's got
something for someone here tothis conversation, so I'm
excited to have it with you.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I love that.
I want to share with mylisteners just a little bit of
why God put you on my heart andwhy it's such a critical moment
in time right now to have yourtestimony of what you're doing
for the Lord.
Just shared as many places aspossible.
So, just to kind of start off,you have street cred and you
(03:35):
have eternal cred.
So what does that mean?
I mean, the word on the streetis that you're a remarkable
leader.
I have the privilege of leadingin the Charlotte community
Charlotte, north Carolina andyou're in this community as well
and you have a reputation thatgoes before you, and so to have
high credibility and for peopleto give witness to the type of
(03:57):
leader you are, it speaksvolumes and it encourages other
leaders in the marketplace whoare serving alongside with you
Eternal cred.
I mean I've listened to you atPrayer Breakfast.
We have both graduated themaster's program, which we can
talk about if we want.
But just people who know youand know your heart know that
you're not in it for Casey,you're in it for God, and that
(04:21):
just is so encouraging as aleader in the marketplace
serving our community as well.
So thank you for that.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Yeah, no, thanks just to.
I think I'd be remiss if Ididn't say that means so much
like in a reputation.
I mean I just talked to my kidsabout this a lot and I, you
know, you read those proverbswhen you're little and that
reputation is, you know, goodreputation is way bigger than
gold and all that kind of thing.
And you're like I don't know ifyou get that as you get older
in life you realize therelationship you've had, that
(04:49):
you know 20 years later come toplay an important role in your
life and maybe how you carryyourself in your 20s.
So you know, some ways I'mhorrified and thank my gosh, I
guess that one better.
But genuinely like I meaneverything we've got to do here
in Charlotte or anything I'vegot to do has been such a
blessing to me, and so you knowas much as absolutely there's a,
there's a sense in which youknow that we want to serve Jesus
(05:11):
as Lord and God as Lord.
You know that truly, I thinkthe Lord has.
He brought us to Charlotte, forinstance I guess our home and
so the fact that we've got toreinvest into this community is
great, because I want to be astrong, healthy city.
You know that I want to be apart of, I want my kids to
flourish and thrive and I wantall the kids in Charlotte to
flourish and thrive and there'sa deep sense of, I think, joy.
(05:32):
You know that comes from beinga part of a community that
you're pouring into andingrained in in multiple ways.
You know, not just maybe inyour little neighborhood but in
a much broader sense.
And so you know we just got togo cut the ribbon on a new
school on the North side town.
It's 45 minutes from where Ilive, so I don't interact in
that part of town a ton.
But man, like my heart justexploded, like with joy, be able
(05:53):
to high five kiddos you knowthat I wouldn't have otherwise
met right and so so like Ireally do appreciate when people
say, hey, thanks for reportingback into the city in this way
of this.
But like genuinely also likethe Lord, like the amount of joy
that God gives me and beingable to do this stuff is like
very selfishly incredible, likeI feel so lucky to get together.
This is not, it's not out of asense of burden or obligation,
(06:14):
is actually just out of like areal deep place of enjoyment and
fulfillment.
You know they come.
They come from being a part ofthese things.
So thank you for the kind wordsand I was just literally just
thank God for the privilege ofgetting to do what we get to do,
because I pinch myself everyday that I get to wake up and do
any of this.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I just love that.
You know some.
A question just kind of came tomind as you were sharing that
there's so much that you andyour team and movement we're
just doing in and through ourcommunity.
But just let's start with wheredoes the passion and
inspiration like, where does itcome from?
Clearly you have your strongman of faith, like, really, what
(06:52):
is it that stirs your heart?
And you know you said you lovehigh five in the kids and just
meeting kids.
You've never would have had theopportunity to meet.
So where does that heart forthe community and the kids come
from?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I think.
So growing up, I think a lot oftimes you look back to your
past, understand you, where youare and where you may be going
and growing up.
I grew up in in around DC inthe 80s and 90s and for those of
you that don't know, dc in the80s was the, was the was the
gosh murder capital of the world.
Actually, we had more murdersper capita in DC than any city
(07:25):
in the world three times themurder rate of Chicago today,
and DC is like a tenth the sizeof Chicago, right.
So it was like hyperconcentrated mass violence, mass
poverty, just ravaged by thecrack epidemic.
That was that was going on.
And my dad had a hardware storein southeast DC which was the
worst part of DC like.
(07:46):
So we're like the epicenter ofkind of crack epidemic and gang
violence.
At one point my father and Iwere the only two people in the
hardware store who hadn'tmurdered someone like my manager
done in years and 11 worth forfor murder when he was 17, and
so I kind of grew up seeing alot of like, just the difficulty
of what some of our DCs looklike.
(08:08):
You know it felt like and andyet I got to retreat out of that
like at night and on theweekends and things, back to
just a very humble kind of bluecollar house but mom, dad,
stable, neighborhood, relativelyyou know, safe, relatively safe
relative to kind of what I wasseeing when I went to work with
my dad kind of every day.
And you know, I think, as Igrew up and you know process of
(08:29):
stuff as a seven, eight year old, but they kind of look back,
you know, even when I got tohigh school and college I
realized, man, that a lot of myfriends have been involved in
gang violence or locked up andthings.
I would have been doing theexact same thing, they would
have been doing the exact samething they were doing and likely
would not have made it out ofthat community and situation had
I been born into it and had Inot had this, this kind of safe
(08:50):
place to retreat to.
And that's a tough thing toprocess, you know, that's a
tough thing to process.
Kind of burden me.
And I also at that same time gotto go to a little Catholic high
school on the south side of DCcalled the math.
That was a basketballpowerhouse, football powerhouse.
It was 800.
All guys, teeny little, areally small kind of kind of
(09:13):
very humble little Catholic highschool and I think I that high
school I got to see, you know,senator, sons and kids who lived
in public housing come together.
We all wore uniforms.
No one knew you know who's dadhad what or who came in and what
, but we were there to get aneducation and play ball and that
, that, that institution ofeducation really be given kind
(09:35):
of it for a lot of guys to, toget out of what was another wise
, difficult environment andagain didn't process all that.
You know, and I was like I highschool, this vision, oh man,
we're going to go to schools forkids are in tough situations
now from break the chains ofpoverty.
But I absolutely, you know God,kind of embedded some of those
experiences in my story and youknow it was always a big,
gigantic kids.
I was playing football andbaseball and basketball and
(09:56):
things went on to play football,you know the University of
Virginia, and went on play forthe Carolina Panthers and and
got fired after a couple yearsthe Carolina Panthers.
I was in my home the first time.
I was like don't watch you all,my team, oh God, what the world
you call me this one.
You know he's supposed to seeme through it, all that kind of
stuff.
And a few hours later got tosign with the campaign
(10:17):
Buccaneers and I was.
You know I was the leastsignificant guy on the team but
got to be a part of the SuperBowl championship team that
season.
It was absolutely incredible,was absolutely incredible zone.
It's like whirlwind kind ofthing.
And you know my dad, just oneof my best friends, and you know
, incredible, like mentor,leader in my life, man of faith,
and you know my wife, my wifenow and then find my mom and I
(10:41):
was like I'm not going to behere.
You know where she's, at thegame with me, my mom.
You know we're holding one barto trophy on the fifth yard line
and confetti is coming down.
And you're seeing my life withmy Jovey on the fifth yard, like
happy one of the Super Bowl andI you know again that I played
like no meaningful role in anyof that season hardly, but.
But I also like had a sense ofcompletion, like like God.
Thank you so much for thisincredible experience.
(11:01):
If I was a little boy and you'dask me, what do you want to do
when you grow up, I think I wentto Super Bowl.
You know I was a plane and Iwent like, and at the same time,
after that game I had this realsense of like, completion, that
completed and it was anincredible experience, was an
incredible start in life, alwaysthankful for the NFL and that
time, but I was done with it andI really prayed on the plane
(11:23):
ride home.
You know God, with this onelife like this one life I had to
live, I feel like I've alreadyhad a lifetime of experience
with it.
I've gotten to see what a lotof folks chase their whole lives
for and I've gotten to wake upand realize that.
So I'm so grateful for theexperience.
Man, like tomorrow comes andthere wasn't a sense of deep
(11:45):
fulfillment in the entertainmentbusiness of football or even
winning a world championship andhaving a ring.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Isn't that amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, it's.
You know, chasing the brassring, I got this.
I got the Tiffany's designSuper Bowl ring, right with
Warren Sap designed our ring.
It's all bling down diamonds.
I mean.
Got that and went, man, likewhat what next?
And remember here in DarrellGreen, who a hero of mine had
been a deep defensive back forthe Washington Redskins while I
(12:15):
was growing up and he said inthe pregame of Super Bowl, was
watching, really said you knowthe Super Bowl rings you one
never would compare to the, tothe, to the feeling of
fulfillment you got pouring intothe life of one kid and this
thing kind of fades and it's anice event and experience, but
(12:36):
but there's lack of fulfillment.
So I'm just praying, guy, giveme an opportunity.
That's my life, not anentertainment but an eternal
impact like just use me in a waythat's unique, that would bring
about impact, and so I didn'tknow what that meant or what
that looked like.
But in in 07, when the, withthe mortgage market, kind of
crashed and created the greatrecession of, we as an industry
(12:58):
and nation exported, I think,more hurt and evil and sin than
ever had been done, financially,at least, around the world.
What a cool opportunity.
Like would this be a chance forus to step into that backdrop
and tell a new, better story,you know, a new, better story of
how a financial service companycould take its profits and pour
(13:20):
back into their community in ameaningful way and build a
culture that loved and valuedthe people that were in the
institution.
You know, because a lot ofthose institutions were not
known for that for how theyloved and valued even teammates.
And that's what I wanted.
You know, angelique, that was,and I think that's maybe the
selfish thing throughout this.
I love pouring into Charlottebecause I love it, like it gives
(13:41):
me a ton of joy, like it'sreally me, and I said, man, what
would it look like to build thecompany you always wanted to
work for?
You know, the one that like,where you're on a team of, like,
committed professionals thatdid their job with excellence.
You were also in a place that,like, loved you and cared about
you and knew that, like,sometimes life falls off the
rails and when it does, I thinkyou know the beauty of of the
Christian communities that werecalled the love one another.
(14:03):
Like love one another in thosehard times, and all of us have
them.
Like, all of us have them, allof us.
And I want to be a part of acommunity that has that and does
that.
And then, finally, I want to belocked arms with a team that
has a purpose that's bigger thanourselves.
You know.
It has a purpose that's outsideof just the community we're a
part of or the product that weproduce.
So that's why we named itmovement.
(14:23):
We want to be a movement ofchange and kind of inspire a
bigger idea of what companiescan be as we just walk out that
really simple mandate andscripture of like love God, love
people.
We have people from like everyfaith walk you know you could
imagine, and no faith at all asa part of our community and my
commitment to each of them isthat they will be loved, they
will be valued.
(14:43):
And we ask the same of them Like, and we define love like this
we real quick, I'll stop, we'llgo to the next one.
But we say you know the same atthe math how high school freeze
right on the board.
For me said to love is to actin the longterm best interest of
another.
So if you're gonna be a part ofthis community movement, you
got to commit to bringing yourwhole self every day and acting
(15:04):
in the longterm best interest ofyour teammates, our customers
and the communities we're a partof.
Right, commit to those threethings.
Man, you are our kind of personand you're in and we love you
and move our walk arms with you,and so that was kind of the
genesis of the journey we're onright now.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I love that.
There's so much that you said,and I just want to highlight a
couple of things.
So, first of all, god promisesthat when we commit our ways to
him, he will give us the desiresof our heart, and that is what
you just described.
So, as you do for the Lord,you're getting the enjoyment out
of it because your heart isaligned to God's heart, and that
(15:44):
is so critically important.
I think oftentimes, when we'rein our role, we have different
roles in life.
Whether you know, you'reoperating as a father, me as a
mother, a husband or a wife, ora leader in the marketplace, or
serving at church on a Sunday,or what have you, we tend to
want to be different from whoGod created us to be, in a
(16:08):
various role.
So I may be one person at home,or I might be another person in
the marketplace, at work, and Imight be a different person on
church on Sunday.
I think what we're reallyhighlighting today is how do you
live authentically in alignmentwith the Lord and you don't
have to leave your faith at home.
Matter of fact, if you leaveyour faith at home, you're
(16:30):
actually not honoring and beingobedient to God, and so to bring
the love of Christ into themarketplace is the ingredient
that's needed.
Billy Graham said before hepassed that the great next
revival will come through themarketplace and it's efforts
like you're describing.
We're gonna get into what itmeans fully to be a movement and
(16:50):
the work you're doing, but thework you're doing is the work
that's needed to truly bring thenext great revival.
I believe that, and when I hearabout the work that you're
doing, you and all yourteammates, I just wanna read
from Matthew 25, verses 35through 40, because this is
really the call that Jesus tellsus to do.
(17:10):
He doesn't put boundaries.
If you're at home, do this.
If you're at work, do this.
If you're in the temple onSunday, do this.
Now he says this is what youneed to do, for I was hungry and
you gave me something to eat.
I was thirsty and you gave mesomething to drink.
I was a stranger and youinvited me in.
I needed clothes and youclothed me.
(17:32):
I was sick and you looked afterme.
I was in prison and you came tovisit me.
Then the righteous will answerhim, lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirstyand give you something to drink?
When did we see you, a stranger, and invite you in.
We're needing clothes and clothyou.
When did we see you sick or inprison and go visit you?
(17:55):
And the king will reply truly,I tell you, whatever you did for
one of the least of thesebrothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me, and so all thework is doing it for him, and
the fruit speaks for itself.
Amen.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Yeah, I'm so glad you read that.
That past your scripture and Itell you Did.
This whole journey for me hasbeen one In so many ways.
Like I grew up, great family,mom and dad were really strong
In their faith and then part ofthat to me, my little sister's,
kiddos.
I don't remember a timehonestly my life, where I didn't
(18:35):
have some kind of understandingof a hope and faith in Christ.
I really don't.
People always one of the bigConversion moment.
I just I there's not a time outlife.
I don't remember having a faithin Jesus.
I understand that he had donesomething for me.
I understood San Luis in deeper, more meaningful ways as I got
older, but always kind of.
And yet I Never totally felt athome inside of a church, the
(18:59):
church community sometimes, andmaybe that's because I was a bit
of a mud.
I was a Lutheran when I wasreally little and then we went
to the Piscopal church.
That was just awesome and greatand then I decided I was not
gonna go to church anymore.
When I was like 16 I was like Iwas just old enough to figure
all this stuff out.
I was at a Catholic high schoolthat I really loved also and
loved so much about the Catholictradition and then I went to a
non-denominational church and Iwas kind of discipled in a IA
(19:20):
and FCA from sports and things,and then with like RTS and went
to like a little bit of seminaryschool afterwards.
Try to like so just this, this,this hot spot, so maybe, maybe
that that is what.
But I always had this littlething of not quite, not quite
fitting in like a the confinesof a church and some of it, some
of it, I think, was just adisconnect of the things that I
read in the Bible, like thatbeautiful scripture that you
just read.
(19:40):
And Then my experience, youknow, my inside the walls of a
church, and there wasn'tanything wrong necessarily with
like what happened inside thewalls of church in my experience
, but it was so such a smallsliver of the Christian life and
like we'd go and I remember,like you get awards for how much
of scripture we memorized whenI was growing up in DC and yet
(20:00):
like five miles from our church,some of the deepest was
troubled poverty in the UnitedStates and never do I remember
like going down and engaging,you know it's hard to reckon so,
yeah, walking out those versesa little bit, and so, and I
think the really beautiful thing, you know, folks always ask me
how can you run a you know aprice center business with so
many people from different walksof life?
(20:21):
It's, you know, if you're aperson who doesn't believe in
loving the marginalized,probably not a great fit for our
community.
Like, but the rehearse the goodnews.
Like most people, I think, inhaving an innate sense that
there's a goodness of being partof a Collective, in a community
that cares for the marginalizedright, cares for the elderly,
cares for the poor, cares forthe homeless, cares for the
(20:43):
widow, cares the orphan, caresfor those in prison like you.
If you ask, you know, I'd say95% of America is probably gonna
tell you hey, we think it's,it's a good and right thing to
care for the marginalized andand so, you know, we just try to
walk that stuff out.
Okay, if we all believe this, doour actions align with it?
You know, do our actions alignwith it?
And then give people anopportunity to let their actions
(21:03):
align with what they say, theybelieve and it's.
It's really encouraging me andJulie just how much commonality
we have with our fellow Americanor fellow, like citizen of the
world, in terms of, just likethe innate goodness of what we
know, healthy community can andshouldn't look like that.
Isn't that different than whatJesus describes in scripture?
You know, I think you like it.
Oh gosh, we have to live sodifferently and man, there's
(21:24):
just so much.
I think that we can do that somuch more inviting in terms of
Christian culture thatUnfortunately it isn't lived out
as much sometimes on the andyou can't, you can't for one
hour on Sunday, right, like so.
I'm not Fresh in the church, Ihope by any means, but but it's
easier to do, frankly, theworkplace when we have 4050
hours a week together, all daylong, all week long, and can
really lock arms together in amore meaningful way.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Well, I think I mean you're touching on something
that's super important Either.
Sometimes people just don'tknow how to engage a particular
issue.
How do they actually helpsomeone?
People generally don't know howto do that, and sometimes, if
the church isn't creating theopportunity, they're kind of out
there waiting for theopportunity to come their way.
And I think one of the thingsthat my church really leans
(22:09):
heavy into if you see a gap inserving the community, that we
don't have something to offer,then God's calling you to rise
up and to create it.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Don't wait and create a podcast, the grow podcast.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah there you go.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Yes, yes, and that's what we do in the marketplace.
Right, that's what business todo.
Like we solve problems forcompensation.
Every business figures out theproblem they're going to solve
for the world and the world'sgoing to tell you how valuable
that is and like we do that.
The tough thing with like, Ithink, ministry or mercy is
there's not often a compensationmodel for the problem that you
see, that you're solving right,like and that.
(22:43):
So then you kind of startchecking motivations.
Like all right, I do want tosolve this problem.
So yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, we're going to start breaking down loving God
and loving people, and what thismeans in and through the work
that you do each and every day.
And, listeners, what I reallywant you to hear and hear, for
is there's several facets ofthis body of work that KC and
team are leading.
I would love for you just toimagine yourself being able to
(23:15):
do something similar.
You could be thinking toyourself well, I am in my place
of work.
I don't have a CEO who has theheart and passion like KC, so I
can't start something like this.
You can, if you ask God.
He's going to create a pathwayand doors will start opening to
you.
So don't look at theconstraints that may be popping
(23:36):
up in your mind.
Just think of the possibilities, because God is a God of
possibilities.
He does the impossible.
So I'm just going to pray realquick, KC, before we actually
start getting into this, becauseI really want God to open the
eyes and the hearts of thepeople to see them themselves in
the work that you're doing,because they can be a solution
in our community as well.
(23:57):
So, father, we just thank youagain for this time that you've
given us today, as we really getin and just celebrate and give
you glory for the work thatyou've been doing in and through
loving God and loving people,the movement story.
Lord, we just ask that you openthe eyes and the hearts of the
people listening, that you givethem new vision, new hope that
(24:19):
we are.
They are the answer that ourcommunity so desperately needs,
that it takes one person to liftthe torch for the torch to
start to spread to other people.
So, lord, we thank you for thefire that you're igniting and
all the listeners hearts andthat you are making a way where
there seems not to be a way,because you are the waymaker.
In the name of Jesus, we prayAmen.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Amen Amen.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yep.
So I love how you frame thatand it is.
It's funny, the one thing wehear people go oh gosh, that's
great, you do this program, butyou have 5,000 employees and you
have all this and the other.
And you know, and I could never.
And so I have good news, likefor the listener, I've given you
some listeners.
I won't break this stuff down tothe most because our story
starts in the most humble ofways with 14 members.
(25:05):
You know that a little companyI was starting with 14 mates and
everything's been doneorganically and I will say that
that man well, absolutely I can.
I would guess in any man thatJesus is the waymaker.
Again, he also, like we play anactive role in this right and
so, so, so, like this followingout these mandates that Christ
gives us, like it's amazing towatch, as you kind of like
always think about that IndianaJones scene where he's stepping
(25:26):
across the bridge and it lookslike he's going to fall off into
the abyss and he goes and steps, boom, his foot hits the rock
right and like it's kind of likethe guide comes up to meet your
foot as you step out in faithto follow you know the way he
has called you to live and leave.
And so I think one of the veryfirst things we did at movement
that was so profound is we kindof said all right, you know, we
(25:47):
know at some point we wanted togive and we hope we want to do
some interesting things as acompany.
But like we never.
We always want to make sure wetook care of our family first,
like we took care of our teammembers first.
We never want to be giving wayfar away if we had deep needs at
home.
And so we said, hey, we justkind of made it known culturally
that if someone was goingthrough an economic challenge,
just let one of us know, likelet one of us know, and my
(26:07):
partner and I would get togetherand you know just to kind of
the evolution of the companyfrom four folks to 20 to 40, to
like 100 folks, it was just kindof culturally understood that
if there was a teammate that hadlike a deep economic need, they
just need to let it be knownand other teammates would come
alongside of man, we pay a rentbill or fix an air conditioning
unit or help somebody repair acar or what not.
And that was because we justsaid we want to be a part of the
(26:28):
community.
I want that, I want my, I wantmy little girls to be a part of
the community.
That when life falls off therails and it will, amen that was
not economically, it's not justemotionally that there are a
lot of ways it will get therePart of the community is going
to say I'm there, I'm there foryou, I care for you, right?
So that was super simple, likesuper simple stuff.
It's not super simple.
And, man, as we, as we grew andas we, we go, wow, we actually
(26:51):
have to start to formalize andput programs and processes in to
support this culture that webelieve is is just good and
right.
Right, it's just good and right.
So if you lead it, if you leada team of two, you know, let
your other teammate know.
Hey, I just want you to know,like, like, I didn't get.
That might look like just aword of encouragement with
somebody down, it might looklike Pramp, but but it's
creating a culture that says I'mgoing to be there for you and I
(27:11):
want you there for me also intimes of need.
You know, in times of need, andyou know, as we kind of matured
along by the way we steal, androbustly and aggressively, from
everyone.
But my partner sent me a bookcalled Love Works.
The guy named Joel Mamby wroteabout her.
Some family entertainment Greatthey gollywood and the
globetrotters much ofinteresting, interesting
properties, great things.
And they talk about an employeefund.
(27:33):
There was a formal fund thatemployees gave to every month
and was there for any otheremployees in times of economic
need.
And, wow, perfect.
That's a formal system thatthey kind of expresses our heart
of what we're trying to do.
We took it, we packaged it up,we made it maybe a little bit
better or whatever.
We named it Love Works to honorJoel and our family.
And today we have about 70percent of our team members
(27:54):
every month Some some it's adollar, you know, out of the
payroll we have.
We've got teammates give youtens of thousands of dollars to
the fund and we used to match itdollars for dollars, to match a
dollar for dollar and thatmoney would sit in a pool for
any employee in times of need.
Our team are passionate aboutthis fund that I don't even
match it anymore, like I give toit as an employee.
But the foundation doesn'tmatch anymore and it's just self
(28:17):
funding.
We do about 400 grants a yearfor between a million and a
million and a half dollars ayear to teammates in times of
dire need, and I got to share areport.
Actually, this morning we had akindergartner at movement school
.
We have moved, we've movedschools, hopefully we'll get
into this but she was struck inthe head by a bullet in the drop
(28:38):
last year and it was a thirdtime our house had been shot out
from and mom was terrified.
Of course.
You know grandma and the LoveWorks Fund got to step in and
help her family transition tosafe housing.
And this morning I got to sharea picture of that precious
(29:01):
kindergarten with our principal.
She held movement schools backat school.
You know, back at school shedidn't look good.
It was really tough.
The whole community came aroundher was praying for her and her
family and full recovery.
She's now back in school as afirst grader, her family's
living in a safe home and youknow we just kind of go, man,
isn't that kind of community wewant to be a part of, like we're
(29:22):
caring for needs that exist,like that, and I can think, like
Love Works giving goes right upand everyone's like, yes, I
want to go, do this.
I want to be a part of that, andwe've just seen God do just
that little statement andmeasure him much more than we
could hope we're managingaccording to his power and
purpose, through just like theselittle acts, just like really
simple things of like kind of befaithfully, you know, loving
(29:43):
and serving one another, and Ithink it's also it's also total
out of ground, to plant seeds offaith in people that maybe had
a really hard heart towards God.
They had a bad experience withchurch.
They had a bad experience with,you know, maybe a Christian.
They'd heard some things when,oh, I thought that Christianity
was about this.
When they learned, like youknow, like the heart of the
gospel was one of likesacrificially loving folks that
(30:07):
were in need, me being the firstamong those, they were far more
open to hearing more about thestory of Jesus and who he is.
Now he loves us when they seethat expressed, I think, in
tangible ways in the workplace.
So it's been, it's that's beenan amazing kind of precursor to
having more in depth spiritualconversations with, with, with
(30:28):
team members who were interestedin exploring that kind of thing
.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yeah, well, we never know either.
Like what, what hurt andbaggage is a person bringing
into a conversation?
You know, when we start talkingabout faith, a lot of people
have a lot of hurt around faithbecause they haven't actually
experienced love in action.
And God is love in action, youknow.
Love the Lord, your heart, withall your love the Lord, your
(30:51):
God, with all your heart, mindand soul, and love your neighbor
as yourself.
And if we really think aboutthat like this, love works.
Love your teammates.
This notion of start with lovemeet the basic need, show the
heart of Jesus.
It actually starts to build anemotional tank, if you will like
(31:13):
an emotional investment fund,where people will want to
withdraw out of that bankaccount of emotional trust to
actually hear what we have tosay about the love of God.
But the trust has to be therefirst and that comes through
love.
So I love that.
I would love to hear a story.
So again, we're talking aboutall the work you and your team
(31:37):
are doing, loving God, lovingpeople, and one facet of love is
through what you just described, love works and it's caring for
those in the inner circle andthen starting to love out.
Can you give us a story.
You shared a story about afellow teammate that you have
(31:59):
and what are you saying?
He was kind of, you know, roughin nature maybe.
Yeah, and just his pathwaythrough living these small acts
of love out how it actuallyleads to eternal reward.
Do you mind sharing a story?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Sure, yes, so so.
So there's three real bigpillars of ways we try to like
walk that I've tried to kind ofguess maybe.
Walk out my faith and expressit culturally in movement.
Again, all of them, all of them, I really want to be
invitations, you know, just likeinvitations to people in the
into a community that loves andvalues one another and then, if
(32:39):
they're open to it, they'reinterested in it, through that
process comes to know a God wholoves them and so passionately,
beyond, beyond, maybe what theycould even imagine, and love
works is one of those.
First right, it's kind of abenevolence fun would be the
equivalent.
The church is just to say, hey,we're going to care for each
other.
And then we said that we hopethat man, we've care for each
other.
Let's just get a bigger pictureof the world.
(33:00):
Let's get a bigger picture ofthe world.
But let's realize, man,especially in the United States,
we can get a really, reallyethnic center kind of small
picture of the world, sometimesso like, let's be intentional to
go out around the world andmeet some new friends living in,
living in some sometimes likesome really difficult,
challenging places that have afaith, and like that might be,
might be just really stretchingto us.
(33:21):
And so we we started doing whatwe call vision trips and and we
said, you know what we're goingto, we're going to try to
expand our vision of what we'regoing to do and how we can
impact it in meaningful ways.
And there's no precursor.
These trips are for people offaith and not a faith or people
of courage.
Right, this is okay, I'm goingto expand my vision.
And so my partner to be here isorganized a strip to Guatemala,
(33:41):
and Guatemala, off the coast, isknown for good fishing and so
Toby loves to fish.
You call a few guys say, hey,you guys want to go fish with me
and Guatemala for a few days,and guys say, yeah, love to go
fish, love, love.
You go.
Okay, we're going to visit acouple friends down there that
are building a couple things,and then we're going to go off
shore.
And I said, okay, you know, setsounds great.
And so one of those is are nowpresent a guy named Mike Brian
(34:02):
and who's an incredible, justincredible brother in Christ I
just absolutely love dearly.
And you know my Mike, mike Mikewas a guy.
He kind of said he had been toyou know service a couple times
maybe, growing up race Catholickind of, went Christmas and
Easter two or three times.
That was it.
He's like man, I knew who was anew case he was.
He's a person of faith and Ijust went.
(34:23):
That's great, that's great, I'mall about like a good moral
company.
I like that.
Mike's got you know two tatsleeves up up now, both arms,
and I think he had 20 somethingfelonies before he was 18 or 18
or so.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Hello, listeners, it's that time in the interview
where we need to pause so we canmove over to part two.
It also means that Iinterrupted an incredible story
that Casey was sharing inregards to his friend Mike.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
So you'll want to come back, listen to part two to
hear how the story of Mikeunfolds, as well as many other
inspirational stories.
We will see you at part two.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of grow,
where God reveals our way.
We hope you found inspiration,wisdom and encouragement as we
continue on this faith filledjourney together.
We invite you to subscribe togrow so you never miss an
episode.
Stay tuned for more biblicalteachings, heartfelt testimonies
and insights that will nourishyour spirit in deep in your
relationship with God.
(35:24):
We appreciate your support andparticipation in this podcast.
Until next time, may you growin faith, love and knowledge of
his divine plan.
May God bless you abundantly.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Grow,
where God reveals our way.
I'm Anjali Gibson, your host,and I can't wait to explore the
vast riches of God's Word withyou.
So don't forget to subscribeand stay tuned for upcoming
episodes packed with biblicalteachings, inspirational stories
and a fresh perspective on theworld around us.
Now let's get started on thisbeautiful journey.
(00:24):
May God bless you abundantly.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome back to the Grow podcast where today I have
the privilege of bringing you aninterview with Casey Crawford.
If you are not familiar withCasey, I have included in the
show notes his complete bio, buthe is a phenomenal man of God.
He knows how to live out loudin love for the Lord in the
(00:51):
marketplace.
I mentioned him at the close ofepisode three as a teaser that
he would be coming onto the show, but I really think you're
going to be blessed by thisinterview.
And just a reminder that I didmention I'm going to break this
interview into two parts.
As Casey and I did spend anhour of time together discussing
various topics, I wanted tomake it more digestible to you,
(01:15):
the listener.
So this will be an interviewbroken into two parts.
You will be fully blessed, so Iencourage you to listen from
the beginning to the end of bothparts so you don't miss a beat.
But Casey is absolutelyincredible.
He is the co-founder and CEO ofMovement Mortgage, an
absolutely incredible companythat literally spans our nation.
(01:37):
He's done several other things.
He's been recognized and he hasbeen winning awards left and
right across several of veryprestigious organizations,
including John Maxwell andErnest and Young several others,
and not only that, he is aSuper Bowl champion.
(01:58):
So if all that other goodnesswasn't enough, yes, casey has
had the honor of being a part ofa Super Bowl win.
So without further ado, I'mgoing to get this interview
started.
Enjoy.
Hello, mr Casey Crawford.
Welcome to the Grow podcast.
It's so wonderful to have youon today.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I am excited to be on this.
This is going to be super fun.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It is, and I just want to start by thanking you
for not counting at robbery togive your time to the Lord today
.
We know you're a very busy manand when you shared with me that
you just felt the Holy Spiritsaid say yes to this invitation.
It blessed my heart immenselyand it is so good to have you.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Well, no, it really is good to be here.
You know you told the story,but when I got your invite and
heard just what your passion wasfor being a person that is in
the marketplace like myself, andthen also just kind of talking
through what that looks like,feels like and how the Lord is
leading and guiding some otherconversations in this space, I
did I kind of pray about everypodcast invitation and this one
man.
(03:04):
I just felt like we're supposedto do it.
So I can't wait to get into itbecause I think God's got
something for someone here tothis conversation, so I'm
excited to have it with you.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I love that.
I want to share with mylisteners just a little bit of
why God put you on my heart andwhy it's such a critical moment
in time right now to have yourtestimony of what you're doing
for the Lord.
Just shared as many places aspossible.
So, just to kind of start off,you have street cred and you
(03:35):
have eternal cred.
So what does that mean?
I mean, the word on the streetis that you're a remarkable
leader.
I have the privilege of leadingin the Charlotte community
Charlotte, north Carolina andyou're in this community as well
and you have a reputation thatgoes before you, and so to have
high credibility and for peopleto give witness to the type of
(03:57):
leader you are, it speaksvolumes and it encourages other
leaders in the marketplace whoare serving alongside with you
Eternal cred.
I mean I've listened to you atPrayer Breakfast.
We have both graduated themaster's program, which we can
talk about if we want.
But just people who know youand know your heart know that
you're not in it for Casey,you're in it for God, and that
(04:21):
just is so encouraging as aleader in the marketplace
serving our community as well.
So thank you for that.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Yeah, no, thanks just to.
I think I'd be remiss if Ididn't say that means so much
like in a reputation.
I mean I just talked to my kidsabout this a lot and I, you
know, you read those proverbswhen you're little and that
reputation is, you know, goodreputation is way bigger than
gold and all that kind of thing.
And you're like I don't know ifyou get that as you get older
in life you realize therelationship you've had, that
(04:49):
you know 20 years later come toplay an important role in your
life and maybe how you carryyourself in your 20s.
So you know, some ways I'mhorrified and thank my gosh, I
guess that one better.
But genuinely like I meaneverything we've got to do here
in Charlotte or anything I'vegot to do has been such a
blessing to me, and so you knowas much as absolutely there's a,
there's a sense in which youknow that we want to serve Jesus
(05:11):
as Lord and God as Lord.
You know that truly, I thinkthe Lord has.
He brought us to Charlotte, forinstance I guess our home and
so the fact that we've got toreinvest into this community is
great, because I want to be astrong, healthy city.
You know that I want to be apart of, I want my kids to
flourish and thrive and I wantall the kids in Charlotte to
flourish and thrive and there'sa deep sense of, I think, joy.
(05:32):
You know that comes from beinga part of a community that
you're pouring into andingrained in in multiple ways.
You know, not just maybe inyour little neighborhood but in
a much broader sense.
And so you know we just got togo cut the ribbon on a new
school on the North side town.
It's 45 minutes from where Ilive, so I don't interact in
that part of town a ton.
But man, like my heart justexploded, like with joy, be able
(05:53):
to high five kiddos you knowthat I wouldn't have otherwise
met right and so so like Ireally do appreciate when people
say, hey, thanks for reportingback into the city in this way
of this.
But like genuinely also likethe Lord, like the amount of joy
that God gives me and beingable to do this stuff is like
very selfishly incredible, likeI feel so lucky to get together.
This is not, it's not out of asense of burden or obligation,
(06:14):
is actually just out of like areal deep place of enjoyment and
fulfillment.
You know they come.
They come from being a part ofthese things.
So thank you for the kind wordsand I was just literally just
thank God for the privilege ofgetting to do what we get to do,
because I pinch myself everyday that I get to wake up and do
any of this.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I just love that.
You know some.
A question just kind of came tomind as you were sharing that
there's so much that you andyour team and movement we're
just doing in and through ourcommunity.
But just let's start with wheredoes the passion and
inspiration like, where does itcome from?
Clearly you have your strongman of faith, like, really, what
(06:52):
is it that stirs your heart?
And you know you said you lovehigh five in the kids and just
meeting kids.
You've never would have had theopportunity to meet.
So where does that heart forthe community and the kids come
from?
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I think.
So growing up, I think a lot oftimes you look back to your
past, understand you, where youare and where you may be going
and growing up.
I grew up in in around DC inthe 80s and 90s and for those of
you that don't know, dc in the80s was the, was the was the
gosh murder capital of the world.
Actually, we had more murdersper capita in DC than any city
(07:25):
in the world three times themurder rate of Chicago today,
and DC is like a tenth the sizeof Chicago, right.
So it was like hyperconcentrated mass violence, mass
poverty, just ravaged by thecrack epidemic.
That was that was going on.
And my dad had a hardware storein southeast DC which was the
worst part of DC like.
(07:46):
So we're like the epicenter ofkind of crack epidemic and gang
violence.
At one point my father and Iwere the only two people in the
hardware store who hadn'tmurdered someone like my manager
done in years and 11 worth forfor murder when he was 17, and
so I kind of grew up seeing alot of like, just the difficulty
of what some of our DCs looklike.
(08:08):
You know it felt like and andyet I got to retreat out of that
like at night and on theweekends and things, back to
just a very humble kind of bluecollar house but mom, dad,
stable, neighborhood, relativelyyou know, safe, relatively safe
relative to kind of what I wasseeing when I went to work with
my dad kind of every day.
And you know, I think, as Igrew up and you know process of
(08:29):
stuff as a seven, eight year old, but they kind of look back,
you know, even when I got tohigh school and college I
realized, man, that a lot of myfriends have been involved in
gang violence or locked up andthings.
I would have been doing theexact same thing, they would
have been doing the exact samething they were doing and likely
would not have made it out ofthat community and situation had
I been born into it and had Inot had this, this kind of safe
(08:50):
place to retreat to.
And that's a tough thing toprocess, you know, that's a
tough thing to process.
Kind of burden me.
And I also at that same time gotto go to a little Catholic high
school on the south side of DCcalled the math.
That was a basketballpowerhouse, football powerhouse.
It was 800.
All guys, teeny little, areally small kind of kind of
(09:13):
very humble little Catholic highschool and I think I that high
school I got to see, you know,senator, sons and kids who lived
in public housing come together.
We all wore uniforms.
No one knew you know who's dadhad what or who came in and what
, but we were there to get aneducation and play ball and that
, that, that institution ofeducation really be given kind
(09:35):
of it for a lot of guys to, toget out of what was another wise
, difficult environment andagain didn't process all that.
You know, and I was like I highschool, this vision, oh man,
we're going to go to schools forkids are in tough situations
now from break the chains ofpoverty.
But I absolutely, you know God,kind of embedded some of those
experiences in my story and youknow it was always a big,
gigantic kids.
I was playing football andbaseball and basketball and
(09:56):
things went on to play football,you know the University of
Virginia, and went on play forthe Carolina Panthers and and
got fired after a couple yearsthe Carolina Panthers.
I was in my home the first time.
I was like don't watch you all,my team, oh God, what the world
you call me this one.
You know he's supposed to seeme through it, all that kind of
stuff.
And a few hours later got tosign with the campaign
(10:17):
Buccaneers and I was.
You know I was the leastsignificant guy on the team but
got to be a part of the SuperBowl championship team that
season.
It was absolutely incredible,was absolutely incredible zone.
It's like whirlwind kind ofthing.
And you know my dad, just oneof my best friends, and you know
, incredible, like mentor,leader in my life, man of faith,
and you know my wife, my wifenow and then find my mom and I
(10:41):
was like I'm not going to behere.
You know where she's, at thegame with me, my mom.
You know we're holding one barto trophy on the fifth yard line
and confetti is coming down.
And you're seeing my life withmy Jovey on the fifth yard, like
happy one of the Super Bowl andI you know again that I played
like no meaningful role in anyof that season hardly, but.
But I also like had a sense ofcompletion, like like God.
Thank you so much for thisincredible experience.
(11:01):
If I was a little boy and you'dask me, what do you want to do
when you grow up, I think I wentto Super Bowl.
You know I was a plane and Iwent like, and at the same time,
after that game I had this realsense of like, completion, that
completed and it was anincredible experience, was an
incredible start in life, alwaysthankful for the NFL and that
time, but I was done with it andI really prayed on the plane
(11:23):
ride home.
You know God, with this onelife like this one life I had to
live, I feel like I've alreadyhad a lifetime of experience
with it.
I've gotten to see what a lotof folks chase their whole lives
for and I've gotten to wake upand realize that.
So I'm so grateful for theexperience.
Man, like tomorrow comes andthere wasn't a sense of deep
(11:45):
fulfillment in the entertainmentbusiness of football or even
winning a world championship andhaving a ring.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Isn't that amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, it's.
You know, chasing the brassring, I got this.
I got the Tiffany's designSuper Bowl ring, right with
Warren Sap designed our ring.
It's all bling down diamonds.
I mean.
Got that and went, man, likewhat what next?
And remember here in DarrellGreen, who a hero of mine had
been a deep defensive back forthe Washington Redskins while I
(12:15):
was growing up and he said inthe pregame of Super Bowl, was
watching, really said you knowthe Super Bowl rings you one
never would compare to the, tothe, to the feeling of
fulfillment you got pouring intothe life of one kid and this
thing kind of fades and it's anice event and experience, but
(12:36):
but there's lack of fulfillment.
So I'm just praying, guy, giveme an opportunity.
That's my life, not anentertainment but an eternal
impact like just use me in a waythat's unique, that would bring
about impact, and so I didn'tknow what that meant or what
that looked like.
But in in 07, when the, withthe mortgage market, kind of
crashed and created the greatrecession of, we as an industry
(12:58):
and nation exported, I think,more hurt and evil and sin than
ever had been done, financially,at least, around the world.
What a cool opportunity.
Like would this be a chance forus to step into that backdrop
and tell a new, better story,you know, a new, better story of
how a financial service companycould take its profits and pour
(13:20):
back into their community in ameaningful way and build a
culture that loved and valuedthe people that were in the
institution.
You know, because a lot ofthose institutions were not
known for that for how theyloved and valued even teammates.
And that's what I wanted.
You know, angelique, that was,and I think that's maybe the
selfish thing throughout this.
I love pouring into Charlottebecause I love it, like it gives
(13:41):
me a ton of joy, like it'sreally me, and I said, man, what
would it look like to build thecompany you always wanted to
work for?
You know, the one that like,where you're on a team of, like,
committed professionals thatdid their job with excellence.
You were also in a place that,like, loved you and cared about
you and knew that, like,sometimes life falls off the
rails and when it does, I thinkyou know the beauty of of the
Christian communities that werecalled the love one another.
(14:03):
Like love one another in thosehard times, and all of us have
them.
Like, all of us have them, allof us.
And I want to be a part of acommunity that has that and does
that.
And then, finally, I want to belocked arms with a team that
has a purpose that's bigger thanourselves.
You know.
It has a purpose that's outsideof just the community we're a
part of or the product that weproduce.
So that's why we named itmovement.
(14:23):
We want to be a movement ofchange and kind of inspire a
bigger idea of what companiescan be as we just walk out that
really simple mandate andscripture of like love God, love
people.
We have people from like everyfaith walk you know you could
imagine, and no faith at all asa part of our community and my
commitment to each of them isthat they will be loved, they
will be valued.
(14:43):
And we ask the same of them Like, and we define love like this
we real quick, I'll stop, we'llgo to the next one.
But we say you know the same atthe math how high school freeze
right on the board.
For me said to love is to actin the longterm best interest of
another.
So if you're gonna be a part ofthis community movement, you
got to commit to bringing yourwhole self every day and acting
(15:04):
in the longterm best interest ofyour teammates, our customers
and the communities we're a partof.
Right, commit to those threethings.
Man, you are our kind of personand you're in and we love you
and move our walk arms with you,and so that was kind of the
genesis of the journey we're onright now.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I love that.
There's so much that you said,and I just want to highlight a
couple of things.
So, first of all, god promisesthat when we commit our ways to
him, he will give us the desiresof our heart, and that is what
you just described.
So, as you do for the Lord,you're getting the enjoyment out
of it because your heart isaligned to God's heart, and that
(15:44):
is so critically important.
I think oftentimes, when we'rein our role, we have different
roles in life.
Whether you know, you'reoperating as a father, me as a
mother, a husband or a wife, ora leader in the marketplace, or
serving at church on a Sunday,or what have you, we tend to
want to be different from whoGod created us to be, in a
(16:08):
various role.
So I may be one person at home,or I might be another person in
the marketplace, at work, and Imight be a different person on
church on Sunday.
I think what we're reallyhighlighting today is how do you
live authentically in alignmentwith the Lord and you don't
have to leave your faith at home.
Matter of fact, if you leaveyour faith at home, you're
(16:30):
actually not honoring and beingobedient to God, and so to bring
the love of Christ into themarketplace is the ingredient
that's needed.
Billy Graham said before hepassed that the great next
revival will come through themarketplace and it's efforts
like you're describing.
We're gonna get into what itmeans fully to be a movement and
(16:50):
the work you're doing, but thework you're doing is the work
that's needed to truly bring thenext great revival.
I believe that, and when I hearabout the work that you're
doing, you and all yourteammates, I just wanna read
from Matthew 25, verses 35through 40, because this is
really the call that Jesus tellsus to do.
(17:10):
He doesn't put boundaries.
If you're at home, do this.
If you're at work, do this.
If you're in the temple onSunday, do this.
Now he says this is what youneed to do, for I was hungry and
you gave me something to eat.
I was thirsty and you gave mesomething to drink.
I was a stranger and youinvited me in.
I needed clothes and youclothed me.
(17:32):
I was sick and you looked afterme.
I was in prison and you came tovisit me.
Then the righteous will answerhim, lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirstyand give you something to drink?
When did we see you, a stranger, and invite you in.
We're needing clothes and clothyou.
When did we see you sick or inprison and go visit you?
(17:55):
And the king will reply truly,I tell you, whatever you did for
one of the least of thesebrothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me, and so all thework is doing it for him, and
the fruit speaks for itself.
Amen.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Yeah, I'm so glad you read that.
That past your scripture and Itell you Did.
This whole journey for me hasbeen one In so many ways.
Like I grew up, great family,mom and dad were really strong
In their faith and then part ofthat to me, my little sister's,
kiddos.
I don't remember a timehonestly my life, where I didn't
(18:35):
have some kind of understandingof a hope and faith in Christ.
I really don't.
People always one of the bigConversion moment.
I just I there's not a time outlife.
I don't remember having a faithin Jesus.
I understand that he had donesomething for me.
I understood San Luis in deeper, more meaningful ways as I got
older, but always kind of.
And yet I Never totally felt athome inside of a church, the
(18:59):
church community sometimes, andmaybe that's because I was a bit
of a mud.
I was a Lutheran when I wasreally little and then we went
to the Piscopal church.
That was just awesome and greatand then I decided I was not
gonna go to church anymore.
When I was like 16 I was like Iwas just old enough to figure
all this stuff out.
I was at a Catholic high schoolthat I really loved also and
loved so much about the Catholictradition and then I went to a
non-denominational church and Iwas kind of discipled in a IA
(19:20):
and FCA from sports and things,and then with like RTS and went
to like a little bit of seminaryschool afterwards.
Try to like so just this, this,this hot spot, so maybe, maybe
that that is what.
But I always had this littlething of not quite, not quite
fitting in like a the confinesof a church and some of it, some
of it, I think, was just adisconnect of the things that I
read in the Bible, like thatbeautiful scripture that you
just read.
(19:40):
And Then my experience, youknow, my inside the walls of a
church, and there wasn'tanything wrong necessarily with
like what happened inside thewalls of church in my experience
, but it was so such a smallsliver of the Christian life and
like we'd go and I remember,like you get awards for how much
of scripture we memorized whenI was growing up in DC and yet
(20:00):
like five miles from our church,some of the deepest was
troubled poverty in the UnitedStates and never do I remember
like going down and engaging,you know it's hard to reckon so,
yeah, walking out those versesa little bit, and so, and I
think the really beautiful thing, you know, folks always ask me
how can you run a you know aprice center business with so
many people from different walksof life?
(20:21):
It's, you know, if you're aperson who doesn't believe in
loving the marginalized,probably not a great fit for our
community.
Like, but the rehearse the goodnews.
Like most people, I think, inhaving an innate sense that
there's a goodness of being partof a Collective, in a community
that cares for the marginalizedright, cares for the elderly,
cares for the poor, cares forthe homeless, cares for the
(20:43):
widow, cares the orphan, caresfor those in prison like you.
If you ask, you know, I'd say95% of America is probably gonna
tell you hey, we think it's,it's a good and right thing to
care for the marginalized andand so, you know, we just try to
walk that stuff out.
Okay, if we all believe this, doour actions align with it?
You know, do our actions alignwith it?
And then give people anopportunity to let their actions
(21:03):
align with what they say, theybelieve and it's.
It's really encouraging me andJulie just how much commonality
we have with our fellow Americanor fellow, like citizen of the
world, in terms of, just likethe innate goodness of what we
know, healthy community can andshouldn't look like that.
Isn't that different than whatJesus describes in scripture?
You know, I think you like it.
Oh gosh, we have to live sodifferently and man, there's
(21:24):
just so much.
I think that we can do that somuch more inviting in terms of
Christian culture thatUnfortunately it isn't lived out
as much sometimes on the andyou can't, you can't for one
hour on Sunday, right, like so.
I'm not Fresh in the church, Ihope by any means, but but it's
easier to do, frankly, theworkplace when we have 4050
hours a week together, all daylong, all week long, and can
really lock arms together in amore meaningful way.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Well, I think I mean you're touching on something
that's super important Either.
Sometimes people just don'tknow how to engage a particular
issue.
How do they actually helpsomeone?
People generally don't know howto do that, and sometimes, if
the church isn't creating theopportunity, they're kind of out
there waiting for theopportunity to come their way.
And I think one of the thingsthat my church really leans
(22:09):
heavy into if you see a gap inserving the community, that we
don't have something to offer,then God's calling you to rise
up and to create it.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Don't wait and create a podcast, the grow podcast.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah there you go.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Yes, yes, and that's what we do in the marketplace.
Right, that's what business todo.
Like we solve problems forcompensation.
Every business figures out theproblem they're going to solve
for the world and the world'sgoing to tell you how valuable
that is and like we do that.
The tough thing with like, Ithink, ministry or mercy is
there's not often a compensationmodel for the problem that you
see, that you're solving right,like and that.
(22:43):
So then you kind of startchecking motivations.
Like all right, I do want tosolve this problem.
So yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, we're going to start breaking down loving God
and loving people, and what thismeans in and through the work
that you do each and every day.
And, listeners, what I reallywant you to hear and hear, for
is there's several facets ofthis body of work that KC and
team are leading.
I would love for you just toimagine yourself being able to
(23:15):
do something similar.
You could be thinking toyourself well, I am in my place
of work.
I don't have a CEO who has theheart and passion like KC, so I
can't start something like this.
You can, if you ask God.
He's going to create a pathwayand doors will start opening to
you.
So don't look at theconstraints that may be popping
(23:36):
up in your mind.
Just think of the possibilities, because God is a God of
possibilities.
He does the impossible.
So I'm just going to pray realquick, KC, before we actually
start getting into this, becauseI really want God to open the
eyes and the hearts of thepeople to see them themselves in
the work that you're doing,because they can be a solution
in our community as well.
(23:57):
So, father, we just thank youagain for this time that you've
given us today, as we really getin and just celebrate and give
you glory for the work thatyou've been doing in and through
loving God and loving people,the movement story.
Lord, we just ask that you openthe eyes and the hearts of the
people listening, that you givethem new vision, new hope that
(24:19):
we are.
They are the answer that ourcommunity so desperately needs,
that it takes one person to liftthe torch for the torch to
start to spread to other people.
So, lord, we thank you for thefire that you're igniting and
all the listeners hearts andthat you are making a way where
there seems not to be a way,because you are the waymaker.
In the name of Jesus, we prayAmen.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Amen Amen.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
Yep.
So I love how you frame thatand it is.
It's funny, the one thing wehear people go oh gosh, that's
great, you do this program, butyou have 5,000 employees and you
have all this and the other.
And you know, and I could never.
And so I have good news, likefor the listener, I've given you
some listeners.
I won't break this stuff down tothe most because our story
starts in the most humble ofways with 14 members.
(25:05):
You know that a little companyI was starting with 14 mates and
everything's been doneorganically and I will say that
that man well, absolutely I can.
I would guess in any man thatJesus is the waymaker.
Again, he also, like we play anactive role in this right and
so, so, so, like this followingout these mandates that Christ
gives us, like it's amazing towatch, as you kind of like
always think about that IndianaJones scene where he's stepping
(25:26):
across the bridge and it lookslike he's going to fall off into
the abyss and he goes and steps, boom, his foot hits the rock
right and like it's kind of likethe guide comes up to meet your
foot as you step out in faithto follow you know the way he
has called you to live and leave.
And so I think one of the veryfirst things we did at movement
that was so profound is we kindof said all right, you know, we
(25:47):
know at some point we wanted togive and we hope we want to do
some interesting things as acompany.
But like we never.
We always want to make sure wetook care of our family first,
like we took care of our teammembers first.
We never want to be giving wayfar away if we had deep needs at
home.
And so we said, hey, we justkind of made it known culturally
that if someone was goingthrough an economic challenge,
just let one of us know, likelet one of us know, and my
(26:07):
partner and I would get togetherand you know just to kind of
the evolution of the companyfrom four folks to 20 to 40, to
like 100 folks, it was just kindof culturally understood that
if there was a teammate that hadlike a deep economic need, they
just need to let it be knownand other teammates would come
alongside of man, we pay a rentbill or fix an air conditioning
unit or help somebody repair acar or what not.
And that was because we justsaid we want to be a part of the
(26:28):
community.
I want that, I want my, I wantmy little girls to be a part of
the community.
That when life falls off therails and it will, amen that was
not economically, it's not justemotionally that there are a
lot of ways it will get therePart of the community is going
to say I'm there, I'm there foryou, I care for you, right?
So that was super simple, likesuper simple stuff.
It's not super simple.
And, man, as we, as we grew andas we, we go, wow, we actually
(26:51):
have to start to formalize andput programs and processes in to
support this culture that webelieve is is just good and
right.
Right, it's just good and right.
So if you lead it, if you leada team of two, you know, let
your other teammate know.
Hey, I just want you to know,like, like, I didn't get.
That might look like just aword of encouragement with
somebody down, it might looklike Pramp, but but it's
creating a culture that says I'mgoing to be there for you and I
(27:11):
want you there for me also intimes of need.
You know, in times of need, andyou know, as we kind of matured
along by the way we steal, androbustly and aggressively, from
everyone.
But my partner sent me a bookcalled Love Works.
The guy named Joel Mamby wroteabout her.
Some family entertainment Greatthey gollywood and the
globetrotters much ofinteresting, interesting
properties, great things.
And they talk about an employeefund.
(27:33):
There was a formal fund thatemployees gave to every month
and was there for any otheremployees in times of economic
need.
And, wow, perfect.
That's a formal system thatthey kind of expresses our heart
of what we're trying to do.
We took it, we packaged it up,we made it maybe a little bit
better or whatever.
We named it Love Works to honorJoel and our family.
And today we have about 70percent of our team members
(27:54):
every month Some some it's adollar, you know, out of the
payroll we have.
We've got teammates give youtens of thousands of dollars to
the fund and we used to match itdollars for dollars, to match a
dollar for dollar and thatmoney would sit in a pool for
any employee in times of need.
Our team are passionate aboutthis fund that I don't even
match it anymore, like I give toit as an employee.
But the foundation doesn'tmatch anymore and it's just self
(28:17):
funding.
We do about 400 grants a yearfor between a million and a
million and a half dollars ayear to teammates in times of
dire need, and I got to share areport.
Actually, this morning we had akindergartner at movement school
.
We have moved, we've movedschools, hopefully we'll get
into this but she was struck inthe head by a bullet in the drop
(28:38):
last year and it was a thirdtime our house had been shot out
from and mom was terrified.
Of course.
You know grandma and the LoveWorks Fund got to step in and
help her family transition tosafe housing.
And this morning I got to sharea picture of that precious
(29:01):
kindergarten with our principal.
She held movement schools backat school.
You know, back at school shedidn't look good.
It was really tough.
The whole community came aroundher was praying for her and her
family and full recovery.
She's now back in school as afirst grader, her family's
living in a safe home and youknow we just kind of go, man,
isn't that kind of community wewant to be a part of, like we're
(29:22):
caring for needs that exist,like that, and I can think, like
Love Works giving goes right upand everyone's like, yes, I
want to go, do this.
I want to be a part of that, andwe've just seen God do just
that little statement andmeasure him much more than we
could hope we're managingaccording to his power and
purpose, through just like theselittle acts, just like really
simple things of like kind of befaithfully, you know, loving
(29:43):
and serving one another, and Ithink it's also it's also total
out of ground, to plant seeds offaith in people that maybe had
a really hard heart towards God.
They had a bad experience withchurch.
They had a bad experience with,you know, maybe a Christian.
They'd heard some things when,oh, I thought that Christianity
was about this.
When they learned, like youknow, like the heart of the
gospel was one of likesacrificially loving folks that
(30:07):
were in need, me being the firstamong those, they were far more
open to hearing more about thestory of Jesus and who he is.
Now he loves us when they seethat expressed, I think, in
tangible ways in the workplace.
So it's been, it's that's beenan amazing kind of precursor to
having more in depth spiritualconversations with, with, with
(30:28):
team members who were interestedin exploring that kind of thing
.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yeah, well, we never know either.
Like what, what hurt andbaggage is a person bringing
into a conversation?
You know, when we start talkingabout faith, a lot of people
have a lot of hurt around faithbecause they haven't actually
experienced love in action.
And God is love in action, youknow.
Love the Lord, your heart, withall your love the Lord, your
(30:51):
God, with all your heart, mindand soul, and love your neighbor
as yourself.
And if we really think aboutthat like this, love works.
Love your teammates.
This notion of start with lovemeet the basic need, show the
heart of Jesus.
It actually starts to build anemotional tank, if you will like
(31:13):
an emotional investment fund,where people will want to
withdraw out of that bankaccount of emotional trust to
actually hear what we have tosay about the love of God.
But the trust has to be therefirst and that comes through
love.
So I love that.
I would love to hear a story.
So again, we're talking aboutall the work you and your team
(31:37):
are doing, loving God, lovingpeople, and one facet of love is
through what you just described, love works and it's caring for
those in the inner circle andthen starting to love out.
Can you give us a story.
You shared a story about afellow teammate that you have
(31:59):
and what are you saying?
He was kind of, you know, roughin nature maybe.
Yeah, and just his pathwaythrough living these small acts
of love out how it actuallyleads to eternal reward.
Do you mind sharing a story?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Sure, yes, so so.
So there's three real bigpillars of ways we try to like
walk that I've tried to kind ofguess maybe.
Walk out my faith and expressit culturally in movement.
Again, all of them, all of them, I really want to be
invitations, you know, just likeinvitations to people in the
into a community that loves andvalues one another and then, if
(32:39):
they're open to it, they'reinterested in it, through that
process comes to know a God wholoves them and so passionately,
beyond, beyond, maybe what theycould even imagine, and love
works is one of those.
First right, it's kind of abenevolence fun would be the
equivalent.
The church is just to say, hey,we're going to care for each
other.
And then we said that we hopethat man, we've care for each
other.
Let's just get a bigger pictureof the world.
(33:00):
Let's get a bigger picture ofthe world.
But let's realize, man,especially in the United States,
we can get a really, reallyethnic center kind of small
picture of the world, sometimesso like, let's be intentional to
go out around the world andmeet some new friends living in,
living in some sometimes likesome really difficult,
challenging places that have afaith, and like that might be,
might be just really stretchingto us.
(33:21):
And so we we started doing whatwe call vision trips and and we
said, you know what we're goingto, we're going to try to
expand our vision of what we'regoing to do and how we can
impact it in meaningful ways.
And there's no precursor.
These trips are for people offaith and not a faith or people
of courage.
Right, this is okay, I'm goingto expand my vision.
And so my partner to be here isorganized a strip to Guatemala,
(33:41):
and Guatemala, off the coast, isknown for good fishing and so
Toby loves to fish.
You call a few guys say, hey,you guys want to go fish with me
and Guatemala for a few days,and guys say, yeah, love to go
fish, love, love.
You go.
Okay, we're going to visit acouple friends down there that
are building a couple things,and then we're going to go off
shore.
And I said, okay, you know, setsounds great.
And so one of those is are nowpresent a guy named Mike Brian
(34:02):
and who's an incredible, justincredible brother in Christ I
just absolutely love dearly.
And you know my Mike, mike Mikewas a guy.
He kind of said he had been toyou know service a couple times
maybe, growing up race Catholickind of, went Christmas and
Easter two or three times.
That was it.
He's like man, I knew who was anew case he was.
He's a person of faith and Ijust went.
(34:23):
That's great, that's great, I'mall about like a good moral
company.
I like that.
Mike's got you know two tatsleeves up up now, both arms,
and I think he had 20 somethingfelonies before he was 18 or 18
or so.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Hello, listeners, it's that time in the interview
where we need to pause so we canmove over to part two.
It also means that Iinterrupted an incredible story
that Casey was sharing inregards to his friend Mike.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
So you'll want to come back, listen to part two to
hear how the story of Mikeunfolds, as well as many other
inspirational stories.
We will see you at part two.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of grow,
where God reveals our way.
We hope you found inspiration,wisdom and encouragement as we
continue on this faith filledjourney together.
We invite you to subscribe togrow so you never miss an
episode.
Stay tuned for more biblicalteachings, heartfelt testimonies
and insights that will nourishyour spirit in deep in your
relationship with God.
(35:24):
We appreciate your support andparticipation in this podcast.
Until next time, may you growin faith, love and knowledge of
his divine plan.
May God bless you abundantly.
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