From Career to Calling: Building a Business with Purpose
- Jun 30
- 13 min read
Hello and welcome to All Things Foster, a place for coffee, connection and community. I am recording in Podapalooza and most of my episodes are long form interviews. These are shorter forms and so we won't be able to get as deep as we normally do. But Dale, Dale Young is a coach for business entrepreneurs, for Christian entrepreneurs. So tell us a little bit about you, Dale.
Dale (00:32.456)
gosh, that would take way too long. you know, we'll start out with one of the obvious ones. I'm 72 years old. Most people don't think that. And I have been, I did 48 years in the IT profession and went through a big transition, really accepted Christ as part of that journey, became really involved with the Christian side of things.
And now as a coach, I help Christian business owners, Christian business entrepreneurs to really focus in on the power of aligning their faith in business.
Matt (01:09.046)
I love that. So you say you went through a big transition. Talk us through that. What did that look like for you?
Dale (01:15.79)
So I prayed the prayer early, age 25 or something, but I really had no life change. in 1992, I'm sitting around a lunch table. I'm in Australia at the time, working for a government contractor, doing defense contracting and other stuff that I'd have to shoot you if I told you about. But really it was a case of the...
Matt (01:37.166)
I don't know.
Dale (01:42.592)
something had changed in the benefits or something. We were all sitting around the table and we were all griping about this change. This change amounted to just a little bit on a great big bonus that we were already getting. And so I was griping just along with the rest of them and out of my mouth comes these words. Well, this is just a job. It's not a career. And I realized in my heart at that moment that I needed something different from a heart.
to be headed in a different direction. So two years later, I'm no longer in Australia and I've changed jobs. Two years after that, I've changed jobs again. And I find some satisfaction in computer consulting, not for big companies, but for small companies. And a couple of years after that, I accept Christ in my life and really start changing my life. Was on the
Billy Graham had a crusade in Dallas, Fort Worth in 2002, thought it might be one of his last ones. It turned out, no, he did Another couple after that. But I was there all four nights as a volunteer. And most of those nights I was doing at least two roles. So I'd gotten really deep into it. And I learned a lot through this side. I said it was kind of like a seed had been planted many years ago and it finally got watered and sprouted.
Matt (03:08.6)
Yeah.
Dale (03:09.678)
Okay. And through some other stuff that led into finding out about coaching, that led into getting coach training, getting my first coaching clients. And so over the years, the coaching went up while the IT work went down. And I just knew that God was leading me in that direction. I think he actually wanted me to probably move a little bit faster than I did.
Matt (03:34.894)
Yeah, okay.
Dale (03:36.898)
But I was still, I was kind of waiting for open doors and you know, finally, not only did the door open, but they, actually kind of kicked me out. He, I'd been praying for something to happen in the IT world and something did, and I was able to go to part time in the IT world. And that lasted another five years. That was 2016 lasted another five years. But 2016 was also painful for me because I went through a divorce at that point.
of 30 year marriage. five years later, I met this amazing woman, we got married and now it's been five years since then. So it's been wonderful.
Matt (04:15.188)
Awesome. Yeah. So you talk about, for Christian entrepreneurs, aligning your business with your faith. What does that look like?
Dale (04:27.074)
Well, I think for a lot of people, faith is in one world and business is in the other world. And they're like two separate worlds. And I'm not going to pick on the people at one end of the bell curve. Okay. Those are the people that they go to church on Sunday and they don't think about God the rest of the week. That's, that's the secular end. And yes, we all understand that when you start getting everything, it's just like when you're
marketing, you don't need to market to two different audiences because you're splitting your power. Right? When you get the power of God behind what you're doing in business, then you can make a lot more progress because you've got that power behind you. But the other people on the other end of the bell curve are the people that are so spiritual that they're not going to charge for their services and every white thing away for free. And they're not going to run what they're
what they're supposed to do as a business. so their business never grows. And what is that doing? Well, that's hiding. And I can speak to that a lot because that was what I was doing for many years. So I'm actually putting out a book called The Power of Aligning Your Faith in Business. It is the proven way to clear direction, fulfilling results and joyful peace.
Matt (05:43.63)
75
Matt (05:51.81)
love that. So when does that come out?
Dale (05:54.058)
It comes out April 7th, so just about the week from when we record this.
Matt (05:58.318)
Okay, all right, and where do they find it? Amazon, okay. And so we'll put a link for that in the show notes and help with that. So what's the starting place for someone that says, ok I have an expertise in this and I'm a believer and it's gonna benefit people, but in my mind,
Dale (06:00.672)
on
Matt (06:28.002)
This is a perspective that I've had because I spent 13 years in the of the corporate space doing things. so before I left to start this nonprofit or to run this nonprofit full time, but I had a friend who had a business and he would look at a project. He was an amazing, amazing carpenter. He would look at a project and he would say, okay, it's going to cost me this much in wood and this much time. And so, you know, it's worth.
You know, in his mind, it was real simple for him to do and make it and all these things. And so he's doing this work for next to nothing and then he's not making any money. so talk to that person who's got this, they've got a business and they want to help people. They want to do, they have an area of expertise. How do they, what's the mental shift that they have to go through to say, okay, I have expertise in this area and I
I want to help people, but I got to make a living. got to feed my family and do all the things.
Dale (07:32.494)
Well, it all comes down to value, right? What kind of value are you putting out to the world? What kind of change, what kind of difference are you making in the world? And I really feel like most people haven't even thought about it that way. They get into a job because their parents recommended it or because somebody in college told them it was going to be easy or something like that. And so they don't even think about their own gifts, their own talents.
Okay. And just like the parable of the talents, if we don't, if we can take our talents and we don't use them, it's like burying money in the ground and not even investing in the bank. Okay. And so from my point of view, you need to start with who you are. And knowing who you are is it's been a big journey for me back in 1992 when I said this is just a job, not a career. I thought I wanted a career. actually didn't want a career. Yeah.
Matt (08:12.333)
Yeah.
Dale (08:29.582)
It turned out I wanted something much bigger than that. And that turned into a calling. And I'll talk about that in a little bit. But, you know, it starts with who are you? What are your gifts? What are your talents? So, you know, take a spiritual gifts assessment. I've got one for free out on my site So, you know, find out what when you became a Christian, God gave you certain gifts. What are those?
Matt (08:32.238)
Absolutely.
Dale (08:55.48)
Those are useful for the body. Well, they're useful for the body, but they're also useful in building up your business. If you're doing what you're already gifted to do, it's going to be a whole lot easier.
Matt (09:06.772)
Absolutely. I work with a business coach as well. And one of the things he had me start doing about two years ago is writing I am statements. I write gratitude statements and I am statements first thing every morning. And so I go through the things that I'm thankful for. And then I go through the statements that I'll tell you, I was in foster care. I was in, it was an abusive situation that I was adopted into. And so, you know,
So it's doing that, you know, I started out while I'm writing this, but I don't really believe it. You know? And so, you know, one of the things that I write almost every morning is I'm a loved, saved, child of God. And making that into who I am. Like, I do have value. I am important, right? And so, yes, starting with
knowing your value, right? Because, I mean, God died, Jesus died for us. Because we have value, right?
Dale (10:16.146)
for you, Jesus died for me. That's worth a lot right there. Because of that, we are all adopted into the family. You've been fostered so you know what adoption is about kind of thing. Okay. So yeah, one of my statements that I say every morning is I am the son of the one true King. actually, sometimes I say I'm the loved and complete son of the one true King.
You know, that brings us to, you know, find out about who you are. I've got, you know, coming from the IT world, I love assessments. I was always the weird one in the IT world that nobody could figure out exactly, because I like to talk to people, but I also did well with computers, you know. Generally, it's one or the other, but I was one of those both. And so...
Everybody was always trying to figure me out. And so I took a lot of assessments in the IT world. so find some good assessments. And I've got my own.
Matt (11:18.314)
You got one on your website. What's your website?
Dale (11:20.763)
at coachdale.com.
Matt (11:22.74)
So still that's easy, man. And you've got an assessment on there.
Dale (11:26.54)
Well, I've got several assessments that people can get. Okay. So my big three on the assessment is spiritual gifts, and that I've got one out there for free. Second one is the working genius, which I have rebranded as your energy map. Because what the working genius does, it tells you how you like to do things. A lot of the personality profiles, you know, disk and myrtle, Briggs and whatever.
They tell you about who you are. They don't tell you about what you do. genius tells you how you like to work. When you know how you like to work, you get more energy from working in those directions and you lose energy if you don't work in those directions. You need to figure out, for example, I was always good with computers, so I thought I was a detailed guy. I'm not really a detailed guy. Details frustrate me after a while.
You know, I lose energy if I'm dealing with details for too long. that's just a hint. Once you find that out, that gives you a clue as to who you are and what you're supposed to do. And then the third one that I love, I really love, but it takes a lot more unpacking, is the CliftonStrengths, or what used to be the Strengthfinder. Most people only get the top five of the Strengthfinder, but there's actually 34 talents in
Matt (12:48.654)
Wow.
Dale (12:49.738)
And with 34 talents, you have you're a unique being. And that's one of the things I like to say is everybody is unique. Everybody does things differently. And so find out how you are put together, how God wired you, how God created you. OK, how God knitted you together in his mother and your mother's womb. OK. And then once you get all that in place, then you've got a good solid identity and.
Sometimes statements like I am statements that you repeat every morning. Those can help you firm that up. It kind of takes it from the intellectual side down to the heart side, which by the way is the longest 18.
Matt (13:28.554)
Yeah.
Dale (13:31.424)
Okay. And then after that, you need to go into the community that you're a part of. Are you in a helpful, supportive community? Or not? Okay. And community is family, adopted family, church, church family, golf buddies, bowling buddies, you know, pickleball buddies, whatever.
you know, who are you hanging around with? Jim Rowland had the classic phrase, you're the average of the five people you hang around with. Well, it's not quite exactly five people, but it is a, it is a pretty small number. It's a lot smaller than what a lot of people think it is. So, you know, once you get those two, because they're two parts of your identity, your identity is always in yourself singular, but it's always in community as well.
Have you ever seen some people that they go into one community and they're all cheerful and upbeat, you know, and they go into another one, they're all depressed and everything. You know, that's a mask. they do that, you know, so getting, understanding who you are underneath the mask and being able to take that mask off and see you for who God really created you to be. Once you get those two parts, then you start adding the calling piece, the why, why am I here? Why did God create me?
Matt (14:44.94)
Mm, mm, that's,
Matt (14:50.967)
Yeah.
Dale (14:54.122)
at this point in time in history, at this location with these parents and these adopted parents and all the other things that He allowed happen to me in my life. All of that's, you know, God doesn't waste anything. It's all about taking you to a place where you can be of service, of service to Him, of service to others. And all that is, is for His glory.
Matt (15:09.678)
Yeah.
Matt (15:23.022)
Mm-hmm. Mm. That's good. So after they've kind of figured out who they are and what they're doing, then the calling piece helps them to figure out how they work best. Am I saying that right? How they do
Dale (15:42.946)
The calling gives you the why, which is the power. You know, Simon Sinek had the big talk, Start with Why, Okay. I actually think you have to start with who you have to start with who you are and who you're what your identity singular and in community is. Right. But once you get that said, you start with why the why gives you more power, it gives you more connection. It gives you more ability to interact with people and everything.
Matt (15:50.478)
Yeah, right.
Dale (16:12.078)
And it gives you direction. It gives you direction for the future. You know, if you, if you know your why is to build a legacy of, for example, you know, you, you won't have all these podcasts, episodes that are around for ages, cause they're evergreen, right? And these are going to help foster parents forever. Okay. You plug into that legacy that you're building. You want to go do more of it. Okay.
Matt (16:29.483)
Right.
Matt (16:40.194)
Mm-hmm.
Dale (16:41.998)
And that's kind of the thing that I'm doing with my book is I'm trying to get people to think about these bigger pictures. know, what are you trying to leave? like to ask this question of people. What's the difference between an inheritance and a legacy?
Ever think about it that way?
Matt (17:06.262)
Yeah, yeah, I mean you you want to you want you want to You want to leave your kids something but for something right like you don't want to just give them a whole bunch of money You want to give them? The ability to do something valuable to help people some some way or something like that. I love that
Dale (17:27.672)
So I summarize it like this. An inheritance is what you leave to someone. A legacy is what you leave in someone.
Matt (17:37.698)
I liked it. I liked it.
Dale (17:40.718)
And I always like to, every time I say that, want to say this question. What kind of legacy are you leaving?
Matt (17:46.392)
Yeah, because you're leaving one. Period. I mean, you're impacting people in some way, somehow. are you, is it a beneficial good thing that you're leaving or is it, you know, a history of abuse?
Dale (17:48.715)
Exactly.
Dale (18:04.022)
I was talking with a guy yesterday and he says he wants to leave a legacy such that his name is remembered for 600 generations.
Matt (18:16.376)
Yeah. Yeah.
Dale (18:20.79)
He does that. He's got be in really good company. The only person I can think of about that would be, you know, Abraham and Jesus and David and those guys. I don't know anybody else that's been around for, you know, their names been around for 600 generations.
Matt (18:23.288)
Yeah, all right.
Matt (18:31.47)
I'm sure.
Matt (18:37.496)
Yeah, no kidding. Well, give us your website one more time.
Dale (18:43.147)
Matt (18:44.526)
Very simple. Yep. And the name of your book.
Dale (18:49.43)
The power of aligning your faith in business.
Matt (18:52.718)
Excellent. And like I said, we'll put links in the show notes down there for both. Thank you for coming on and sharing wisdom and experience. because business and faith, a lot of people will try to keep them separate and they're not, they shouldn't be.
Dale (19:13.806)
They're not matter of fact, the added one appendix to my book and it's appendix seven and the title is Jesus, the world's most successful entrepreneur. entrepreneur
Matt (19:30.094)
That's cool. Yeah. Love that. Well, man, thank you, Dale, for coming on. And guys, thank you for listening. Tune into our episode next week. Make sure to like, share, and subscribe. We got a lot of great information on this podcast, and we want it to impact as many foster and adoptive families and the community out there to understand what's going on in foster care and things like that. And so...
Make sure to like, share, and subscribe. Thanks and have a great day.
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