Episode 385 - Why Most Entrepreneurs Are Lonely (And How to Fix It) | Mark Grunden & Addison Williams

**Justin Forman** (0:00)
When you get entrepreneurs in a group, community and depth happens really quick.

**Addison Williams** (0:03)
Yeah, and that's really where we start to unravel the fear of the enemy is isolation. The fear of the enemy is also this idea that entrepreneurs are this mysterious word.
But really, we're just visionaries that like to take action.

**Mark Grunden** (0:20)
Having Faith Entrepreneur Foundation Groups to be a part of, to be able to meet with people that understand what you're doing in business, the level of leadership that's required, and the heart that goes behind it, the desire to be mission driven in the things that you're part of and see transformation happen, not only in the industry you're trying to disrupt or to serve, but also in the people that you're serving. Having friends in that battle is a good thing to do.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:47)
Bold visionaries, faithful disruptors.
Some call them crazy, but they are called to create. Under his power, for his glory, the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast.

**Justin Forman** (0:59)
Guys, welcome back to the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast. This is a fun episode for us. We get to be amongst our team at our annual staff retreat, where our team of 50 plus people come together to celebrate what God has done over the past year and dream about what he might be calling us to the future. And one of the things that you've heard us talk a lot about is this idea of entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, but it doesn't have to be. But you hear us talk about that a lot. You hear us talk about this idea of groups and ways that you can get connected. But we want to start off today's episode, not just talking about this in a theory, not just talking about an idea, but showing you real groups from around the world and how it's impacted the lives of others and to invite you to participate too. So before we get started with today's episode, let's watch this short video about some of the incredible stories of how God is working through Faith Driven Entrepreneur groups.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:53)
We've been encouraged to see that faith at work matters and our behavior and how we treat people in the marketplace is very important. It brings people to Christ that way. So I think that's where people are more stuck. The how. How do I get to do this? Following the sessions that we had with the FDE, the eight-week session, what changed for me? What next? I've now done this. I am all in.
I'm prepared to change the business. What next? It was one thing to have the online support, listen to the podcasts, go through all the videos that we had. We wanted real touchy-feely support that we could offer each other. It's not just a networking opportunity.
We do have regular prayer meetings. Every month, we pray for our businesses, and we are now supporting over 260 entrepreneurs in our community.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:50)
We're in a time where information, you might even say knowledge is ubiquitous. Everybody's got everything they could ever want or need on a phone, but relationship and connection might be one of the more scarce things that we have. There's lots of great conferences, there's Zoom options, but the personal connection is really irreplaceable.
There's the obvious of peer groups bring together folks to enhance skills. You need to know how to do HR, you need to know how to budget, you need to hire people. But then there's also connection, peers that can identify with what you're going through. I found it very difficult to walk in the church and go to my small group and talk about cash flow or hiring or what are we going to do next quarter. Likewise, I had a hard time for many years walking into my company and saying talking about life and identity and my faith walk and what my kids are going through. I think that Faith Driven Entrepreneurs bring a unique collaboration of both those elements.

**SPEAKER_7** (3:53)
I felt like I was kind of siloed over here doing this work and then I found there are all these other people thinking about this stuff also. How do we integrate this stuff into our lives?
Not just on Sunday, but on every day of the week. One thing I love is that vulnerability of it's not always beautiful and buttoned up. Often, the middle is just blocking and tackling fairly boring stuff, but the stuff that actually helps you grow a business. The emotional roller coaster of an entrepreneur is you do have these highs and lows all over the place. And personally, as an entrepreneur, I want more support in the areas that I'm struggling with on the entrepreneur side.