Faith Driven Entrepreneur

Join host Justin Forman for a candid conversation with Stephen Ellsworth, co-founder of Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand that went from a Dallas farmers market stand to one of the largest exits in beverage history when PepsiCo acquired it for $2 billion. Stephen walks through the pivotal decisions that shaped Poppi's rise — rewriting the formula a week before Shark Tank, the branding fight that determined whether Poppi would be sold as a health product or a soda, and the negotiating table where his team turned down a $1 billion offer because it “didn't feel right.”

But the most striking part of Stephen's story isn't the exit — it's what came after. He opens up about the identity crisis, isolation, and unexpected grief that followed closing the deal, and how wrestling with purpose in the months afterward reshaped his understanding of calling, generosity, and what he calls this next season: not retirement, but “preferment.”

Throughout, Stephen traces how his faith — dormant since he was a teenager — was reawakened through the entrepreneurial journey itself, from a providential tax refund that arrived the week his mortgage was due, to the conviction that let him walk away from billion-dollar offers that didn't align with what he and his team believed was right.

Key Topics:

•      From a Wyoming kitchen to Shark Tank to a $2 billion PepsiCo acquisition

•      The branding pivot that turned an apple cider vinegar tonic into a prebiotic soda

•      Why Stephen's team walked away from a $1 billion Pepsi offer and a $1.65 billion Keurig Dr Pepper offer

•      The unexpected identity crisis and isolation that followed the exit

•      Moving from a Mormon upbringing to a faith renewed through entrepreneurship

•      Setting up a Donor Advised Fund and learning to give with the same rigor used to build a business

Notable Quotes:

“Sitting where we are now, a $2 billion exit from a farmers market stand is just wild.” - Stephen Ellsworth

“Pepsi is a huge system. If you're gonna buy us, buy us.” - Stephen Ellsworth

“The idea of coming to know God more fully through [the entrepreneurial journey] is one of the greatest side benefits of the whole equation.” - Justin Forman

Recorded live at FDE's annual staff retreat, host Justin Forman sits down with Mark Grunden and Addison Williams for a rare, on-the-ground look at what happens when entrepreneurs stop doing this alone. Rather than talk theory, the team shares real footage and real voices — from a London entrepreneur now supporting 260 fellow business owners, to a 57-campus church network in Nairobi, Kenya that has built the Faith Driven Entrepreneur Foundation course into its entire discipleship program.

This episode unpacks what actually happens inside a Foundation Group, why entrepreneurship carries a unique kind of loneliness that even a great small group at church can't always reach, and why leading one of these groups requires no certification — just a willingness to open a Zoom call, press play on a video, and ask a few honest questions.

Whether you're an entrepreneur longing for people who get it, or a pastor wondering how to serve the business leaders already sitting in your church, this conversation offers a simple, tested, ready-to-go path forward.

 

Key Topics:

●        Why entrepreneurship doesn't have to be a lonely journey — and real stories that prove it

●        On-the-ground FDE Group stories from the UK, Kenya, and across the U.S.

●        What a Faith Driven Foundation Group actually looks like (video + Scripture + honest conversation)

●        Why churches are uniquely positioned to reach entrepreneurs — no certification required

●        The global numbers: 25,000+ entrepreneurs served, 250 partnering churches, and one Kenyan church network with 700+ graduates

●        The simple next step: how anyone can start a group this week

 

Notable Quotes:

"When you get entrepreneurs in a group, community and depth happens really quick." – Justin Forman

"That's really where we start to unravel the fear of the enemy is isolation." – Addison Williams

"You gotta be faithful rather than willful. You know, you gotta think of yourself as a steward rather than an owner." – Mark Grunden

Join host Justin Forman for a conversation with Christian Pinkston, CEO of the PR and marketing firm Pinkston, that starts with a simple question about marketing in the age of AI and ends somewhere far deeper: a near-drowning in the Persian Gulf, a camel accident in the Egyptian desert three days later, and a voice from God that Christian says he'll never forget.

For decades, Christian built a life and a career on convincing the people around him that he was impressive, successful, and worth something — while hiding the shame underneath it. It took two brushes with death in the same week, thousands of miles from home, for that image to finally collapse. What followed was confession, grace that wasn't cheap, and a slow rebuilding of an identity rooted in something that could never be taken away.

Along the way, Christian and Justin dig into why AI has made authenticity both harder to fake and more valuable than ever, why story is the foundation of every real relationship (in business and otherwise), and why the same principle that transformed Christian's life — approaching God empty-handed — is also, it turns out, good business.

Key Topics:

•      Why story is proof: how AI is disrupting marketing and making authenticity both harder to fake and more valuable

•      The 45-year identity built on performance — and the soundtrack of shame that shaped it

•      Two brushes with death in three days: a riptide in Dubai and a camel accident in Cairo

•      Confession, grace, and the difference between “cheap grace” and the real thing

•      Why he now pours into young men, teaching an identity rooted in Christ instead of performance

Notable Quotes:

"I realized like I had been pretending for decades to be someone I wasn't, to impress people in my life so they think that I was worth something."

— Christian Pinkston

"The hero of that story is you. But we're not the hero of our story. There can only be one hero."

— Christian Pinkston

"We'll tell the success story. We'll tell those stories. But these are the stories that we need to be telling more of. Telling the stories of brokenness."

— Justin Forman

Faith Driven Entrepreneur Podcast – Episode 383

Release Date: July 14, 2026

 

Why the Leadership Pipeline Is a Myth, and What Actually Works

What if the most widely accepted strategy for developing leaders in your church or business is fundamentally broken? In this episode, Justin Forman sits down with Pastor David Ashcraft, former lead pastor of LCBC Church, which grew to 25 locations and 28,000 weekend attendees, now serving with the Global Leadership Network. David pulls no punches: the leadership pipeline is a myth. What replaces it is a culture, one that produces leaders from within, in real time.

David draws on decades of experience scaling a church from 200 to 28,000 and overseeing 300 staff, 275 of whom were developed from within the congregation. His insights on leadership development, faith-work integration, and measuring fruit over process offer a roadmap for any pastor, entrepreneur, or marketplace leader serious about building something that lasts.

Key Topics:

Why the "leadership pipeline" model fails, and the culture-based alternative that actually works

How LCBC grew from 200 to 28,000 people across 25 locations by developing leaders from within

The "just-in-time training" principle: why proximity to application accelerates leader development

The Global Leadership Summit: roughly 400,000 leaders across 1,120 sites worldwide, and why it bridges pastors and marketplace leaders

Data vs. fruit: how to measure discipleship and leadership without falling into box-checking traps

How business leaders and churches can learn from each other, and why ministry happens everywhere, not just on Sunday

 

Notable Quotes:

“You can have the money, but if you don’t have the leaders, you’re not going anywhere.” — David Ashcraft

 

“The whole idea of the leadership pipeline is a myth. It tends to be almost more of a class or a course. If you go through enough courses, somehow you’re going to come out on the other end a trained leader—and you’ve received training, but it doesn’t make you a leader.” — David Ashcraft

 

“If you’re a leader, people are going to be attracted to whoever the leader is.” — David Ashcraft

 

Guest Bio:

David Ashcraft served for decades as the founding lead pastor of LCBC Church (Lives Changed By Christ) in Pennsylvania, scaling it from a church plant in 1991 to 25 locations serving 28,000 people every weekend, with 275 of 300 staff members developed from within the congregation. He now serves with the Global Leadership Network (GLN), which hosts the Global Leadership Summit, an annual event reaching approximately 400,000 leaders across 1,120 sites worldwide. GLN features speakers including Jim Collins, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Arthur Brooks, and Patrick Lencioni.

Host Justin Forman sits down with John Cortines, author, generosity advocate, and a leader at the Maclellan Foundation, to unpack the heart transformation at the core of every faith-driven entrepreneur's relationship with money. Recorded at the Kingdom Advisors conference, this conversation begins in a Harvard Business School Bible study and ends with a vision for professionally managed giving funds that could rival the mutual fund industry in scale.

John traces his journey from a young oil-and-gas professional whose online banking password was literally "retire@40!" to a husband, father of six, homesteader, and passionate advocate for Kingdom generosity. Drawing from his two books, God and Money and True Riches, John shares both the practical mechanics and the deep heart work required to move from asking "How much do I need to give?" to "How much do I really need to keep?"

Key Topics:

The wrong question most Christians ask about money, and the reframe that changes everything

Why giving felt like a spreadsheet cell working against retirement, until joy broke through

Financial finish lines: setting lifestyle and net worth guardrails before wealth arrives

The four heart conditions around money (pride, coveting, anxiety, and indifference) and their gospel antidotes

Why King Nebuchadnezzar and King David are the ultimate contrast study for entrepreneurs

How collaborative, professionally managed giving funds could become as common as index funds

Practical first steps for busy entrepreneurs ready to go on the generosity offensive

Notable Quotes:

“The right question isn’t how much do I need to give, it’s how much do I really need to keep?” — John Cortines

“All things come from you and of your own have we given you.” — John Cortines (quoting King David, 1 Chronicles 29)

“By definition, giving is actually a source of joy and freedom and purpose in the Christian walk.” — John Cortines

 

Guest Background:

John Cortines is the co-author of God and Money (2016) and True Riches, books exploring biblical stewardship and the heart transformation behind generous living. A Harvard Business School graduate, John began his career in oil and gas at Chevron before pursuing a calling to equip Christian business leaders with a theology and practice of generosity. Today he helps lead generosity and giving strategy at the Maclellan Foundation, which opens its global grant-making engine to families deploying resources worldwide. John and his wife Megan live on 12 acres in East Tennessee with their six children, where they homeschool, homestead, and raise everything from egg-laying hens to Thanksgiving turkeys.