Entrepreneurial Mindset for Transformative Education with Stephen Carter

Why do some schools seem to innovate without losing who they are… while others lose their identity in the process? In this episode, we explore the Jim Collins concept behind the necessity of preserving the core (holding tightly to your mission, values, and distinct identity) while also stimulating progress (relentlessly pursuing new ideas, methods, and programs to stay relevant and effective).  In...

Dr. Joel Hazard, the Head of Academic Collaboration and Culture at Fellowship Christian School in Roswell, Georgia, has amazing insights when it comes to transforming the school experience around true collaboration. On a mission to provide the best possible Christian education, Dr. Hazard explores how we, as teachers and school leaders, need to get used to being uncomfortable. He recommends implem...

After a chance encounter with Chris Voss, author of Never Split the Difference and CEO of the Black Swan Group, I walked away with a valuable lesson around negotiation tactics. Voss suggested that the key to a negotiation is to get what you want with the other person saying "no." The reasoning is that it feels considerably safer to say "no" than to say "yes" and there...

Ready to fully engage your students around transformative education? Weston Kurz, executive director of Dayspring Christian Academy, breaks down key leadership thoughts in a discussion around creating synergistic wins for students. In a day and age where students have more choice in education, schools need to see students as customers, and when this happens, students will begin to flourish through...

People who have developed an entrepreneurial mindset tend to have a few things in common including an insatiable sense of curiosity. This sense of curiosity causes us to ask "Why?" with a true desire to understand, with a quest to get to the root cause. Part of this drive is due to entrepreneurs seeing problems as opportunities, so getting to the root of something is equated to opportuni...

What happens when you take a group of students, many of whom struggle with a disability, and you put them in an Educational Service Center that is launching an entrepreneurial initiative?  In a word: engagement.  Tom Isaacs, superintendent of the Warren County Educational Service Center, brings his over 40 years of experience in public education to this episode where he explores a range of themes...

Let's face it - of all the things we CAN teach our students, one of the most practical is how to manage their money. Poor management of money is a clear formula for anxiety, stress, and broken relationships. A strong sense of how to properly manage money, however, creates pathways and opportunities for success. When we teach financial literacy from the perspective of the entrepreneurial minds...

Ask students at First Baptist Academy in Houston, Texas what they are most excited about and chances are, their answers will be related to entrepreneurship. Two years ago, Teresa brought an entrepreneurship program to her campus and engaged her 8th grade students in launching a student-run venture at the school. Now they are developing a certificate track, certifying their teachers in the entrepre...

"Failure as fuel to future success" - Ryan Moore, Director of the Business Academy at North Cobb Christian School, outlines the key ways his entrepreneurship program has grown and is impacting students through the development of the entrepreneurial mindset. Overseeing multiple student-run ventures as part of the business academy at the school, Ryan (in addition to helping coach varsity b...

This episode of the Entrepreneurial Mindset for Transformative Education Podcast features a short clip from our entrepreneurship symposium event where we launched the premise that All of us are called to be entrepreneurial in how we think and act - how entrepreneurship is rooted in empathy and creativity, and how it is a calling to embrace. Join the movement - sign up for the 2026 Entrepreneurship...

When you bring a creative, artistic person and put them into a business setting, things don't always work out. But if that business setting is a space where the entrepreneurial mindset flourishes, good things are bound to happen: you will be forced out of your comfort zone, you'll be drawn into real-world problem solving, and you'll encounter ongoing critique and feedback on your wa...

The word "entrepreneur" is not just hard to spell--it is loaded with meanings both literal and suggested, to the point that we need clarity around what the term actual means and represents. In this episode, we explore Jordan Raynor's definition from his book, Called to Create, where he explains that an entrepreneur is "anyone who takes a risk to create something new for the goo...

As part of the foundations of entrepreneurship program as we work to instill the entrepreneurial mindset in our students, we give them a project where they go out and sell something. And the real kicker is it has to be to someone they do not already know.  This involves identifying a product or service and cutting to the heart of the TRUE value and creating a UVP or Unique Value Proposition. The t...

Wow--talk about a supercharged podcast episode! Dr. Jen Bennett, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Endowed Faculty in Business Entrepreneurship at Indiana Wesleyan University dives into the heart of what it means to think like an entrepreneur and how she uses her classroom to help students embrace their calling and step into who they were created to be. Key points in the talk: Impact Sta...

Bella Randle is flourishing in every sense of the word - since graduating from the entrepreneurship program at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (where she led the flagship business, The Leaning Eagle Coffee Bar), Bella has entered into an Entrepreneurship and Innovation major at West Virginia University and has woven her love of entrepreneurship with her love of theater through constantly seekin...

Understanding the true difference between cooperation and collaboration is key to getting to the heart of the transformative power of working together toward a shared goal. When we embrace true collaboration, we bring about critical thinking, adaptability, and innovation--skills that are essential for an entrepreneurial mindset.  Cooperation is often about individuals working side by side, indepen...

We wouldn't plant seeds in a garden without ensuring the proper nutrients, water, and sun, so why would we attempt to plant the seeds of the entrepreneurial mindset in our students (and ourselves) without first ensuring we have the three necessary components? We need to make sure that we have proper FREEDOM, AUTONOMY, and RESOURCES (but not to much of any of these) in order to bring about tru...

When it comes down to it, the two most important areas for healthy growth are CLARITY and ACCOUNTABILITY. Whether it is healthy growth in a relationship, in a business, in a school, in a classroom, or in any setting, having a clear vision of where you are going and why (CLARITY) and a system to ensure you will get there (ACCOUNTABILITY) is a clear formula for success. Join the movement - sign up f...

When we take the time to really dig into "failure" we discover that it really isn't failure at all--if anything, it's a key to unlock greater learning and exponential impact. The best tool to do this is a failure audit. In this podcast, I walk through the three primary components of a failure audit to bring about the biggest impact in our lives and those around us. Key takeaway...

In this episode of the Entrepreneurial Mindset for Transformative Education podcast, Stephen Carter discusses the transformative power of redefining failure and its essential role in growth and education. He emphasizes that failure should not be viewed negatively, but rather as a necessary component of learning and improvement. By adopting a growth mindset and embracing the concept of continuous i...

In this episode, I include the full audio from my breakout session at the CESA Symposium where I discuss how the entrepreneurial mindset offers a transformative approach to education that takes students from "surviving" to "thriving" in face of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. This talk focuses on how schools can engage in meaningful entrepreneurial education...

When we come to value principles, we can create unstoppable momentum in our lives. This begins when we accept that we must balance our production with our production capacity, what Stephen Covey calls the P/PC balance and this requires taking stock of where we are in key areas of our life: spiritual, intellectual, financial, relational, vocational, physical. When we determine where we are in these...

Entrepreneurship is often seen as a solo endeavor, but true success often hinges on collaboration. In this episode, we explore why teamwork and synergy are essential entrepreneurial skills, challenging the myth of the "lone wolf" entrepreneur. Drawing from Stephen Covey’s sixth habit, we highlight how embracing diversity and leveraging strengths creates innovative solutions far greater t...

In this episode of Entrepreneurial Mindset for Transformative Education, I'm joined by Erik Ellefsen  from Baylor University's Center for School Leadership for an unstructured yet insightful conversation on innovation in education. We explore the power of dreaming bigger, the importance of trust in leadership, and why educators need to shift from being subject matter experts to becoming...

The time to teach the transformative power of the entrepreneurial mindset is now--and the age is as soon as we start learning. The entrepreneurial mindset will transform an entire school culture in four distinct ways: first is through its Biblical principle found in Romans 12:2. Second is through the ripple effect of transformation and how it spreads from person to person. Third is through the pro...