Men's Leadership Network Podcast

The process of how we spend time alone with the Lord will likely look different for all of us, but the practice should be universal. Not unlike any relationship, spending time together is critical to growing closer to one another. Our relationship with God is no different. Time spent in prayer (talking to Him) and reading scripture (listening as He speaks to you) is imperative to a strong relation...

Jason Gottwals knows what rock bottom looks like. For him, it looked like a sewage ditch in Daytona Beach, Fla. It was there, after struggling with alcoholism for years, that Jason opened his heart to Christ and asked for help. To this day, Jason doesn’t know where the words came from. He didn’t grow up with a religious foundation and had even almost not married his wife over an argument about hav...

Josh Galyean, a manager at Darrell Waltrip Honda, had a tree in his yard growing a little off-center. It wasn’t enough to cause any immediate issues or even be an eyesore, but Josh knew that if it wasn’t addressed immediately with a little guidance and direction then that tree would one day grow crooked and the damage would be irreversible. That experience made for a wonderful analogy for Josh on...

Where the Monsters Are Real Steve Davis’ experience with international missionary work wasn’t just a “dip a toe in the water” kind of experience; it was a “dive head-first into the deep end” experience. It was also one that profoundly impacted him. It started with a mission trip to Russia, and Steve carried some significant reluctance into the trip. His team flew into Moscow and then took a 2 ½ ho...

A Marathon, Not a Sprint We live in a day and age where we are often rushing through one race, just to jump into the next one. We want to binge watch an entire season of a show in a single weekend, only to spend hours aimlessly searching through Netflix for something else. We want to chase after the fleeting quick pleasures of life, only to find that our short-term dopamine rush leaves as quickly...

Imagine being out to dinner and the TV at the bar is showing a basketball game between two teams you have no affiliation to and, under normal circumstances, would care nothing about. But this game is different because there is a player on the court who holds your future in his hands, and he doesn’t even know it. In the closing seconds, you’re at the mercy of his performance. If he makes the shot,...

Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” To a cynic, it’s an eye-roll inducing quote, but there is an ample amount of truth to the message. Not that we should be the models of perfection every day, but if perfection becomes our natural goal then even when we miss, we hit pretty darn close. In th...

Scott Meriwether is the Senior Vice President of Finance for i3 Verticals , a leading provider of integrated payment and software solutions. In his interview, Scott talks about the exciting ride of working with his team to take i3 Verticals public (completed IPO in June 2018) and some personal stories that helped him keep his faith and family priorities in order as he managed career success.

Overcoming Our Past. Owning our Future.  In anticipation for the Ryder Cup that kicked off today, we sat down with Clayton Hromadka, the Executive Director of the PGA of Tennessee. While his career is now consumed with the game of golf, it's one of the few sports he never played as a kid growing up in a small town a few miles outside of Waco, TX. If he had played, however, he would have likely exc...

WHAT WE HEARD:  Ben Midgette is the EWP Sales Manager for LP Building Products. While in his youth, like so many growing teens and younger adults who were raised in church, Ben experienced a season of risk and rebellion. However, God protected him during that season and eventually he returned his life to Christ. Which helped him build a marriage on a foundation of faith. That wasn’t the end of the...

Setting Healthy Boundaries in the Workplace   WHAT WE HEARD:  Amy Alexander is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Refuge Center for Counseling. Amy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been practicing for sixteen years. Her areas of clinical focus include trauma, domestic and sexual violence, grief and loss and identity work. It was ongoing Christian counseling and opportu...

What we heard: Brett Kern, punter for the Tennessee Titans, grew up in upstate New York in a family with strong Christian values. He became a Christian at an early age, but never really understood what a relationship with Jesus meant until later ok. After graduating from High School, Brett was recruited to play football at the University of Toledo.   Brett’s college experience was a turning point...

It happens every holiday. Months and months in advance, the retail shelves steer our attention to what’s coming next. Christmas decor is available before Halloween even hits the shelves. January 1 hits and Valentine’s Day is all the rage until February 15, when the candy is half price and Easter bunnies take over. There is more to prepping for a holiday than there is candy and gifts. At Easter, we...

Leaving a Legacy of Leadership What We Heard:   In 1997 Jeff Hooper, Executive Operations Director, Chick-fil-A, Cool Springs; dealt with a lot of tragedy, from the death of his father, divorce and bankruptcy. That prompted him to return to following Christ and committing to living a life of faith. It’s a daily decision to do the faith-filled spiritual leadership thing which is often the brave and...

What We Heard:   A salvation experience as a child and the subsequent call led Stan to pursue what he thought would be a career in ministry, but after a chance encounter with a Metro Police ride-along led he found his calling in law enforcement. After completing his new major, criminal justice, Stan launched his career as a police officer and eventually worked his way to the DEA, where he just cel...

What We Heard:   Eric’s journey in life was full of a few more downs than ups. Although an absent father certainly left a hole in his family, Eric was blessed with a mom who knew Jesus and pointed him to salvation. She wasn’t without her own struggles, yet she wanted to ensure that he had a faith foundation. Trusting God’s redeeming work on the cross as payment for sin became a reality for him at...

What We Heard & What It Means:  Alex, like any of us, is a man with a past and a story: tragic occurrences, painful addiction, and even a childhood diagnosis. All this could have drawn Alex far from God, but through it all there was a sense that God was always in pursuit. Like many men, Alex needs to see things and figure things out for himself in his own time. Ultimately, what we heard was th...

What We Heard:  A waypoint is a stop along a journey. There are so many moments that, over the course of life, become waypoints. In real estate, buying and selling homes, relocating, expanding, downsizing, and others are all considerable waypoints that signal changes in our journey. Spiritually speaking, we have waypoints as well. Growing up Catholic, his infant baptism accompanied by the firsts [...

What We Heard:   Men love movies. While working at Lifeway leading men’s ministries, Jason began partnering with the director of Lifeway film. Branching out and launching Engage was an opportunity to connect with churches, tell stories, and support faith-based films. Most recently, Jason was able to participate as an executive producer for “The Price of Fame,” based on the life of Ted Dibiase [WWF...

What We Heard:  Today at MLN, our special guest was Dan Alexander. Dan is a former Tennessee Titan fullback and linebacker. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. Before that he played college football at Nebraska. While there, he rushed for 2,456 yards and scored 20 touchdowns in 38 career games. Alexander also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Lou...

What We Heard:   If there was a clear theme in this MLN interview, it was the difference between faith-based and fear-based decision making. In order to operate in life [work, family, leadership, ministry, etc.] from a place of faith and not fear, it takes a few core essentials. Jason identified those as prayer, scripture [Word], and community. Growing up, Jason excelled in basketball. He had a pa...

What We Heard:   Peter Goodwin, founder of Groove Life Rings, is no stranger to the outdoors. Born in Alaska, Peter experienced outdoor adventure that every man dreams of. After a season of school at Auburn University, at age 19, he moved to Alaska full-time and shortly after became a bush guide and bush pilot.  Through his experience as a bush guide, God was refining and redefining his life. Ofte...

What We Heard:   Scott Lehman is a guy God is using. Marrying his love and devotion to Jesus with his passion for sports, particularly golf, into a ministry called “In His Grip.” Using invitational golf tournaments and training, In His Grip equips churches to reach men in the community with the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Statistically, reaching kids and women first will only get you so far. R...

What We Heard:  Dr. Brad Dennis, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has dedicated his career to educating other medical professionals and the non-medical public. He is passionate about teaching skills in an effort to limit the tragedy of preventable death due to trauma. Brad is also passionate about preparing families for when tragedy occurs and gave us incredi...