Young Professional Seeking to Impact Culture for Christ

The Problem:
When I met Mike, I was writing and performing music full time as part of a group called Figureheads. We knew we had a special product and purpose with our music, but I felt a stirring in my conscience to ask deeper questions about how to maximize my abilities at this unique time in history. I wanted to know how to participate in the shaping of culture for the present and future generations. I wanted to understand how the world really works in regard to change and human flourishing. Those desires were strong, but I did not have access to the information and mentorship that would be needed to satisfy them.

Clapham Institute Solution:
My first encounter with Mike Metzger and Clapham Institute was as part of a Clapham Skunkworks. A Skunkworks is a workshop setting where a small group of leaders enter into facilitated deep and challenging processes to solve problems. Each of us brought a problem from our work/community worlds, and then Mike facilitated an eye-opening experience where we looked at those problems from gospel-oriented, neuroscience-based, and historically informed perspectives. That workshop experience led to a solid year of mentorship, which included regular calls and quarterly workshops. Mike provided personal guidance and a treasure chest of resources. The resources he provided included his weekly column, book summaries, original manuscripts authored by Mike Metzger, short PDFs that tackled complex questions and problems in potent and useful ways. That mentoring has continued ongoing for the last eleven years. The results have been significant.

Results:
As a result of Mike’s workshops, resources and mentorship, I started a creative consulting business. That business found traction and led me to partner with an established creative marketing agency in my city. That relationship has grown exponentially. Mike taught me a process that can be used to align teams of people in deep and lasting ways (i.e. an accurate assessment of human nature). I was able to leverage those insights to design a brand story and messaging process that has been activated with nearly 100 companies in the last 9 years. Since starting my business, I’ve been able to activate what I have learned from Mike by serving hundreds of organizations, including professional sports teams, multi-billion-dollar companies, mid-sized companies, small businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profits, universities, technical colleges, and local schools. 

In addition to the business success, I’ve been able to improve my communication of scripture as part of the teaching team at my church. Mike has helped me to sharpen my ability to understand what scripture is saying in its context and how it is relevant to our world today. Most importantly, Mike has provided wisdom that shows how these business and spiritual contexts are not two separate categories. They overlap in critical ways. Mike is a master of uncovering and revealing that overlap, and helping people to activate their purpose inside of it.