Feb 20, 2017
What You'll Hear:
P.J. gave his life to Christ at a young age and was blessed not
to fall into the prodigal son routine
He went to Bible college and started working full-time for a
non-profit called the MediciProject
After looking for ways to pay off his student loans and advance the
Gospel, he decided to start a podcast and started
GospelDrivenEntrepreneur
He's transitioned from single to married life and has gone
part-time in his job in order to dedicate himself more fully to the
podcast
He loves the unknown and need to rise to the challenge that comes
with being an entrepreneur, not so crazy about the uncertainty of
finances
When it comes to integrity in the workplace, there's a tension
that's good, it keeps us grounded
Being driven has a negative connotation in the secular, but as a
Christian it's about being dependent on the Spirit of God while
simultaneously leveraging the position He's put you in for His
glory.
Intro
P.J. Simmons is the founder and director of Gospel Driven
Entrepreneur and the host of the Gospel Driven Entrepreneur
podcast. His heart is to equip entrepreneurs in connecting
their faith to their work, intentionally engaging culture to bring
about the kingdom of heaven on earth.
P.J. lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife Ashley.
Q&A*
When Did You Become a Christian?
At 8 years old at camp, walked down the aisle and gave my lift to
Christ. I've been blessed that God has kept me from the whole
trickling into sin, prodigal son routine and have been fully
committed to Him.
How Did You Get Started Doing Your "Gospel Driven Entrepreneur"
Podcast?
I got my Bible degree and was figuring out how to pay back my
student loans.
About 2-1/2 years ago I started driving for Uber and testing the waters for extra work but I wanted something I could make money at using my skills and that could provide a platform for something in the future.
I've been leading a non-profit called mediciproject where I did a lot of interviewing, networking, etc. It was very entrepreneurial and the founder felt we had to kind of pay for ourselves.
I decided to podcast. I listened to a bunch of different podcasters and really liked John Lee Dumas.
I jumped into it in September, 2014. We release 2 every week, interviewing entrepreneurs from around the world.
We run the non-profit almost in a for-profit way, where the
students that participated had to pay their way.
What Was it Like to Balance Your Full-time Job with the Podcast You
Were Working With On the Side?
I was 27 yrs old when I started. I thought "how am I going to
leverage this time as a resource to advance the Gospel and really
grow something to glorify God?"
I would carve out a couple nights, 3-4 hours each night, and 4-5
hours on the weekend, mainly to maintain it. It's very time
consuming with just getting a product out there, scheduling
interviews, doing the interview, editing it, uploading, and
promoting it.
Did You Always Want to be an Entrepreneur and in business?
No, absolutely not. I was leading toward being a Pastor.
But over the years as my skills developed, my passions took a
different route. Over the last 5 years I've been gaining
confidence and enjoying it.
You Recently Made a Transition, Tell Us About That
Since first quarter of 2016 it's been nothing but transitions.
I've been part-time with the non-profit and part-time with the podcast in order to grow and sustain the podcast so I can serve other business owners and entrepreneurs.
On April 9 I got married. Now I've got to stay focused
with work to make sure the main thing is the main thing, being in
relationship with Jesus and putting my wife first.
What Do You Like Most About Being an Entrepreneur?
The unknown. The necessity to rise to the challenge.