Ep. 27| Become Your Own Customer and Watch Your Business Explode

What if God gave you your entrepreneurial fire for a reason?

What if the creativity, the independence, the refusal to settle—what if all of it came from Him?

What if your business isn't just about making money—it's about fulfilling God's purpose through your gifts, skills, and talents?

In this episode, Josiah Ryan breaks down one of the most powerful business lessons he's ever learned: God lives in your creativity. And when you stop optimizing for money and start building products for yourself—products you actually need—everything changes.

This isn't theory. Josiah has lived both sides. For years, he ran his digital marketing agency the world's way: optimizing for money, building what was profitable, doing what he was taught. And it worked. He made money. But he didn't have happiness. He didn't have joy. He didn't have passion. He was stuck, miserable, and drowning in problems.

Then he met his business partners. And together, they started building AI software that solved the exact problem Josiah had in his own agency. They became their own customers. They stopped optimizing for money and started obsessing over creating the greatest product that ever existed.

And now? They can't keep up with demand. Sales are easy. The business is exploding. Because they're getting real results for real clients.

This is the cheat code: become your own customer. Solve the problem you have. Build the product you need. And God will meet you in that creativity.

What you'll learn in this episode:

Why God lives in your creativity—and how He works in you to will and to act for His good purpose (Philippians 2:13) The biblical precedent for God filling people with wisdom, understanding, and skill for creative work (Exodus 31:1-5) Why being an entrepreneur isn't just a personality trait—it's a calling from God How the world teaches you to optimize for money instead of people—and why that leads to misery The difference between building products for profit and building products for yourself (your customer) Why Josiah's agency was stuck at slow organic growth when he optimized for money—and why it exploded when he became his own customer How to stop feeling guilty about not being a missionary or pastor—God called you to business for a reason Why the best way to solve your customer's problem is to BE the customer who has the need How to build teams and communities that create exponential good for the world Why business is all about people—and why taking care of people makes the money follow

If you've been optimizing your business for money, if you've been building what's profitable instead of what's great, if you've been feeling stuck or miserable or like you're missing your purpose—this episode will change everything.

God gave you your gifts, skills, talents, and desires for a reason. He lives in your creativity. And when you start using those gifts to solve real problems for real people—starting with yourself—you're going to see breakthrough you never imagined.

 Philippians 2:13 — "For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose." 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

All right, guys, what's going on? Welcome to another episode of the Christian Business Podcast. My name is Josiah. I'm the host, and you guys, I have a really, really good one today. This is a personal lesson that I have learned, and uh it's really changed everything for me. So, with that being said, I'm just gonna jump right into it. Okay. Let's actually go this route. And this is a really, really fun way to do this. I wanna I wanna point this out right off the bat. Did you guys know that God lives in your creativity? I'm gonna repeat that. I know that sounds insane. All right, I know that maybe that sounds like a new idea, right? Did you know that God lives in your creativity and he gives you gifts, skills, talents, and desires to actually fulfill his will. It's an amazing thing. We're gonna unpack that in a little bit here. Um, but I actually want to read just a couple Bible verses to kick us off. Okay. So one of my favorites literally is Genesis 1, 1. All right. We've all heard this one, and maybe we haven't. And if we haven't, you guys, this is the great one, okay? This is literally the very first sentence in the Bible. All right. It says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. All right. I know it's a bit of a stretch. Follow me here, stick with me. I'm gonna unpack this and we're gonna have some more. But here's the thing, okay? You guys, God is our creator and he's a God of creation. He loves creation. All right. We were formed in God's image, and that doesn't just mean that we are formed to, you know, like God has two hands, two eyes, he's got a nose, mouth, all that kind of stuff. But that doesn't just mean that we are made in his image. What it really means is that we think similar to him, we have emotions similar to him, we have creative thoughts, we have our brains, we're able to deduce, we're able to study things, we're able to do things. And I'll go as far, this is a, you know, this is this this is a Bible verse that's, you know, uh, I think it's in Psalms, if I'm not mistaken. You guys can correct me in the comments, no worries on that. I'm just kind of shooting from the hip on this. But one of the Bible verses that's really interesting in Psalms is David, and he's really prophesying through the Holy Spirit, but he talks to us about us being quote unquote little gods. All right. Maybe you guys have heard that before. There's certain religions and there's certain religious practices uh that really have nothing to do with Jesus who will tell you, they'll take that verse completely out of context and they'll tell you that, see, this proves that even the Bible says that we're gods. No, that's not what it means. What it means is that we are made in God's likeness, we're made in his image, and uh, you guys, we are very much like him. He's he's designed us to be like him. Man, there's so many things I want to say about that, and so many things I want to go on on about that, but I'm gonna leave it at that for now. You guys, we as human beings have been designed to be basically like God. Now that we have very limited abilities, obviously. We can't, you know, create things out of thin air and all that kind of stuff, but it's just kind of the beginning of where I want to set this foundation, which is just so interesting, okay? The other thing that I really love here is, and this one again, this will be a little bit of a stretch. So I don't want to just hang our hats on this, but it does, it does show how God operates a little bit, right? So in Exodus 31, one through five, the Bible tells us that Bezalel, he was in charge of basically forming the tabernacle and he did the handiwork and all that kind of stuff. But it says, quote, God filled Bezazel with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge, and with all kinds of skills to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all sorts of crafts. So, what that shows us is that the Holy Spirit, God, God's spirit, really can actually work inside of us to produce creative ideas and creative works to do some really, really cool stuff. All right. That's all that that shows us is that that's a possibility. Now, granted, when he was making the tabernacle, that was a very specific thing. This was before Jesus came, died, left us, gave us the Holy Spirit, all that kind of stuff. So this was a rare kind of a thing that happened, but it does show us that the Spirit of God can inspire us to do creative things. That's really what I want to share with you guys. And now that we're under the new covenant, I highly recommend that you guys first off read all of Jeremiah 31 and look at what that new covenant is. It means that now we have the Holy Spirit. And Jesus promised us that in John 16 and all throughout the Gospels as well. He said, Where I'm going, you can't come. Uh, and he also told his disciples all sorts of things, and and that was, you know, to the to the Pharisees, but um, basically, Jesus promised us that after his passing, he would send us the Holy Spirit as a gift. That's all in John 16, and like I said, it's all throughout the Gospels, okay? So that's pretty cool. All right. So now we see that there's precedent for this kind of a thing, right? But wait, there's more. So let's go ahead and let's unpack some of these things. So uh we have this one is probably one of my favorites. It is Philippians 2, 13. For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. I'm gonna repeat that one. Philippians 2, 13. For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Now, I'm gonna hit you guys with something, okay? I talk to so many Christians, so many Christians who feel guilty that they feel like they should have gotten into ministry, they feel like they should have become missionaries, they feel like they should have become pastors or this, that, the other thing. You guys stop that crap, okay? Stop that crap. God has called you with your specific skills, gifts, talents, desires, all of these things. God lives in those things. God is the master chess player. Think of it this way. All right, think of life as the ultimate chessboard, and God is the one that knows how to move the pieces and he knows exactly moves and counter moves. All right. That's what God, that's his game. So essentially, God has called every single one of us to be part of his bigger network. I call this personally, I refer to it as the Jesus network, but God has called every single one of us to do his will. I'm gonna give you a story, all right? There's a guy, he works at a gas station locally around here, and uh, you know, he's in his late 60s, let's put it that way. And uh the dude, you know, he's just a gas station attendant. Not a very glorious job, sorry, you know, not a glorious job or anything along these lines. But this man loves his job, he loves what he does, he loves the people that he sees, and he says that, you know, he claims that God told him to work at a gas station simply to talk to people, share the gospel, and love others. That man is doing God's will just by working at a gas station. He's not a missionary, he's not a pastor, he's not one of these glorious, you know, things that that people go off the rails about and, you know, use whatever. You know, he's not in a glorified position. Okay. He works at a gas station. He makes like minimum wage, probably a little bit more. He's been there a couple years. That is God's will for his life, and he knows it, and he is completely satisfied and he's completely happy. God lives in the creativity, the will, and the conversations that that man is having with people every single day. And it's beautiful and it's amazing. You guys, this is where you come in. This is the biggest part. You guys, business owners, God has called you to do what you do. Number one, you're an entrepreneur, you're freaking crazy. All right. You got a mental problem because for some reason, as an entrepreneur, you're willing to work 100, 120 hours a week, whatever it takes to make less than minimum wage, oftentimes, especially when you're in the startup, to make your own money, to have your own life, to have your own freedom. Well, I'm gonna argue that God has put those desires in your heart, and there's a reason for that. You're probably a leader, you're probably somebody who isn't satisfied with the sweat status quo quo. You're not somebody who is, you know, happy to just go along just to get along. You know, that's not your game. And because you're so fiercely independent and you have that entrepreneurial fire burning inside of you, I'm going to propose that that is God working in you, and there is a reason why you're doing what you're doing. All right. Now, here's the big thing. As entrepreneurs, we can be taught by the world that we're supposed to take our gifts, take our skills, take our skills, all this kind of stuff. We're taught to just go make money because that's the purpose of business, right? In this world, man, I can't tell you how many mentors, how many people, how many freaking just things I've learned on the internet and books I've read. And this is the ultimate struggle of pretty much all of life. But everybody teaches you that you're only supposed to make money in business. And if you're not making money, then you're a failure. That's trash. That's not how God thinks. That's not how God thinks at all. Go read the gospels, man. It's all over the place. God has called you to be the person that you are today. And with that being said, he's called you to be a steward of the things that he's blessed you with. This means your employees, this means your businesses, this means uh, man, your families, every single area of your life, right? To your customers, particularly, most importantly, I would argue in business is taking care of your customers is the number one most important thing. And if you take care of your customers, I promise you guys the money will f will follow you because you get referrals. And if you have a great product, there's no better marketing than having a great product. And that's coming from a digital marketer, me. Okay? There is no better thing that you can do in your business than having a great product. So here's what I'm going to encourage you guys to do. And this is a personal life lesson that I've learned, and it's been such a lights out strategy. Early in my entrepreneurial career, I've been taught, you know, you have to go out and make money, run your business to make money. That's the only thing that matters. And granted, before I was really saved, before I knew Jesus, before he literally swept me off my feet and showed me an entirely new life, and that happened on July 27, 2023. Before that ever happened, I followed the world's advice. You know, I ran my digital marketing agencies, I ran my businesses, I ran all my kind of stuff. Really the way of the world just trying to make money. And you know what? I had a decent amount of success with it. I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I did. I had a absolutely a decent amount of success. But you know what I didn't have is I didn't have happiness, I didn't have joy, I didn't have, you know, a purpose, I didn't have a fire, I didn't have a passion. I did, you know, obviously I was an entrepreneur, but I usually felt stuck and I usually felt miserable. And there were more problems than I could solve, and it was a huge pain in my butt. Well, over the years, basically, God has really swept me up. He's shown me a new way to live, he's shown me a new way to do business and everything else. Guys, business is all about people, by the way. It has nothing to do with money. Forget this money trash. I know that sounds insane. Take care of people and the money follows. All right, that's the number one thing. But what I used to do is I used to go out, I would make products, services, you know, all sorts of things. I would uh do things to make money, period. Um oftentimes that was in my best interest. It was not in the customer's best interest, if I'm being totally honest with you, but that's how I was taught to run a business and I didn't know any other way, you know. This is what happens. The world brainwashes us, it gets to us, and it and it makes us forget about our gifts, skills, and talents and the reasons that God gave them to us. And it has us using all of those things for our own personal gain. And I want to be clear, I never did anything unethical. It wasn't like one of these things, it's just that I optimized my business for money because that's what I was taught. Well, here's the deal. All right, there is a better way to do business. And so what I've done, you know, probably for the last two, three years at this point, that's really worked like really, really light lights out. And and you know what, if I'm being really honest, I've really embraced this over the last three to six months. Like I've gone completely all in on this strategy. But now I only make products for myself. Okay. If I were in my customers' shoes, what would I want? And I'll give you an example, all right? I'm working in my buddy and I are working on some AI software, and actually, my business partner and I, we're working on some AI software. I should say business partners, but we're working on some AI software that is absolutely lights out. It helps digital marketing agencies basically uh fulfill their services and get their clients way better results in less effort and time than traditional stuff. And the most important thing with this is this is something that I needed in my agency. Okay. I wanted to, and I basically met up with Nathan because I was trying to create the world's greatest product for the business owners who I served as a digital marketer. Well, me and Nathan have that sim, you know, we we we had this uh similar kind of desire and this similar kind of vision of how can we make the absolute best product for digital marketers so that they actually get results for their clients, aka leads come in, sales come in, and all that stuff. And guess what? We cracked it. All right, this is gonna be a huge company. We're in the very beginning stages, we just rolled out the beta and we cannot keep up with demand fast enough. Before that, when I was just selling, you know, digital marketing services, things like SEO, things like, you know, Facebook ads, things like Google Ads, where basically my agency would run these programs, these marketing campaigns on behalf of small business owners. Before, back in the day, I used to just optimize for running a smooth business. That didn't necessarily mean that I had the greatest product in the world. And as a result, essentially what ended up happening is I would have a steady trickle of customers that would come in at any given time, and I had slow organic growth. Well, you guys, because now I'm optimizing to literally build a product for myself, and I am obsessed. Me and my business partners are totally obsessed with creating the greatest product that ever existed. Well, what we're finding is that the sales became really freaking easy. We can't keep up with the demand, and that business is going gangbusters because we're getting great results for our clients. And ironically, I had this really like uh almost epiphany. I've heard this maybe a million times. Well, okay, I've heard this many, many times of, you know, if you want to be truly successful, if you want that breakout product, you're going to have to design products for yourself and not just optimize for money. You know, I've embraced that before, but I'm telling you guys, over the last three to six months, man, this is the way. This, if you want exponential growth, you're going to have to solve the customer's problem from their point of view. And the best way to know the customer's point of view is to be the person who needs the product. If you start there, okay, this is such a cheat code. I hope this is resonating and I hope that this sets in. You guys, if you start there with truly, truly solving the problem for your customers, and the best way to solve that problem is by being the customer. You have to be the person that has the need. When you solve that problem, you're gonna get freaking rich. All right, I'll say it. You're gonna get rich if you solve the problem and you solve it in a good way. Here's the other thing. Oftentimes to solve problems, you're probably not the person with the gifts or the skill set to actually solve it. But you understand that there's a need, and there are people on the planet that can help you. All right. With my business partners, they have insane tech skills that I don't even have, even as a digital marketer. All right. They have next level tech skills, and they're able to help me also run with this product and create the greatest thing ever. And we're doing it together and we're making a team, and uh, it's amazing. So you might need some people in your corner. I'm not gonna lie about that. You might need some people in your corner who can actually help you accomplish solving that problem. And if it is, great. God works in community, he wants us to work with other people, he wants us to share our skills with other people, create these little mini communities and these mini teams, and create exponential good for the world. All right. And here's the other thing because God lives in our creativity, when you become your customer, basically meaning when you start solving the problem that you need solved, you guys, I would argue that God made you for that purpose. I know that for a fact that there are some entrepreneurs here who are basically in a business right now because they have to be. I would challenge you, think about what God wants you to do. How does He want you to steward that business? Where in the creativity can you make your product better? How can you become your own customer? And how can you solve for that skill set? I promise you guys, if you start building your businesses from that point of view, you're going to make so much more money, so much faster, have so much more success, and help so many more people in ways that you never could have imagined. You just have to become your own customer. That's really what it is. So, guys, I hope this resonated with you. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Man, we are really taken off with this podcast. Lots of people are starting to come and listen to it. So, my only request this is totally a free thing, whatever. My only request is that if this episode was interesting to you, go ahead, share it with somebody, share it with one friend, share it with a business owner, you know. Maybe, you know, share it in your business group. Maybe you have like a WhatsApp chat or maybe you have like a group chat going. Share it with people. You guys, I do this again. It's completely free. And I do it because God put this on my heart to do a number of years ago. And uh, we're really starting to take off with it. So I love you all. I hope you're having a wonderful day. Take care. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.