9/12/24 - 2060: Boldly Embrace Workplace Unity

Jim: You've tuned into, iWork4Him, the Voice of Collaboration for the Faith and Work Movement.

Martha: We are your host, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. Our mission is to inspire every workplace believer to recognize their workplace as their ministry place where they work with God every day. What can that look like in your workplace? Let's find out right now.

Jim: You know every year the birds fly south for the winter. Now being back in the midwest I love seeing the flocks of birds ducks and geese all venturing south to avoid the wintry weather on its way. Being proactive and being proactively prepared is what birds do. We can learn a lot from birds. Rarely do you ever find a bird frozen to death yet when is the last time you as a Christian working woman took time to proactively prepare for living out your faith at work? In a room with hundreds of other women, when was the last time you flew south to make sure your faith didn't get frozen out of you the next time you enter a conference room?

We have the solution for you today, here on iWork4Him and Catherine Gates, the executive director of the Polished Network, is here to share the details of the upcoming Boldly Conference in Dallas, Texas. Catherine, welcome back and congratulations on the promotion.

Catherine Gates: Thank you so much, Jim, and it's always good to be with both of you.

Martha: We're thrilled to have you here. So we are going to jump right in and we'll get to the congratulations in just a little bit and the details behind that. But tell us about the Boldly Conference. Where did the idea come from for it? And was it birthed out of a pain, or how did that happen?

Catherine Gates: Yeah the idea came in to Joy Dahl, who was the executive director at Polished at the time, in 2021, or probably the end of 2020. At the time, obviously, the pandemic was wreaking havoc, and our chapters tend to meet in person. And that wasn't happening anymore. Joy was looking for a creative way to minister to those working women to still bring them together in some way and to encourage them and inspire them and equip them.

But also, as you guys both know, there's a lot of faith and work conferences out there, but the majority of the speakers on the stage are men. There are with some women, but they're just -women have not been represented as much and the needs of working women have not been specifically addressed as frequently as is needed.

And so we really needed a conference for women by women where women can see themselves up in front on the stage talking about the things that we are dealing with that we are facing and being empowered to go into their workplaces and see their work as a calling from God.

Jim: So what are some of the things you've seen happen because of these Boldly Conferences? Give us some examples of some of the outflow.

Catherine Gates: I think one of the most fun things is to hear from a woman who stumbled upon Boldly, right? Because she was invited by a friend or she found out about it through social media or her church. And these women are always blown away that there is something like this for working women, Christian working women, where they can find community with other working women who care about their work and care about their faith.

So one of the biggest things that I see coming out of these conferences is community, our connections that are mutually encouraging, as well as women walking away with greater confidence in themselves, in their work, in the fact that it is something they can honor God with, and always practical tips that are Biblically based that they can apply it immediately to their professional growth and their leadership.

Martha: It is so good to hear all of that. And, I'm just going to take this moment so if a listener is listening and saying, what are they talking about?

Jim: So if they're a listener, they're probably listening.

Martha: Yes, but I'm talking to everybody out there saying, I just, I hope that we're piquing your interest and we're going to share more about the details and the links will be in the show notes and everything for you. But this is an incredible opportunity for Christian working women to get together and really hear from the Lord from some specific speakers on some specific topics that are going to encourage them.

Jim: So a few years back, Catherine, you were the collaborator. You were a collaborator with the Polished Network on the Boldly Conference, and now you're the executive director of the Polished Network. Tell us that God story, because last year we were talking about Boldly, you were just working in coordination with the Polished Network. Let's see... Last year were you already? I don't even remember. Three years ago, you were doing the coordination thing. Now you're running the deal.

Catherine Gates: Yeah, it is a God story, Jim and Martha. Like you, I have a huge heart for collaboration. That's just how God has wired me. We can't possibly achieve all that we're trying to do in the space of faith and work or in our work alone. We were not created to do it alone.

And I was working for Women in the Marketplace. In fact, the year, the month that I started working for Women in the Marketplace as their executive director, I got introduced to Joy Dahl, who was the executive director at Polished at the time. And when we met, she was telling me, oh, she's planning this Boldly Conference. She hadn't really gotten anything done, together yet. And I had just done the 2020 Work Matters Conference. And so it was an opportunity for me to just share everything that I had learned over the years of being involved in the Work Matters Conference - speakers, platforms, ideas, the whole thing.

And then the next year basically what happened at the end of it was 2021, that conference was so successful and yet there were still some revenue challenges for Polished. So Joy took a step down from the executive director role. Amy Cedrone stepped in and they were planning on just maybe skipping 2022 for the Boldly Conference and Kathy Book, the founder of Women in the Marketplace, and I both felt so strongly it was such a huge boost for women that we just wanted to see that momentum continue. And so we offered to fully partner with Boldly 2022 financially, and I joined the team to help out with Boldly. So I was their speaker, recruiter, manager, whatever you want to call it, handler. And so we collaborated and 2022 was even better than the first one.

Kathy felt like the Holy Spirit was leading her after that conference to say, you know what? We compliment each other so well, we're better together. Let's merge. And so we actually went to Tracy Mathews from Attune to Grow and she led a prayer session for us to really bring some board members, the leadership teams together and pray through is that what God is calling us to do and what would that look like?

And sure enough, we all walked out of there. We all walked out of there I'm not sure about this, but we all walked out feeling yes, absolutely. This is what God is calling us to do. So we merged in 2023 and I started reporting to Amy as the VP of partnerships and Amy, Amy then earlier this year announced that she was stepping down from the executive director role to pursue her doctorate. She's trying to finish up her dissertation and I said, okay, I'll help you find somebody to take that role.

I really wasn't interested in it, but I had so many people say to me, Why aren't they considering you? Why aren't you going for it? And finally, I had one man, we were sitting across the table having coffee, and he's actually the chairperson of the board of work matters. And I said, Oh, we're looking for a new executive director. And he said, Oh, I know someone. I said, You do ? He looked me straight in the eye. And he said, you, and that's when the Holy Spirit got ahold of me. And I was like, Oh, I feel like God was saying, Hey, have you asked me about this? I was like no, I haven't.

So I did take time to pray about it. Obviously I felt like God leading me very clearly to pursue the position. And I started in the end of June of this year. Yeah. So it is just God's hand every step of the way, because every step there was like, there were definitely people who are thinking I don't know how this is gonna work, but God knew.

Jim: And what's amazing is God's hand in all that and everybody listening can just see God's hand in this. And it's just one of the stories that you'll hear and be a part of if you come to the Boldly Conference because Catherine's lifeblood is going to be poured into every ounce of the Boldly Conference, but women just like Catherine will be taking that stage and sharing their stories and it's just real and raw. And it's something you get - Martha, how many conferences have you gotten to go to out of the four?

Martha: I've been to... this will be my third.

Jim: So it's three out of four. So 75%.

Martha: There you go.

Jim: That's not very, that's like it's a C. What's wrong with that? Okay. All right, Catherine, You're such a great example of seeing seeking God in your work So many of us are guilty of getting stuck in a rut and don't recognize our need to shift our thinking about how we do things at work.

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SaferNet is a proactive approach to the way we work each and every day. Is it time for you to shift your thinking to a more proactive approach and start using SaferNet today? Check them out online, safernet. com. So Catherine, who is this Boldly Conference for? Give us the details.

Catherine Gates: The Boldly Conference is for working women who really want to lean into their faith at work. Working women in any industry, at any level of the organization, it is a full day of professional development with a faith forward perspective. And when I say the word professional, that doesn't mean, it doesn't mean that you've got to be all polished as our name says, and we're not, we don't proclaim to be polished. We are being polished, right? That's what the name is about, but it is for teachers. It is for people in the medical profession. It is for people in banking, corporate, entrepreneurs. It is for women who are hungry for community with other working women of faith. who want to grow in their careers and honor God in all that they do.

And this year's theme is Boldly Unified. And I feel, as you guys have, we've all seen, there's so much division around us. And that division breaks us down. It's so destructive to relationships. It's so distracting to being able to get work done. We want to help women be catalysts for unity in their workplaces.

Martha: Unity is such a powerful word and I know that it's God ordained in all that's going to happen. I want you to just tell a little bit about what you think that the attendees can expect when they come and what they'll be taking away at the end of the day.

Catherine Gates: I can guarantee you that they will come away with, first of all, awesome new connections. There's just amazing women who are hungry to connect with other women, and so they'll be able to build relationships where they can find mutual encouragement. They're also going to walk away with strategies where they can leverage their own skills for the good of their organization, where they find greater confidence and empowerment to be able to apply themselves and lean on God for strength and for wisdom.

Too many of us feel like we, it all depends on us. We feel an incredible amount of pressure to prove ourselves constantly, and that can be exhausting. So our goal, and what we hope people walk away with, are ways that they learn to depend more, more consistently on the Lord and turn to Him more often for strength, but also to collaborate with others, be able to collaborate with other people, to be able to lift others up, to be able to work more as a team. We were designed to work in community and the speakers this year are absolutely incredible.

We've got Kat Armstrong, who always brings it. She was the founder, one of the co founders of the Polished network. And so she's going to kick us off with the power of a praying, working woman. And we've got Jenni Catron, who is the CEO of the 4Sight Institute. She's going to be talking about creating a God honoring culture. We've got Sharon Hodde Miller, who's an amazing author. She's contributed to Christianity Today and Propel. She's written three books. So she's going to have a powerful message on how to be the body of Christ in our work.

We really, that's part of the focus of this theme, Boldly Unified, is how can we operate as the body of Christ in our work? And how can we be influencers? We can't influence everybody, but we can be that taste of unity and collaboration in our cultures.

Jim: Let's just be honest though. For every attendee, they walk in a room. This is a conference for women, put on by women, designed by women, for women. The speakers are women, the attendees are women, and it's everybody who loves Jesus and wants to figure out how do I live out my faith as a Christian working woman and be encouraged?

You are going to walk into a room. I've always wanted to go, let me go. You're going to walk into a room. Catherine has this thing about when there's women events that I don't get to go. I still wish - we have an issue that, we'll talk about that offline, I guess. (laughter) But really you're walking in a room full of all kinds of like minded people. They're all women and they all want the same thing you do. I just want my faith to matter to what I do every day. And that's powerful. Catherine, at last year's Boldly Conference, what was your biggest takeaway?

Catherine Gates: There were so many.

Jim: You have to pick one.

Catherine Gates: I will. I got one. I got one. There was one thing that Mindy Lawhorne said from the stage that really stuck with me. Mindy talked about, she talks a lot about fitness and taking care of her health and she asked this question, do you invite God into your workout routine, into your health journey?

And I was like, Oh, as much as I want to include God in everything, that's an area I don't invite God into, and how much more successful might I be, consistent might I find myself, if I did invite him into it. And so that really stuck with me. We really want to include God. We're teaching people to live out their faith at work because we want them to break down those compartments so that we include God in every area of our lives and that includes what we eat, what we do with our money, that includes everything. And how often we work out.

Jim: I'm afraid if I ask God about what I eat, he'd probably say, Hey, you know what, Jim, that mountain dew not exactly on my diet for ya. So I haven't asked just right now.

Martha: You already know the answer.

Jim: Martha, what about you? You got to go to Boldly last year. What was your biggest takeaway last year?

Martha: Yes. Can I say two things? Are you going to allow me? I'm going to say two things. How about that? I'm going to take charge right here. Number one, overall, I would say it's amazing that when you go somewhere, God repeats things you're already hearing and reading and working on in your life.

So I heard verses. I heard themes. I had people that talked to me about things that I was already churning in my life, but God was putting it on repeat, I think, to make sure that I heard it. So I always love seeing that because that's not planned, right? You don't know what scripture people are going to bring up, what elements might be within their talk.

And that was one thing just overarching, but you mentioned earlier, Catherine, about Tracy Mathews and you brought her on stage and talked about her Attuned sessions and they had a table in the lobby with the other vendors where you could experience, and I've had some experience with Tracy. So I already knew about Attune to Grow and everything, but I took a few moments and sat there with her headphones on and listened to the Lord through the guided conversation with Tracy. And to me, that was a very impactful time. Some of the things that I was processing throughout the day, I was able to solidify in my heart through that time, very short amount of time, right? Sitting there with some headphones on, listening to and walking through an attuned session.

So I know that might sound mysterious to people that don't know what it is. I'll put a link in there so people can learn a little bit more about that because I know it's been a critical part of the Polished Network's growth. I know Tracy has made, God has used her in a mighty way to help people hear from the Lord in ways they were not aware that they could hear from him. So to me, that was really very impactful. And I, what I heard that day was dip your toes in the water. And little did I know that Jim was also hearing words very similar to that at the same time until we talked about it.

And so it was like, I had this little posty note. So it's put your toes in the water. And it was like, okay, Lord, we're taking that next step. And none of you know what God's going to speak to you at any point in time. But when you have an opportunity like going to the Boldly Conference, where there is some unified themes and God's really speaking to you, going to speak through each and every person there. It's an opportunity to grow leaps and bounds all in one day

Jim: You know I want to make sure that our audience today, whereas we're reaching out to so many women, that we also do an iRetire4Him podcast on our podcast because we're not done living out our faith in our work just because we quote unquote retire. We go off into a different stage of life and the iRetire4Him podcast which is co hosted by an 83 year old along with me, we interview people, a lot of men and a lot of women living out their faith in their retirement years. And we'd encourage you to check it out.

Listen, just go to iRetire4Him. com That's I retire the number 4 him. com or go to iWork4Him and click on the iRetire4Him button. That's something that can be an encouragement to all of those who are quote unquote retirement age in your life and that could be you know a number of different ages but come out there and listen to the stuff that we're doing because it's a super big encouragement. Because if you're not dead God's not done with you. If you have a pulse you have a purpose. And what, Martha, about the calling? When you retired,

Martha: your calling didn't retire when you retired.

Jim: That's right. All right. So Catherine, you said the theme for this year's Boldly Conference is unified, boldly unified. What do you mean?

Catherine Gates: It means choosing to collaborate over competition. It means embracing the differences instead of ignoring them or judging them. It means being able to work together and connect with one another as opposed to canceling people because they think differently from you. It really, we really want to create that opportunity for people to explore and see how they can influence the culture.

When we are working together with Christ at the center, that is providing a taste of the kingdom to the people around us. When they see us embracing the differences, and it doesn't mean we have to agree. It doesn't mean that at all. It just means we allow others to have their perspective and we love them through it.

We learn how to work together and bring all of our experiences together so that we can collaborate and be better. We are better together. And we really are looking to. to cut through the division so that people can experience - Jesus said, they'll know you're my disciples by your love.

Jesus prayed in John 17, one of my favorites, one of my favorite verses. I just keep thinking about it. He said, father, as I am in you, you are in me. May they be in us and may people see their unity so that they will know that you sent me. That's how people will know. That's how people will be attracted to Jesus is unity, not division. Not judgment. And so that's what we want people to see is how can I bring that into my workplace?

Martha: So when you dream about the outcomes for this year, what does that dream look like?

Catherine Gates: I want to see a full room of women who are hungry to grow as leaders. I want to see women walking away with very specific practical next steps that they can take to bring that unity into their workplace regardless of what they're experiencing right now and regardless of how many other believers are there, right?

It doesn't require, in fact, we want to be able to influence all people around unity and they would want them to have a taste of Jesus. We don't even have to say his name for them to have that taste of Jesus. So I really look forward to new friendships being born and old connections being rekindled that ultimately lead us to all be equipped to demonstrate what unity can look like and give people that positive experience.

And then, of course, we need one another to encourage each other and to continue to support each other. Boldly is one day, but we want to see the impact of what people learn and the steps that they hear about. We want to see that impact continue well into 2025 and beyond.

Jim: Just saying 2025 out loud just freaks me out.

 (laughter) You can find out all the details at boldlyconference. com, boldlyconference. com, but Catherine, quickly, what date is it?

Catherine Gates: Yeah, so it's Friday, October 18th, 2024. It is at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, Texas, just north of Dallas. And I want to offer the iWork4Him listeners a 20 percent discount. So if they use the code IWORK4HIM20 they can get 20 percent off the ticket price when they purchase their tickets at boldlyconference. com.

Martha: That's so awesome. We'll make sure all of that is in the show notes. And I want to just say one more thing. If this is intriguing you and you have an organization or a business that these are your people that are going to be at the conference, contact Catherine. I am sure they can find a space for more sponsors.

Catherine Gates: Yes. Absolutely.

Jim: Catherine Gates with the Polished Network, thanks for being on iWork4Him today. Thanks for bringing us the Boldly Conference. We're excited for it. I wish I could go, but I'll just have to hear about it afterwards.

Catherine Gates: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate you guys so much.

Jim: You bet. Boldlyconference. com. That's boldlyconference. com. You've been listening to iWork4Him with your host, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. We're Christ followers, our workplace, it's our mission field, but ultimately, iWork4Him.