Leaving “full-time missions” to do “Kingdom work”
Jordan Raynor sits down with Chassie Anders, Founder of Crown of Glory Beauty, to talk about why she left “full-time missions” to do the “Kingdom work” she was best equipped to do, what Revelation says about the wedding dress we sow with our good works and 5 tips for sharing the gospel in our post-Christian context.
Links Mentioned:
[00:00:05] JR: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Call to Mastery. I’m Jordan Raynor. This is a podcast for Christians who want to do their most exceptional work for the glory of God and the good of others. Every week, I host a conversation with a Christian who is pursuing world-class mastery of their vocation. We talk about their path to mastery, we talk about their daily habits, and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ influences their work.
Guys, you're going to love today's episode with my new friend Chassie Anders. She's a missionary turned entrepreneur, running an incredible beauty business in Austin, Texas that serves brides on their wedding day. Chassie and I sat down recently to talk about why she left being a “full-time missionary” in China to do the Kingdom work, she believes she was best equipped to do here in the States. We talked about what Revelation says about the wedding dress we sew with our good works. We also share five tips for sharing the gospel in our post Christian context. Please enjoy this terrific conversation with Chassie Anders.
[INTERVIEW]
[00:01:26] JR: Hey, Chassie, welcome to the Call to Mastery.
[00:01:28] CA: Thank you so much for having me. I'm honored to be on this. This is so fun.
[00:01:34] JR: The honor is all ours. Alright, so let's start with real basics. Tell us, what is Crown of Glory Beauty?
[00:01:40] CA: So, Crown of Glory Beauty, is an Austin based beauty company. But we actually specialize in weddings and other special events. And Crown of Glory Beauty, I think what makes us different is that we are for the natural bride that really truly wants to look and feel like herself on her wedding day. Man, it's just such an honor. I absolutely love what we do.
[00:02:05] JR: That's awesome. So, what is the scope of this for an ignorant guy like me, right? Does this mean makeup, hair, the whole shebang on the wedding day? What is this?
[00:02:16] CA: Yes. Let's say, I'll kind of walk you through what it would be like if you are a bride inquiring with me. So yeah, we help with pretty much anything beauty-related within your wedding season. So, we have a trial, which, a trial is basically just a run through of what your hair makeup will look like on the day of. So typically, brides book a trial run with me. I love trials. They're like my favorite thing on the planet, because on wedding days, typically things can get a little hectic, as you can imagine. And so, trials are really I think one of the – it’s my favorite time to have with the bride because it's one on one, me and her, and I can really help her relax, calm down, take a break from the stressful wedding planning and gathering your family and really focus on what it is that you're doing and why you're getting married and really being able to pamper her.
So, we do trial runs. We help you get ready for rehearsal dinner, and then reach rehearsal dinner, welcome parties. Those happen the day before or a couple days before the actual event. And then yes, we absolutely come for the day of and we help bride, mom, bridesmaids, flower girls, grandmothers, really whoever it is that wants to get pampered on that special day.
[00:03:32] JR: I love it. That's so great. So, you started this business, I don't know, like almost a decade ago, right? But then you put it on hold for a few years. Tell us that story. Explain kind of the genesis and kind of a winding path of this business.
[00:03:48] CA: Yeah, I think it's crazy. Because only in recent years have I really understood that I've always been an entrepreneur. I didn't really take myself too seriously. Back when I did, I started kind of early at age 23 and I am now 31. So, I have learned quite a bit and just these short years, but it has it's been almost a decade, which is crazy. But yeah, I've always been a person that's creative, and I love singing beauty. I would help my friends get ready. I actually tried getting my cosmetology license in high school, but I didn't have enough available credits. I had to get some of the basics out of the way.
So then, when I graduated high school, the typical thing we do is go to college. My parents really wanted me to do that and I thought I'd give it a try. I still had no idea what I would even want to do. So, I went to school for about a year and then I ended up dropping out because it didn't feel right for me. I worked for a little bit in the hospitality industry while I kind of figured things out and then I decided to give beauty another shot and I went to cosmetology school at age 19. I fell in love. I kind of struggled in school growing up, but when I walked into cosmetology school, everything just made sense to me. I actually enjoyed it. I was really good with my hands.
So, I got a job, while in beauty school, at a local company here in Austin that specializes in weddings. I worked there for about five years, or I guess, four or five years, and some overlap with Crown of Glory when it started. I would contract with that company. I started cleaning the studio. I started doing very basic things and just kind of slowly over time, they trusted me to do more. Man, I fell in love. I remember in school, my favorite thing to do is always updos, styling. And so, I just actually never even went into a traditional salon. I kind of knew that that was what I really enjoyed.
I started Crown of Glory at 23. From 2014 to about 2016-ish, I was doing it on my own. But yes, we took a little pause. So, my husband and I, we belong to a church here in Austin, that we just started going to around about the same time I started going to school, and my life just – man, I grew up in a Christian home, but I feel like I truly heard the gospel as a young, college age person at this church, and I just fell in love with the Lord. I felt freedom. I felt like, “Oh, I don't have to be all these different things that the world myself or my family or whoever expects of me or once for me.” I truly felt, I just can remember the first layer of weight lifted off my shoulders when I surrendered to Him.
[00:06:44] JR: What was it that – because I have a very similar story. I went to Christian School for 13 years, but I don't think it was until college that I really started to understand the depth and breadth of the Gospel. For me, honestly, it was Tim Keller's writings that helped me understand this. What was it for you?
[00:07:03] CA: Oh, man, Tim Keller definitely is on that list. He is one of my favorites, for sure. But I think for me, my parents divorced at a young age, and they were actually worship pastors in my church growing up. So, I think just because of that chaos, we just stopped going. And I never thought God wasn't real. But I guess slowly over time, I started trying to figure out what I thought life was going to be apart from Him. And so, I think it was just this perfect time in my life, I had turned to so many other things to fill my void in my heart, like partying, boys, all the things and I just was tired, that wasn't filling me anymore.
I can remember just asking my friends, like after a night of partying, I would wake up and I just be like, “Do you feel empty? Because I feel empty.” I think I just had grown because of God's grace, obviously, that was his Spirit working in me. I know now, looking back, he was totally showing me those things I was pursuing will not birth life. And so, it just happened to be the right time in my heart in my life and he had opened up me spiritually to be able to hear that, that I just think the people at my church have such a gift in communicating the gospel. Yeah, it grabbed ahold of me.
[00:08:25] JR: I love it. We were talking before the email, you had already started Crown of Glory Beauty or started around this time. And over time, you just really felt this pressure to, I think, you use that word precisely, to move overseas and be a “full-time missionary”. I'm curious, like, tell us a little bit more about that. What did that pressure sound like? What were some of the things you were being told, implicitly, explicitly about this move in life?
[00:08:57] CA: Yeah, man. It's a part of my life that the Lord is asking me to go back and kind of really look into and heal from, and so I'm still articulating personally how to like, word, some of these things. But I think the biggest pressure, it was indirect, and then also maybe some direct pressures. I obviously had an interest. I went to church, and I would hear about the nations, I would hear about there are places in the world that aren't just lost. They just haven't even had an opportunity to hear the gospel. I think because I was so captivated by it at that time, I kind of was in my honeymoon of my Christian life. I just was like, “People have to know.”
So, I know that that seed was definitely planted by the Lord. But I think I did feel pressure as I kind of took steps, like serious steps into looking what it would look like to go overseas. I feel like because maybe there aren't too many people signing up to do that, as soon as you kind of get into some of the wonderful ministries that do prepare people to go be missionaries overseas. I kind of felt like I had to say yes, at a point. Because I was really passionate at the beginning. But then as I kind of started understanding a little more the cost of what that was going to be, which of course I don't even – I know now, looking back even more of what that cost me, which God is worth that, right?
You go back and forth in your head of, “But this is what it means to be a Christ follower. It's to live sacrificially. So, this must be the path.” I think it was some indirect pressures like that, because it's the Great Commission. It's the gospel. I think the thing that I wish was that someone would have, like truly, Jordan, I don't just mean this because I'm on your podcast right now. When I read your book, I was moved to tears, because Called to Create, I hadn't ever – in such a long time, I feel like my freedom to choose my calling, my freedom to choose how I specifically uniquely follow Christ was kind of taken from me in a way, because that path of what it looked like to “be a missionary” was so specific. I think that that is a path for some people. But I wish someone would have maybe loved me enough to sit there and think like, “How can Chassie, specifically in her giftings, her talents, her sphere of influence, her opportunities, go out and move the Kingdom forward?”
So, your book, that line where it says, “Is my work as a creative, really as important as that of a pastor or missionary?” I came home and I did not think that. I know I didn't. I fell into some pretty deep depression and hopelessness because I felt guilty for doing a job, a passion that I love so much, because it wasn't, “vocational ministry”.
[00:11:55] JR: Yeah. I really want to dig into that part of the story. So, long story short for our listeners, you started this business, you and your husband went to China, as donor-supported missionaries, and then you came back. And we're going to get to you guys coming back to the States in a minute. But it just sounds like, I just want to read this from your email. If you want me to edit this out later, let me know, because I didn't get your revision. But here's what you said and I just thought you articulated this so perfectly. You said, “my leadership –”, and you're talking about the leadership of this mission’s organization, “put a ministry goal of sending a certain amount of people to the nations. An amazing thing, obviously, in front of me, as an individual child of God. I don't think anyone was asking, how is Chassie wired? And how can she specifically make a difference in the world?” So, basically it sounds like you felt like you were a square peg in a round, full-time missionary shaped hole, right?
[00:12:57] CA: Yes, that is very fair to say. Yes, yes.
[00:13:01] JR: So, you guys, come back to the states, you pick back up the business. But there's still a lot of guilt, as you alluded to a minute ago. Can you describe kind of what was going through your mind as you left China and came back to the States?
[00:13:16] CA: Yeah, I think some of the daily inner log in my brain was, I don't know the exact percentages, but I know the amount of people who ended up serving in the 1041 or overseas from the Western Church in America, I know it's very small. So, let's just say it's 90/10, 90% stay, 10% go, which I know it's less than that even. I would just say to myself, like I came home and I was like, “Okay, it can't be true that 90% or more of the church, who isn't going to the nations, isn't moving for the Kingdom. That can't be true.” I would just –
[00:13:56] JR: It just doesn't ring true in our souls.
[00:13:59] CA: Yes, yes.
[00:13:59] JR: Or in God’s word, period.
[00:14:04] CA: Yes. I felt so much shame and guilt for not staying. There was a lot of that pressure we were talking about earlier. So, there definitely was pressure for me to go, once I started, like taking steps into what that would look like. But the pressure didn't stop once I got there. It continued in a new way, by the organization that I was with there to stay longer than my two years that my husband and I had committed. So, the pressure was a lighter first year, but the second year when we really had to start deciding are we going home? Are we coming back? Gosh, I felt, I said, “No, obviously I'm here.” When I was home in those recent months and first year back, I felt guilty for not choosing to stay where I was. I felt guilty for being in America. I felt guilty for having all these comforts that I hadn't had. So, I don't know if that answered your question, but –
[00:15:00] JR: It does. I think we got to be careful here, right? Because, for example, best man in my wedding, one of my best friends in the world. He and his family are sacrificing greatly as missionaries in Papa New Guinea right now. They've given up a lot. And we should celebrate that work. We need more people to do this work in the world. The point is, God hasn't wired everybody with the unique passions and skill sets to do that type of work, right? He created Chassie to be a world-class creative artist. And those skills could be a part of advancing and revealing the Kingdom in Austin, Texas, right? And you said in your email to me, that you've gotten to that place over the years, where you “feel confident in my work being not just purposeful, but actual Kingdom work.” The work you're talking about is this Crown of Beauty business. So, talk to us a little bit more about this. How is your work in your mind and what you could see in Scripture, Kingdom work?
[00:16:11] CA: Yeah, I think that there's so many different levels to it. It's Kingdom work. And for one, for me personally, because, as you probably know, no matter how small or big your business is, as an entrepreneur, it is definitely something the Lord uses to personally continue to refine me and mold me more and more into the person he wants me to be. But yes, my husband, Noah now works with us and we get to work together. And so, it molds me personally. But it also molds and shapes our marriage. I love that. So, I think that is Kingdom work. Because marriage, family unit, these are things that have been so broken, especially even in my story.
So, I know that is redeeming, God is redeeming the way maybe my family life was broken. He's going to absolutely want to redeem family life and marriage life in my marriage. So that's one way.
But on the level of with my clients, man, I just – I’ll use one example. So, I had a bride reach out to me, her name was Sandy. And she actually had battled cancer, and she won, and she was getting remarried her new husband, and she asked me to do her hair and makeup on her wedding day. I said yes, of course. And then when she came in for her trial, she was so just battling some personal things. She was obviously in a very happy season of her life, like getting married. That's a beautiful season. But she was also simultaneously walking through some pretty dark things that had happened to her recently. My one-on-one interaction with her, of course, this is the Lord working through me. But just being able to have her sit down in a chair, recline, have a charcuterie board of food, have her favorite beverage, and her favorite music playing, like helps her relax and feel known, feel seen, feel special. So, I think that level, like God cares about us personally and intimately. I think the Lord really does use very simple things like hospitality to serve my clients. I think that's a huge way.
[00:18:25] JR: I love that that's a complete point for you. I asked you, how is your Kingdom work? You said, “I just served this client really well, and made her feel seen and loved and appreciated”, because that's giving her a foretaste of Jesus and Jesus's Kingdom. And that act, in and of itself honors the Lord. Now, I am curious if with Sandy or other clients, that act of service in ministering to them has led to opportunities to explicitly share the Gospel. Have you seen that?
[00:19:02] CA: Oh, yeah. With Sandy specifically. In her past, she was raised in a Christian home, but she actually eventually got married to her first husband, and he was Jewish. So, then she went on over to his religion and his culture. They ended up divorcing and so now, like when she came to me in my chair, obviously, in my name, a lot of people kind of know, Crown of Glory, they’ll ask me about that and kind of have a hint at maybe that I'm a believer. But I think, Sandy, like I told you, she was going through some pretty hard things and I've been through some pretty hard things, and we opened up. I opened up very vulnerably to some of my struggles. And she just told me like, “Chassie, I'm so glad that you shared your difficulties”, because she said sometimes it's hard for me to believe that being a believer, being a Christ follower is only happy feelings.
So, she told me that, specifically after that interaction, when she walked into my studio, you could kind of tell just a little wall was up when I brought up kind of spiritual things. But by the time at the end of that conversation, I mean, was she a believer? I don't know. I don't know if that's what's in her heart yet. But I could tell the Lord had softened her heart towards himself. And so, I think, absolutely, and that's one of the things that I'm so grateful for the trainings and different things that I did get while as a missionary preparing to be one, because I learned how to be, as we would say, gospel fluent. I think sometimes, knowing the person that you're talking to, and is listening to you – obviously the gospel, it never changes. But I think there are certain ways that we can communicate it using their story to where the Lord can – he’ll hit a heart stream to them specifically.
Again, we don't always know when and if that's happening, but I know that the Lord uses me and honestly, Jordan, if I'm being even more honest, I was very much questioning my purpose and my work that day. Is what I'm doing, does it matter? So, it’s this crazy, God is simultaneously encouraging me and encouraging her through our connection. And we haven't even gotten to the beauty part.
[00:21:28] JR: We're going to get there. Don’t you worry. Okay, but I want to dive a little deeper here. This is so beautiful. And I love that you are struggling with the question that day, “God, how does my work matter?” And then he sends you, Sandy is like, “Hey, just be faithful.” Like, be faithful. I put this person to – alright, for those of us who haven't had professional training in what you call, “gospel fluency”, I know not just you, a lot of people use that term, get real practical for us, because you're talking to thousands of listeners, who are eager to move conversations with their coworkers, with their clients, with whatever from the surface, to the spiritual, ultimately. How do you do that? Give us some practical tips for how we can do that effectively?
[00:22:21] CA: Yeah, that's a great question. And let me just say, I have had many, many spiritual conversations that have gone very awkwardly, and very just, not really a fail, because nothing's a fail with the Lord. He can work through even your awkward conversations where you're just like, “Did I even make sense? Does this person think I'm weird?” So, there's hope for us, right? No matter where you are, in your sharing of your faith, if you're new to it, or if you've been doing it for a while.
But I think, the main thing, and honestly, Tim Keller is a person that's really helped shape this for me as well, because you can kind of think through what's the best way to do that? I don't know if I have the answer, but I do think that friendship is something that really, I keep coming back to. I think, one-time conversations with a stranger, I think God absolutely can and will – you never know, right? We don't know when a seed is planted, when it's being watered, when it's going to come to fruit, we don't know. So, we can have hope and we can have confidence in God's faithfulness, right? It's not truly up to us.
But I think through friendship, Jordan, I think to me, especially if it's a coworker, or somebody that you're going to see consistently, don't be afraid to take it slow. Get to know them, I would say a huge thing would be listening. Listening to their story. Listening to where maybe they have some wounds or some ways the church hurt them or failed, because we're in America and I think most people in our culture have had an experience with church. So, I would say get to know them, listen to their story, ask questions. And then just sometimes, we think – I do this myself too much in our head of like, “Oh my god, like, I want to share my faith with them. They're going to think I'm weird, as soon as I bring up Jesus or even say his name.” But honestly, I think letting people know upfront in whatever relationship you're at, that into some capacity, that you're a believer, there might even be times where okay, they know. Let's say you're at work and one of your coworkers has a really hard – like one of my contractors that works with me, I openly share my faith. I pray. I do certain things in my company that just make it obvious.
And Karen came to me, sometimes the Lord gives you a little as I would say, an underhand toss. She just came to me and she was going through something really hard and she knew. So, when people are in times of suffering or pain or hardships. they're going to know. If they know you're a believer, they might turn to you.
And so just being honest, being vulnerable, being a good listener, and sharing your story, like a lot of the time, I think, being the first, the brave one to share something vulnerable, and just think of it as if you're talking to a friend. It doesn't have to be all these Christian-type words, that maybe even I don't even know the full meaning of. But you can practice how to kind of talk in a plain way that anyone, no matter if they're church-experienced or not, can understand and get the point of, “Jesus loves me. My sins separated me from him, but God loved us so much that He sent someone to walk that path for us. And through his life, death and resurrection, we have new life available to us. Now, not just in heaven. Now, you can have abundant life now.” And so, I think, yeah, I don't know if that helps.
[00:26:02] JR: If I could frame three minutes of a podcast, I would frame these three minutes of this part. You probably didn't see this. But last year, late last year, I did a devotional series, on basically ways that we could share the gospel with our coworkers in an increasingly post-Christian cultural moment. And the five things that I explored, you hit on every single one of them.
So, number one, be so good they can't ignore you. Serve people through the ministry of excellence so that you are credible, which is what you're doing your business. Number two, be a friend, real simple. Be a nice person. Ask questions about them. Get to know them personally. Number three, I love that you hit on this, just identify yourself as a Christian. This doesn't need to be preaching. It just needs to be you talking about church this past weekend, and talking about maybe what you read in Scripture that was encouraging you that morning. Number four, pray that God would open doors to move from the surface to the serious, to the spiritual, right? Because we can't pry open doors. He's got to open them. And then finally, just be prepared to give an answer for the hope that's within us. Because, as you said with – was her name Karen, your contractor?
[00:27:16] CA: Yes.
[00:27:16] JR: They're going to ask when hard things are happening when the world is falling apart. When people have real questions, they're going to go to people in their life. They have answers to those questions. It's usually the people exhibiting some semblance of spiritual acumen or maturity, whatever you want to call it. So, really beautiful, Chassie. Thank you for sharing that with us. Alright, speaking of beauty, let's talk about beauty and the importance of beauty in the Kingdom. I got to imagine, this is part of what you mean when you say your work at Crown of Glory Beauty is Kingdom work, right?
[00:27:54] CA: Yes, 100% yes. The way you can – let’s go back to Sandy. So, we've talked a little bit about just serving her, making her feel at home, comfortable, talking to her, hearing her story, hopefully sharing the Gospel if you can. But the other way that my work is Kingdom work is, I love being able to help a woman feel like herself. It is just one of the most beautiful things ever. I mean, it constantly reminds me of, in Scripture, it talks about how we're going to go to a wedding feast, and I get to adorn a bride. I get to help be a part of preparing her for her marriage. It's just beautiful. It's one of the most amazing things ever, to be able to do, and we specialize in more natural beauty. I love being able to help, because in the beauty world, as a woman, there's a lot of different steps and things and products and all the things, and I really like to try to – I mean, just personally, I'm pretty low maintenance. As for a beauty professional, there's just too many steps and things. I'm trying to simplify my life, and I really want to help women walk in the freedom that's available to them.
Obviously, we know as believers, true freedom comes from knowing your creator and knowing the person that He's truly made you to be. That's where true freedom comes from. But I can give them a little glimpse of walking in a truer version of themselves, not because the makeup makes them prettier or better that they celebrate their features. They celebrate their hair. They celebrate their face, their eyelashes, whatever it is, and they just feel so excited, happy, beautiful, and ready to go meet their groom. It's just beautiful.
[00:29:49] JR: That's beautiful. We also have to remember like, not only does the Kingdom kick off with a wedding feast, but the Kingdom itself is beautiful, right? The New Jerusalem has miles, and I think it's 5,600 miles, if I'm doing the math correctly.
[00:30:06] CA: I'm going to trust you on that.
[00:30:08] JR: Exactly. I don't know if I trust myself, so careful there. But 5,600-ish of jewels lining the walls of the New Jerusalem. And that's like purposeless, excessive, gratuitous beauty that the Lord creates. I was thinking about this, last year, we took my kids to Epcot, and we went to this butterfly garden exhibit thing. My girls are young, seven, five and two. They could not get over how many different kinds of butterflies there were in this thing and how beautiful they all were. And so, we're all taking guesses. I was like, “I wonder how many kinds of butterflies there are.” I guess like 500. My kids guessed like, I don't know, a thousand. We googled it. There are 17,500 species of butterflies. If that doesn't speak to the Lord's love of creativity and beauty, “needless gratuitous beauty”, I don't know what it does. That makes me want to create beauty, right?
[00:31:12] CA: I love that. Oh, yeah. It really is. I think that was one of the other things that when I came home, and I was like, “Does beauty even matter?” That’s so vain compared to sharing the gospel, and some of the irrational thoughts I would have during that time period as I was transitioning back into my old life. But God does give us just pure things for enjoyment. We have taste, things are in color. Why are they in color? They could be in black and white if he wanted. There are things in life that are just purely to enjoy, and I think that that's a perfect example. It really would encourage me that, well, what you're doing is heavenly. That is heavenly.
[00:31:58] JR: Yeah, let me give you one more piece of encouragement. I just read a commentary on this the other day, and it blew my mind. So, Revelation 19:7-8. Here's what it says, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come and is brought”, that's church, “has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean was given her to wear.” And here's what it says, literally in parentheses in the Bible. I love that the Bible has parentheses. It says, “Fine linen stands for the righteous deeds of God's holy people.” And I was reading this commentary, and the commentary was basically saying, the good work we do through the Spirit in this life is literally according to Revelation 19, stitching the wedding dress of the church.
[00:32:52] CA: That's pretty amazing. I'm definitely going to go and sit on those verses for a little bit.
[00:32:56] JR: Go sit on Revelation 19 for a little bit. Let that be an encouragement to you and your team. Alright, so we talked about having opportunities to explicitly share the hope of Christ. I would argue, as I mentioned before, oftentimes, not all the times God can work however he wants, but oftentimes, just being really great at what we do professionally is a prerequisite to this point. Mastery is winsome, not mediocrity. So, for you, this is the Call to Mastery Podcast. I'm curious, what have you learned about what it takes to just serve your clients masterfully well? What does that look like?
[00:33:37] CA: Yeah, I think it's obviously getting really good at your particular craft or skill, whatever that might be. So, working on fine-tuning my beauty skills. But I think, I remember I went and did an internship with my hairdresser growing up that I just adored and loved and she was a huge reason why I wanted to do this. Like I saw someone doing beauty in my life and I was like, “That's cool. I love it.” So, I went and did an internship with her. And I remember she told me, she said, “Chassie, 90% of this is being hospitable and serving them and hearing them and listening to them, and the other 10% is doing your actual job.” I think that rings true. I think that it's the small things.
I think being a master at your particular craft or your industry is doing the things that are, I don't want to say going the extra mile, but clear communication, responding. When they come in –
[00:34:34] JR: It’s real basic.
[00:34:36] CA: Yes, like it is. It truly is like those things, like making someone feel, especially in our world today, like things are – especially in the beauty world. So, I listen to clients talk about their experiences in the salon and their problems. There are things that they aren't happy with and I try to correct those things. I think it really is taking the time to address some of those things. And listen to your clients, listen to people who are sitting in the makeup chair, the things they enjoy, or don't enjoy. And then try to do the things that are going to make them feel like a person, like someone important. I really do think that that's a huge, huge, huge part of what makes someone a master of what they do.
[00:35:21] JR: Yeah, and it's real simple, right? But that is the work and it takes a lot of work to be tuned in to what clients are saying and just serving them well. People are the work, serving people is the work, regardless of the vocation. I mean, you're literally touching your client’s hair, so, it’s a little bit more tangible and hands on, but it's true whether you're writing or being a data analyst, or whatever. At the end of the day, it's serving people.
So, Chassie, three questions I love to wrap up every conversation with. Number one, which books do you find yourself recommending or gifting most frequently?
[00:35:56] CA: Yeah, Jordan. Again, I'm going to nerd out here. But right now, I cannot stop telling people to read Called to Create. It's my number one. Because I just think there's such –I'm around so many women, actually, there's quite a few women, Christian entrepreneurs that I've met here in Austin, and I just feel like they need to know that what they love, what they're passionate about, what they do, matters for the Kingdom. And so, I just think that the different stories that you've shared in that book, it's so inspiring. So that's my top one.
[00:36:26] JR: I love that. Well, we're airing this episode on May 4. So, by the time it comes out, we will have just released basically the kid’s version of Called to Create. I don’t know if I told you about this. So, it's called The Creator in You, and it's basically Called to Creator in 387 words. But the artist, we partnered with talking about beauty, the artists that we partner with, it's the most beautiful book I've ever seen. And I could see that because it has nothing to do with the words, right? It is not cartoony. It is epic and beautiful, and just gives you a really big picture of God's work and our own creative work in response. So, you're going to love it.
[00:37:09] CA: Oh, my gosh. I’m so excited.
[00:37:11] JR: I'm really excited for you see it. Alright, who would you most like to hear in this podcast talking about how the gospel shapes the work they do in the world?
[00:37:18] CA: You've already had Tim Keller. He’s obviously someone that I've just have – the has used so much to inspire me in my life. I think –
[00:37:30] JR: I think your answer should be, “Let's have Tim back on.”
[00:37:33] CA: Yes. I have already –I just love him so much. I feel like he's my grandfather in a way in so many ways. Just like I told someone, actually, this was with my friends while we were serving overseas. We would ask the question, “If you could have anyone narrate the story of your life, who would it be?” I’m like, “Tim Keller's narrating my life.” If I ever have the option to do that, I would love it. So, yeah, let's get Tim back.
[00:38:00] JR: We need to get Kathy, his wife on, who I also love. So fun, quick story. I don't think she would mind me sharing this. But for The Creator in You, this children's book I just mentioned. She was so unbelievably helpful to me in the project. So, I reached out, initially, just asking for she and Tim to endorse the book, which they did. I'm so grateful for that. But she was like so kind and wrote me – she must have spent two hours writing me this email, giving me feedback, mostly positive, like some of it was like, really constructive feedback on the manuscript. And I was just like, man, she has so much to do. How unbelievably generous of Kathy Keller? I'm so grateful to them, and I love them so much.
[00:38:47] CA: I would absolutely love to hear from. When the pandemic first started, he was doing little encouragement devotions, and she would go on there with him, and I loved hearing and seeing them talk with each other. It just was beautiful. So, I agree. Let's do it. Let's get Kathy on there.
[00:39:03] JR: That's right. All right. I got to ask you, what's your favorite Keller book? I know, it's an impossible question.
[00:39:11] CA: Yeah, I think The Prodigal God. Yeah, I read that one. I think, that one, definitely my favorite. I think it can speak for itself, but my favorite book for sure.
[00:39:20] JR: It's a classic. It's good. Alright, Chassie. You're talking to an audience of creatives, of entrepreneurs, of marketers, of sales executives, of doctors, very diverse in terms of vocations. What our audience shares, though, is a deep love of Jesus and a desire to do great work for His glory. What's one thing you want to tell that audience before we sign off?
[00:39:43] CA: Yeah, I think right now, I'm kind of taking a little bit of a step back from Crown of Glory, just to kind of realign some things in my personal life. And I come really close, quite often, to wanting to quit. But I think God – no matter where you are in your profession, or what you're doing, there's going to be a lot of times where we're going to want to quit, and there might be a valid reason for you to do that. I want you to feel freedom to know that you can surrender anything over to the Lord. So, we don't need to be slaves to our business. I really feel like that kind of snuck in a little bit on me, recently in the pandemic, and so the Lord is going to be so – we don't have to worry. We don't have to carry the pressure on our shoulders. Although we often do, every day we can come to Him, His presence, lay those burdens at His feet, and we can trust Him. I've really had to think through and process with Him right now, like is Crown of Glory where I need to be? Or is there something else You're asking me to step into.
I'm still wrestling with that. I think I am going to stay. But I would just encourage you, that there's going to be ups and downs, whatever work path you're on, that He is going to be faithful to sustain you, and He's going to be faithful to direct you and guide you. And at the end of the day, we do this for him, right? This is His business. It's His – I can't take credit for any of the things that I have, because He gave me these talents. He gave me my family, He gave me my life. So, I just think, walk in freedom, truly, that would be my little tidbit.
[00:41:32] JR: That's a good word and I would add to that. I think we can forget this sometimes, but God doesn't need us to do any of the work that we're doing at all. His purposes will not be thwarted, and that speaks to that theme of freedom, right? God doesn't need you to do any specific job in this world. So, walk in freedom, and find paths that lead to serving people to the ministry of excellence, and becoming more His son, which I'm assuming, based on what we can see in the gospels, did His work in a pretty restful way, and certainly with God and not just for the father.
Chassie, I want to commend you for the exceptional Kingdom work you do every single day, for leaning into who God made you specifically to fulfill His purposes, and just thank you for reminding us that all good work is God's work in the world. Guys, if you want to learn more about Chassie, you can find out more at crownofglorybeauty.com. Chassie, thank you so much for joining us.
[00:42:36] CA: Thank you for having me, Jordan.
[OUTRO]
[00:42:38] JR: Man, I love that episode. Hey, if you're enjoying the Call to Mastery, do me a favor, take 30 seconds and go leave a review on the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Guys, thank you so much for tuning in this week. I love making this show for you guys. I'll see you next time.
[END]