Profit – Purpose – Policy – The Business Balance – with Krystal Parker – [Ep. 197]

Linda J. Hansen:  Welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Prosperity 101® Breakroom Economics Podcast. My name is Linda J. Hansen, your host and the author of Prosperity 101®- Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck, and the creator of the Breakroom Economics Online course, the book, the course and the entire podcast library can be found on Prosperity101.Com. I seek to connect boardroom to break room and policy to paycheck by empowering and encouraging employers to educate employees about the public policy issues that affect their jobs. My goal is to help people understand the foundations of prosperity, the policies of prosperity, and how to protect their prosperity by becoming informed, involved, and impactful. I believe this will lead to greater employee loyalty, engagement and retention, and to an increased awareness of the blessings and responsibilities of living in a free society. Listen each week to hear from exciting guests and be sure to visit Prosperity 101.Com.

Thank you so much for joining with me today. Our title is profit purpose, policy, the business balance most people realize that it is impossible to have a growing business without profits. All business owners seek profits, but as Christian business leaders, we seek to align our work with our purpose or calling, and to do so, we need to understand the policies that will allow the freedom necessary to expand for increased impact and success. Whatever your business or industry, or whether you are an employer, employee, or solopreneur, I can guarantee you that this episode will be filled with nuggets of wisdom and exciting steps you can take to not only expand your professional life, but to expand the impact of your personal legacy, too. My guest today is Krystal Parker. Krystal Parker is a former executive for a Fortune 200 publicly traded oil and gas company. She has over 20 plus years of experience successfully leading organizations while serving more than 2.1 million customers in the US. She started her career stocking shelves and went from temporary worker to executive in eleven years. She scaled the corporate ladder to become one of only a handful of women officers in the oil and gas industry. In her pursuit of excellence and to follow her God given calling, she now helps companies and leaders deliver the impact their intentions deserve. She is an author of the book the best robot wins and has been featured in numerous interviews and publications. She currently serves the business community as president of the US Christian Chamber of Commerce, an exciting, rapidly growing organization. Krystal is a dear friend and she has been on the podcast once before in episode number 174 titled Kingdom Business a higher purpose. Welcome Krystal. I'm so excited to have you back on the podcast today to talk about profits, purpose and policy for people in the business community.

Krystal Parker:

Awesome. Thanks, Linda. So happy to be back again and excited to see what God's going to do because he kind of took that last podcast we did together in a turn we weren't expecting.

Linda J. Hansen:

Yes, it was exciting and it was a great episode and we had so many good comments from it and reactions from people. And so we know that when we're in the business community, we can work for profits. A lot of people work for profits. We see people working for profits all the time. Right? That's what business is about in a sense. Right. However, for those of us who are called to work with eternal significance, there is something more. It's purpose. And through Prosperity 101®, we want people to be able to have profits in their business and their personal lives. We want them to be able to live out their callings. But at Prosperity 101®, in what I do in my work, is I also want to help people understand the policies that will allow for the freedom for them to do that. And all of it plays together. And without those policies, we can't have the businesses that make the profits that impact personal lives worldwide. And you are a great business advocate and a soldier for Christ, and we know that what you do, you try to build up people in their personal life, in their spiritual life, and in their business life and profession. So again, thank you for being here. And what would you tell business owners is one of the keys to working within their purpose as they follow their hope of gaining profits?

Krystal Parker:

Well, timing on this is perfect because I just actually wrote an article for the US Christian Chamber News, and the title of it was, prophets or purpose? Can we only choose? I really, I kept waking up with one of my favorite quotes. Now, my editor told me that I wrote it in my book and so therefore, it's my quote. But I always thought I was going to attribute it to someone. So I even took it to Chat GPT and said, who wrote this? And it's like, we don't really have anybody. So I guess it's my quote. But honestly, it's one of my favorite quotes, I guess that maybe I came up with or, I don't know, the Lord gave to me and I just kept waking up over and over again with this. And it was, breathing is to life like profits are to a business. And people are like, what does that mean? What is breathing is to life like profits to a business? Well, breathing is essential for living, but it's not the purpose that we live. I don't wake up every day and go, oh, I can't wait to breathe it's. Part of life. Well, that's how profits are for a business. Profits are essential for a business, but they're not the purpose that the business exists. And we see this happen time and time again in the business realm, where you've got businesses that are very successful, but they've lost sight of their purpose. You have it also where you have businesses that have a great purpose, but they have no cash and they don't stick around. And we see them close. And some of the greats have closed because they've been so focused on maybe purpose and they didn't adapt to the world. And I think one of the biggest things that people now, especially because of where we are with this infusion of technology and how our world is evolving rapidly, is that people have to understand that your purpose is the most important thing of what you do. You've got to understand that. You've got to hold on to that, but you can't hold on to it so tightly that you don't adapt and evolve with the way that things are happening in the world. And a good example of that is toys r us. I mean, Kodak, believe it or not, they were one of the first ones to get the digital image. And they were like, no, but we won't sell film. And so therefore they shelved it. And look at where they are today. The whole thing is amazing to me. So I see sometimes people put their hold so tight to their purpose, they're not willing to evolve or adapt. And so I think the biggest thing in today's economy, in this society, is purpose over profits, because the profits will come if you are focused on the purpose, with the ability to hold it loose enough that you can adapt to what's happening in the world to really better serve people. And ultimately, that's what a company does, whether it's company, nonprofit, solopreneur, whatever is you're serving others. And if you do it well, then the profits will come so true.

Linda J. Hansen:

If you do it well, the profits will come. And we are always serving whatever we're doing in our business. We're serving someone, right. And I appreciate what you said about the changing dynamics of the world and things. And of course, that's what I try to address with Prosperity 101® is a lot of the changing policies and the different policies that happen every single year, every different election cycle, every different legislative session happens, and there's different policies for businesses to keep up with. And sometimes it can be overwhelming. But if we keep first things first and we focus on the big things, right, the purpose and what we're really doing. Really, we can ride that wave. And it's important to be up to date and understand the big picture of things and to know when as a business owner or a solopreneur or even an employee, you need to step up and contact your elected officials or write a letter or let someone else know. Employers, obviously, we want you to educate employees about all the issues that affect their jobs. We want them to understand as citizens and voters, what are business friendly policies, but as people who are concerned and dedicated to their purpose. It's not just about policy and it's not just about profits. It's about purpose and calling and that greater calling that says we serve people for something greater than profits, greater than policy. We serve people as a way to invest in eternity.

Krystal Parker:

Yeah. One of the companies that I love to use as an example of a company that lost their purpose, and what I say is they stepped over a dollar to pick up a dime, is Volkswagen. Volkswagen had know their cars were mission free and they had this whole thing on their emission friendly vehicles. And basically they had a whole scandal where they were cheating and their cars weren't emission friendly. And they ended up, it cost them a lot of money, billions of dollars and several firings as a result of it. And that's a good example of an organization that put profits over purpose and it ended up costing them. And it relates to policy as well, because it's definitely part of your ethics and how you run your company. Are you socially responsible and are you running your company? Well, that's another way to kind of help balance that out. Profits or purpose or vice versa, is are we running a socially responsible, ethical company? And stepping over that dollar to pick up a dime does not do anything but harm the greater purpose and impact your profits in a negative way. And so from a company perspective, or even a leadership perspective, another great example of this is when we saw the Dr. Dayo get drug off an airplane. We remember seeing that where that was in every headline. And he was literally, they oversold the airline. And instead of having clear policies on how to deal with oversold airlines and what to do, and they had a ceiling of how much they could offer their passengers to get off the plane. Nobody got off the plane. Poor Dr. Deo was targeted and drug off. And we saw the carnage that came as a result of that. Everybody lost what the purpose was. The purpose was to get people safely to their destination. And unfortunately, they missed that opportunity. They didn't have clear policy. Their purpose was foregone for the sake of getting a plane up in the air. And they significantly impacted their profits in a negative way. So we've seen so many examples of this when it gets off course.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, you mentioned a key word, and that is leadership. Leadership matters. It matters whether it's in the family, whether it's in the business, in the larger community, in the elected officials that serve us, leadership matters. And when we don't have quality of leadership and people that serve with principle, we can have a problem in any organization or nation like we do now in our nation.

Krystal Parker:

Yeah, that's so good. And that's another thing I covered in that article, is really pouring into your workforce, and that really does come through leadership. So it's about development. It's about upskilling and reskilling and really engaging the workforce, because at the end of the day, you can have your own identity and be a wonderful person. But when you put on the company logo of another organization and go to work, you are representing that company. And when leaders really put more emphasis on training or pouring money into programs or technology, and they forget about investing in development of their workforce, which are the hands and feet of the organization, again, stepping over that dollar to pick up a dime, they miss a real opportunity to train, develop and engage the workforce as a direct representation of the company. By doing that and helping people to really understand that those mission vision values that are, they're not boilerplate things stuck on the wall. But there's stories. The culture is rich. People understand why they're a part of the organization. If they can see their role in the bigger picture instead of just doing that one thing that they're required to do, and they understand what the purpose of the company is, then the leadership has done a great job of creating a culture that really supports the mission or the vision for what it is, which AKA is also the purpose of why they exist. So I'm glad you said that, because you're right, Linda. Leadership, everything rises and falls on leadership. John Maxwell said that, and I couldn't agree more.

Linda J. Hansen:

It does. Leadership matters. Character matters. Our everyday interactions truly do matter. And valuing our employees, our fellow business leaders. And things are just so important because it really comes down to the individual, too. And companies and nations are made up of people, and we have to develop them and let them know we care. So I love the saying. It was first coined by Dawson Trotman, head of navigators ministry. And he said, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And many people have said that since. But he was the one who was the original person to say that. And he just had a heart for God and a heart for people. And he knew that they didn't care about God or anything unless you cared about them. And it's the same with employers that they need to show their employees that they truly care about all the aspects of their life. They care about the bigger purpose of the business, but also how that employee fits into that business and their leadership matters. And if they are really wise, they will be developing other leaders and they will be developing people to be the best version of themselves. They will be helping people to reach their fullest potential. And that is just so important. It's a way we honor people by helping them develop their gifts and abilities. One of the things that you have coming up with the US Christian Chamber of Commerce is an exciting conference that we want to make sure people know about. And listeners perk up your ears because there is deadline for the discount for signing up for this conference, but you won't want to miss it and you'll want to go to the US Christian Chamber of Commerce website. Crystal will give you the details. But if you're interested in developing leadership, in defining your purpose, in understanding policies that impact inside your business and policies that may be impacting your business from the outside, we know that it's so important to come and let iron, sharpen iron with other business leaders at the US Christian Chamber of Commerce. So crystal, could you share with the listeners this exciting conference coming up?

Krystal Parker:

Yes, absolutely. And it is a great segue in talking about development because know the law of the lid. John Maxwell talks about the law of the lid and I really love the analogy. And the leader is the lid for every organization. And that could not just be like the CEO, that could be your supervisor, your directors. And so the idea behind the law of the lid is this, on a scale of one to ten, if a leader is a ten, that's your highest level of leadership. They're a visionary leader and people are following the vision. If your leader is a five, then that individual is going to be able to attract level five or below leaders. And anybody that comes as a higher level of leader is going to have a hard time staying on that team that goes with the law of attraction. Who are you attracting? What kind of customers are you attracting as well? And so I'm a huge advocate for development. And a conference like this is more than just a conference. I mean, number one, it is about individual personal development that's going to happen just as a result of the 27 amazing, incredible speakers and thought leaders that we're bringing in from all over the globe for this conference. So that's number one, first and foremost. But number two is, like you said, Linda, iron sharpens iron. And to be in a room to be able to collaborate and network and build relationships with 650 to 700 people from around the globe that have the same value set as you. They have a heart for God. They want to bring God and Christ into their businesses. They know what that means and they're seeking a deeper relationship there as it relates to business and Christ, that integration. And so that's the people that you're going to be surrounding yourself with and having access to. And everybody's going to be there with a spirit of unity, looking to collaborate and grow together. So I think that's another facet of this conference. There's also Expo Christian Business expo, where you're going to get exposure to christian businesses that are wanting to share more about what they do specifically. And so there's that element as well. And when we can be intentional about how we do business and that we do business together in the christian and faith community, then we strengthen kingdom commerce. And by strengthening kingdom commerce, we're strengthening and pouring money into kingdom activities as it relates to things that are in alignment with our values that are good in this world. Back to that purpose, right? We're advancing purpose driven companies that have alignment with our faith versus if we're doing business with companies, we don't know what their values are. We don't know what their true purpose is. We don't know who's on their board. We don't know what causes they invest in. We're strengthening that as well if we do business with them. And so being intentional about where you spend your money, who you spend your time with, how you're developing and how you want to really spend. 2024, 2025. Those individuals, what does your business look like? Is it balance between profit and purpose, or is that a balance? We're going to discuss all of that, but really, my hope and goal through this conference, it's really based off of one, Corinthians. Three, there's five key things that people are going to walk out of there stronger as a result of their time at the conference. Number one, what is my purpose personally and with my business? That's first and foremost. Number two, what is the foundation built on that, Linda, to your point, could be policy. It could be, am I built on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Sometimes people build their business quickly, but they don't have the foundation in place that they need to grow it any bigger. If you look at these skyscrapers or these great big buildings that they put up, they spend so much time on the foundation because you can't grow past a certain place if your foundation is not right. And we all know that's rooted in Jesus Christ. The third thing is the Holy Spirit. I'm not shying away from it. It is part of who we are. We are. We have the ability to abide with Jesus Christ in our life through the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest assets in your business is your ability to hear from Christ in your business. And so we want to really put some language around that so business owners can understand. Am I hearing from the Holy Spirit? How do I know it's the Holy Spirit? And then once you do tap into that, am I being obedient to the Holy Spirit? So many of us know what we're supposed to be doing. There's so many great ideas buried in the graveyard, in the cemeteries because people were not obedient. And then the other piece is mental toughness. Do I have the mental toughness to continue to walk on a path that maybe is the narrow path? And we know what God's talking about when we hear that narrow path. It's not the way the rest of the world is going to go. And so we want to build up that mental toughness. And then the fourth thing is community. And you talked about it, Linda. Iron sharpens iron. How do we work better together? I want to equip people to walk out of there to say, these people might be different than me, but I understand them, I want to work with them. And we're going to collaborate. We're going to do more together in the community of believers in business. And then finally, the most important thing that we do, we're coworkers in God's service. We will go out and share the great news of Jesus Christ through our actions, through successful businesses. To the point you talked about earlier, Linda, of leaders. We're going to walk the talk and we're going to have that Jesus sticker on our bumper. We're not going to be cutting people off in traffic and flipping off hand signals that are not in alignment with our belief. And so that's how we share Christ and show Christ in our businesses. And so that's what people can expect as a result of coming to this conference. We're believing that people are going to experience a life and a business only explainable by God. As a result of their time at this conference because great things are happening. God is moving in our businesses over and over again. But the problem is we get so busy, we may not be attributing those things to the Lord. And we want to make sure that we see God's hand when it's moving in our business and we trust him fully as kingdom businesses from all over the world come into Orlando and are prepared to leave with a new insight and a new way of doing business. From the inside out.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, I love that phrase from the inside out because that is how we need to live our faith. I mean, when we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, it should affect every single aspect of our life. And prayer is a viable business strategy. It is. And I loved what you said about being authentic and really walking out our know. I think I've heard it said that the greatest reason people don't accept Jesus Christ is christians. They confess him with their mouth, but they don't walk with him in their, you know, we're all sinners. Everyone's a sinner in need of a savior. But I pray that my life can align with my faith, with my values, with my word. And if I don't sometime that the Lord shows that to me quickly and I can reverse course. And I think when we can live authentically like that, we are also going to be valuing the people around us. As employers, we will value our employees, we will value our family, we will value our community members. We see them as having unique value as individuals who have needs and desires and gifts and potential, and we want to help build them up. So I think this conference is just going to be fantastic. I can't wait to be there. And I know that we'll be seeing a lot of our christian chamber friends there. And so listeners, I do invite you to go visit the website. What is the website? Crystal, could you give them the address of how they can sign up for this conference and then what discount code they can use if they sign up before December 31?

Krystal Parker:

Perfect. Yes, please come on into the website. Uschristianchamber.com. Uschristianchamber.com. You'll see on the bar at the top of the website conference 2024. Click on that and the discount is already applied. So it's $100 savings if you purchase before the end of the year. So 1231 midnight that the early bird savings goes away and we'd love to see you save. There's also a great hotel opportunity there as well on that website so you can check it out. We really want people to stay and play. We want you to stay and just experience the full conference and really just immerse yourself in this entire experience.

Linda J. Hansen:

We've talked about the conference being great, but we haven't told people when it is.

Krystal Parker:

Oh, that's helpful. They are April 18 and 19th in Orlando, Florida. 2024. April 18, which is Thursday and Friday in Orlando, Florida. And then if you want, you can stay for the after conference, which is hosted by International Christian Chamber of Commerce for their USA North American conference is on Saturday. So you can find all of that information on our website, uschristianchamber.com. It's April 18 and 19th. Stick around on Saturday if you'd like, and really come with a posture to just ask. Just seek God. Seek God for his will, for your attendance at this conference, and be prepared to see what happens.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, that is exciting. Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Right? There's people that we haven't met yet that God wants to put in our path to help us in our businesses and to fulfill our purpose. And I know that we will all be sharpened. We'll understand issues that affect our business better, and we'll be creating relationships that will serve us for years to come. And it's just great. So, as we really close this out and talk about profits, purpose, and policy, what would you say to employers who want to educate their employees about all of these things?

Krystal Parker:

Yeah, I would say pressure test your ethics. And one thing that comes to mind, and of course, we can learn from people that have had some failures or some opportunities, but one that comes to mind is Wells Fargo. As I'm thinking through this, as we prepare to close, Wells Fargo had policy in play to get new signups, new people to come in and fill out applications. And you saw, I'm sure you read in the news, they had people and employees that cheated in order to make those numbers that they needed. I remember as a supervisor or not a supervisor executive, telling my leadership that we're cutting overtime, but I need you to produce exactly where you're producing. So figure it out. I was setting them up to fail. Now, when I was in oil and gas, our purpose was to safely deliver gas to our customers, 2.1 million customers. And I'm telling my field employees who, safety is the number one thing that we do in the field, to cut all the overtime, but still produce. So basically, I'm saying, step over something. Something's got to give, but get it done. And when we don't pressure test our ethics, we set unrealistic pressure to perform, which is what happened with Wells Fargo, then the purpose isn't at the forefront of everything anymore. Now, I'm not saying you put the purpose and then your expenses are out of control and you just let it go. You've got to manage and monitor it. But my point is, if we don't have a good balance in those three things, and I like that you added policy to this conversation, Linda, because in my article, I just talk about profits and purpose, but I like that you put in policy, because if we don't have policies that are in alignment with our purpose as leaders in an organization, we're setting our employees up to fail. So really step back and think about, is our purpose clear? Do the stories come around it? Do they align with that? Would people know that this is our purpose? Do we have the profits? We need to stay in business because that's important. It's like breathing. And then lastly, really, and I talk about this in my book, the best robot wins, I talk about simplify the business, go through this painful exercise of, why do we do what we're doing? What are the policies, and do they align with our purpose? Because there's many policies and rules and things that happen in organizations that don't even align. But it's like, well, we've always done it this way or so, and so did this 18 years ago. So we create a policy. Well, technology changes, technologies change, people have changed, positions have changed. And so that's a tedious exercise, but it's necessary to really get full alignment between purpose, profits, and policy. They're all working together to create a really strong organization. Absolutely.

Linda J. Hansen:

And I'm glad you shared your instance working in the oil and gas industry. And listeners, in the previous episode that we did, episode 174, Krystal actually shared her own personal testimony, how early in her business career, she was not focused on serving God. In her professional life. She was all about profits, and it was off balance. And that was probably one of the examples that you could share from your life at that time, where you didn't really care about the people as much as you did the profit. And God really got a hold of you, changed your whole mindset, your worldview, and really, actually, then increased your business, increased professional engagement, and really blessed it because you turned around and gave your work, your calling, your professional life to him, and wanted to serve that. And it's been very successful for you. So, listeners, don't feel bad if maybe you've had some moments where your ethics have been compromised or something. There's always room for forgiveness and change and to do the right thing. It's important to do the right thing. And if you come to this conference, you'll be around people who really want to do the right thing, and they want to learn how to do the right thing. Business, like politics or anything, can be full of temptations. It can be full of compromise opportunities. And we don't want to be that way. We want to have authenticity and honesty and integrity in our work and in all aspects of our life. And so come be sharpened. But I do just really appreciate what you shared on that. And before we close listeners, I just want to invite you to go to the website and go to the Prosperity partner website at the Prosperity partner link at Prosperity 101. Com help support these podcasts, keep us on the air. And if you would like to support as a sponsor, please contact me there. But also we have an opportunity here. If you would like to give my book, Prosperity 101® job security through business prosperity to your employees as a Christmas gift or an end of year gift, please contact me. And we can arrange for bulk discounts and quick shipments. But you can go to the website and order that, or contact me directly through the website Prosperity 101. Com. But we need your support as a prosperity partner. So we invite you to do that and contact us with any questions at Prosperity 101. Com. And crystal, how can people contact you?

Krystal Parker:

Oh, absolutely. Well, first, I just want to say, grab that book and Prosperity 101®. I can't think of a better group to keep on air than what you're doing, Linda, and how you're bringing different podcasts and guests. And I heard Andrew from Red Balloon. I've heard so many people and got introduced to so many people through this podcast. And so I just want to just give that a shout out. And Red Balloon is actually our sponsor at the expo. So you can see all these good people are all coming together.

Linda J. Hansen:

She's mentioning Red Balloon. You'd want to go to the website Prosperity 101. Com, click on the podcast tab and then look at all of the podcasts with Andrew Crepuchettes and talking about red balloon. And it's world's largest growing non woke job board, basically where you can be free to work and free to hire. But in those interviews, we do not just talk about Red Balloon, but we talk about the freedom economy and the growth of the freedom movement and how it is permeating throughout so much of our culture. And people are rising up. They're rising up and doing business in a kingdom way, like you mentioned, authentically living out their values their faith in their business, but they're also learning to stop spending money on the people that hate them. We do not have to use our money to support businesses that have policies that are really detrimental to families and communities and things so we can do our homework, and it's important for that. So I'm really glad that red Balloon is one of the sponsors for the conference and is really the ship sponsor and great fast growing organization. So, listeners, it's another reason to come to the conference and be able to be part of what's happening at U S Christian Chamber of Commerce.

Krystal Parker:

Amen. So yeah, you can find me right there. U. S. Christian Chamber of Commerce. Just go to that about tab and you will see my picture. You can click on it, read a little bit more and get connected with me there. You can hit contact us at the US Christian Chamber of Commerce as well, or find me on LinkedIn. Krystal Parker MBA out of Orlando, Florida so I look forward to connecting with you outside of this podcast and seeing you in Orlando in April.

Linda J. Hansen:

Absolutely. Well, thank you Krystal and listeners. Again, please go to Prosperity 101® Dot and click on the Prosperity partner tab. We need your support. And you can also find the other episode with Krystal there, episode 174. You can learn more about her and the US Christian Chamber in that additional interview. So thank you again, Krystal. We wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you at the conference in April.

Krystal Parker:

Can't wait. Thanks so much.

Linda J. Hansen:

Thank you again for listening to the Prosperity 101® podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share and leave a great review. Don't forget to visit Prosperity 101® Dot to access the entire podcast library to order my newest book, Job Security through business Prosperity, the Essential Guide to understanding how policy affects your paycheck or to enroll you or your employees in the Breakroom Economics online course. You can also receive the free ebook ten tips for helping employees understand how public policy affects their paychecks. Freedom is never free. Understanding the foundations of prosperity and the policies of prosperity will help you to protect prosperity as you become informed, involved, and impactful. Please contact us today at Prosperit101.COM let us know how we can serve you and listeners. For additional discount, you can use the Code P 101 that's a capital P 1-0-1 when you register for the exciting events at the US Christian Chamber of Commerce. And that is a way to help Prosperity 101® and the US Christian Chamber of Commerce and yourself as you register for the exciting event that the US Christian Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring in April. So register today and use the code P -1-0-1. That's a capital P-1-0-1. Thank you.