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Gentlemen,

Sometimes the setback is the setup.

I owe you an explanation. If you've noticed that these emails haven't been showing up as consistently lately, there's a reason. Life happened. And frankly, business happened.

For more than a decade, I built a marketing agency from the ground up. We grew, hired people, worked with some incredible organizations, managed millions of dollars in advertising, and landed six-figure contracts. From the outside, it looked like I had built exactly what an entrepreneur is supposed to build.

Then it started falling apart.

Not all at once, but slowly. Clients changed. Teams changed. The market changed. And our model didn't change quickly enough. Eventually, I had to make decisions I never wanted to make, including letting my team go.

We went from a real agency with employees, meetings, salaries, and clients to essentially starting over. Actually, starting over would have been easier. We started below zero.

There were debts left behind, relationships that disappeared, and people I'd served for more than a decade who moved on without much more than an email. And if I'm being transparent, it messed with me.

Because here I was telling men to activate their faith, lead their families, and build their businesses, and suddenly I wasn't sure I had the authority to talk about that third one anymore. How do you teach men to build when what you built just fell apart?

That's the question I've wrestled with for the better part of this year. But I've realized something: you don't earn the right to teach only because you've succeeded.

Some of the most valuable lessons come from building something, watching it break, figuring out why it broke, and having the courage to build again.

That's where I am now. I'm rebuilding. And this time, I'm inviting you to watch.

What do you do when everything doesn't go according to plan?

Whatever season you’re in right now, don’t let a setback convince you that the story is over. Learn from it, trust God with what’s behind you, and keep building what He’s put in front of you.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” — 1 Corinthians 16:13

That’s what I’m doing in this next season. Standing firm, rebuilding, and trusting God with what comes next.

Thanks for being on this journey with me.

Stop chasing your dreams. Start building them.

One more thing…

Part of my renewed focus is creating content and starting to roll it out on my personal brand channel. It’s the start of hopefully many more videos to come out giving you a peek behind the curtain of what I’m doing in the day and the faith, family and business conversations that I have every day too.

Coming soon: Golfing with the Boys, Fishing the Tonto, Elk Hunting along the Mogollon Rim, and so much more!

A Prayer for the Week

👉 Lord, give us the wisdom to know where You’re leading and the courage to follow when the path isn’t clear. Help us learn from what’s behind us without allowing it to define what’s ahead.

Your Word tells us, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

Help us stand firm in our faith, lead our families well, and faithfully build what You’ve placed in front of us. Remind us this week that we don’t move forward alone. You are always with us every step of the way.

Rooting for you always,

Joshua Brown
Chief Firestarter at Soulfire

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