Paul Bruno and Laura Capp
If you are questioning the purpose of your job, reminiscing
about career roads not taken, or worrying about the status of your retirement,
this book may be for you. If you are overwhelmed by the onslaught of negative
news or redefining what is important to you, these might be words you need to
read. Wherever you are in life, but especially if you are experiencing a mid-life
transition, you might view Soul Business as a catalyst to examining your own
life and career.
Soul Business: A Search for God at Work in Our Work
expresses the roller coaster ride of two professionals who left management positions
in corporate America and decided to make it on their own as entrepreneurs. Soul
Business explores their journeys of faith and the Twelve Faith-Based Entrepreneurial
Qualities that Laura and Paul believe are essential to blending work and spirituality.
They write, “We found that working independently in today’s
business landscape can be a lonely and frightening experience. Those that make
it have faith—not only in themselves, but in something greater than themselves.
We learned to follow our own internal compass for direction, rather than somebody
else’s barometer of success. We discovered that the business we’re
in is soul business.”
Paul Bruno and Laura Capp offer a point of view that is based
on over forty years of collective experience in management, sales, consulting,
human resource development and training. Paul is president of REFocus,
Inc., a management consulting and training company in Longwood, Florida. Formerly
a successful Xerox manager, Paul also served in marketing and sales with a global
training organization. Laura is president of 3-D Learning, an instructional
design and consulting firm in Oviedo, Florida. For several years Laura designed
curriculum for vocational education programs and then directed the consulting
practice of a global training organization. Both authors played key roles in
developing and marketing selection tools and assessments for Saturn Corporation’s
retail automotive network, as well as other major corporations.
We didn’t set out to write a religious book, but the
more we talked to each other and to others, we discovered God’s handprint
everywhere we turned. It wasn’t an obtrusive or authoritarian hand—no
wagging a finger at you or patting you condescendingly on the head. It was a
handprint so subtle that we might have missed it but for the fact that no other
plausible explanation for certain turns of events could explain it away. We’re
tough-minded business people, for heaven’s sake; was God really lurking
behind the water cooler?
Still, we, and others we spoke with, kept coming up empty-handed
when it came to understanding the source of the inner voice, the soulful yearning,
the quest for something more. We are Christians, but we think we’ve written
a book that has meaning for anyone who believes in a Higher Power, a Supreme
Being. Our goal is not to evangelize, but to tell our stories and share our
learning. If we do it well, our words will move you and become a set of lenses
that enable you to see inside to your sacred place—and in so doing, see
the handprint of the Mighty One.
Becoming sole proprietors, struggling to make it on our own,
led us to reconnect for support and encouragement. We began with monthly pep
rallies at a local restaurant. In those once-a-month luncheons we shared the
state of our businesses and the state of our souls. We found, in each other,
a person who was experiencing similar feelings, thinking similar thoughts, and
trying to make it on his/her own. We didn’t offer each other pat advice
from the latest popular business books; instead we found ourselves relying on
faith-based examples to characterize the confusion and discouragement we often
felt. One month we would feel that we had thrown the seeds of ideas and proposals
onto rocks, where they would never flourish. The next month we would rejoice,
because the checks had finally come in like manna from heaven. We were struggling
together and learning together, and we might have a message that connects with
you.
What we found is that the business landscape is a treacherous
place, especially for the lone entrepreneur; surviving it, succeeding in it
made believers out of us. It made us stop and take notice of all that we believe
and all that we are. Those that make it in small business have faith—not
only in themselves, but in something greater than themselves. With each other’s
help, each of us learned to follow our own internal compass for direction, rather
than somebody else’s barometer of success. We discovered that the business
we’re in is soul business.
While entrepreneurship has opened our eyes and focused our
minds on the faith-based journey, we recognize that our experiences and the
twelve faith-based qualities are not limited to entrepreneurs. As we have shared
our ideas with colleagues and friends, we have been encouraged about how our
themes resonate with people working in a variety of circumstances. So, while
being an entrepreneur lends urgency to these issues, the substance of our experience
is common to many in the world of work today.
If you are questioning the purpose of the work you do or reminiscing
about career roads not taken, this book may be for you. If your chosen career
seems to feel too tight or too small lately, you may want to read on. If you
are struggling to blend your public image with your private yearnings for more
meaningful work, we might have words you need to hear. You may be contemplating
starting your own business or rethinking how you want to spend the second half
of your life. You may be in the throes of reacting to a major life change or
redefining what is important to you and how you want to behave differently on
a day-to-day basis. Wherever you are in life, but especially if you are experiencing
a middle-aged transition, you might view our stories as a catalyst to examining
your own.
