58. Small Team, Big Mission: How Karen Stubbs Operates Birds on a Wire

Karen Stubbs is the founder of Birds on a Wire, a ministry built to equip and encourage moms with practical, biblical wisdom. What started as a small group of seven moms in her basement has grown over 15 years into a worldwide ministry with a podcast, curriculum, books, and a conference. In this episode, Karen joins Courtney for a candid conversation about the real operational challenges of running a lean faith-based nonprofit, from managing a small team to diversifying revenue to launching a brand-new curriculum for grandmothers.

Karen shares how she learned to read her team's temperaments and adjust her leadership accordingly, why she started a Patreon subscription tier to offset podcast production costs, and how she thinks about the generational ripple effect of pouring into moms. She also opens up about what she prays every single morning and the season she chose her family over her biggest fundraising window, and what happened as a result.

If you are building something with purpose and feeling the weight of wearing a lot of hats, this conversation will encourage you and give you a few things to think about practically.

In this episode:

• How Birds on a Wire grew from a basement small group to a worldwide ministry

• Managing a small team and knowing when to pump the brakes on new ideas

• Balancing the roles of founder, grandmother, and mom in the same season

• The Patreon model Karen built to offset podcast production costs

• Why Birds on a Wire is launching a grandmother-focused curriculum

• What Karen talks to God about in her business every single morning

Episode Links:

Birds on a Wire: www.birdsonawiremoms.com

Wire Talk Podcast: Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Wire Talk Plus (Patreon): Available through the Wire Talk podcast feed

Monarch COO: www.monarchcoo.com

Instagram: @monarch_coo