The Christian Entrepreneur

Cody & Esther Cottle
  • 4.9 (64)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Hosted by serial entrepreneurs Cody and Esther Cottle, the Christian Entrepreneur Podcast exists for believers who hunger for a move of God in the marketplace. After building 10 companies and walking through both success and painful failures, God called them to shut down their multi-six-figure business in 2024 — and out of that obedience, the Christian Entrepreneur Club was born and has grown into a global community of 600+ members. This podcast is an extension of our mission to equip entrepreneurs with a biblical framework to do business God's way. Each episode delivers proven business strategies, biblical principles, and conversations with top Christian thought leaders to equip you to do business God's way. Subscribe now and join a global family of Christian entrepreneurs committed to bringing revival to the marketplace.

  1. 4d ago

    From Drug Dealer to Christian CEO: The Calling Was Always There

    If you've ever wondered whether your past disqualifies you, or whether the gifts you've been using in the wrong arena can still be used by God, this episode is for you.  This is the raw, never-before-shared story of how God redeemed a drug dealer's gifts — the supply-chain instincts, the team-building, the relentless drive — and put them to work doing business God's way. The 3:33am dream. The Mercedes he had to sell. The sister's basement where he started over with nothing and surrendered everything to Jesus. Chapters  00:00 — What does a drug dealer and a Christian CEO have in common?  03:05 — Selling weed at 13: when mom found the plants  12:41 — Why drug dealers make some of the best entrepreneurs  21:07 — $1M a year in cannabis. Then a bicycle cop.  23:12 — "I never wanted to be anything like my dad"  26:00 — 3:33am: the dream that changed everything  27:34 — Selling the Mercedes, moving into my sister's basement  31:51 — The gift is not condemned Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    39 min

  2. May 25

    How Hobby Lobby Walks Away From $1 Billion a Year

    What if walking away from $1 billion a year was the smartest business  decision you ever made? Hobby Lobby has 900+ stores and roughly $7 billion in annual revenue —  and they've never once opened on a Sunday. David Greene was fined  $1 million a month for refusing to fund birth control. He refused to  take the company public so no shareholder could ever force him to  compromise. And it all started with a $600 loan and a kitchen-table  conviction. In this episode, Cody and Esther dig into the Hobby Lobby story and  the principles behind it: · The compartmentalisation mistake most Christian entrepreneurs make · How to make God your CEO instead of trying to do it on your own · Why integrity (not branding) is what people actually notice · What to do when your faith costs you real money · Why "I'll never do business with a Christian again" keeps Cody    up at night We also tackle the harder questions: where IS the line between faith  and business? Is conviction "extreme"? And why does God actually  welcome your doubts and questions? If you're a Christian entrepreneur trying to build without compromise,  this is for you. 00:00 🎬 Cold open  00:39 💰 The $1B Sunday closure  03:30 🏪 Why Hobby Lobby is closed every Sunday  04:48 🏛️ Fined $1M a month for their faith  05:43 📊 Why they never took the company public  07:13 ❌ The compartmentalisation mistake  09:44 👑 Make God your CEO (logos + rhema)  13:00 🔍 Plan B and the line  16:06 ❓ The edgy question — where IS the line?  22:12 🕊️ God invites your doubts  26:19 😤 "I'll never do business with a Christian"  30:10 📖 Deuteronomy 8:18 — remember the Lord  32:34 🙏 Close Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    34 min

  3. May 18

    Should You Bring Jesus Into Your Business?

    ✝️ Join us for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🙏Tired of building alone?  Book a call with our team to learn more about our community of 600+ Christian Business Owners  Most Christian entrepreneurs have been told the same thing: don't mix faith with business. Keep it professional. Keep it separate. Keep it quiet. But what if that's the exact lie keeping you from the breakthrough — and the impact — God actually has for you? In this episode of The Christian Entrepreneur Podcast, Cody and Esther go straight at one of the most common fears in the faith-business space: the belief that being bold about your faith will cost you customers, credibility, and opportunities. Drawing on Cody's story of leading an 18-year-old to Jesus at a business event, the distinction between living your faith authentically and using Jesus as a marketing strategy, and the biblical case for why Christians have an unfair advantage in the marketplace — this conversation will challenge you to stop hiding your calling and start operating in the fullness of what God placed you in business to do. You'll walk away with a clear understanding of what it actually means to be a Christian in the marketplace, how to know whether God is calling you to be overt or covert in your faith expression, and why obedience to your assignment — not fear of rejection — is the only metric that matters. In this episode: Why the "don't mix faith and business" advice is costing Christian entrepreneurs more than they realiseThe difference between living your faith authentically and slapping Jesus on your brand as a marketing toolOvert vs. covert Christian business — and how to discern which one God is calling you to beWhy being bold about your faith might grow your business, not shrink itThe unfair advantage every Christian entrepreneur carries — and how to walk in itSend us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    33 min

  4. May 15

    Is Comparison Keeping You From Your Calling?

    ✝️ Join us for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🙏Tired of building alone?  Book a call with our team to learn more about our community of 600+ Christian Business Owners  Comparison doesn't look like an attack — it looks like inspiration. But left unchecked, it quietly pulls you off your God-given assignment and onto someone else's path. In this episode of The Christian Entrepreneur Podcast, Cody digs into one of the most effective weapons the enemy uses against Christian entrepreneurs: the trap of measuring your calling against someone else's blueprint. Rooted in Galatians 6:4–5, the Parable of the Talents, and the stunning truth that God performed 150–200 miracles in Scripture without ever doing it the same way twice — this teaching will challenge you to stop watching someone else's lane and lock back in on the one God specifically marked out for you. You'll walk away with a clear understanding of what comparison is actually costing you, why your calling can never be replicated by anyone else, and one practical action you can take this week to get your eyes back on your own assignment. In this episode: Why comparison is a stewardship issue, not just a mindset issueWhat the Parable of the Talents reveals about your unique callingThe biblical proof that God has never moved the same way twiceHow to actively throw off comparison and run your race with focus and faith"Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else." — Galatians 6:4 Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    35 min

  5. May 11

    The Most Controversial Reason Christians Fail in Business

    ✝️ Join us for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🙏Tired of building alone?  Book a call with our team to learn more about our community of 600+ Christian Business Owners  Most Christians don’t reject success because they lack ambition. They reject it because they’re afraid success might pull them away from God. Somewhere along the way, many believers absorbed the idea that struggling financially is more holy than prospering financially. That wanting growth, abundance, or wealth must mean you’re becoming worldly. But is that actually biblical? In this episode, Cody and Esther Cottle unpack one of the biggest tensions Christian entrepreneurs face: how do you build something meaningful, successful, and impactful… without letting money become your master? 👀 Does God want Christians to prosper?  💰 Is wealth a blessing, a danger, or both?  ⚖️ Can ambition and contentment coexist?  🔥 Why do so many believers feel guilty about succeeding?  🏛️ What kind of legacy are you actually building? They dive into misunderstood scriptures around money, the “camel through the eye of a needle,” prosperity gospel concerns, generational poverty, stewardship, generosity, and why many Christians unintentionally cap their own potential out of fear. This conversation isn’t about chasing Ferraris or “manifesting” wealth. It’s about building a healthy life, a healthy family, a healthy business — and becoming someone God can trust with greater responsibility and influence. Because maybe the goal was never “getting rich.” Maybe the goal was becoming capable of carrying more. #ChristianEntrepreneurship #FaithAndBusiness #KingdomBusiness  Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    34 min

  6. May 4

    Are You Building Your Business.. or God’s?

    ✝️ Join us for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🙏Tired of building alone?  Book a call with our team to learn more about our community of 600+ Christian Business Owners  Most people don’t realise they’re building the wrong business… until they’re already deep in it. It looks like progress. It feels like purpose.  But underneath, it might just be ambition driving the whole thing. In this episode, we unpack one of the biggest tensions Christian entrepreneurs face:  How do you know if you’re building something God actually called you to — or something you decided to pursue yourself? We talk about:  Why so many people keep starting over (and what’s really behind it)  The difference between godly ambition and “labouring in vain”  Why quitting too early can look spiritual… but isn’t  How to find clarity without falling into analysis paralysis  What it actually means to build a business God’s way If you’ve ever questioned whether you’re on the right path — this conversation will challenge how you think about calling, consistency, and success. 📌 Subscribe for more conversations on: Faith × Business × Identity Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    44 min

  7. Apr 29

    Gods Principles Produce Fruit

    ✝️ Join us for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🙏Tired of building alone?  Book a call with our team to learn more about our community of 600+ Christian Business Owners  Most entrepreneurs don't have a strategy problem. They have a roots problem. In this episode, Cody dives into one of the core values the Christian Entrepreneur Club is built on — the truth that God's principles, when planted deep and tended faithfully, make fruitfulness inevitable. Not luck. Not hustle. Not the right algorithm. Just a life built on what God embedded into creation from the beginning. We unpack Psalm 1:1–3 and why the blessed man doesn't just happen to prosper — he is purposefully positioned. We look at why the same seed gets completely different results in different soil. And we walk through three biblical principles that will change how you build your business: → Integrity — why it doesn't cost you deals, it qualifies you for better ones → Generosity — why it's not what you do with your overflow, it's what creates your overflow → Wise Counsel — why isolation isn't independence, it's exposure We also talk about the moment in building CEC where we had to trust that the seeds we were planting were growing — even when nothing looked like it was happening on the surface. And why the most dangerous thing the enemy can do isn't get you to do something evil. It's get you to stop doing something right. If you've been chasing fruit instead of tending roots — this one is for you. 📖 Anchor Text: Psalm 1:1–3 📖 Supporting: Luke 8:11, Proverbs 10:9, Proverbs 11:24, Proverbs 15:22, Galatians 6:9, Psalm 92:12–14 🙏 Don't keep this one to yourself. Send it to an entrepreneur in your life who needs to hear it. Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    49 min

  8. Apr 27

    Why We Gave Up Our Multi 6-Figure Business & What Alex Hormozi Got Wrong

    ✝️ Join us for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🙏Tired of building alone?  Book a call with our team to learn more about our community of 600+ Christian Business Owners  In this episode, Cody and Esther share the story behind shutting down their marketing agency at its peak — not because it failed, but because God asked them to lay it down. This isn’t a conversation about strategy. It’s about alignment. 🔍 In This Episode - What it actually feels like when God starts disrupting something that’s “working” - The difference between building something for God… and building something        with Him - Why hustle culture often produces results — but not fruit - The hidden cost of tying your identity to output - How to recognise when grace has lifted from what you’re building - When persistence becomes disobedience ⚖️ The Tension Most business advice sounds like this: - Work harder. - Stay consistent. - Never quit. But Scripture shows a different pattern. Sometimes obedience doesn’t look like pushing through… It looks like letting go. 🧠 If You’re Building Something… This episode will challenge you to ask: - Is this coming from God — or just working? - Am I being led — or just driven? - Am I building something successful… or something aligned? 📌 Subscribe for more conversations on: Faith × Business × Identity Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✝️ Sign up here for our FREE weekly Bible study every Wednesday  🔥 Are you looking for a community of Christian business owners you can learn and grow with? We want to invite you to learn more about our Christian Entrepreneur Club with over 600+ business owners and growing.  👉 Click Here To Join Our Intro Call 📲 Follow The Club on: Instagram  📲 Follow Cody on: Instagram 📲 Follow Esther on: Instagram Watch the video version on YouTube (Click Here) If this episode blessed you, please leave us a review and share it with 3 people who need to hear this message!

    53 min
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4.9
out of 5
64 Ratings

About

Hosted by serial entrepreneurs Cody and Esther Cottle, the Christian Entrepreneur Podcast exists for believers who hunger for a move of God in the marketplace. After building 10 companies and walking through both success and painful failures, God called them to shut down their multi-six-figure business in 2024 — and out of that obedience, the Christian Entrepreneur Club was born and has grown into a global community of 600+ members. This podcast is an extension of our mission to equip entrepreneurs with a biblical framework to do business God's way. Each episode delivers proven business strategies, biblical principles, and conversations with top Christian thought leaders to equip you to do business God's way. Subscribe now and join a global family of Christian entrepreneurs committed to bringing revival to the marketplace.

Information

  • Creator
    Cody & Esther Cottle
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    159
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Christian Entrepreneur
  • Show Website
    The Christian Entrepreneur

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