God and Spreadsheets...Welcome To The Journey!

INTRODUCTION

I want to welcome you to God and Spreadsheets, my new newsletter and perhaps more in the near future.  We’ll see how this goes.  For years now God has laid it on my heart to share with others my lessons learned, thoughts worked out, and ideas that have come to fruition.  It’s more a sharing of my life, which is terribly boring but exciting all at the same time with you so that hopefully I can inspire and bless you with the lessons I’ve learned as a serial entrepreneur who has founded, grown and sold multiple companies and a deep look at the things that God has shown me along my journey.  

I believe there are two main ways to learn anything, how TO do it and how NOT to do it.  Early on in my career/s I unfortunately did more of the latter, however I believe the How NOT To way in and of itself made me so much better at the How To version which is where I spend substantially more of my time these days.  I made the transition by realizing what I didn’t know and seeking out those who could teach me.  Early on in adulting I honestly didn’t know what I didn’t know and a lot of those things were revealed through hard fought experiences after which I emerged wiser with the hope that I wouldn’t do it again…I seldom did but as you know sometimes it takes a couple times to learn anything.

WHO I AM

My name is Dr. Brandon Pasa, I’m a Man of God first, a husband and father second, and a very seasoned and successful businessman after that.  I have started, grown, and sold multiple companies in both the professional services, retail, and manufacturing industries. I am constantly seeking out those folks who are better than me at different disciplines and skills to learn and grow from.  I feel compelled to share my journey with you.  Even moreso, God has asked me to share this journey with you so I am pretty excited to see what He has in store for me to learn and share with you.  I have never been afraid to admit I made a mistake or didn’t know something, I’m the guy who will ask “why” a million times if I need to understand anything that is stumping me.

Lastly, I know the name is a bit strange but I can’t take credit for coming up with it.  I was sitting in church one Sunday and out of nowhere God and Spreadsheets popped into my head and would not leave me alone.  This was a few months ago and I have been mulling it over since then trying to talk God out of it, since that didn’t work I have been trying to get a grip on what it will be.  At the moment, it’s what you’re reading.  I am a Christian Businessman with a passion for God and business.  You may think that is a strange combo but it really isn’t.  Over the coming months and probably years I’m going to prove it to you.  My dad, one of the wisest men I have ever had the privilege of knowing, always told me that if I wanted to learn business then I needed to go to the Bible, he wasn’t wrong and I desperately wish I could tell him that.  Literally every principle from finance, marketing, HR, process and procedure are wrapped in the best selling historical document that has ever existed.  Even cooler, they all still work today!  Anyhow, If you want to stop here and get to the newsletter then feel free.  I’m going to go a bit deeper into the structure of this newsletter and why but if you want you can just figure that out as you read.

WHAT TO EXPECT

I am structuring this newsletter into a couple of sections for each one with a bonus third section at times.  The first is going to be business followed second by the biblical principles to support it.  I feel that it is important to go that direction because I want to present my case and then back it up so that you can get the most benefit possible out of it.  It is as important if not more important to me that you find yourself reading the Bible regularly, after all, without God none of this is possible or worth it.  The third bonus section will be personal about my journey back.  I know that is very vague but that is not my intention.  It is in actuality very broad, my journey has been filled with so many twists and turns, battles and victories that it would take most people over sixty years to fit all that in, I’m not normal and my journey to this point hasn’t been either.  I am intensely uncomfortable sharing my personal past, even my family doesn’t know or understand what some of those battles did to me before the victory came and sometimes the victory wasn’t a grand and glorious one, sometimes it was simply that I was still standing afterwards and sometimes it didn’t come.  

Anywhosee whatsee, I know that’s heavy but I certainly am not going to drop it all at once as this is a growing time for me too.  

MISSION

My mission with this project is not to try to impress you with my vast knowledge and wisdom about business and God, I’m not even sure I have that to use but I truly hope to bless you and encourage you with the lessons I’ve learned so that you can either win the current battle in your life and celebrate the victory you so desperately need or avoid the battle altogether…I vote for the latter but I can’t force you not to fight or heed my warnings.  I am hopeful that I can bless you with it.  In fact, that sentiment right there is a driving force for me to actually get this project/journey started.  I heard it at work and it shifted my mindset nearly instantly, Stephen R. Covey said “Seek to bless not to impress!”  The moment I heard that I was instantly mind shifted, I have no idea whether or not I can impress you nor do I care to do so, I’m not trying to get you to buy anything but I do know that at least some of the things I’m going to share with you are going to bless you, that is an easy mission to set out on!  Alright!  Let’s get on with it!  Once again, Welcome to God and Spreadsheets!