#1 - The Why
Why the Five Talents Project Exists
What happens when your gifts are buried—and what it looks like to dig them back up.
In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of the talents—a story about a master who goes on a long journey and entrusts three servants with money to manage in his absence. None of these were small amounts. A single talent represented roughly a year’s wages for a skilled laborer—something like $50,000 in modern terms. These gifts were not meant to be hidden. They were given with the expectation that they would be used.
Two of the servants put what they were given to work, doubling their value by the time the master returned. The third buried his talent in the ground, never using it at all.
That parable hit me hard—because I realized I had been doing the same thing.
I had been given gifts of my own, talents that I was burying under the weight of hardship, circumstance, trauma, illness, disability, church hurt, and the thousand other ways life can choke out purpose. And I know I’m not alone. Many of us are struggling not because we lack ability, but because we’ve been worn down—not only by the world around us, but by a corporate American church that sounds less and less like Jesus and more and more like the Pharisees who opposed Him.
That realization is where The Five Talents Project was born.
The Five Talents Project represents a capstone to my 20+ year career—from my very first job greeting customers at the door of a restaurant to leading a cross-functional Salesforce Release Train through the setup and deployment of a $10 million CRM environment. Every role I’ve held, every volunteer position I’ve stepped into, has been rooted in service—service to customers, to communities, and servant leadership of teams at the local, national, and global level.
This venture is not a departure from my professional history. It is a continuation of it.
My background includes leading cross-functional initiatives, managing complex projects, navigating risk, and serving as a bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders. I’ve planned work, tracked execution, managed tradeoffs, and communicated clearly with leadership.
Yes—there are a lot of impressive corporate buzzwords in there.
But here’s the truth: my passion has never been about titles or recognition. It’s always been about helping people.
That’s why I excelled in customer satisfaction but often lagged in sales. I wanted to give people what they needed, not just push what I was “supposed” to offer. It’s why my career gravitated toward operations, product management, and Agile leadership. I love technology—but I love systems even more. Making things work better. Building teams up. Seeing the people inside the corporate machine as human beings, not just “resources.”
I was great with customers. Great with employees and vendors. But metrics were sometimes a problem—because I believed there was value in turning people away, in pointing them toward a better path, rather than forcing a solution that benefited the company more than the person.
In August of 2023, that chapter of my life came to an abrupt end.
Along with nearly 5,000 peers, I was laid off from the company I had spent 21 years helping build. To say it was a shock to the system would be an understatement. I’ll share more of the personal fallout in another post—but that moment is where this idea truly took root.
I wanted to help people my way.
Not by selling products I wouldn’t use myself.
Not by teaching systems I knew were broken.
I wanted to show people how I could stand in church on a Sunday morning, praising God—and then walk through the rest of the week with hope and purpose—despite having no income for two years, a disabled son, a wife with multiple health challenges, and circumstances that would have pushed many families into divorce or despair.
Over and over, people asked me:
“How do you do it?”
“I couldn’t make it that far.”
“You should write a book.”
That last one changed everything.
In the span of about three weeks, I went from “Huh… I could actually write a book” to where I am now—website under construction, registering with the state, negotiating with banks, and preparing to launch this venture on January 1.
Yes, I’m writing a book.
Yes, I’m still unemployed.
Yes, there is no income yet.
But I found my calling.
And my story—my systems, my faith, the way I stayed afloat when everything said I shouldn’t have—that’s what I want to share with you.
Before I say anything else, I want to invite you into this—not as a customer, not as a follower, but as a fellow traveler.
If you’ve ever felt like your gifts were buried under survival…
If trauma, illness, disability, burnout, church hurt, or life circumstances have made you question whether your talents still matter…
If you’ve believed God gave you something meaningful, but you don’t know how to use it anymore…
This project is for you.
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing the systems, reflections, faith practices, and hard-earned lessons that helped me stay grounded when everything around me fell apart. Some of it will be practical. Some of it will be spiritual. All of it will be honest.
👉 If you’d like to walk this journey with me:
Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss upcoming posts
Join the mailing list (launching soon) for deeper reflections and early access to resources
Follow along as this project—and this calling—takes shape in real time
You don’t need to have it all figured out to begin. You just need to stop burying what you were given.
Welcome
Welcome to The Five Talents Project.
This is where buried gifts are unearthed.
Where faith and systems meet.
Where purpose is reclaimed—one step at a time.
Your life will never be the same again.