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In 2015, the Lord let me to interview ten Christian women leaders in the marketplace and nonprofit sectors. One of these women is Shannon Miles, co-founder of Belay Solutions, a virtual assistance company (eaHelp at the time). She and her husband Bryan have grown their company with Christ at the center, and grew it in 10 years to an estimated $44 million in revenue. Last year, BELAY made Inc. Magazine's 38th Annual List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies -- the Inc. 5000.
I met Shannon in October 2012, when her company was about a year old. Over breakfast, she told me about her family and the struggle to find an answer to the age-old conundrum of all working moms: how do they find balance? Out of her struggle to reconcile her call to leadership and raising her children, she birthed a new child: a company called eaHELP.
Shannon's story began where she met her husband Bryan, at Mount Vernon Nazarene College in Mount Vernon, Ohio. She holds a double major in psychology and business with the intent of going to law school. Bryan and Shannon married after her sophomore year in college. After they graduated in 1999, she and Bryan moved to Atlanta at the height of the dot-com boom.
After the birth of their daughter Rainey, Shannon took a three-month maternity leave and then returned to full-time work, employing a nanny, but that was just not what they wanted for their family. With Bryan and Shannon both in sales, the demanding travel schedule for two parents with an infant created more stress than they wanted. Shannon tells the story:
In 2010, Bryan and I individually felt that God was calling us to make a big change in our careers. We've always wanted to have something of our own, but we weren't exactly sure what that should be. Bryan worked in the construction industry for churches and had a lot of interaction with pastors who needed help in the area of executive assistance. With my background at McKesson in legal, contract management, sales and project management, I was very comfortable in the operations space.
So we had this idea—to offer virtual executive assistance to pastors. In 2010, we started Miles Advisory Group, offering executive assistants, or 'EAs', to pastors across the country. In early 2011, we added bookkeeping as a service. We intended to stay focused on the church world, but something big happened in 2011 that changed our minds.
In July 2011, we were on vacation, driving from Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole, where Bryan was going to climb the Grand Teton with a friend.
During the drive, we noticed Michael Hyatt (author and speaker) saying on Twitter, "Hey, I'm looking for a virtual assistant. Anybody have any experience?" And a few of our clients responded back, "Yeah, we use MAGea. Talk to Bryan." It was just one of those turning points in our business. During the course of working with him, it raised our understanding awareness that there are a ton of leaders outside the church that we would assist. So in January 2012, eaHELP was officially launched as a brand focused on businesses and it just took off.
The most powerful lessons from her mentors were:
• Just do what you say you're going to do. It speaks to your credibility; it speaks to your commitment; and it speaks to how you value that person.
• Actually care about people. When you establish relationships in business, it affords you the opportunity to be real and to make mistakes, but without condemnation.
Ways she learned leadership:
• Shannon always singled out smart people to learn from, especially those with more experience and success in her field.
• She reads and conducts faith-based business book studies with her team quarterly.
• Shannon often had a mentor (either one-on-one, or a roundtable of peers).
• She sought out peer-group settings with like-minded Christians who challenge her.
Her personal management philosophy:
• Shannon concentrates on empowering each team member and continually ensuring that they have goals and that she is doing everything she can to help them meet their goals.
• She is open and honest with them and balances that with credibility.
• She believes that leaders ask questions (and managers answer them).
• She knows that she does not have all the answers.
Who influenced her leadership most?
• When it comes to who has influenced her leadership most, she points to Jesus. Her approach and posture are of a servant leader—not only in serving her staff, but also the clients and partners of MAG.
• An academic essay called "Servant as Leader," by Robert Greenleaf (https://greenleaf.org/products-page/the-servant-as-leader/), which is required reading for all staff members at MAG.
• Her female mentors (women managers and senior saleswomen) at the healthcare information technology solutions company.
Faith at work practices:
When it comes to faith at work, the staff prays openly and frequently, in their team, leadership, and corporate meetings. She personally prays for her team members. When Shannon and Bryan have big decisions to make through the course of the weeks, months and years, they pray together about them. They are upfront in their hiring process when screening applicants. As they like to say, "You don't have to be a Christian to join our team, but this is what we do, and this is how we do it, so it can't be offensive to you."
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Have you ever felt the pull to full-time ministry work as a missionary or pastor? If not, you can still make a Kingdom impact without quitting your current job. In this eBook, you will learn the four essentials that can change your perspective of work, your workplace, and most importantly, your heart.
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