The Divine Path to Entrepreneurship: A Conversation with Daniel Kwak

Meet Daniel Kwak, a self-made real estate titan whose journey from humble immigrant beginnings to multi-millionaire real estate investor is nothing short of inspiring. Daniel isn't just about accumulating wealth, he also shares his insights on the role of faith in entrepreneurship, and how aligning with God's will has played a critical role in his journey. His story serves as a testament that it's not just about material success, but about giving away what we receive from God to draw people closer.

The podcast also dives into the convoluted intersection of social media, the pressure of perfection, and the importance of being open to making mistakes. We ponder how the desire to always be right can hinder personal growth and discuss the significance of establishing lasting relationships. Daniel reminds us that we have the privilege to make mistakes without the pressure of perfection, because in reality, people aren't constantly watching.

Get ready for an enlightening conversation about faith, entrepreneurship, and the unexpected rewards that come from following God's will.  If you want to connect with Daniel you find him on LinkedIn @danieldwak or go to TheKwakBrothers.com.

To connect with Olivet’s Entrepreneurship Program, contact Program Director, Chris Perez at caperez2@olivet.edu.

To learn more about other entrepreneurship opportunities and the McGraw School of Business’s very own Createur Conference and Pitch Competition, go to Createur.Olivet.edu.

Transcript

Karli: 0:00

What does it mean to be a Christian entrepreneur? How can I turn my ideas into an actual business? How do I navigate my path to entrepreneurship?

Daniel Kwak: 0:11

Welcome to Creator, the podcast brought to you by Olivet Nazarene University's McGraw School of Business to unlock the secrets to Christian entrepreneurship and fuel your path to success.

Karli: 0:23

I'm your host, Carly Bird, graduate assistant of Olivet's Entrepreneurship program.

Daniel Kwak: 0:28

I'm your co-host, Spencer, James and Olivet undergraduate marketing management and business administration major.

Karli: 0:34

Join us, fellow students, as we embark on a journey to discover the call of the entrepreneur.

Daniel Kwak: 0:40

This week, Daniel Kwak will be joining us to share how God called him to entrepreneurship and some of the lessons he's learned along the way.

Karli: 0:48

Where faith and business meet. This is Creator, Episode 4.

Daniel Kwak: 1:00

Alright, hello everyone. This week, Carly and I would like to welcome one of our favorite business powerhouses, Daniel Kwak.

Karli: 1:07

So Daniel began his real estate investing career at just 18 years old with his brother and business partner, Sam Kwak. His expertise has primarily been in apartment investing, syndications, general commercial real estate, risk mitigation strategies, along with scaling businesses. Some of his highlights include acquiring 87 apartments in the state of Illinois by the age of 23 and starting and scaling multiple multi-million-dollar organizations. The Kwak brothers, Daniel and Sam, currently have 10 companies in their portfolio, ranging from real estate investment firms, financial consulting, insurance and e-commerce. Daniel, it is so great to have you here today. We're so excited to have you in the studio.

Daniel Kwak: 1:53

Yeah, it's great, and one of the things I think you forgot on there is I am also a former All of it student, so I was at All of it for four years and didn't graduate, but had a great time. It's contributed a lot to success. And so I am one of you guys.

Karli: 2:14

So, of course, as we get started off, though, I have to bring this up, because anytime we have a guest who got started at such a young age like yourself, you know I have to bring it up. So how did you get started and what motivated you, at only 18, to get involved in real estate investing? Because, if I'm being honest, I don't think I know too many 18-year-olds that would be in that headspace.

Daniel Kwak: 2:37

Yeah, fair enough. And, by the way, I'm still young, at least what I would consider young. I know if you're in college.

Daniel Kwak: 2:43

That is very true, it's like someone who's 29 years old is like, oh my gosh, I can't imagine that's almost a decade from now. That's like me seeing someone that's 39 and being like, wow, imagine that. But no, I'm 29 now. And when I was 18, what motivated me was very For me, it was just simply I was just looking at my bank account and be like, wow, that's really bad and I got to do something about that. So my background is I'm a pastor's kid still am and my dad actually immigrated here to the United States and brought his wife, my mom and my brother and I with him. And for anyone listening, that has some type of immigrant or some type of moving at a very young age kind of story to them, especially to a new country. It's not necessarily the easiest thing, and so our family.

Daniel Kwak: 3:33

When we came here we pretty much nothing. And we lived in one of those apartments where you turn the light on and all the cockroaches kind of expand to the outsides of the room.

Daniel Kwak: 3:42

Oh, wow.

Daniel Kwak: 3:43

And my parents lived in or they slept in, a room that tripled as their bedroom, our family dining room and our kitchen, and so it was really interesting upbringing, and a lot of times when you grow up poor, you learn poor. And so I found myself at 18 years old, freshman year at Alavette, actually living in Chapman Hall. I still remember looking down on my phone and seeing negative $187.65 in my bank account, had a couple of maxed out credit cards because school is expensive. So I was like, wow, I want to change the world, I want to do a lot of things for the kingdom, I want to expand it, but yet here I am, I can't even take care of myself, and so that kind of embarked a journey of figuring out well, how do I take care of myself so I can take care of others? How do I be a better vessel for God to do certain things?

Daniel Kwak: 4:39

Now, there's a lot of things I've learned throughout the process about what that even means that we can talk about later in the episode. But long story short, I found myself going to a lot of different conferences, seminars. I chose Real Estate because I read an article by Forbes Magazine when I was 17 years old saying that something along the lines of 76% of the top 1% individuals made their money in real estate. So I was like, okay, well, I got to do that. And so I started reading every book, listening to every podcast, I mean everything I could get my hands on about that topic, and I guess you could say the rest is history.

Daniel Kwak: 5:15

Wow that is such an inspiring story.

Daniel Kwak: 5:17

That's incredible.

Karli: 5:18

Thank you for sharing that.

Daniel Kwak: 5:20

You talk a little bit about how growing up and what some would see as a challenging situation for them right but you saw that as an opportunity a little bit later on. But when you were starting out getting into real estate, what were some of those challenges that you faced? How did you overcome some of those initial humps to get started?

Daniel Kwak: 5:41

Yeah, no great question. I have this philosophy slash theory about life and I was actually thinking about it on my way on the drive to my office and there's this word privilege. That's being thrown around a lot in the last three to four or five years. Right, I mean it's always been there, but especially with how divisive and a lot of these large social issues that have come up in our country over the last three years or so three to four years privilege is something that gets thrown a lot.

Daniel Kwak: 6:10

I personally believe and many people may disagree that every single one of us has some level of privilege, whether we want to admit it or not. I had the privilege, growing up, of my family having very little, if not nothing at all. I mean there'd be nights where, like I loved going to school because it meant I got to eat, it meant I had a meal. I still remember my mom, you know, like our family would be at the park and my mom would be picking up weeds and just different plant and I'd see that on our dinner table. And oh, by the way, that was like the one not of two times that we had dinner right, actually had dinner. So I grew up with the privilege of not having a whole lot, with the privilege of, you know, seeing my parents, unable to speak English, still trying to make it work. So I saw what it means to grind and hustle and persevere at a very young age, the, let's just say, the quintessential. You know, a kid growing up in upper middle class doesn't have that privilege. They may have different privileges than I have, but you know, I had the privilege of growing up and knowing what it means to understand the value of one single dollar. So For me it was as simple as okay. Well, what do I want to achieve? What are my goals and why do I want to achieve it? And, first and foremost, step number one for me was who do I know that I can speak with and spend more time with? That has that.

Daniel Kwak: 7:42

And so I think one of the things a lot of people underestimate is just the power of a mentor. Like you see, someone who is maybe 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 years down the line and they've made all the mistakes. Like imagine playing a video game. And like you have the ability to hang out and play the game with someone who's beaten the game many times over or has played the game 30, 40, 50 times. You know more than you have, right, or that many years more than you have. And yet you know we as young people because I'll still categorize myself in your guys' camp, even though very soon I won't be like we don't take advantage of that, we don't necessarily understand that and I don't think a lot of people know how young they are, especially my guests, people listening to this podcast.

Daniel Kwak: 8:28

I understood for me at 18, 19, 20 years old, to answer your question, spencer, like how young I was. I think it's like. I'll mention that. I'll bring this up because I think it's really, really cool. I was listening to this on another podcast.

Daniel Kwak: 8:40

But, like, if you look at your life from a perspective of a 24-hour day, right, so let's assume that your life is 80 years, right, if the average life expectancy for the American male, right. So if you're living up to 80 years which, by the way, if you work out, eat healthy, right, stay away from you, know a lot of dangerous chemicals and farm, like you'll live longer. But let's just say it's 80 years. If you're 20 years old, right, and you know you're living your life and you're seeing your life from a perspective of a full 24-hour day. You at 20 years old, it's 6 am right. So I mean, like Spencer, carly, I'm assuming you're around 20 years old, right? Somewhere in that age range, right? If you're 20 years old, like that's 6 am for you, most people haven't even woken up yet.

Daniel Kwak: 9:29

And you know, I think it's super interesting that we now live in a time where you know a lot of these TikTok finance influencers and Instagram influencers and they're like, oh, you know, by 19, I was a millionaire, right.

Daniel Kwak: 9:41

Like we set these unrealistic expectations for our lives and yet you know we're only 25, like it's 6 am for you guys. For me, I did the math it's 842 am right. So for me, at 29 years old, like I had literally just gotten maybe I just ate breakfast, I just woke up, I have still yet to experience the full day's work. So I think for me, during that time, one of the things that really propelled my career and really set me up for success was those two things. Number one understanding how young I am and learning as if it is 6 am, because for me it was at age 20. And then you combine that with you know, my desire to want to seek out mentors and figure out what they're doing and how they're doing it and why they're doing it. You know, I think that really helped me out at that age, if that makes sense.

Karli: 10:34

Yeah, I think sometimes, like you were mentioning, I'm really glad that you brought up the importance of mentorship, because that is something that many people don't realize how powerful it truly is sometimes, and that is definitely a great reminder.

Daniel Kwak: 10:50

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, even looking at Jesus, like I love his model right, Like I consider Jesus to be the greatest leader that's ever walked the earth. He never sent his disciples off by themselves. He always sent people two by two, if not more. And so I think I don't think, especially with entrepreneurship, we're never meant to do this thing alone, and I think a lot of people are I'm not sure why, but they think that they have to have all the answers and they have to be the ones to know everything, and that's just not true.

Daniel Kwak: 11:18

I think that's just also so much of society, right Of like, just everybody kind of trying to be their own savior to everybody else, and so they just feel like they need to know it all themselves. But obviously you know, that's never really the right answer. They're not going to get very far doing that, no.

Daniel Kwak: 11:33

Yeah, and there's a I've got a good friend of mine, his name is Alex Formosi and one of the things that he posted on threads right, because I was like how do we check this thing out? So one of the things that he posted on threads that I thought was just absolutely amazing is that he set something along the lines of, like you know, most people don't fear failure, they fear what people will think about them if they fail. And you know, it's interesting how, like now, imagine, he says, imagine, like if you flip the script, what people will think about you if you succeed? And he goes the reality is is, regardless of whether you fail or succeed, they don't think about you at all. They're actually thinking about themselves 90% of the time.

Daniel Kwak: 12:14

So, you know, it's like why, why, why be afraid to do that, to even try, so to speak? And I think we live in a world, this, and I think social media has like absolutely amplified this. And it's interesting because I think, you know, my wife and I were talking about it and my wife, my wife and I are one year apart. We actually have the exact same birthday, except she's one year, exactly one year older than that.

Daniel Kwak: 12:34

And it's, it's, it's nuts. She thought I was messing with her when we first met, but we literally pulled out our driver's licenses and I'm like, look at that June 11th, right. And so so we were talking about this. How like her and I, we're kind of the youngest generation to to experience childhood without smartphones, without you know the ability, I guess, to Google everything or whatever. And you know it's interesting because I think social media has really amplified this. But your need to be right and you see it everywhere, like if you're on TikTok, if you're on Instagram Reels, if you're on YouTube Shorts, like if there's one little blemish in the video, you go to the comments and you just get absolutely ripped apart, you know. And so it's just like this desire to know everything and do everything right, cause you think in your head, everyone's watching.

Daniel Kwak: 13:23

I think that's something that needs to be eliminated Cause, truth be told, I, you know, before I posted anything about my entrepreneurial journey, or even doing a podcast episode, like I went eight years building a multi, like many multimillion dollar businesses, before I even got on a podcast and talked about it. And you know, I'm not saying that to necessarily brag or be narcissistic, but I'm. I'm saying that that, for me, was a privilege of like hey I. I enjoyed the ability to mess up without there being social media, without people, without me having a mentality that I needed to do everything right Cause I think everyone's watching. And again, the truth of the matter is people aren't like. Sorry, you know, but that's a great thing. There's freedom in that.

Karli: 14:04

There is definitely. Yeah, I mean, how many times, even you know? Just as a silly little example, would you think that someone's watching you when you know, like when you're in high school or in college sitting at the lunch table and you're sitting and eating by yourself and you assume that everybody's watching, but really nobody is?

Daniel Kwak: 14:23

Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. I mean, I do this all the time, or we'll just kind of people watch. So we love to go to like just random places, right? So last time we did this we were at like the zoo and then before then it was like the gym. But you know, like everyone's kind of just walking and talking and doing their own thing, and her and I just oftentimes we'll just stop and we'll just take a breath of fresh air and we'll just look around and I don't know. I just think you learn a lot about people through simplicity of just everyday life.

Karli: 14:49

So really quick, I want to go back for a moment. I know you just mentioned you know some of your companies and your portfolio and things of that nature. I'd like to just go back and talk about another statement that was in your bio. So you and your brother currently have 10 companies in your portfolio. Is that correct?

Daniel Kwak: 15:08

Yeah, yeah, we have about 10 plus or minus one or two, depending on you know how you define it.

Karli: 15:13

So first I just want to say that's very impressive and congratulations and having these companies. That requires relationship building right.

Daniel Kwak: 15:22

Oh yeah, 100%.

Karli: 15:25

What are some practices that you've learned for building these strong, successful, long-term relationships?

Daniel Kwak: 15:31

Yeah, no, that's really really good. So I, my philosophy is most, most people who start a business, in my opinion, do it for the wrong reason, right. So you know, when you think about businesses or entrepreneurship or whatever I, I, when I first started companies when I was 18, 19, 20 years old, I did it for the wrong reason, right. Like I did it, I did it for the money, right, and I'm not saying that's a bad reason, but for me it was. It was the wrong reason. And you know it's interesting today, because Today I only get involved with companies if God directs me to it, if there's a, if there's a bigger reason.

Daniel Kwak: 16:09

You know, you read throughout scripture how most individuals receive a calling from God and then they try to take it into their own hands. And I think a lot of Christian people, not just entrepreneurs, not just business people, but I think Christians in general do a lot of the same things where God will give them a vision, they'll give them a calling, they'll give them some type of desire in their heart and they just assume that it has to be done by them right now. And that's just not true, right? That that type of thinking is actually quite selfish, because you're implying that, hey, god has given me this calling. It is up to me. There is no me and God together it's. It's interesting because I one of the things I share a lot, you know, especially with my testimony is when I was young I wanted to do things for God because I thought that's the way I needed to earn my salvation and earn my place in quote-unquote, the kingdom. And then, when I got to all of that you know like that definition change right I understood a little bit what will grace actually meant and I wanted to do things because of God as a more reaction to his love, and I thought that sounded pretty good for a while. And then on one Wednesday night I was in a Bible study and God just pierced my heart by telling me he was like you know, daniel, I love everything that you do. I love that you give away, you know, a lot of money to different charities and nonprofits. I love that you're Faithful to me. I love that you're doing all these amazing things in the business world and he just you kind of just goes. I just sometimes wish we could do it together and and that that literally just took a dagger like right into my heart and it's just this interesting journey of like. I used to do things for God, then because of God, and now I Try to live in a space where I do things with God and when God oftentimes give you a calling and we feel obligated to do it ourselves in the fastest time possible, it never ends up working out like you.

Daniel Kwak: 17:51

Look at scripture and you know God gives Abraham the calling of being a father of many nations and while Abraham tries to put that on his own back and tries to make it Happen well, we all know how that worked out right, he knocks up the wrong chick and you know there's a lot of mistakes that may, and you can, you can say the same exact thing. It's, you know example or same story, same kind of framework and, and you know, line of actions with all sorts of different people in scripture. Doesn't matter if it's Abraham, that David, if it's Joseph, if it's Solomon for crying out loud, if it's the disciples time and time again, you know, and Jesus I actually oftentimes corrects them. You know, we try to take it on our own hands, right, even Peter did that. Right, peter was like, oh Lord, that will never happen to you. And then, you know, jesus ends up calling him Satan, right? So you know, I think this is same with regards to our calling and entrepreneurship.

Daniel Kwak: 18:42

So why do I bring that up with when it comes to relationships? Well, it's because, in my observation, 90% of entrepreneurs and business individuals, especially individuals that want to work in corporate America, right in the business realm period, we approach our relationships in a very transactional fashion, like we say that they're not transactional but our actions tell us otherwise. It's very much of the well, you know, like, that person has 500,000 followers, so I'm more, I want to be friends with that person more often than the other individual. And and I'll be honest, right, I'll just kind of give you a trick of the trade I have many friends who have millions of followers on Instagram. I have friends who are billionaires. I have friends who own sports teams and I'll tell you is like they are. Many of them Are just kind of used to this whole script of 99.99 percent of people around them wanting something from them, whether it's a picture, whether it's, you know, a relationship for the sake of clout, whether it's a relationship for the sake of being able to say I know that person personally, right, like it's.

Daniel Kwak: 19:47

It's a lot of that, you know, and like, I mean, it sounds weird, it sounds bad, but the amount of times that I get messages on Facebook or Instagram of people I don't know asking me for money, just because they know, somehow, somehow they find out that I'm a successful entrepreneur, like it's, it's tiring for me, right. So I'd say, for me, right, what has worked In my relationship is the realization. Right, in terms of building relationship, it's the realization that God is heavily pursuing People around me and it's my job to be intentional about asking him how I can join him in doing that. And you know that, right, there has opened so many doors for me in regards to networking and relationships that I never thought possible. Because the closer you get with God, the more intimate you are with Jesus. You end up learning more about not only yourself but other people, because you're meeting the Creator, you're, you're getting intimate with the Creator. So the better you know the Creator, the more you know the creation. You know, and his creation happens to be all seven or eight billion people on this planet. And so I'll kind of wrap up that at the long-winded answer. Sorry, guys, the long-winded answer Just just mentioning you know realization that I had it.

Daniel Kwak: 21:03

You know, I think everybody here listening to the podcast wants God to be in their business, you know, and they want God to be in their business because they want that business to do well. But yet not many of us are actually willing to be in God's business. And what people don't realize is God has a business and it's a family business and he's inviting all of us his kid be part of that business. And you know what the objective and the product and service of that business is. It's to have every single person know how much they are loved by him and how much they're known by him. In fact, there was one time where God was just like hey, daniel, this is my business. I want my kids to know how much they're loved and known by me and I want them to know me truly. And you know, for for me, that brought, you know, quite a few tears to my eyes and a lot of emotions to my heart, because that's the truth.

Daniel Kwak: 21:52

And you know, when you walk and live in a way, you know in love and you're giving away what you yourself receive from God every single day, people will be drawn to you. I mean, they're attracted to you. And they're drawn to you because you exude something that nobody else exudes, and that's the love of Jesus Christ. And we have a lot of individuals, especially in this world of social media Tiktok, instagram that give away from a place that they're not receiving themselves. And I love what Jesus says, right, and all these things that I'm telling you. Right, I'm saying it's all from, it's all from Christ, right, like he said it himself. And, john, you are the bread.

Daniel Kwak: 22:29

I'm divine, right, like, apart from me, you will do nothing and and I absolutely love that, yeah, I really like talking about you know low the lower story relationship that we have with with those around us and how we do business. But I Just love the intentionality that you have in the upper story right of of you're doing business with God and how he's inspiring you in that. I Would say you know, how does your faith impact the way that you handle your success and failures? I'm so strategic and so it's always hard right, when you think about entrepreneurship, at least from my perspective of like man, that's sometimes some big risks that you take on and there's a lot of Opportunity for failure. So how, how would you say that your faith has impacted the way you handle success?

Daniel Kwak: 23:15

Yeah, by the way, I love that you mentioned your strategic. I'm assuming you guys took the strength finders and you know it's. Yeah, I did too right. I think all of that's pretty big on that. So the like I think it's, it's sitting right in front of the number one strength.

Daniel Kwak: 23:28

That's awesome yeah.

Daniel Kwak: 23:29

I haven't taken mine in years. I took it for a music ministry that I did while I was at light out, when I was at all of that. I think I had ministry teams for like a year and they had us take it and it was. It was really interesting, but so so, when it comes to like the faith and entrepreneurship and a lot of those things, I'll have two things that I kind of come to mind when it comes to that.

Daniel Kwak: 23:51

There's something that God told me very distinctly and you know, I'm still a young guy, right, like my mentor reminds me all the time that I technically haven't even hit my prime Professionally, right, like no. So he actually he's a big basketball fan. He, in fact, he owns an NBA team. So he brought up this analogy and so he was like you know, like think about an athlete, right Like they don't like a basketball player, an NBA player, they don't usually hit their prime. So about they're like 27 years old, like usually their prime is like usually 26, 27 to about 32, 33, like that's, that's their prime. And he goes, you know, like I didn't hit my prime, most guys that I've seen don't hit their prime told us they're in like their 40s. And you know I was telling them that cuz I was kind of complaining to him a little bit about how I feel like I haven't achieved enough in my age yet, and and he and he goes. He goes. Dude, you're 20, nothing and you have the like I didn't even hit my prime till I was 42 that you have 13 years left till you even hit your prime and he goes. He was like my prime was. He said my prime was 42, 43, till I was about 59, 60, he goes. That's when I started slowing down a little bit and had to change the way I do things. So anyways, uh, so don't know where I was going with that, but anyways, I saw that's.

Daniel Kwak: 25:02

You know, at that, this age, like at this stage in my career, like you know, I had some had something that God shared with me recently, like three weeks ago, and he goes like Daniel, like as your, your, as I'm giving you all these opportunities, as I'm giving you all the success, because that's the truth, right, like it's not me, it's him, right like he is the one who gives me all these relationships and the success that I have, it's, it's from him. He says, as I give you these things. My expectation of you is that you, you carry these things with an open hand and that you're freed from Believing that these things are yours and and because they're not right like we're. At the end of the day, I'm just a steward and I think a lot of people in general we hold on to things too quickly, which, by the way, let's let's, on a side note here, let's redefine what the word blessing even means, right like in this day and age, when I say the word blessing, a lot of people think the nice car, the nice house, six-figure income. And let me be very, very clear If I am the enemy and my goal is to separate you and destroy or, in the United States, distract you from the love of Jesus, I want you making six figures and driving a nice house, in a nice car, because then you have no reason to depend on God. Period Like.

Daniel Kwak: 26:12

Think about where Christianity and our walk with Jesus thrives the most. It's in places like Africa and China, especially in China, where the churches are being persecuted. You know daily, right Like they're literally torturing Christians. They're torturing, you know, pastors and people of faith, and yet that's where Christianity is thriving the most, you know. And here in America. It's like man we are, we are dying, spiritually dying, and it's it's amazing with so many of these churches, right like?

Daniel Kwak: 26:40

I had a South Korean pastor friend of mine who took a year to travel to all sorts of different American churches and At the end of the year somebody asked him like hey, what do you think about the American church? And I loved his response. He goes it's amazing what the American church can do without the power of the Holy Spirit. And I was so blown away by that answer because, like, it's absolutely true, we do 19,000 different fundraisers because we don't actually believe that God has our back, and not only that, but we actually don't believe that it's something that God wants us to do, because it is something that God's what's it to do. Time and time again, he's shown us in scripture that he will provide the way, he will provide the resources, and in some ways that's kind of how I Try I don't not perfect at it, but I try to run our businesses is, if this is something that God wants us to do, then he will provide the resources and the people and the human Capital and the time capital for us to be able to accomplish it and accomplish it. Well, right, so, you know, going back to the whole element of faith and entrepreneurship, which I guess in some way retrospect, I answered it, but you know, at least for me it's.

Daniel Kwak: 27:43

It's a lot of kind of what I've said already in regards to, you know, just the realization that, hey, you know, god has, god has an agenda for every single thing that we do. And so, like every meeting that I have, every podcast appearance, everything that I do, you know, I kind of ask God. It's like, hey, what do you want? What do you want out of this? You, you've got to win here, and so I'll share a story. So I shared it as part of my spark session in the Creator Conference because I thought it was a really neat story.

Daniel Kwak: 28:09

But about five years ago, god asked me to start a business, right, and you know, he sent me all the people, he opened all the doors, etc. Etc. And the result of that business is that we lost $650,000. And I ended up shutting it down, like two years ago actually. So I ended up shutting it down and I was so perplexed because I was like God, I did everything that you asked me to do. Why did I lose $650,000, right Now don't get me wrong. Right, like, I mean, like the money got made back, everything's great, right, but like, why did that happen? It still sucked in the moment. And you know the answer that I got from him was interesting. He goes hey, buddy, what if I had wins that you didn't even know about? Right, like, what if there was wins on my behalf for the kingdom? You know, even if it was a quote, unquote, lost to you, like, why can't the win for you just be the fact that you obeyed me? You know through and through, like, can that be the win?

Daniel Kwak: 29:11

And I think a lot of individuals, especially in modern Christianity and entrepreneurism and just business in general, were so driven by metrics and results and numbers. Right, like, when we started, like, if I were to tell you a story, if I were to start a story with you talking about how I met a complete stranger on the train and I started talking about, you know, like, how I preached the gospel to him. The expectation that you guys have is that I would finish that story by simply saying, oh, and then he set the sinner's prayer and then he got baptized last week. Praise Jesus, right, like, that's kind of what we expect, but yet you know what? If I told you because this actually happened when I was 18, 19 years old, taking an Amtrak train from Bourbonet to Union Station in Chicago, which I would not recommend you do at 11 pm at night but I met this guy- I met this guy yeah.

Daniel Kwak: 29:55

Kinkakee is not a safe place, but I met this guy who was a U of I student, a champagne student, and we sat together and I ended up sharing the gospel with him, I ended up sharing my story and I never saw him again and for me, the win was that I simply shared with him what God asked me to share with him and the results are up to him and I'm completely freed from that right, and Paul talks about that in Galatians 5, freedom in Christ, you know. And so for a lot of us as entrepreneurs and I'll tell you how we can incorporate our faith is by having that be the win, is by obedience to God, having that, the intimacy with Jesus as we do this thing called entrepreneurship, having that be the win, as opposed to, oh, one of our companies did $3.9 million last month and it's a record month, right, like, that's not for me, at least, that's not what it. And, yeah, we can celebrate, we can do all these things and that's fantastic. It's still good news. It means that our strategies and our relationship, it means that we're working, it means we're helping people, it means we're giving back to our clients, absolutely. But at the end of the day, right, it's just this realization is you know, god is in my business, but, more importantly, as much as I am in God's business as well.

Daniel Kwak: 31:05

And you know, if I could live in a way and this is my challenge for every single person, you know, listening to this podcast but could we live in a way where every single meeting, every single class, every single interaction, it's like all right, god, what do you want, what's your agenda here, what's your will and what do you need me to do? Or, in many cases, what do you need me to not do? Right? And then we eventually live in the freedom where we ask the Holy Spirit to let us know what His will is at the right time. Right. And that's something that I experienced with God recently, where he just kind of said hey, buddy, could you live in a way where you're free to trust me that my spirit will give you the right things at the right time?

Daniel Kwak: 31:49

Yeah, not my will, but yours right.

Karli: 31:52

That was so inspiring. Thank you so much, Daniel. I mean, wow, I'm blown away.

Daniel Kwak: 31:57

Yeah, well, I mean, now the challenge is, you know, let's go do something about it.

Karli: 32:00

Right, Like it's not enough for us to just intellectually comprehend it.

Daniel Kwak: 32:05

It's like oh, that was nice, Right, that was a cool podcast, Let me share it with a bunch of people. But now it's like now it's our time, right? So the challenge is now for us to go ask God, go seek the Holy Spirit. Hey, what do you want me to know from this episode? What are some things that you want me to be aware of? What are some changes you want me to make?

Daniel Kwak: 32:23

Yeah, because it's 6 am right. That's what we were talking about earlier 6 am, it's just the morning.

Daniel Kwak: 32:28

Exactly right. We're just getting started Right. 8.42 am for me. You know that's right For you yeah, that's right yeah.

Karli: 32:36

Wow, well, I wish that we could just keep talking all day. This has been so incredible and I wish that I could keep going, but unfortunately, as you know, time flies and it's already looking like it's gonna be time for us to wrap things up. But, daniel, every time that we end our podcast here, we like to end with a quirky question of the week per se. So, spencer, would you like to do the honors?

Daniel Kwak: 33:02

Yeah, I can ask the quirky question this week. So your question is if you could have one superpower to help you in your line of work, what would it be and why? Oh my gosh and your superpower.

Daniel Kwak: 33:14

My favorite superhero is Captain America, and so, I don't know man, I would love to be 6'2", 250 pounds, like he is. That would be nice, you know. That'd be kind of cool, right? But no, I mean superpower. I don't know why, but the first thing that comes to mind is, like I was reading a book on Warren Buffett in his life and he says if I could have any superpower, it'd be for me to read faster, and I was like that's dumb, but kind of the more I kind of run the businesses, or lead the business is not run them, but I'd say probably that it's like I do a lot of reading. You know, it's because, if you think of, like, my job as CEO is to have the best ideas not the best ideas, but it's to cultivate the best ideas, which, by the way, like I'll share this one quote because I think it's really cool.

Daniel Kwak: 34:10

I was thinking about this thought and every time I have a thought, I try to convince it down to a quote, right? Because if it's not simple, then it's not applicable. And if it's not applicable, then why the heck even have that thought, right? But you know the quote that I it was a 30 minute conversation with myself and I dwindled it down to one quote, and that quote is innovation happens in every company. It's just whether or not the leaders allow it to happen. And so I was thinking about that a lot, and for me as CEO right Like my job is to read a lot, but it's also to create an environment where people feel safe to speak and they feel safe to be heard. And then you know, now it's like we've gotten the idea. And how can I facilitate the process to have it come to fruition? So I'd say reading. And then I say Probably reading and listening, I'd say, are two superpowers.

Daniel Kwak: 35:01

Yeah, Well learner is my number three on my stride for you, Checking off all the boxes here, you know right of more reading, that's for sure.

Daniel Kwak: 35:11

Yeah, yeah. Well, danielle, again it has been so great to have you on the podcast today and here just a little piece of the kingdom Impact that you're having, and I know I learned something and I cannot wait to be able to apply that into the things I'm doing, because, again, it's only 6 am, that's right.

Daniel Kwak: 35:29

So I'm gonna hold a right me. So we gotta, we gotta wake up, we gotta be woke, as they say, as they say now.

Karli: 35:37

Yes, and thank you for opening up and sharing your story as well. It's incredible to see how God is working in your life and using you to help build his kingdom and I'm sure that our listeners appreciate that as well and you know it's very inspiring to get them moving as well. To make that kingdom impact and listeners, if you want to connect with Daniel, you can follow at Daniel quack or go to the quack brothers calm, so go check that out.

Daniel Kwak: 36:09

That's right, and if you want to connect with all of its entrepreneurship program director, chris Perez, or discover other entrepreneurship Opportunities the program has to offer, such as the McGraw School of Business's very own Creator Conference and pitch competition, which Daniel was a guest speaker, and just go to all of that dot edu slash creator to learn more.

Karli: 36:28

Yes, and, as always, thank you for listening and don't forget the tune in next week when James Webb joins us to provide insight on effective use of social media.

Daniel Kwak: 36:38

That'll be an interesting one there. All right, well, hey, daniel. Thank you so much for faith in business meet. This is the creator podcast. We'll see you later.