Work with Purpose Conference | Purposeful Work Panel | Sept. 2025

of people working and then those that

work with purpose. I think all of us

have experience whether it’s a dental

hygienist, maybe a server at a

restaurant that works with purpose

versus one that just works for a

paycheck, right? Um I’m Amanda Bullan. I

work for Beatatbo Companies. And I have

some friends up here. I’m going to let

them introduce themselves. Andrew, why

don’t you tell everybody who you are and

what you do?

Sure. Hi, I’m Andrew Sakaricio. I’m the

general manager of the Willows events

and catering. Um, we do birthday

parties, kinetas, events, and weddings.

And we also do the catering for those

events as well as external catering.

And I am Molly Lopez. I am a pediatric

dentist and one of the owners at

Parkview Pediatric Dentistry. Awesome.

One of the things that we like to do

with any Kingdom at Work event is show

you practitioners, people that do this

in the marketplace and give you

examples. This is not a checklist. This

is not a formulaic way, but this is for

you to see the power of when you put

purpose in your work. So, if you guys

will tell us what shift began in the way

you viewed work. Andrew, you want to

start and tell us about that? Yeah,

certainly. Um, so like you said, for me

work was it was a paycheck. It was a

means to an end. It was I went in, I did

the work, I checked off the task lists,

and I got that paycheck at the end to

support my family. And that’s that’s

what work was. You know, you you had

your outside life, but then you worked

to maintain that outside life. Um, and

for me

the biggest shift for me was, um, Cal

mentioned it, but I heard it from Rick

Beatenbo, and it was the the idea of

Avda being my work was my worship. Um,

and it was my my service. Um, man, I’ve

been in restaurants my whole life. And

you know, the idea finally clicked for

me in the understanding that at 4:00 in

the morning when I’m trimming a brisket

by myself before the world even opens

up, like that that’s me worshiping the

Lord, you know, and you can’t do that

unless you understand that the talents

that you have are part of the identity

that the Lord gave you. And you know,

once you come to terms and understand

that like who you are is who the Lord

made you to be and that’s perfect, man,

you can live in so much confidence um

right where you’re at. You know,

trimming a brisket, man, that’s hands up

in the sk like that. It’s just that for

me just puts so much connection between

how what I do every single day is how I

can like love the Lord with the gifts

that he gave me.

So beautiful. How many of you have ever

thought that there would be a holy

moment with brisket, right? Besides

eating it at Ebie Maze, right? It is one

that there is not a single occupation or

job that is offlimits to the kingdom of

God. Do you realize that you can’t sit

there and say, “Well, that might be

great for Andrew, but if you knew my

job, God wants to meet you right where

you are and work through you.” Thanks

for sharing that. That’s beautiful.

Molly, what shift began um in your work

and how you saw it and what did that

look like?

Yeah, I think my biggest shift was when

I started to see who my identity was in

Christ. Um I felt like I have a

wonderful business partner and I felt

like as I would show up each and every

day, I was trying to do what he was

trying to do because I wanted to lead

and I wanted to do well for the team and

for the business and for everything. Um,

and over time I felt like we were just

kind of stepping on each other’s toes.

And as I started to see who it was that

God made me to be, I realized that my

gifts and my talents are so much more

unique. Um, and I got to be who it was

that God made me to be instead of trying

to be someone or comparing myself to

someone around me. Um, and there was a

lot of freedom that came in that. And

then on top of that, the partnership

grew in exponential ways because now we

were able to cover so much more ground

with us both doing the things that God

gave us to do and me focusing on what it

was that God tked me to do and realizing

how important that task was. Um, but the

only way that I could find confidence

and strength in that would be um in just

uh stepping into that identity that he

gave me.

So beautiful. I keep hearing the same

things almost in every there’s like a

theme God’s doing, you know, and I I

think the Lord really wants everybody to

know like he makes his sons and

daughters unique just like all of our

fingerprints. And that if you’re dealing

with comparison, like that’s not from

your father. And that when you walk in

the freedom of who he has created and

designed you to be, not only does it

bring the freedom, not only does it

bring the joy, but it also brings the

kingdom into wherever your foot is,

wherever your feet go, wherever God

places in your hands. You know, the

journey is is not all like we like to

say rainbows and butterflies. It is not.

So, we are we are going to pull back the

curtain and we’re going to ask these

two, what does it look like on this

journey? It’s going to have ups and

downs. There’s going to be days that are

hard. So, Andrew, why don’t you tell us

what has the journey um of ups and

downs? What does that look like for you?

Um it’s definitely the accountability,

you know, once you get to the point

where you’re like, “My work does have

purpose.” you don’t get to turn that

off. Like every day you have to be

accountable to um what is expected of

you and that that obedience that the

Lord has for you. Um you know, and that

could look so many different ways.

Again, I grew up working in the

kitchens. Um and kitchens can be uh dark

places. Um there’s a lot of things that

go on in kitchens and just the service

industry that can just be really full of

pride and you know it’s just can be

really dark and a hard place to thrive.

Um and with that, you know, once you

find that um that you are who God says

you are, for me it was I’m I’m an

encourager. I love to encourage people

with positivity. I’m a servant. And so

when I found like that’s my identity in

God, man, when I go in and all the line

cooks are making fun of the dishwasher,

I don’t get to walk away from that. I’m

I’m an encourager, not when I want to be

always. And so having to step into that

and be accountable to holding my team

members accountable and all my

teammates, um, man, that’s tough. But

the fruit from that obedience, man, even

if it’s one person goes, “Man, I was

just doing it because everyone else was,

but that didn’t feel right, man. That’s

the up.” But sometimes it comes from the

down first. That that I don’t want to

step into that because that’s going to

be tough. And what if nobody likes me?

Well, the Lord gave you an identity and

you, man, follow that because the Lord

has so many good things for you. You

just have to be obedient in it.

What would be one of those fruit stories

of someone that maybe was um I I like to

say like when you walk in your identity,

the fragrance of heaven, it just

permeates off you and it sounds like you

have some of those stories where here

you are in the kitchen and maybe had to

make some hard calls. What’s a fruit

story of of the fragrance of God

permeating off of you, being bold and

walking in that calling of who God God

created you to be and it came off on

someone else.

Yeah. So, um I’ve worked a lot of in in

kitchens and so I’ve stepped into

leadership ro roles pretty often and um

I remember there was this one time I had

a uh a chef who was just

was not facilitating the culture of our

kitchen in a way that brought positivity

and brought people joy and brought

people a welcoming feeling. And this was

the guy who did everything. He he

ordered the food. He, you know, made the

menus. He made sure people were doing

what they had to do every single day.

And it’s really easy to sit there and

say, “I’m going to let that slide

because he does a lot of the work for

me.” But the obedience was looking and

saying, “I cannot walk past the culture

that they’re creating. I have to step in

and have a real conversation where it’s,

hey, we’re not going to allow that here

and you have to make the choice of if

you want to stay here that that’s not

going to happen again, which could very

well end with that person leaving. And

you know, when you you have your

day-to-day struggles, imagine adding

more work into your daily work. Nobody

wants to do that. But when you’re

obedient with the Lord, when the Lord

has something for you, and you’re

obedient in that, you don’t have to

worry about it because he’s got your

back in it.

What happened to that guy?

Changed his mind, came back two days

later and said, “I

don’t think that I’ve been right with

the Lord, and I really want to stay here

because I feel like I’ve got more to

learn.”

Dur correction and a coaching

conversation,

it brought identity and truth and the

separation that had come in between just

a guy in the kitchen. What a beautiful

thing. Molly, can you tell us about the

journey and the ups and downs um that

you guys have had at Parkview Pediatrics

and within your leadership journey?

Yeah, it’s been it’s been an incredible

journey to be honest. I never imagined

being able to own uh a business. I

graduated from dental school knowing

that I wanted to just help people. Um

but it’s just an incredible gift that

God has given um to steward and I’m so

thankful for that. Um but there have

been a lot of ups and downs. Uh I think

one of the the things that I learned was

the importance of core values and that

was a journey that we went through in

developing and providing more clarity

because we were always a business that

cared well for people and we just loved

people. Um but what does that really

look like? What does it look like to

just love people? whether it’s the

people walking through the door for

dental care or whether it’s the people

walking through the door helping us

provide that dental care. And so as we

walked through what it looked like to

establish our core values, there was so

much clarity that came in that and

allowed our our leadership team to also

operate under making decisions, making

choices based on the core values that we

said are these are the foundation and

this is what’s most important.

So, what would be some of the hard

things that came through that? Because

we all in here probably say we want to

serve and love people well, but you know

what? That probably looks different. Um,

what what’s some of the hard things that

happen in in that journey?

You know, it it is really really

challenging figuring out what it looks

like to love and what it looks like to

be lenient. And this kind of touches a

little bit on what Andrew just talked

about. um but what does it look like to

love people well and having those really

hard conversations but throughout that

process we realize the importance of

unity without division and what a

difference it makes in a team and I have

been so proud of my team I have seen so

much growth as we have provided that

clarity um and it’s allowed our leaders

to grow in the roles that God gave them

to do as well too

you know some of uh our Kingdom at Work

partners and friends, they say that when

you decide to start working with

purpose, it becomes violent. That is

almost the word that um this one

gentleman uses um because violent things

start to happen meaning within you and

things start shifting and changing of

what you thought it was supposed to be.

So Molly, what would be a fruit story

that came from you guys putting in what

it really meant to love people and

abiding by core values? What’s a fruit

story from that?

So we had put a leadership team in place

uh right around the time that we were

right before we were developing the core

values and I could see them working so

hard but almost like their wheels were

spinning. Um, and I would feel that way

too, that my wheels were spinning and we

were all working so hard and we were

trying so hard, but it just didn’t seem

like we were making any ground. Um, and

as we started to make decisions based

off of that, I started to see them make

progress um, and feel like we were all

coming together. So, there were people

um that had been on our team for years

that I had been watching and waiting

because they brought so much to the

practice, but I don’t know that they saw

the value that they brought in the team

and they would show up every day and

they would work hard. Um, and they would

do whatever they could for the team and

you could see it. Um, and as we started

to support them with the culture and not

being lenient and having conversations,

them feeling like they are doing so much

work and feeling the weight on their

shoulders, we were able to start to

provide a support team and allow them to

not feel like they’re on such an island.

Um but in doing so it brought better

care to our patients as well too because

as we function better as a team then our

patients got to have the opportunity for

that growth as well too for them to have

that exceptional care that we strive

for.

That’s beautiful. We heard that um

earlier in the hearing from God panel

that when the kingdom of God starts

breaking out maybe through you it might

be for others but it’s also for the

multiplication. And so it’s not just for

you. It’s not just for your leadership

team. It’s not just for your team. It’s

for your customers and it’s for their

families and these guys that you get to

serve here in the Lebec and greater

communities. So we are all about

practicality here. And so I want to ask

these two, what would be one practical

principle, one practical thing that

people in the audience could take in

working with purpose right where they

are, where God has them.

I would definitely say don’t it doesn’t

matter where you’re at in your spiritual

journey. um inviting the Lord into your

every single day. And we saw it before,

it could be 10 seconds, but that

consistent deposit of asking the Lord

into your day, into whatever it is, you

know, whatever job you have,

the Lord wants to be a part of it. He’s

so much just wants to be a part of your

life. So inviting him in, whether you’re

a server, a dentist, you know, working

on a line, working in construction,

anything, invite the Lord in

so that he can help you through all of

those those ups and downs that you have

as well as help you work within your

identity. Um that and I would also say

leave margin for the Lord to work. you

know, I am a chronic, you know, calendar

filler. Um, and I’ve learned and I’m

still learning that margin is where the

Lord works the most. And so, if you fill

it up with all the things that you have

to do, the Lord doesn’t have time to

step in and help with that.

That’s so good. If there’s any other

chronic calendar fillers that tend to be

um fast-paced and you look up and it’s

5:30 and you’re like, “How did the day

go? Where did it go?” I know one of the

things that we try to do with my teams

is we have HFG on their calendars,

hearing from God time. And that means

putting 15 minutes in the morning. And

if that’s where you just sit at your

desk or you go outside and walk and get

some steps in as well, do 15 minutes in

the afternoon. Maybe it’s five. Don’t be

religious about it, but give him margin

time. That’s so good. Andrew Molly, what

would you say?

I would say spend some time um just

listening to God and being still. Um and

in doing that find what your purpose is

um so that you can step out in

confidence in that because where you are

at work you make a difference and your

role matters and each and every single

person what they do matters. I know on

my team, every single person plays an

important role and we need them to be

able to do that role for us to be able

to do what we do. And so once you know

who who you are in Christ and the

identity that he’s given to you, step

into that in confidence and when you

show up, you can then have a positive

influence on everyone around you because

you’re no longer looking side to side to

figure out what this person’s doing or

what that person’s doing or comparing

yourself to someone else. you’re able to

have that confidence in God made me for

this purpose. And when I show up and do

it, the ability that he gave me, I can

not only have confidence in that, but I

can provide a positive influence in a

positive environment to all of those

around me. That’s so good. Hopefully,

you wrote that down. You know, it

doesn’t matter your title. Your job

might change, the occupation might

change, but you know what? Your purpose

never changes. Your identity doesn’t

change. And so that is something that is

constant. That is one of the things that

within my life the Lord has done. I have

the funniest resume and background. And

whether it was a teacher or a coach or

running restaurants or in the corporate

world or now in in the odd role that I’m

in at Beatenbo, it doesn’t matter

because I’m the same. My identity is

found in the Lord and I know the

purpose. And when you invite him in, he

wants to be part of everything. And it

is a journey. So buckle up. It’s a

beautiful thing. So we’re going to take

a few minutes. I’m going to read some

reflection questions. And I want you to

think about these.

How has your perspective on work and

purpose evolved over time?

And where do you see God shaping your

journey today?

And the second one, what is one

practical way you can invite God into

your daily work,

whether through prayer, mindset shifts,

or acts of generosity. So, we’re going

to give you a few minutes and then I’m

going to come back and we’re going to uh

take a break. So, take just a few

minutes and just ponder on that. Listen

to the Lord and what he’s saying.