Yes in God’s Backyard: Eli Smith on the Faith-Based Housing Initiative

Is Your City Making You More Virtuous?

Felix Landry is a city planner at Texas A&M University Extension, where he does data analysis and financial mapping for municipalities across Texas—work he spent a decade doing on staff at cities in Texas and Colorado before moving into a public service role through the state university system. In this conversation, he and Joe work through a question most Christians have never thought to ask: does the way your city is designed make it harder to practice virtue? They trace the connections between urban scale, car culture, virtue, and what Christians actually owe the cities they inhabit. Main Ideas: * The built environment is a moral environment. How streets are scaled, how neighborhoods are designed, and how people move through a city directly shapes whether they can act on their virtuous impulses toward one another—or whether they’re physically prevented from doing so. * The dominant American city design—built around the speed and scale of the vehicle—dehumanizes the people in it. You stop seeing drivers as people and start seeing them as obstacles. Road rage and keyboard warrior behavior run on the same mechanism. * The question of whether to stay in or leave broken institutions—cities, public schools, struggling communities—is a moral question. * Most planning failures come from ideological silver bullets: eliminate the car, ban single-family zoning, build a $300M master plan. Good cities don’t emerge from one big fix. They emerge from getting human-scale incentive structures right across many smaller decisions. Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction * 06:17: Felix Landry’s Career in City Planning * 08:49: What Is Rural Absolutism? * 14:29: Cities as Volume Knobs for Human Nature * 24:44: School Choice and the Least of These * 36:21: When the Built Environment Blocks Virtue * 46:38: Scale, Cars, and the Disembodiment Problem * 53:49: Urban Noise and Why We Want to Leave * 01:01:58: Why Silver Bullets Don’t Fix Cities * 01:30:19: Reading List and Closing Thoughts Resources Mentioned: * Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith [https://www.christianbook.com/sidewalks-kingdom-urbanism-and-christian-faith/eric-jacobsen/9781587430572/pd/30575] by Eric O. Jacobsen * The Space Between: A Christian Engagement with the Built Environment [https://www.christianbook.com/space-between-christian-engagement-built-environment/eric-jacobsen/9780801039089/pd/039080] by Eric O. Jacobsen * Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Sacred [https://www.amazon.com/Till-Have-Built-Jerusalem-Architecture/dp/193223697X] by Philip Bess * Crabgrass Catholicism: How Suburbanization Transformed Faith and Politics in Postwar America [https://crabgrasscatholicism.com/] by Fr. Stephen M. Koeth, C.S.C. * On Kingship, to the King of Cyprus [https://www.amazon.com/Kingship-King-Cyprus-Thomas-Aquinas/dp/0888442513] by St. Thomas Aquinas Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com [https://saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Cross-Post: Memento Mori for Business Owners: Joe Coleman on Eternal Stakes and Christian Entrepreneurship

This is a cross-posting from Lisa Theus’ Kingdom Builders series where I talk about building Saint Kolbe Studios out of a series of failed pivots—with a pregnant wife, a ticking financial clock, and a confusing amount of peace. In this conversation with Christian SEO consultant Lisa Theus, I talk about that last seven years of my career that led me to this business. I also bring up death and hell a bunch. It surprised me as well, but I promise it’s topical. Hope you enjoy! Main Ideas: * How I arrived at Saint Kolbe Studios * Why Saint Kolbe Studios rebranded from Catholic-specific to broadly faith-based, and what drove that decision * The primary good of a business: why I’m more concerned about providing dignified work than strict gospel impact * The trap of consequentialist thinking for Christian business owners—and why bending the rules for a good outcome is still bending the rules * Why the most clarifying thing a business owner can remember is that they will die and be held accountable Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction * 01:47: Joe’s Path to Saint Kolbe Studios * 07:45: Seeing God at Work in the Business * 10:39: The Primary Good—Dignified Work for the Team * 13:33: The Cost of Christian Business Ethics * 16:04: Eternal Accountability for Business Owners * 21:02: Final Advice and Call to Action Resources Mentioned: * Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/] * Quill & Wave [https://quillandwave.com/] * Joe Coleman on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joecolemanpodcasts/] * Read my interview with Lisa here [https://www.lisatheus.com/christian-entreprenuership/memento-mori] * Lisa Theus Christian SEO Services [https://www.lisatheus.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com [https://saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Simple Sales System Behind Decided Excellence Catholic Media

Isaac Summers and Adam Husing of Decided Excellence Catholic Media join Joe Coleman to discuss how they built a scalable, mission-driven print media company that mails hyper-local Catholic magazines directly to homes and parish databases. They break down the business model—two magazine tracks, a 1099 commission structure, and a daily three-step sales system—that has allowed independent publishers across the country to build flexible, family-sustaining income. Main Ideas: * Decided Excellence runs on a simple daily system—prospect, cold call for one hour, run three meetings—and Adam argues that consistent execution of those three things is sufficient to build a profitable magazine business * The 1099 structure is a deliberate choice: publishers earn up to 90% commission above the cost of production, with no micromanagement, making it a genuine path to financial and schedule autonomy for entrepreneurs willing to do the hard work * Cold calling works at scale—roughly one in three decision-makers agrees to a meeting, and the overall close rate lands around 20%—numbers that apply beyond magazine sales to any business built on outbound prospecting * The most successful publishers aren’t defined by prior industry experience but by whether they want long-term income over a quick base salary and whether they can work without being managed * Adam traces the business back to Lighthouse Catholic Media and Best Version Media, illustrating how a proven niche-market magazine model was adapted for a Catholic audience—a transferable lesson in spotting and reapplying successful frameworks Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction * 02:12: What Is Decided Excellence Catholic Media? * 05:59: Inside the Magazine: Format and Content * 09:00: Why Mail Directly to Homes? * 12:12: How Recipients Are Identified * 14:41: Why Print Over Digital? * 16:26: Two Models: Parish vs. Community Magazines * 19:11: How Publishers Make Money * 22:35: The Future of Print Media * 30:19: Apostolic Obligation and Entrepreneurial Freedom * 40:15: Who Succeeds as a Publisher? * 46:26: Daily Habits of Top Performers Resources Mentioned: * Decided Excellence Catholic Media [https://decidedexcellence.com] * Parish Magazine Info [https://decidedexcellence.com/parish] * Join the DECM Team [https://decidedexcellence.com/join-our-team/] * The Soul of the Apostolate [https://tanbooks.com/products/books/the-soul-of-the-apostolate/] by Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard [https://tanbooks.com/products/books/the-soul-of-the-apostolate/] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com [https://saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Good Noise: How Isabella Orlando Is Bringing Catholic Wellness to the Internet

Isabella Orlando is the founder of Beloved Health Co., a faith-integrated nutrition and wellness coaching practice based in Manhattan. In this episode, Joe and Isabella talk about her six-year journey recovering from disordered eating, what the Catholic mental health conversation looks like online, and how she launched the Holy Girl Walk—a rosary walk for women that drew over 100 people to its first event and was featured in the Wall Street Journal. What We Cover: * Why faith-integrated mental health content remains underrepresented online, even in 2024, and why Isabella refuses to stop talking about it * How Isabella works with clients struggling with disordered eating—and why recovery almost always requires an interdisciplinary team of nutritionist, therapist, psychiatrist, and physician * The tension between proper discipline and scrupulosity, and where faith fits in the healing process without crowding out clinical care * What the Holy Girl Walk is, how a single Instagram post made it a Manhattan phenomenon, and why Isabella thinks the formula is scalable anywhere * The Gen Z Catholic revival—whether it’s God, a generational backlash, or something else entirely—and what actually seems to be drawing people back to Mass Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction * 01:45: Beloved Health Co. and faith-integrated wellness * 04:06: Mental health in the Catholic online space * 10:50: Social media, good noise, and knowing your limits * 17:02: Who comes to Isabella and why * 20:06: How recovery actually works * 23:25: Discipline, scrupulosity, and where faith fits * 26:43: The Holy Girl Walk * 29:00: The Gen Z Catholic revival * 35:27: How to build this in your own community Resources Mentioned: * Beloved Health Co. Website [https://belovedhealthco.my.canva.site/] * Beloved Health Co. on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/belovedhealthco/] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com [https://saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Yes in God’s Backyard: Eli Smith on the Faith-Based Housing Initiative

Joe Coleman sits down with Eli Smith, Director of the Faith-Based Housing Initiative, to talk about one of Joe’s favorite topics—and then some. Churches across America are sitting on acres of underutilized land, and FBHI is training congregations to see that land not as a liability but as a mission opportunity. What We Cover: * Why congregations have quietly accumulated land for decades—and why the housing crisis is finally prompting them to do something with it * How FBHI’s five-month cohort model walks churches through the development process, from site planning to investor-ready proposals * The “YIGBY” (Yes in God’s Backyard) movement and why faith-based housing legislation is passing in some states and stalling in others for reasons that have nothing to do with partisan logic * The most common objections churches raise when approached about development—and how design quality changes the conversation * How to get involved in the faith-based housing movement even without a background in urban planning, architecture, or finance Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction * 01:26: Meet Eli Smith and the Faith-Based Housing Initiative * 05:33: How FBHI Guides Congregations Through Development * 09:43: How Churches Connect with FBHI * 14:15: Urban, Suburban, and Rural Opportunities * 17:54: The Politics of YIMBY and YIGBY * 34:01: Common Obstacles for Congregations * 40:35: Legislative Wins Across the Country * 44:50: Getting Involved Without a Technical Background * 47:38: The Future of Faith-Based Housing Resources Mentioned: * Faith-Based Housing Initiative [https://www.faith-housing.org/] * FBHI Substack [https://fbhi.substack.com] * Strong Towns [https://www.strongtowns.org/] * Incremental Development Alliance [https://www.incrementaldevelopment.org/] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com [https://saintkolbestudiospodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]