We were lucky to catch up with Chonsten Jennings recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chonsten, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The journey began when I founded The Luminary Panel, a platform created to connect the aspiring entrepreneur with the inspiring entrepreneur. The vision was simple but meaningful: to become an immediate resource for individuals seeking wisdom, guidance, and real-world insight from people who had already walked the path ahead of them.

Through networking events, panel discussions, and hands-on workshops, The Luminary Panel became a place where ideas were exchanged, experiences were shared, and entrepreneurs could find both inspiration and practical direction. It wasn’t just about motivation—it was about building a community where people could grow through proximity to those who had already navigated the challenges of business and leadership.

As the community continued to grow, so did the vision.

That evolution led to The Purpose Engine, a coaching platform that I co-founded alongside my partner Mike Wing. Together we built something that serves both sides of the coaching relationship. On one side, it supports individuals who are seeking clarity, guidance, and strategic direction in their lives and businesses. On the other, it empowers coaches themselves—many of whom are passionate about transforming lives but often find themselves overwhelmed by the operational and administrative demands that come with running a coaching practice.

The Purpose Engine was designed to change that dynamic. By creating systems that streamline and scale a coach’s business, we help remove the tedious work that can distract from what coaches truly love to do: guide, teach, and help people grow. In many ways, it became a coaching agency unlike most others—one focused not only on impact but on sustainability for the people leading that impact.

While all of this was unfolding professionally, something deeper was happening personally.

I am a man of faith, and Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. My faith has always shaped the way I approach leadership, purpose, and service. During one particular season, I felt led into a time of fasting, prayer, and reflection. It was a period of quiet consecration—a step back from the noise to listen more closely to what God might be asking of me.

It was in that space that a phrase came to me that I couldn’t ignore:

The Cost of the Alabaster.

The phrase immediately brought my attention to the account in Luke 7, where a woman approaches Jesus with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume and pours it at His feet. The jar had to be broken open—an act of complete surrender of something valuable.

What stood out to me was not only the beauty of the gesture, but the depth of the sacrifice. The alabaster represented something costly, something precious. Once it was broken, there was no reclaiming it.

Over time, I began to understand that this story reflects a universal principle: meaningful transformation often requires us to surrender something significant. Sometimes it’s the things that are clearly unhealthy—but at other times, it’s even the good things that once served a purpose but can no longer carry us into the next season.

That realization became the foundation of The Cost of the Alabaster—a message about obedience, alignment, and the courage it takes to release what is familiar in order to step into what is next.

My journey isn’t unique. In many ways, it reflects a path many people experience: moments where growth requires letting go, trusting the process, and choosing purpose even when the path forward feels uncertain.

And often, it begins with something simple yet profound—being willing to place what we hold most tightly onto the altar.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Chonsten Jennings, and before anything else, I am a man of faith. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and that truth is the foundation of everything I build, teach, and lead. My work in entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal development isn’t just about business—it’s about alignment with purpose.

My journey into this space didn’t begin with a traditional blueprint. It began with a burden on my heart to see people step into the fullness of who they were created to be. I noticed that many aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders were full of vision and passion, but lacked access to the wisdom and proximity of people who had already walked the road ahead of them. That gap inspired the creation of The Luminary Panel.

The Luminary Panel was built as a bridge—connecting the aspiring entrepreneur to the inspiring entrepreneur. Through networking events, panel discussions, and workshops, we created environments where people could gain real insight, authentic mentorship, and meaningful connections. Our goal was to become an immediate resource for our community, empowering individuals with the clarity and confidence they needed to move forward.

As that mission grew, so did the vision. My partner Mike Wing and I later co-founded The Purpose Engine, a revolutionary coaching platform designed to serve both individuals seeking transformation and the coaches who guide them. What we discovered is that many incredible coaches spend more time managing systems and administrative work than actually doing what they were called to do—coach and transform lives.

The Purpose Engine solves that problem by creating systems that streamline and scale a coach’s business. It allows them to focus on their true gift: helping people grow, heal, and step into purpose. In many ways, we’ve become a coaching agency unlike any other, because we’re committed not only to developing leaders but also empowering the leaders who develop others.

Alongside building these platforms, I’ve been incredibly blessed to travel and speak around the country, sharing messages on alignment, leadership, faith, and purpose. Whether I’m speaking to entrepreneurs, organizations, or communities, my mission remains the same: to challenge people to go deeper than performance and success, and instead pursue alignment with who they were created to be.

What sets my work apart is that it’s rooted in truth and transformation—not just inspiration. I believe real growth happens when people confront the deeper questions about identity, obedience, and calling. When someone truly understands who they are and what they’ve been entrusted with, their decisions, their leadership, and their impact all begin to change.

What I’m most proud of isn’t a platform or a program—it’s the transformation I’ve witnessed in people’s lives. Watching someone move from confusion to clarity, from striving to alignment, from chasing success to walking in purpose—that’s the work that matters most to me.

At the end of the day, everything I do points back to one truth: purpose is closer than people think. Sometimes it simply requires the courage to surrender what’s comfortable so we can fully step into what God has already prepared.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

One of the most powerful partnerships in my journey began through what I can only describe as a God-ordained encounter.

I first came across Mike Wing on TikTok while he was sharing a very raw and transparent part of his story. Mike comes from the SaaS industry, where he had built and helped scale companies through strong systems, growth strategy, and operational infrastructure. At one point, he was generating over $75,000 in monthly recurring revenue while helping businesses grow and expand their reach.

From the outside, it looked like success.

But Mike began openly sharing about a major setback where he ultimately lost everything he had built. Instead of hiding from that experience, he chose to talk about it publicly. He documented the lessons, the rebuilding process, the mistakes, and the personal responsibility that came with it. His transparency and humility immediately stood out to me.

There was a level of honesty in the way he was telling his story that was rare to see online.

I reached out to him that same day and asked if he’d be open to connecting on a call. To my surprise, he responded quickly and we scheduled a conversation for the very next day.

From the moment we got on that call, it felt less like a networking conversation and more like two people realizing they had been building toward the same mission from different directions. That call quickly turned into us meeting in person later that same day.

During that meeting, something remarkable happened. Mike had been developing a program rooted in his SaaS expertise—focused on building systems, infrastructure, and scalable processes that help businesses operate more effectively. At the same time, I had been preparing ideas around a platform that would empower coaches and leaders to focus on transformation rather than being overwhelmed by the operational side of their work.

When we began sharing our ideas, the alignment became immediately clear.

His expertise in systems, scaling, and SaaS infrastructure perfectly complemented the vision I had for building a platform that could empower coaches and leaders at scale. What we had been developing independently were not separate ideas—they were two parts of the same solution.

Our mission aligned. Our values aligned. Our vision for impact aligned. Even our work ethic and belief systems mirrored one another.

Within just a few days of meeting each other, we both recognized that this level of synergy wasn’t something you manufacture—it was something you recognize.

That realization led to us co-founding The Purpose Engine, a platform designed to support both individuals seeking transformation and the coaches who guide them. By combining Mike’s background in SaaS systems and scalable infrastructure with my experience in leadership, coaching, and purpose-driven development, we were able to build something that serves both sides of the coaching industry.

On one side, individuals seeking growth receive structured guidance and transformational coaching. On the other side, coaches receive the systems and operational support they need to scale their impact without getting lost in the administrative work that often slows them down.

Looking back, it’s incredible to think that what started with a TikTok video and a simple message turned into a partnership that now serves entrepreneurs, coaches, and leaders in meaningful ways.

Sometimes the most important partnerships in life don’t begin through formal introductions or long negotiations. Sometimes they begin when two people recognize alignment in mission, values, and purpose—and have the courage to build something together.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the most important lessons I had to unlearn was the belief that my success and direction in life had to come primarily from my own strength, strategy, and understanding.

For a long time, like many entrepreneurs and leaders, I leaned heavily on my natural abilities—my drive, my work ethic, my creativity, and my ability to solve problems. Those strengths helped me accomplish a lot, but over time I began to realize something deeper: the more I relied solely on my own understanding, the further I drifted from the life I believed I was truly meant to live.

On the surface, things could look productive or even successful, but internally there was still a sense that something was missing. I was building, pursuing, and achieving, yet the deeper alignment with purpose wasn’t fully there.

That realization forced me to confront something many high performers wrestle with—control. I had to learn that there is a difference between working hard and trying to carry everything on your own. Eventually I reached a point where I made the decision to surrender that weight and cast my cares onto the Lord.

In that season, a verse that I had heard many times before began to take on a completely new meaning for me. As it says in Proverbs 3:5–6:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

For me, that scripture stopped being something I simply knew and became something I had to live. Instead of constantly trying to engineer every outcome through my own effort, I began learning how to trust God’s direction and timing. It didn’t mean abandoning discipline or responsibility—it meant allowing faith to guide my decisions rather than ambition or pressure.

Ironically, when I stopped trying to force my own path and began walking in obedience, things started to align in ways I could never have orchestrated myself. The partnerships, the opportunities, the clarity of vision—it all began to come together naturally and with purpose.

That experience taught me something powerful: true alignment isn’t something we manufacture purely through effort. Often it’s discovered through surrender, humility, and the willingness to trust that the path God has prepared is greater than the one we could design on our own.

Learning to release control and trust that process didn’t just change how I approached my work—it transformed how I approached my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://share.google/jpJS47rViwPgLaNdA
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chonstenjennings/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Chonsten-Jennings-100092190197070/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chonsten-jennings-985174245/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thecostofthealabaster
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thecostofthealabaster?lang=en

Image Credits

Chonsten Jennings