Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Donoven Rice. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Donoven, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

So my first full time ministry role was back in 2018. I was a young man who had finally came to terms with the calling to preach and teach the gospel. I knew that I wanted to do it vocationally but didn’t know what that looked like. After a lot of research and seeking wisdom from some folks who had walked the same road, I was put in touch with Slingshot group. A company that at the time worked in connecting ministers with churches that were looking to fill roles. My first contact with them was Brian Aaby. Right off the top Brian and I connected and I could tell he truly understood my heart for serving the church and specifically students. After about two months of getting to know me, he called and told me he would be presenting me to a church looking for a Student Pastor…in CALIFORNIA. I was shook. In my mind there was no way I even had a shot at this job. After a lot of conversations and fielding hundreds of questions, I was setting up a site visit to spend the weekend on campus at this church. Never in a million years would I have thought it was possible but here I was in November of 2018 saying goodbye to my friends and family here in Nashville to go take on this daunting task!

Donoven, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Serving people is something I’ve always felt called to do. No matter if it was in the capacity of Youth Pastor, Mentor, motivational speaker, wedding officiant, or just consultant, I knew I would spend my life pouring into others. Helping navigate people through some of the roughest moments of their lives was my mission. Through realness, transparency, and even laughter I’ve been able to connect with and encourage people across the world.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

One of my favorite things to do is identify, recruit, and train other leaders. The thing I’ve found most helpful in this is being for them who you needed when you were in the same place as them. Meeting them “where they are”. Constantly casting the vision is so important. Vision that isn’t casted, leaks. When it leaks we forget the “why”. Being encouraging and inspiring others to rise to the occasion has served me and whatever organizations I’m apart of well.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Consistency. When you’re serving people, the most important aspect is being consistent. They want to know you’re going to show up for them. Proving to be reliable and showing unwavering support for people equals their buy in. Once they’ve bought in, the true work of changing lives can happen.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: donovenrice
• Facebook: Donoven Darshawn Rice
• Twitter: donovenrice
• Other: Tiktok: donovenrice53