Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jonathan Fink. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jonathan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
The first time I realized I loved writing was during my sophomore year at Tulane University in 1993. I became a staff writer for the student newspaper, The Tulane Hullabaloo, where I wrote album reviews and concert reviews. I continued doing that throughout college, and it was the first time I experienced the joy of creative expression through writing.
After graduation, however, my career took a different path. I spent time in the music industry, earned an MBA, and eventually built a career as a financial advisor. Writing remained part of my life, but it wasn’t my profession. Ironically, business school helped me become a much stronger writer because I was constantly writing papers and learning to think critically about economics, politics, and human behavior.
The turning point came years later after I moved from New York to Kansas City. I lost the majority of my clients, which triggered a midlife crisis and forced me to reexamine my life. That journey led me to yoga, meditation, and a deeper exploration of personal growth and spirituality.
At the same time, my son was beginning his own baseball journey. Along the way, I experienced a series of remarkable synchronicities and serendipitous moments that inspired me to coin the phrase, “The Baseball Gods Are Real.” What began as an idea for a book about spiritual growth evolved into a story that blended baseball, family, and spirituality.
In 2018, I published The Baseball Gods Are Real, my first book. While I first discovered my love of writing in college, that was the moment I realized I wanted to pursue a creative path seriously. Publishing that book launched what has now become a second career as an author and storyteller.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I am an author, publisher, financial advisor, and content creator whose work explores the intersection of political economy, sports, music, investing, and spirituality. Since publishing my first book in 2018, I have written and published 15 books spanning both fiction and nonfiction. My books cover a wide range of topics, but they are all connected by a common theme: helping people think differently about their lives and the world around them.
Professionally, I have spent more than two decades as a financial advisor, helping clients navigate markets and make long-term financial decisions. As an author, I try to solve a different kind of problem. Many people feel powerless, discouraged, or trapped by circumstances. Through storytelling, personal experiences, and thought-provoking ideas, I encourage readers to recognize the role that mindset, character, faith, perseverance, and personal responsibility can play in shaping their future.
What sets my work apart is that I bring together subjects that are rarely discussed in the same conversation. A book might explore baseball and spirituality, sports cards and investing, or economics and personal growth. On the surface, those topics may seem unrelated, but they all involve human decision-making, belief systems, incentives, and the pursuit of meaning and purpose.
One of the accomplishments I am most proud of is having four of my books included in the library at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. As a lifelong baseball fan and writer, that recognition is incredibly meaningful. More recently, I became host of the Sports Card Collectors Club podcast on the Collecting and Connecting Network and was featured on The Card Life TV, where I shared the story behind my first sports card book and my journey back into the hobby after a 30-year absence.
Ultimately, my mission is simple. I want readers to leave my books feeling more hopeful, more empowered, and more intentional about the lives they are creating. Whether I am writing about baseball, investing, politics, sports cards, or spirituality, the deeper message is always the same: our thoughts, actions, character, and beliefs matter. I hope readers come away with a renewed sense that they have more influence over their future than they may realize and that extraordinary things can happen when preparation, faith, and perseverance come together.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is bringing an idea into existence and then watching it take on a life of its own.
Writing a book is a long process. You can spend months, sometimes years, developing an idea. Then come the drafts, the revisions, the editing, the cover design, the typesetting, and all the other steps involved in publishing. A book lives in your mind for a very long time before it ever reaches a reader’s hands.
What I find rewarding is the entire creative journey. It starts with a spark of inspiration, then evolves into a strategy for how to tell the story. Over time, something that existed only in your imagination becomes a real object that can influence other people’s lives. There is something incredibly satisfying about taking an abstract idea and turning it into something tangible.
The other aspect I love is the act of giving. I keep signed copies of my books in my car because I never know when a conversation with a stranger might inspire me to give one away. Some of my favorite moments as an author have come from handing someone a book and seeing the excitement on their face.
Once a book leaves my hands, I never know where it will go. Maybe one person reads it. Maybe it gets passed to a friend, then another friend. Maybe it sits on a shelf for years before the right person discovers it. Every book is like a seed being planted.
That’s why I sometimes think of myself as a spiritual farmer. I plant ideas in the form of stories, and then I trust the world to decide where they take root. Some seeds never sprout. Others grow in ways I could never have imagined. The possibility that a book might inspire someone years after I wrote it is one of the most rewarding parts of being a creative.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes, absolutely. My creative mission has several dimensions, but they are all connected by one central idea: helping people recognize that they have more influence over their lives than they may realize.
In my work focused on political economy, particularly through the Republic Baseball League series, I explore themes such as self-governance, entrepreneurship, economic freedom, and the importance of empowering individuals rather than concentrating power in institutions. I am fascinated by the relationship between incentives, opportunity, and human potential, and I use storytelling to examine how societies can create environments where people are free to pursue their dreams and build meaningful lives.
In my sports card and investing books, I often highlight the entrepreneurial spirit. Whether someone is building a business, investing in assets, or pursuing a passion project, I want readers to see that they can take ownership of their future. The American Dream is not guaranteed, but I believe it remains attainable for people who are willing to learn, adapt, and persevere.
The spiritual side of my work explores a different but equally important question: what happens when we combine effort with faith? Through books such as The Baseball Gods Are Real and the other books in my Gods Are Real series, I encourage readers to think about the role of belief, prayer, meditation, gratitude, synchronicity, and personal growth. My own experiences have convinced me that life is often more mysterious and interconnected than we realize.
If there is one thread that ties all of my work together, it is the belief that human beings are not powerless. Whether we are talking about economics, personal development, investing, sports, or spirituality, I want readers to feel empowered. I want them to believe that their choices matter, their character matters, their mindset matters, and that they can play an active role in creating a better future for themselves and the people around them.
Ultimately, my mission is to leave readers feeling more hopeful, more thoughtful, and more inspired to pursue their highest potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jonathan-A-Fink/author/B07R8X14TT?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=965be081-c013-4ee9-8d00-70071bae2ed1
- Instagram: scooterfink
- Facebook: Jonathan Fink
- Linkedin: Jonathan A. Fink
- Twitter: Dempsey_PHD ; scooterfink ; footballgods44
- Youtube: sportscardcollectorsclub
Image Credits
All photos taken with my personal phone.