We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Morgan Eseke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Morgan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I believe success results from small steps of faithfulness in the right direction. I used to measure success by my performance – grades in grad school, the title on my resume, or the number in my bank account, but motherhood has changed my perspective for the better.

My second daughter was born a few months before the pandemic. As the world went into lockdown, the needs of my family escalated while my marketing career stalled. I could no longer measure my worth by the ways I had previously defined success — impressed clients, a consistent salary, and high capacity.

I’ve learned that at the end of the day, success is not about accolades or performance, it’s about how faithfully I follow God and how well I love the people around me. And, typically, those things are hard to measure.

Today, I wear many hats. I’m a mom, writer, board member, and a marker. Each role measures “success” differently, but all of them require that I work with people. And, as a Christian, I believe my relationships are the only lasting thing. At the end of my life, when I meet Jesus in Heaven, I won’t be holding a laminated copy of my resume or need the password to my investment account. I’ll just be so excited to meet face-to-face with the God I’ve grown to love and the people I’ll get to spend eternity alongside.

So to me, success requires steadfastness, holding firm to our values, and trusting God through every season. It’s about remaining committed, even when faced with challenges, and being faithful in small and weighty responsibilities. Galatians 6:9 reminds us: “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” True success is found in walking faithfully with God and caring well for the people He has put in your path.

Morgan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

To put it simply, I create faith-based resources for parents and facilitate workshops to help families thrive.

The longer story is that my background in corporate strategy, seminary education, and experience as a mom of three very different kids has given me a passion for helping other busy parents be intentional about how they lead their families. I create the resources I wished I had when starting my parenting journey– bite-sized, biblical wisdom that fits into your everyday life.

Through my website and newsletter, I regularly share honest stories from the trenches of motherhood, marriage, and vocation. I also have several downloads available. The DIY Marriage Retreat Guide is a workbook that helps couples plan an intentional weekend together with thought-provoking discussion questions. The Family Creed Guide is a 6-week course that helps families establish their core values and intentionally cast a vision for the future. I also facilitate live Family Creed workshops and speak at churches on topics related to motherhood, spiritual formation, and marriage.

When I’m not writing or speaking, I love to help nonprofits optimize their marketing and fundraising strategies as a board member and advisor. But, my most important and rewarding job, continues to be caring for and being present with my family. We love to travel, play outside, and cook together.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Yes! Plenty. I consider myself a lifelong learner. I love to read broadly and enjoy reading or listening to podcasts from a wide range of leadership and entrepreneurship experts. I find that good management and leadership truths directly correlate to good parenting.

Here are a few of my favorites:

– Good to Great by Jim Collins (Collin’s hedgehog concept has interesting applications for family leadership and influenced my family creed curriculum.)

– 3 Big Questions of a Frantic Family by Patrick Lencioni (All of Lencioni’s books are great, but I appreciate the way he applied proven management and strategy principles to the family unit in this one.)

– Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara (I’m inspired by Guidara’s intentionality and attention to detail. This is the way I hope to love my family and care for others in my path – with unreasonable hospitality.)

– The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzaro (Scazzaro helped me see that leadership is from the inside out, and caring well for your inner spirituality and emotions will ultimately yield better leadership and parenting.)

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2022, when I was pregnant with my third child, I had a bad migraine that presented like a stroke. My husband called 911 from work, while I struggled to pantomime to my girls that an ambulance was on its way to pick up Mommy.

Thankfully, the paramedics ruled out anything life-threatening, but I was still unable to speak, write, or text for 24+ hours. While my anxious mind felt like it was functioning on overdrive, the words were locked inside some chamber I no longer had keys to unlock. It was terrifying and frustrating.

It was a wake-up call.

For years, I’ve felt a clear conviction to teach the Bible and write but had been unwilling to give up my flourishing marketing career or disappoint my clients. I kept trying to squeeze my ministry work into the margins, thinking I’d make time for it later. Until I realized “later” is not guaranteed.

After some prayer and processing, I scheduled a call with my biggest client to discuss a plan to transition my responsibilities to other leaders. Giving up a job that brought fulfillment and stability in my life, felt scary, but I’ve never questioned that decision.

Today, the way I spend my time is exactly aligned with my unique background and skillset. I’m able to help people in meaningful ways and create resources that multiply my impact for God’s glory. Best of all, I have the flexibility to truly live out what I’m teaching by being a present and intentional (don’t read “perfect”) parent, spouse, and friend.

If you’re on the edge of a big decision that requires faith, I’d encourage you to lean in! Walking in obedience to God’s call on my life is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.morganeseke.com
• Instagram: @morganeseke
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morgan.taylor.10690203/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganeseke
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@morganeseke

Image Credits

Mary Driver
Julia Crowson