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Do You want to be great? Do you want to master the arts, strategies, skills ,and ways of thinking and performing to be a true world-class Creator Enterpriser? Are you ready to seek the true Spirit Force vital to being a successful life and business innovator, enterprise builder, and entrepreneur? Here is how to be one, here is how to sell like the master creator, how to build a world-class company, and how to be strong, even in your broken places and spaces. And one of the better ways to do that is to continually seek out expose yourself to and create powerful interesting ideas. And that's what this program is all about. Because great ideas lead to greater influence, impact, and true income and in addition they help you become more interested and interesting. Stan Hustad, teacher, storyteller, broadcaster, and business performance coach is your host, guide, and sometimes healer on our road to being fully alive and building a life and business that matters and makes a difference. Your contribution and participation is welcome.

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September 25, 2026Episode 101713 min

The Storm Is Coming How to build the clarity courage and transformational strength the new year will demand

The storm is coming. In this timely edition of Inconvenient Ideas, veteran broadcaster and business performance coach Stan Hustad uses an approaching coastal storm as a living metaphor for the forces already gathering around individuals, leaders, businesses, and institutions. His message is neither an invitation to panic nor a promise of easy escape. It is a call to prepare: to become spiritually grounded, emotionally resilient, technologically capable, and creatively ready for a world in which yesterday's methods may no longer be enough. The episode moves from the Jewish holy days to the shoreline, from world affairs to artificial intelligence, and from the power of naming to the future of streaming digital media. At every turn, Hustad returns to one central conviction: storms reveal what people have built inside themselves. Those who learn to face the waves with wisdom, insight, truth, humility, and courage can do more than survive. They can create the kind of transformation the coming year will require. A Pause for Reflection and Gratitude Hustad opens after several days away from the camera and microphone. The pause came during a meaningful season in the Jewish calendar. He reflects on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and looks toward Sukkot, the harvest festival associated with gratitude, hospitality, shared provision, and the temporary shelters that remind worshippers of human dependence on God. For Hustad, the sequence matters. Reflection and repentance are followed by thanksgiving and shared celebration. Before confronting the world's turbulence, he pauses to remember simple gifts: food, harvest, friendship, hospitality, and the ordinary goodness of life. That posture is not sentimental. Gratitude steadies the heart. It reminds people what is worth protecting, what is worth sharing, and why courage matters when public life grows loud and confused. The episode also responds to the recent United Nations address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to the walkout by some delegates. Hustad strongly objects to what he sees as moral inconsistency in public institutions and shallow interpretation in contemporary media. Whether listeners agree with every political conclusion or not, his deeper challenge is unmistakable: do not outsource moral judgment. Listen carefully, examine competing claims, understand the larger story, and refuse to let headlines do all the thinking. One line becomes a hinge for the entire program: "We will win because we have to." Hustad turns the statement toward the listener. What must be faced because failure is not an acceptable destination? What calling, responsibility, relationship, or mission now requires a new level of resolve? Lessons from the Water After the holiday pause, Hustad traveled with friends to the Carolina coast. He has long loved the ocean. Walking the shoreline restores him spiritually and physically, while swimming and boarding in moving water test both skill and humility. The sea teaches quickly. A person can learn the waves, read the currents, and grow stronger, yet one poorly judged moment can still end with a hard collision against the sand. Hustad tells that part of the story with broadcaster's humor. After being knocked face-first by a wave, he jokes that a "face made for radio" can survive the experience. Beneath the laughter is a serious lesson: confidence without humility is dangerous. The goal is not to conquer the ocean. It is to respect its power, develop the right capacities, recover from mistakes, and keep learning. The group left the coast early because rough weather was approaching. That literal storm gives Hustad the central picture for the program. Human beings do not control when every storm forms, how strong it becomes, or where it finally lands. They can, however, pay attention, prepare, make wise decisions, and refuse to confuse denial with courage. The Storm Beyond the Forecast The most consequential storms ahead may not appear on a weather map. International conflict could intensify. Political systems may become more volatile. Economic assumptions may change quickly. Artificial intelligence will continue to alter how knowledge work, communication, employment, creativity, and competition are organized. At the same time, audiences are moving toward streaming digital media as a primary place to discover ideas, evaluate leaders, form trust, and decide whom to follow. These forces do not arrive one at a time. They compound. A business may face new technology, changing customer expectations, economic pressure, and a communications challenge in the same season. An individual may be expected to learn unfamiliar tools while also making difficult decisions about purpose, work, faith, and identity. The storm is not simply one event. It is the collision of many changes that arrive faster than established habits can absorb them. That is why Hustad warns against relying on yesterday's formula. What worked in the past may not work well in the immediate future, and the immediate future has already begun. Preparation must reach deeper than purchasing a new device or opening another social-media account. It requires the ability to interpret change, choose wisely, communicate with humanity, and create something genuinely different in kind, not merely a slightly improved version of the familiar. Name It Claim It and Perform Up to It One of the episode's most practical insights concerns the power of naming. Hustad observes that the person who names an idea often gains influence over how others understand it. Names create frames. They signal purpose, shape expectation, and make a project easier to remember. This is true for a book, podcast, course, business, campaign, or movement. His advice is concise: name it, claim it, and perform up to it. A strong name is not decoration. It is a promise. Once a leader gives a project a memorable identity, the work must justify the language. The title should call the creator and the team toward a higher standard of clarity, consistency, usefulness, and courage. For business owners and communicators, this is an immediate assignment. What is the work called? What change does the name promise? Can the audience repeat it? Does every episode, product, meeting, and customer experience honor the claim? In a crowded digital marketplace, vagueness disappears. A clear identity earns the chance to be noticed; trustworthy performance earns the right to be remembered. The Communication Storm Is Already Here Hustad's central business warning is direct: it will no longer be enough merely to write a book, possess expertise, or hold a good idea. Leaders must learn to perform and communicate the ideas inside their work. Streaming digital media is becoming a premier channel for public trust, education, influence, and business development. People want to hear the voice, see the conviction, experience the personality, and understand the practical value behind the message. This does not mean every expert must become a celebrity. It means every serious leader is now in the communication business. A credible presence may include video, audio, live conversation, short teaching segments, interviews, visual storytelling, and a body of work that audiences can discover over time. The task is not simply to publish more. It is to communicate so people can follow, trust, and remember. The people who prepare now will enter the new year with an advantage. They will have practiced speaking clearly. They will understand how to turn one important idea into a program, article, audio episode, video, and useful conversation. They will build repeatable production habits rather than waiting for inspiration. Most important, they will learn how to make technology serve a human message instead of allowing technology to flatten the message into noise. Artificial Intelligence and the Need for Wisdom Artificial intelligence intensifies the challenge. Hustad acknowledges that AI has already been helpful to his own work, while also admitting that its speed and power can be unsettling. That combination of usefulness and unease is honest. The technology can expand research, writing, design, production, analysis, and personalization. It can also disrupt established roles, magnify error, imitate authority, and accelerate decisions before wisdom has caught up. No single person, company, or nation can determine how every actor in a global marketplace will use powerful technology. Rules will matter, safeguards will matter, and ethical leadership will matter, but none of them will remove the need for personal discernment. Leaders must learn what the tools can do, where they fail, what should remain human, and how to maintain responsibility for the final work. The answer is neither blind enthusiasm nor fearful retreat. It is informed engagement: learning the tools, testing their output, protecting truth, developing judgment, and strengthening the qualities machines cannot supply on a leader's behalf - moral courage, accountability, relationship, lived experience, spiritual depth, and wise purpose. Learning to Walk on Stormy Water Hustad describes the necessary response as learning, spiritually and emotionally, to walk on water. The image is deliberately larger than technique. In a stormy world, resilience cannot be reduced to toughness alone. People will need knowledge, but also wisdom. They will need speed, but also discernment. They will need creative power, but also a moral center strong enough to direct that power toward worthy ends. Spiritual fortitude gives people a place to stand when circumstances refuse to stand still. It creates the capacity to live with confidence without pretending to possess certainty, to act decisively without losing humility, and to remain generous when fear encourages self-protection. When people connect with the right truths and the right companions, Hustad argues, clarity and creative confidence can grow even while the storm continues. This is the entrance to what he calls the Transformational Zone. Transformation is not rearranging familiar pieces or improving by a few percentage points. It is the creation of change that is different in kind: a new way of seeing, communicating, serving, leading, organizing, or building. Such work is rarely comfortable. It often challenges assumptions, demands risk, and asks people to release methods that once served them well. Things to Remember The storm is a call to prepare, not a command to panic. Gratitude and hospitality are sources of strength, especially when public life becomes fearful or divided. Skill must travel with humility. Even experienced people can be knocked down by a wave they misread. A memorable name frames an idea, but trustworthy performance must fulfill the promise. Streaming digital media is now central to how audiences discover, evaluate, trust, and remember leaders. Artificial intelligence requires informed engagement, ethical judgment, and continuing human responsibility. The future will reward people who combine resilience, wisdom, creativity, communication, and spiritual depth. Things to Share "The storm is coming, but preparation can begin today." "Name it, claim it, and perform up to it." "Every serious leader is now in the communication business." "Do not let technology become more powerful than the purpose directing it." "Transformation is not merely more of the same. It is change that becomes different in kind." "The people who endure the storm will be those who develop both courage and wisdom." Things to Take Action On Identify the storm. Write down the three changes most likely to affect your life, work, or organization during the new year. Name the mission. Give your next important project a clear, memorable name that expresses the transformation it promises. Build the communication habit. Record one concise teaching, story, or conversation each week and learn from the response. Audit your digital readiness. Review your audio, video, website, email, and publishing workflow before urgency forces the issue. Study artificial intelligence. Choose one useful application, test it carefully, and define the human judgment that must remain in charge. Strengthen the inner life. Establish regular practices of prayer, reflection, learning, gratitude, rest, and honest conversation. Choose the crew. Identify the people whose wisdom, technical skill, courage, and integrity will help you navigate the coming year. The Challenge Before the New Year The storm is coming, and in some areas of life it has already arrived. The question is not whether change will touch individuals, businesses, churches, schools, media, and organizations. The question is whether people will meet that change with fear and borrowed assumptions or with prepared minds, strengthened spirits, creative courage, and trustworthy companions. Stan Hustad's challenge is to begin now. Tell the truth about the conditions around you. Give the important work a name. Learn the communication tools the new marketplace requires. Engage artificial intelligence with wisdom rather than surrender. Build the spiritual and emotional resilience to stand when circumstances become rough. Then create something transformational - something that does not merely shift the furniture, but changes what is possible. Stan Hustad and his team are ready to help individuals, professionals, entrepreneurs, and organizations enter the Transformational Zone and prepare for life and business in the storm ahead. Their work brings together streaming media, artificial intelligence, communication strategy, personal coaching, business insight, and the spiritual fortitude required for bold and meaningful action. Reach out to Stan Hustad and the What It Takes Radio team Email stan@witradio.net Website www.witradio.net Wisdom Insight and Truth with the power of the spoken word and the challenging conversation

September 15, 2026Episode 101518 min

Will Artificial Intelligence Transform You or Will You Transform What It Can Do...Stan Hustad on AI Human Performance Transforming Wisdom and Creating Work That Outlives Us

Artificial intelligence may be changing the world, but Stan Hustad believes the most important question is far more personal: What will it change in you, and what will you choose to do with it? In this timely edition from the What It Takes Radio Company, Stan the Radio Man steps into the controversy surrounding artificial intelligence with curiosity, humor, faith, and a broadcaster's instinct for asking the question beneath the headlines. Will AI improve human performance or diminish human purpose? Will it expand creativity or encourage intellectual laziness? Will it help people serve their audiences more effectively, or merely fill the world with more noise? For Stan, the answer will not be determined by the technology alone. It will be determined by the wisdom, character, imagination, and intentions of the people using it. Between Fear and Fascination The program was recorded during the Jewish tradition's Days of Awe, the reflective season between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is a time associated with examination, repentance, forgiveness, and the determination to live differently in the coming year. That spiritual setting provides an appropriate background for a conversation about AI. Artificial intelligence is already provoking its own kind of awe: sometimes wonder, sometimes fear, and frequently confusion. Some predict that AI will solve extraordinary human problems. Others warn that it will threaten employment, distort truth, consume enormous resources, and possibly become dangerously difficult to control. Stan does not dismiss legitimate concerns, but he resists the temptation to surrender to panic. History reminds us that almost every significant technological change has produced both exaggerated promises and exaggerated fears. The automobile, radio, television, the internet, and social media were all expected either to save society or ruin it. None fulfilled every promise. None produced every predicted disaster. Each became a tool whose consequences depended substantially upon the people, purposes, and systems directing it. AI may become extraordinarily powerful, but power is not the same thing as wisdom. From Artificial Intelligence to Human Performance Stan proposes a constructive shift in the conversation: move from merely discussing artificial intelligence to considering human performance. The best question may not be, "What can AI do?" It may be: What can AI help human beings do better? Used wisely, AI can help people research, organize, compare, question, revise, illustrate, and communicate. It can assist entrepreneurs in developing ideas, teachers in preparing lessons, broadcasters in extending programs, and authors in transforming spoken insights into published work. But AI cannot decide what a human life should be about. It cannot determine whom a person is called to serve. It cannot substitute information for integrity, automation for imagination, or production for purpose. Stan's challenge is to use artificial intelligence in the service of human flourishing. Technology should help people become more thoughtful, creative, capable, generous, and fully alive, not merely faster. Everyone Has an Audience One of the program's central ideas is Stan's enduring conviction that everyone has an audience, or at least a potential audience. That audience should not be treated simply as prospects, customers, clients, or statistical targets. An audience is a community of people who might be informed, encouraged, helped, challenged, or transformed by what someone has learned and is willing to share. Finding that audience begins with two questions: Who are you called to serve? How can you help them become better, happier, wiser, braver, more capable, or more fully alive? AI can assist in reaching those people, but it cannot answer the calling question on a person's behalf. That requires reflection, self-knowledge, spiritual discernment, and a willingness to listen. Success begins not with attracting the largest possible audience, but with becoming genuinely useful to the right one. Become Someone People Trust Remember and Follow Technology may create visibility, but visibility does not automatically produce credibility. Stan draws upon ideas he has studied throughout his career, including the enduring principles associated with Dale Carnegie, to describe the kind of communicator worth becoming: a person whom others can trust, remember, and follow. Trust is earned through truthfulness and consistency. People remember those who communicate with clarity, personality, and genuine concern. They follow those who have demonstrated that their ideas can lead somewhere worthwhile. AI may polish a sentence or improve a presentation, but it cannot manufacture a trustworthy life. The communicator must still do the inner work. Anyone hoping to transform a business, organization, audience, or community must first be willing to experience some transformation personally. That may involve the discomfort, even the trauma, of questioning familiar assumptions, abandoning ineffective habits, confronting personal limitations, and beginning again. The Seen the Unseen and the Limits of Knowledge The program also moves beyond technological questions into something deeper: the mystery of how little human beings truly know about themselves and their world. Stan reflects on the difference between what is seen and what remains unseen. People naturally place great confidence in what can be measured, displayed, calculated, or explained. Yet some of life's most powerful realities, including faith, love, courage, memory, imagination, motive, and spiritual influence, cannot always be placed neatly on a screen. Human beings also understand only a portion of what is taking place within themselves. Talents may remain undiscovered. Fears can operate below conscious awareness. Unexamined desires can influence decisions. Shadows, selfishness, and destructive tendencies can coexist with remarkable generosity and courage. Artificial intelligence can reveal patterns in enormous collections of information. It may even help people notice patterns within their own work. But it does not eliminate the need for humility. The beginning of wisdom may be the admission that neither the machine nor its maker knows everything. A Touch of Immortality Stan then introduces one of the program's most provocative and engaging ideas: the possibility of achieving a touch of immortality. He is not suggesting that human beings can avoid death. His meaning is both simpler and more demanding. A person gains a touch of immortality when something they create continues serving others after they are gone. During a long life in broadcasting, teaching, coaching, and entrepreneurship, Stan has produced thousands of radio programs, videos, articles, interviews, and presentations. Many remain online. Some may be discovered years from now by people he has never met. The same opportunity is increasingly available to others. A book, recording, course, podcast, letter, lesson, or story can preserve hard-earned wisdom and carry it beyond the limits of one lifetime. The goal is not simply to leave behind more digital material. The internet already contains more material than anyone could consume. The challenge is to create something true and useful, something capable of helping another person live, work, believe, or serve more faithfully. As Stan reminds his audience, it may not be what a person completes or achieves that finally matters most. It may be what that person starts. From Books to Broadcasting and Back Again Stan sees a powerful relationship between publishing and broadcasting. Someone who wants to write a book may begin by speaking it. Teaching, recording, interviewing, and telling stories can uncover the natural voice and central ideas that eventually become chapters. A microphone can also help an author introduce and distribute a completed book. The book supplies depth and permanence; broadcasting creates presence, personality, and connection. The process works in both directions. A book can become a broadcast, podcast, course, or video series. A collection of broadcasts can become a book. A spoken story can become an article. A lifetime of experience can become a body of teaching that continues serving others. AI can assist with transcription, organization, editing, summarization, and adaptation. But the lived experience, conviction, wisdom, and human voice must come from the person. The machine can help shape the material. It should not replace the soul of it. Entering the Transformation Zone Stan places this conversation within his larger understanding of the stages, or zones, of a meaningful life. People begin in the Curiosity Zone, where they explore, question, discover, and learn. They move into the Impact Zone, where they must create value, earn a living, serve others, and produce meaningful results. Experience can then lead into the Wisdom Zone, where lessons are examined, tested, and better understood. From wisdom comes the possibility of entering the Transformation Zone: the place where a person becomes capable of creating changes that are profound, lasting, and genuinely important. Transformation is more than improvement. It is not merely doing the same thing a little faster or decorating an old idea with new technology. Transformation changes what a person, organization, or community is capable of becoming. AI may participate in that process, but it cannot lead it alone. Transformation still requires people who possess moral imagination, spiritual depth, practical wisdom, and a genuine desire to be the cause of good things. Things to Remember Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool, but it is not a source of ultimate wisdom, purpose, or calling. The essential question is not only what AI can do, but what it can help human beings do better. Everyone has a potential audience: people they may be called and equipped to serve. Lasting influence grows from becoming someone others can trust, remember, and follow. We understand only a portion of ourselves and our world; humility remains essential. A book, broadcast, lesson, or story can continue serving people long after its creator is gone. Technology should strengthen human performance and flourishing, not diminish human responsibility. Things to Share Share this program with: Someone who is fearful or confused about artificial intelligence. An entrepreneur wondering how AI might strengthen a business without compromising its humanity. A teacher, pastor, coach, or broadcaster with wisdom that deserves a larger audience. A friend who has always wanted to write a book but does not know how to begin. A person entering a new season of life who may be ready to turn experience into service. And share this question: What good thing could you begin today that might continue helping people long after you are gone? Things to Take Action On Identify your audience. Write down the people you feel called to help and the transformation you hope they will experience. Choose one piece of enduring wisdom. Record a five-minute explanation of something life has taught you. Use AI as an assistant. Ask it to help transcribe, organize, or refine your words, but carefully review the result so the final work remains truthful and recognizably yours. Turn one form of communication into another. Convert a talk into an article, a podcast into a chapter, or a book chapter into a short video. Examine your own transformation. Ask what must change in you before you can credibly help transform someone else. Be the cause of good stuff. Do one practical thing today that makes another person's life better, wiser, richer, braver, or more hopeful. The Final Challenge Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly transform many occupations, industries, institutions, and methods of communication. But Stan Hustad leaves his audience with a more personal and consequential challenge. Do not merely ask whether AI will transform the world. Ask whether you will use it to become more fully alive, to serve your audience more faithfully, and to create something that matters. Speak well. Seek truth. Create good. Help others. Begin something worth continuing. That may be how artificial intelligence contributes to human transformation, and how an ordinary human life acquires a genuine touch of immortality. Connect with Stan Hustad For coaching, mentoring, broadcasting guidance, and help turning ideas into enduring books, programs, and transformational messages, contact Stan Hustad at stan@witradio.net or visit www.witradio.net. Best and blessings, and be a blessing to someone else today.

September 4, 2026Episode 101516 min

THIS IS FOR YOU Welcome to the Transformation Zone Four Questions That Could Change Your Life and Business A What It Takes Radio / Transformation Zone Special

September 1 was Transformation Day. September 3 may be even more important. Because declaring a day is relatively easy. Living a transformed life is something else entirely. In this special edition of What It Takes Radio, broadcaster, coach and entrepreneur Stan Hustad follows the first annual Transformation Day with a very personal invitation: THIS IS FOR YOU. It is an invitation to enter what Hustad calls The Transformation Zone — a growing community and conversation for people who are no longer satisfied merely making things a little better. They want to become different. And perhaps help make their businesses, organizations, communities and world different as well. From Transformation Day to the Transformation Zone On September 1, Hustad and a colleague informally declared the first Transformation Day — a day intended to become an annual opportunity to stop, think and ask whether this might finally be the time to pursue meaningful transformation. Transformation in a life. Transformation in a business. Transformation in relationships. Transformation within a person's circle of influence. Perhaps even transformation that reaches far beyond that circle. It is an ambitious idea. Hustad readily admits that declaring a new international observance with two people may sound slightly audacious. But then again, most movements don't begin with a committee of 10,000. They begin with somebody. Sometimes two somebodies. And then somebody else decides to join them. That is the invitation of this program. Better Is Good. Transformation Is Different. Hustad makes an important distinction between four ideas that are often treated as though they mean the same thing: BETTER → IMPROVEMENT → CHANGE → TRANSFORMATION Almost everyone wants something to be better. Most people are willing to consider improvement. Change becomes more difficult because change usually costs something. It interrupts routines, challenges assumptions and occasionally moves the furniture in our lives without asking permission. But transformation goes considerably further. Transformation is not simply becoming different by degree. It is becoming different in kind. A transformed business doesn't simply sell 5 percent more of the same thing. It may discover an entirely new way to create value. A transformed professional doesn't merely become slightly more efficient. That person may discover an entirely different understanding of his or her work. And a transformed life isn't merely a better-organized version of yesterday. Transformation is difficult. But difficult things have an annoying habit of being where many of life's most important opportunities are hiding. Four Questions at the Entrance Hustad has spent many years coaching people who wanted something to change in their lives or businesses. Before getting very far into strategies, techniques, goals and plans, he learned to ask more fundamental questions. In this program he offers four of them as a kind of entrance examination for the Transformation Zone — not one that anyone passes or fails, but one that requires an honest answer. 1. Are You Serious? This is where transformation begins. Not: "Wouldn't that be nice?" Not: "I've been thinking about doing something someday." But: Are you serious? Transformation requires intention. It requires enough commitment to move an idea from something interesting into something important. Hustad's coaching experience taught him that he could not do the work for another person. He could encourage, challenge, teach, coach and accompany them. But ultimately the person seeking transformation had to decide: I am serious about this. 2. Who Are You? Years ago, when teaching people to become broadcasters, Hustad would tell students that there was one person they absolutely had to meet if they wanted to become successful communicators. Naturally, they wanted the name. Who was this important broadcasting personality? The answer was: You. Before someone can communicate authentically, lead effectively or create something genuinely new, that person needs to begin understanding himself or herself. Most of us know our job titles. We know our schedules. We know what other people expect from us. But those aren't necessarily answers to the question: Who are you? Transformation requires self-knowledge — sometimes uncomfortable self-knowledge — because it is difficult to intentionally transform a life one has never seriously examined. 3. What Is True? Then comes a question that has occupied philosophers, theologians, leaders and ordinary people for thousands of years: What is true? What do you believe so deeply that you are willing to build your life around it? What principles are not negotiable? What would you defend? What would you advocate? What have experience, faith, wisdom and reflection taught you to trust? A transformed life cannot be built entirely on whatever happens to be fashionable this week. It needs foundations. And that requires deciding what is true. 4. What Do You Want? Finally comes a deceptively simple question: What do you want? Hustad points to this as one of the powerful questions Jesus repeatedly asked people who approached him. It is powerful precisely because many people cannot answer it clearly. They know what happened to them. They know what they're supposed to do Monday morning. They know what other people want from them. But what do they really want their life to become? What do they want to create? What difference do they want to make? What relationships do they want to deepen? What work matters enough to deserve part of their remaining lifetime? Transformation requires direction. If you don't know what you want, it becomes remarkably difficult to recognize whether you're moving toward it. Transformation Is Already Coming There is another reason these questions matter. Transformation is not politely waiting for us to decide whether we're interested. It is already happening. Artificial intelligence is transforming industries and professions. Streaming media has transformed broadcasting. Communication bears remarkably little resemblance to the industry Hustad entered decades ago. Businesses are discovering that assumptions that worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Some transformations are chosen. Others arrive without an invitation. Sometimes they even arrive through disruption, disappointment or trauma. Will transformation merely happen to us, or will we participate in shaping it intentionally? That is what the Transformation Zone is intended to explore. Welcome to the Transformation Zone The Transformation Zone is not being presented as a place for spectators. It is for people willing to become change makers, difference makers and transformation makers. People who want to make more money — and make more meaning. People who want greater influence — and greater impact. People who would like to have more fun while doing work that actually matters. And people humble enough to recognize that genuine transformation rarely happens alone. We need teachers. We need coaches. We need friends. We need colleagues. We need communities. We need people willing to challenge our comfortable assumptions. Sometimes we simply need somebody to ask us the right question at the right time. THINGS TO REMEMBER Transformation is not the same as improvement. Better is worthwhile. Improvement is valuable. Change is often necessary. But transformation asks whether something needs to become different not merely by degree, but different in kind. Transformation begins with seriousness. Interest alone rarely transforms anything. You are part of the transformation. Before transforming a business, organization or community, spend serious time discovering the person doing the transforming. Know what you believe is true. Transformation without foundations can simply become motion. Know what you want. You cannot intentionally travel toward a destination you refuse to identify. Transformation is already happening. The question is whether you will merely react to it or participate in shaping it. THINGS TO SHARE Are you serious? Who are you? What is true? What do you want? Share these questions with a friend, colleague, spouse, business partner or team. Don't rush the answers. Spend an hour discussing them honestly. The conversation could be uncomfortable. Good. It might also be transformational. THINGS TO DO RIGHT NOW Take a blank sheet of paper and write four headings: SERIOUS — SELF — TRUTH — WANT. Under each heading, write one honest paragraph. Identify one transformation you want to begin during the next 30 days. Not twelve. One. Name it. Write it down. Tell somebody. Take one visible action toward it within the next 24 hours. Transformation becomes real when intention finally becomes action. THIS REALLY IS FOR YOU There was a reason Stan Hustad began this program with those four simple words: This is for you. After decades in broadcasting, business and coaching, he has learned that communication becomes powerful when it stops speaking vaguely to everybody and begins speaking intentionally to somebody. If something in your life, work, business, relationships or calling needs more than another small improvement, perhaps it is time to enter the Transformation Zone. Hustad and the developing Transformation Zone community are inviting serious people to begin exploring how they can live transformed lives, build transformed businesses, create meaningful work, increase their influence and help bring worthwhile transformation to others. READY TO BEGIN? Contact Stan Hustad stan@wittradio.net Tell him what you want to transform. Better yet, be prepared to answer four questions when he responds: Are you serious? • Who are you? • What is true? • What do you want? September 1 was Transformation Day. September 3 is an invitation to do something about it. WELCOME TO THE TRANSFORMATION ZONE. THIS IS FOR YOU.

September 2, 2026Episode 101315 min

WHAT DOES JESUS LOOK LIKE? Image, Influence, and the Peculiar Power of the Jesus Entrepreneur

What Does Jesus Look Like? Dolly Parton understood something that every entrepreneur, broadcaster, leader, and communicator eventually learns: Image is not everything—but it is the first thing. In this timely and thought-provoking edition of the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective, Stan Hustad—"Stan the Radio Man"—begins with the passing of one of America's most recognizable performers, entrepreneurs, and generous public figures. Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80. The media response was immediate and enormous. Her passing became one of those major stories that, in broadcasting language, "takes all the oxygen out of the room." That observation becomes Stan's first practical lesson for anyone trying to communicate through modern media: every message enters a crowded marketplace. Even an excellent program, article, podcast, product, or proposal competes with hundreds of other stories for the public's attention. Good communicators therefore must pay attention not only to what they say, but also to when they say it, how they present it, and what is already occupying the audience's mind. Stan wisely waited a day before releasing this program. After more than 50 years in broadcasting, he knows that timing is not a minor production detail. Timing is part of the message. But Dolly Parton also provides the starting point for a much deeper question: What does Jesus look like? Dolly Parton and the Power of a Distinctive Image Dolly Parton did not become unforgettable by accident. She developed a public image that was colorful, distinctive, warm, humorous, and unmistakably her own. The hair, the rhinestones, the voice, the clothing, the stories, and the self-deprecating humor all worked together. She created an image that attracted attention, but she supported that image with genuine talent, disciplined work, business intelligence, generosity, and service. Dolly never walked into a room wondering whether anyone would notice her. Beige anonymity was apparently not part of her business plan. Yet the image alone would not have sustained a seven-decade career. Behind it were thousands of songs, countless performances, careful business decisions, Dollywood, publishing interests, motion pictures, charitable projects, and the Imagination Library. Her image opened the door. Her character, competence, creativity, and generosity kept people in the room. That is an important distinction for every Jesus entrepreneur. A manufactured appearance without substance eventually becomes an empty costume. But genuine ability and character that are never communicated may remain undiscovered. The challenge is to bring appearance, message, conduct, and service into alignment. Dress for Leadership—and Then Live Up to It Stan encourages entrepreneurs and professionals to "dress for leadership." That does not necessarily mean wearing expensive clothing or attempting to look like someone else. It means presenting oneself with intention. A leader's appearance, voice, energy, preparation, surroundings, website, business card, podcast artwork, and personal behavior all communicate before the formal presentation ever begins. The goal is not vanity. The goal is congruence. A Jesus entrepreneur should develop a distinctive and appealing presence—and then complement that presence with even greater grace, personality, competence, generosity, and service. The clothing cannot substitute for the calling. The logo cannot replace the labor. The photograph cannot compensate for a lack of faithfulness. But image can become a visible invitation into a much greater story. What Did Jesus Actually Look Like? The honest answer is that no one knows with certainty. The Gospel accounts do not provide a detailed physical description of Jesus. No authenticated portrait painted during his lifetime has been discovered. Although many artists have pictured him, those images usually tell us almost as much about the artist and the artist's culture as they do about the historical Jesus. Across centuries and continents, people have pictured Jesus through the faces, clothing, symbols, colors, and artistic traditions of their own communities. European artists often portrayed a European-looking Jesus. African Christians pictured him through African features and experiences. Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Indigenous, and other communities have done the same. Human beings naturally attempt to picture Jesus in a way that places him within their own world. The important warning is this: people must not confuse their preferred picture of Jesus with Jesus himself. A familiar image can help someone think about Christ, but it can also become limiting. The Jesus of history and faith is always greater than any portrait, painting, movie, church window, or AI-generated illustration. Jesus in the Marketplace The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective is attempting a form of contextualization. It presents the message and person of Jesus within the contemporary cultures of communication, commerce, entrepreneurship, leadership, performance, and business. That does not mean changing Jesus to make him fashionable. It means helping people recognize that his teaching applies beyond the walls of a church. Work and calling Leadership and responsibility Money and stewardship Risk and courage Creativity and innovation Service and customer care Reputation and integrity Failure, forgiveness, and restoration Success and its temptations The proper use of influence and power The Jesus entrepreneur looks to Jesus as more than a distant religious figure. Jesus becomes teacher, mentor, master, model, and—if the word is properly understood—boss. The entrepreneur is therefore an apprentice. The central question is not merely, "What would Jesus look like if he entered my business?" The more demanding question is: What should my business—and my behavior—look like if I truly belong to Jesus? The Lost Poster and a Continuing Search Stan recalls an important visual discovery from his years in missionary broadcasting in Europe. While working with Trans World Radio and maintaining connections in the Amsterdam and Hilversum area of the Netherlands, he encountered a remarkable Christian poster. The poster contained approximately 40 different pictures of Jesus, each reflecting how Christ had been imagined within a different country, culture, or community. It became one of Stan's prized possessions, but it was eventually lost during the many moves and transitions of life. Now, some 30 or 40 years later, he is searching for it again. The poster represented more than an interesting collection of religious art. It demonstrated how people encounter Jesus through the culture, history, hopes, suffering, and imagination of their own place and time. Stan invites listeners, international broadcasters, missionaries, artists, historians, and members of the Christian community to help locate the original poster or identify the organization that produced it. Recovering it could become an important project for the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective—and perhaps the foundation for a new contemporary collection showing how people around the world picture Jesus today. You May Be the Only Jesus They See The program then moves from portraits of Jesus to the living picture presented by his followers. "You may be the only Jesus they see." That is both a privilege and a sobering responsibility. People may form their impressions of Jesus by watching those who claim to follow him. They observe how Christians conduct business, treat employees, respond to criticism, handle money, keep promises, serve customers, admit mistakes, forgive people, and behave when no applause is coming. A Jesus entrepreneur is therefore always communicating an image of Jesus—even when no sermon is being preached and no Bible verse is being quoted. The question is not whether an image is being presented. The question is whether it is a faithful one. Do people encounter arrogance or humility? Do they experience manipulation or service? Do they see fear or faith? Do they discover condemnation or grace? Do they receive religious language without dependable work—or someone whose faith makes that person more honest, creative, courageous, compassionate, and trustworthy? Stan concludes with another memorable instruction: "Play it well." If a person is going to represent Jesus in the marketplace, that role deserves preparation, humility, excellence, and wholehearted commitment. Things to Remember Image is not everything, but it is the first thing. Every message competes with other messages for public attention. Timing is an important part of media communication. A distinctive image must be supported by ability, character, and service. No one possesses a completely certain physical portrait of Jesus. Every artistic picture of Jesus contains elements of the culture that created it. Jesus should not be confined to a church building or a religious category. A Jesus entrepreneur treats Jesus as teacher, mentor, master, and leader. People may judge Jesus by what they see in those who claim to follow him. The most compelling Christian image is still a life of grace, courage, competence, and loving service. Things to Share Share this program with: An entrepreneur trying to distinguish a business in a crowded marketplace A younger leader developing a professional identity A pastor interested in faith and work A broadcaster, podcaster, or communicator learning how media attention works An artist who has explored cultural representations of Jesus A missionary or former missionary who may remember the Dutch poster A business owner who needs to align appearance, message, conduct, and service Anyone wondering what it means to represent Jesus in everyday work A useful conversation starter might be: "When people do business with me, what picture of Jesus—if any—do they receive?" Things to Take Special Note Of First impressions are powerful, but they are not the final objective. The purpose of creating an effective image is not simply to attract attention. It is to earn the opportunity to serve. Christians should also be careful not to create Jesus entirely in their own image. A picture of Jesus should challenge a culture as well as connect with it. Finally, the most important representation of Jesus may not be hanging on a wall. It may be walking into the office, answering the telephone, conducting the meeting, paying the invoice, solving the problem, or responding to an unhappy customer. That representation is you. Things to Take Action On Examine your present professional image. What do your clothing, website, photographs, graphics, workspace, voice, and written communications say about you? Ask three trusted people what impression you create when you enter a room or begin a conversation. Identify one place where your presentation needs to become more intentional and professional. Identify one place where your character or service must become stronger so that you can live up to the image you present. Consider how Jesus functions in your working life. Is he merely part of your religious identity, or is he truly influencing your decisions, relationships, money, leadership, and ambitions? Help search for the historic Dutch poster containing approximately 40 cultural portrayals of Jesus. Contact Stan if you recognize it or know an organization that may have produced it. Share this program with one younger entrepreneur who needs encouragement to bring faith, excellence, and distinctiveness into the marketplace. The Closing Challenge The Jesus entrepreneur should never seek attention merely for the pleasure of being noticed. The goal is to become noticeable in order to be useful. Create an image that opens the door. Develop the competence that earns trust. Demonstrate the character that sustains relationships. Offer the grace and service that point beyond yourself. The Jesus entrepreneur is a peculiar kind of person with a special kind of power. In a culture that rewards imitation, perhaps becoming "peculiar" is not such a bad business strategy after all. Let that sit on your head for a while. Reach Out to Stan The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective is being developed to encourage, equip, mentor, and connect hundreds—and perhaps thousands—of younger men and women who want to make their mark in the marketplace while living as serious followers and apprentices of Jesus. Stan Hustad brings more than 50 years of experience in broadcasting, communication, entrepreneurship, teaching, and business-performance coaching to this growing movement. If you need help developing your message, strengthening your professional image, building a podcast or media platform, clarifying your calling, or becoming a more effective Jesus entrepreneur, Stan would be glad to begin the conversation. He would also be grateful to hear from anyone who can help locate the historic international poster depicting Jesus through approximately 40 different countries and cultures. STAN HUSTAD Email: stan@witradio.net Website: www.witradio.net Presented by: The What It Takes Radio Company Program: The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective You may be the only Jesus someone sees today. Play it well.

August 31, 2026Episode 101213 min

SEPTEMBER 1: TRANSFORMATION DAY A New Season, a New Zone—and Perhaps a New You

September 1 has a new designation. At least it does if Stan Hustad has anything to say about it. The longtime broadcaster, teacher, business performance coach—and increasingly self-described "Transformation Man"—has decided that September 1 should become Transformation Day. Call it T-Day. Not an official government holiday. No banks will close. The mail will probably still arrive. And nobody is required to buy a greeting card. But perhaps it is a day worth taking seriously. In this special edition of What It Takes Radio and The Transformation Zone, Stan makes the case that September 1 is an unusually appropriate moment to stop, look at our lives, and ask a deceptively difficult question: What needs to be transformed? WHY SEPTEMBER 1? There is something naturally transitional about the beginning of September. Summer vacations are ending. Schools are reopening. Businesses begin moving toward the final stretch of the year. Labor Day reminds us about work and those who do it. Autumn approaches. For many people, September feels almost like a second New Year. Stan believes we should use it that way. Instead of simply returning to "normal," perhaps September should invite us to consider whether normal is actually where we want to go. Maybe we should not merely resume our lives. Maybe we should transform them. That is the idea behind Transformation Day. September 1 becomes a marker—a chance to declare that the coming season will not simply be more of the same. DIFFERENT NOT JUST IN DEGREE, BUT IN KIND One of the most memorable ideas in the program comes from an observation made years ago by a Jesuit scholar Stan knew. Speaking about the small percentage of people who seem to discover the deeper principles of successful living, the scholar observed that such people eventually become: "Not different by degree, but different in kind." That is a powerful description of transformation. Transformation is not simply doing five percent more. It isn't buying another planner, downloading another app, attending another seminar or making another list of resolutions destined to disappear beneath the paperwork by October. Real transformation changes something fundamental. It changes how we see, how we think, how we work, how we serve, how we relate to other people—and ultimately, perhaps, who we are becoming. Improvement asks, "How can I do this a little better?" Transformation dares to ask, "What could this become?" And perhaps the even more uncomfortable question: "Who could I become?" WELCOME TO THE TRANSFORMATION ZONE Transformation Day also marks the beginning of another experiment: The Transformation Zone Collective. Stan describes the Transformation Zone as a gathering place for people who want to learn together, challenge one another, share what works, and help create meaningful transformation in life, work, business, service and relationships. The idea has also been influenced by Stan's continuing conversations and work surrounding Joe Pine and the emerging Transformation Economy. The Experience Economy helped businesses understand that customers increasingly wanted memorable experiences rather than simply goods and services. The next question is bigger: What if people increasingly want experiences that actually change them? That possibility extends far beyond business. People want transformed careers, transformed organizations, transformed relationships, transformed communities, transformed ways of working—and, increasingly, transformed lives. Stan's interest in that subject did not begin with a business book. It has run through much of his life—as a teacher, missionary broadcaster, communicator and business performance coach. Behind those different occupations has been one continuing ambition: Help people become different because the encounter happened. Not manipulated. Not merely motivated. Transformed. TRANSFORMATION MAY BEGIN WITH FORGIVENESS The program then takes an important turn. Transformation isn't always about adding something new. Sometimes transformation begins by finally putting something old down. Stan points toward the Jewish High Holy Day tradition surrounding Rosh Hashanah, the Days of Awe and Yom Kippur as reminders of reflection, repentance, forgiveness and renewal. That suggests another possibility for Transformation Day. Perhaps September 1 could also become a personal Forgiveness Day. Forgive someone. Ask someone to forgive you. Stop rehearsing an old injury. Admit an old mistake. Accept forgiveness when it has been offered. And perhaps do one of the hardest things of all: stop allowing yesterday's failure to dictate tomorrow's identity. Transformation sometimes begins not with acquiring something, but with releasing something. THE WORLD IS TRANSFORMING WHETHER WE ARE READY OR NOT There is also urgency behind this conversation. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming work, communication, media, education and business. Careers are changing. The media environment has already changed dramatically. Entire professions may be reshaped. The question is therefore not whether transformation is coming. It already is. The better question is whether we will simply have transformation happen to us, or whether we will learn how to participate intelligently and intentionally in it. Stan argues that this requires more than technology. It requires wisdom, knowledge, discernment, courage, compassion, and people willing to help one another navigate unfamiliar territory. That is part of the purpose of The Transformation Zone. LIVING A TRANSFORMED LIFE There is a danger in talking about transformation until it becomes another attractive business word. Stan's challenge is much more personal. A transformed life should eventually become visible. Someone should be served differently because of it. A relationship should improve. A habit should change. A decision should be made. Something should be forgiven. Something worthwhile should begin. Something destructive may need to end. And somebody besides ourselves should eventually benefit. Because perhaps one of the finest reasons to live a transformed life is this: Transformed people can become transforming people. They bring courage into discouraged rooms. They bring possibility into stuck organizations. They ask better questions. They help others see alternatives. They become examples rather than merely instructors. And sometimes they simply become the person who says to someone else: "You don't have to stay where you are." That may be one of the most important messages of Transformation Day. THINGS TO REMEMBER • Transformation is more than improvement. Getting better is worthwhile. Becoming different in kind is something deeper. • September can become a second New Year. Don't simply return from summer. Decide what the next season of your life is going to mean. • Transformation begins with awareness. You cannot intentionally transform something you refuse to examine. • Forgiveness can be transformational. Some of the baggage we carry into tomorrow belongs in yesterday. • The world is changing whether we participate or not. AI, media, careers and business are already being transformed. Wisdom means learning how to respond rather than merely react. • A transformed life should eventually transform something beyond itself. The ultimate test may be whether somebody else is better because of what is happening in you. THINGS TO SHARE Ask someone you care about: "If September 1 were Transformation Day for you, what would you want to transform?" Share the idea with a colleague, friend, family member or team. Instead of asking only, "What are we going to accomplish before the end of the year?" try asking: "What could become fundamentally different before the end of the year?" And perhaps share this idea: Don't merely survive change. Learn to become someone capable of creating worthwhile change. THINGS TO TAKE ACTION ON Choose one area of your life that deserves transformation. Name it. Write it down. Then ask three questions: • What needs to stop? • What needs to start? • Who can help me make it happen? Next, identify one person you might help. Transformation becomes far more powerful when it moves from me to we. And finally, consider the forgiveness question: Is there something—or someone—you need to release before you can move forward? Do something about it. Not someday. Transformation Day seems like a pretty good day to begin. AND IF YOU NEED A GUIDE INTO THE ZONE… Transformation is personal, but it doesn't have to be solitary. For decades, Stan Hustad has worked as a teacher, broadcaster, business performance coach and guide to people seeking meaningful change in their work and lives. His invitation is simple: Contact Stan. Start a conversation. Bring the problem. Bring the possibility. Bring the dream that has been sitting on the shelf. Bring the business challenge, career question or nagging feeling that something in life needs to become different. Then explore together what a genuinely transformed life, business or way of working might look like—and what it will take to begin making it real. Because September 1 does not need congressional approval to become Transformation Day. It only needs a decision. September 1 is T-Day. Transformation Day. And perhaps the most important question is not whether the world will recognize it. The question is: Will you? WELCOME TO THE ZONE. The Transformation Zone • What It Takes Radio • Stan Hustad

August 20, 2026Episode 101124 min

THE PEOPLE IN THE RADIO And Why You May Need to Become One of Them

There was a time when a very young Stan Hustad climbed onto the kitchen counter and peered behind the family radio. His mother asked what he was doing. He was looking for the people in the radio. He could hear their voices. Surely they had to be in there somewhere. Decades later, Hustad became one of them. That childhood story opens this edition of Inconvenient Ideas, but the program is not really about nostalgia. It is about the future - and an inconvenient proposition: In an AI world, perhaps more people need to learn how to be "radio people." Not necessarily professional broadcasters, but people who can tell a story, communicate an idea, speak into a microphone, look into a camera, create an audience and make themselves heard. RADIO'S SECRET WEAPON Hustad's fascination with radio began in childhood, grew through shortwave and amateur radio, and eventually helped change his career. After more than a decade as a teacher, he went to broadcasting school at night and began a journey through international radio, television, the BBC and podcasting. That experience produced a useful career lesson: when considering a major change, investigate your early loves. Childhood curiosity sometimes leaves clues. Radio also has a secret weapon: the human voice. Hearing a story brings tone, timing, emotion, humor and personality into the message. Technology changes. The human hunger for stories does not. RADIO DIDN'T DISAPPEAR - IT MULTIPLIED Radio became television. Television became digital. Digital became mobile. Today the device in your pocket streams audio and video, records programs and can broadcast to a global audience. Now AI is beginning another transformation. For generations, ambitious people were told to learn public speaking. Dale Carnegie and Toastmasters understood that communication mattered. Hustad believes the assignment has expanded. Today we need to communicate through media - in front of the camera and behind the microphone. CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONAL ECONOMY AI is changing careers, businesses and the value of many traditional skills. Education still matters, but perhaps it should prepare people not only to ask, "How do I get a job?" but also: How do I create value? How do I build something? How do I communicate what I know? How do I build an audience? How do I create my own opportunities? And perhaps most importantly: How do I create my own personal economy? That is why Hustad argues that entrepreneurship and modern communication should become basic educational skills. DON'T JUST LEARN TO SCROLL A physician communicates. A teacher communicates. An entrepreneur communicates. So do salespeople, pastors, consultants, coaches and business owners. Increasingly they do it through microphones, cameras, podcasts, videos and digital presentations. The question is no longer simply, "Should I start a podcast?" The better question is: "Am I capable of communicating effectively in a media-driven world?" Hustad's challenge is direct: Don't merely watch. Produce. Don't merely scroll. Speak. Don't merely follow audiences. Learn how audiences are built. Don't merely consume ideas. Develop ideas worth communicating. Good broadcasting is a craft. So are interviewing, storytelling and listening. THINGS TO KNOW, LEARN AND DO Know that radio is now much bigger than traditional radio. Communication is increasingly an economic skill, story remains powerful, and AI may make distinctly human communication more valuable rather than less. Learn to tell a good story, speak clearly, interview and listen, understand microphones and cameras, use AI as an assistant rather than a substitute, and make your message memorable. Then practice. Record a three-minute story. Turn on your phone camera and explain one idea you know well. Interview someone. Listen back. Notice your voice, pace and clarity. Then do it again. The objective is not becoming famous. The objective is becoming communicatively capable. ONE FINAL INCONVENIENT IDEA Perhaps the little boy looking behind the kitchen radio was asking a better question than anyone realized: Where are the people in the radio? Today they're everywhere - on podcasts, YouTube, Zoom and whatever comes next. They're teaching, building companies, telling stories, creating audiences, using AI and building their own personal economies. So perhaps National Radio Day should not merely remember radio's past. Perhaps it should be a day to think about your future. The next important voice coming through the radio, podcast, smartphone, computer or television might need to be yours. The people are still in the radio. Perhaps it's time to join them. INCONVENIENT IDEAS & UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS Ideas that may rattle us, shake us up and make us think - and perhaps help us make our mark in life and business.

August 12, 2026Episode 101019 min

JESUS, THE CHILDREN—AND THE MILLSTONE The Warning We'd Rather Not Hear

A Jesus Entrepreneur Collective Commentary with Stan Hustad There is a version of Jesus that almost everybody can live with. Gentle Jesus. Welcoming Jesus. Compassionate Jesus. Jesus with the children gathered around him. Jesus healing the sick, feeding the hungry, forgiving sinners and telling frightened people not to be afraid. That Jesus is real. But he is not the whole Jesus. And in this challenging edition of the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective, Stan Hustad asks his audience to confront another side of Jesus—the strong, courageous, sometimes confrontational Jesus who was willing to say things that made powerful people uncomfortable. This is Jesus, the Man of the Millstone. And his warning concerning the vulnerable—especially children—is difficult to dismiss. Jesus said that whoever causes one of the "little ones" to stumble would be better off having a great millstone hung around his neck and being cast into the sea. Those are not gentle words. They are not politically convenient words. And they certainly do not sound like the harmless, perpetually agreeable Jesus sometimes presented by modern culture. They are the words of someone who took the protection of the vulnerable with extraordinary seriousness. Jesus Was No Wimp Hustad begins the program with an observation he has made repeatedly throughout his years of broadcasting, teaching and coaching: Jesus was not weak. He was compassionate without being timid. He could welcome a child, touch a leper, forgive a sinner and comfort a grieving family. But he could also challenge religious authorities, confront hypocrisy, overturn tables and stand before political power without surrendering his convictions. Hustad recalls the famous scene from the classic film Ben-Hur. A Roman soldier attempts to prevent Jesus from giving water to the exhausted prisoner. Jesus simply rises and looks at him. No speech. No violence. No threat. Just presence. And the soldier backs away. Whether or not the cinematic scene tells us precisely what the historical Jesus looked like, it captures something important about him: Strength does not always have to shout. Real authority does not require bullying. Courage does not require cruelty. And conviction does not require hatred. That distinction becomes especially important when Christians enter the difficult moral arguments of their time. Don't Mess With the Children The program then moves directly into one of the most contentious issues in American public life: abortion, particularly political efforts to permit abortion very late in pregnancy. Hustad makes no attempt to hide his position. He believes unborn children possess profound human worth, and he believes Christians should speak clearly in their defense. But the challenge goes deeper than a political argument. His question is: What does Jesus' warning about protecting the vulnerable require of people who claim to follow him? That question cannot simply be handed to politicians. It belongs to pastors, business leaders, entrepreneurs, parents and grandparents, teachers, broadcasters and communicators, and ordinary Christians sitting quietly in church pews. The millstone passage is disturbing precisely because Jesus intended it to be disturbing. He deliberately chose an image his listeners would understand: an enormous grinding stone, potentially so heavy that an animal was required to turn it. Then Jesus attached that image to a warning about harming or corrupting the vulnerable. Whatever one's politics, those words should stop a follower of Jesus long enough to ask: Do I take the protection of vulnerable human life as seriously as Jesus apparently did? That is the challenge. Not hatred. Not harassment. Not threats. Not personal condemnation. A challenge of conscience. Conviction Without Cruelty There is another challenge here for the Christian entrepreneur. It is possible to believe something strongly and still behave badly while defending it. Christians do not receive permission to become cruel simply because they believe their cause is righteous. Jesus demonstrated another way: strong convictions, courageous words, compassion for people. Those three belong together. The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective therefore does not call people to attack those with whom they disagree. It calls people to become courageous enough to speak, thoughtful enough to listen, disciplined enough to understand the issue, and compassionate enough to remember that every person in the argument remains a human being. The unborn child matters. The frightened mother matters. The father matters. The physician matters. The person who profoundly disagrees with you matters. Truth and love are not competitors. The difficult task of Christian leadership is learning to practice both. Jesus the Marketplace Man Hustad then returns to one of the recurring themes of the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective: before Jesus became an itinerant teacher, he spent many years in the ordinary world of work. He knew customers. He knew deadlines. He knew workmanship. He knew expectations. He knew what it meant to make something useful and have another person judge its value. Whatever modern occupational title we apply to the ancient tekton, Jesus knew the marketplace. That matters to Hustad because Christianity should never be confined to Sunday morning. If Jesus is Lord, then Jesus belongs in Monday morning too—in the office, in the shop, in the sales meeting, in the boardroom, in the classroom, behind the microphone, and in the difficult public conversations that respectable people would sometimes prefer to avoid. The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective exists in part to recover that connection between faith, courage, work, enterprise and public responsibility. Become an Apprentice Perhaps the most important word in the program is not entrepreneur. It is apprentice. Christians traditionally call the followers of Jesus "disciples." Hustad suggests that modern people might better grasp the idea if they thought of themselves as apprentices. An apprentice watches the master. Studies the master. Practices what the master does. Learns how the master thinks. Makes mistakes, receives correction and tries again. So Hustad poses a far more demanding question than simply, "Do you believe in Jesus?" He asks: Are you apprenticed to Jesus? Are you learning his courage? His compassion? His way of dealing with people? His willingness to challenge conventional wisdom? His concern for the vulnerable? His ability to combine strength and grace? And his willingness to accept the consequences of telling uncomfortable truths? That is considerably harder than simply claiming a religious identity. What's Your MOU With the MOU? Hustad closes with one of his memorable plays on words. Businesspeople know the term MOU—Memorandum of Understanding. So he asks: What is your MOU with the MOU—the Master of the Universe? What exactly is your understanding with Jesus? What have you agreed to do? What responsibilities come with calling yourself his follower? What happens when his teaching conflicts with your politics, your profession, your comfort, your financial interests—or even your friends? Perhaps every Christian entrepreneur needs a personal memorandum of understanding: This is what I believe. This is whom I follow. These are the people I will protect. These are the principles I will not sell. This is how I will treat people who disagree with me. And this is the courage I intend to practice when remaining silent would be easier. That may be what apprenticeship to Jesus looks like in the modern marketplace. And perhaps that is why the image of the millstone still matters. It reminds us that the Jesus who welcomed children was also fiercely serious about what happened to them. Grace was real. Love was real. And so was accountability. THINGS TO REMEMBER Jesus was compassionate, but he was not weak. His love included courage, confrontation and moral seriousness. Protecting the vulnerable is not merely a political issue. For followers of Jesus it is a matter of conscience and discipleship. Conviction does not excuse cruelty. Christians should be able to defend what they believe without dehumanizing those who disagree. Christianity belongs in the marketplace. Faith that disappears when business, money, reputation or controversy enters the room is worth examining. A disciple is an apprentice. Following Jesus means more than admiring him. It means learning to live differently because of him. THINGS TO SHARE Share this program with someone who believes Jesus was merely "nice." Share it with a Christian business leader who is trying to determine how faith should influence difficult decisions. Share it with someone who disagrees with Stan. In fact, that conversation may be particularly worthwhile. The goal should not be to create another shouting match. The world already has plenty of those. The better goal is to create an uncomfortable but honest conversation about human dignity, courage, responsibility, children, conscience and what following Jesus actually requires. THINGS TO DO Before criticizing somebody else, examine your own MOU with the Master of the Universe. Ask yourself: Where am I remaining silent because speaking might cost me something? Where have I confused being loving with being agreeable? Where have I confused being courageous with being angry? Who are the vulnerable people around me whom I have a responsibility to protect? If someone watched my business life for a month, would they discover evidence that I am actually apprenticed to Jesus? Then choose one action: Speak. Serve. Protect. Give. Apologize. Learn. Challenge. Encourage. Or simply refuse to remain comfortably indifferent. AND NOW, A CHALLENGE Stan Hustad has made his argument. You are welcome to challenge it. If you believe he has gone too far, tell him. If you believe he has not gone far enough, tell him that too. If you think his interpretation of Jesus is wrong, make your case. And if this program caused you to reconsider something you had comfortably stopped thinking about, tell him that as well. Write Stan at stan@witradio.net. Better yet, don't keep the conversation between Stan and you. Share this article. Share the program. Start a conversation. And if the idea of becoming an apprentice to Jesus—in your life, profession, business and marketplace leadership—strikes a chord, talk with Stan about becoming part of the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective. Because perhaps the world does not need more people who merely admire Jesus. Perhaps it needs more people willing to apprentice themselves to him—and then have the courage to live like it.

August 10, 2026Episode 101021 min

STOP WORRYING. START CREATING YOUR OWN ECONOMY. An Inconvenient Idea for an AI World That Is Changing Faster Than We Are

There is a whole lot of worrying, waiting and wondering going on. After taking something he rarely takes—a real vacation—Stan Hustad returned to Inconvenient Ideas with five days away from television, computers and the daily digital noise. The occasion was a significant wedding anniversary, celebrated with his wife, Karen, along the North Carolina coast. It also came after a difficult season marked by loss, uncertainty and reminders that life can change very quickly. Perhaps that is why a few days away produced something more valuable than rest: perspective. Stan returned not pretending that the world had suddenly become easier, but recognizing that, despite difficulties, obstacles and a few genuinely frightening possibilities, he was still living in what he calls a POA—a Place of Opportunity. And then he turned the television and computer back on. Welcome back to the world of worrying. Worrying, Waiting, Wondering—and Wishing Stan noticed four activities consuming an extraordinary amount of human energy: Worrying. Waiting. Wondering. Wishing. People worry about their jobs. They wait to see what happens next. They wonder what artificial intelligence will do to their profession. And they wish somebody—or something—would make the uncertainty go away. But wishing is not a business strategy. Worrying is not a career plan. And waiting for the world to become predictable may require a very long wait. The more useful question is: What can you create? That question becomes especially important when so many people feel they are reacting to life rather than creating it. Certainly, much of life is outside anyone's control. But there remains an enormous difference between admitting that reality and surrendering one's ability to act. That distinction may become one of the essential survival skills of the AI age. What Is Real? Artificial intelligence introduces another inconvenient question: What is real? Stan has encountered videos, music, images and performances that seemed completely authentic—until closer examination raised another possibility. Perhaps they weren't. AI is rapidly moving toward a point where ordinary viewers and listeners may have difficulty determining whether something was created by a human being, a machine, or some collaboration between the two. Stan describes the strange sensation perfectly: Sometimes something can seem too fake to be real—and too real to be fake. That changes the questions we may have to ask. Instead of simply asking, "Is it real?" perhaps increasingly we will also ask: Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful? Is it helpful? Is it beautiful? Does it make life better—or worse? That is an inconvenient idea indeed. Even the new Inconvenient Ideas studio provides a playful example. The glowing neon-style sign, the broadcast environment and the visual presentation can now be created with AI assistance. Is the neon sign "real"? Well, you're looking at it. And perhaps the more useful question is whether it helps Stan communicate an idea worth hearing. Become an Author of Ideas Stan also makes a personal confession. He has spent nearly half a century as a broadcaster and communicator. He talks. He teaches. He coaches. He interviews. And perhaps most importantly, he continually comes up with ideas. But traditional writing has never necessarily been his greatest strength. AI has helped him recognize a different possibility: Maybe he is not primarily an author who writes. Maybe he is an Author of Ideas. That changes the relationship with artificial intelligence. The human being supplies experience, judgment, imagination, conviction, stories and ideas. AI can help organize, edit, develop and distribute them. In that arrangement, AI does not necessarily replace the human creator. It can multiply the creator. And that may be one of the great opportunities of this technological revolution. But Beware of Trojan Horses Every gift is not necessarily good for you. The ancient Trojans learned that lesson the hard way. Artificial intelligence may become one of the greatest productivity tools ever created. It may also eliminate jobs, disrupt professions, destroy established business models and make some previously valuable skills considerably less valuable. Both realities can be true. The appropriate response, therefore, is neither blind enthusiasm nor paralyzing fear. It is preparation. Create Your Own Personal Economy Here Stan reaches the central challenge of the program. In an increasingly unpredictable economy, people should learn how to create their own personal economy. That does not mean everyone must quit a job tomorrow morning and launch a company by lunchtime. It means learning to think entrepreneurially. Can you recognize an opportunity? Can you solve a problem? Can you create something useful? Can you communicate its value? Can you develop relationships? Can you serve customers? Can you adapt when technology changes the rules? And can you create another source of usefulness and income when an old one disappears? Those questions are becoming important whether someone is 22, 42, 62—or 82. Everyone Is Also Becoming a Broadcaster There is another skill Stan believes people increasingly need. They need to learn how to communicate through modern media. You may never have a radio program. You may never call yourself a podcaster. You may never dream of becoming a YouTube personality. But we live in a mass-media marketing world. At some point, most professionals, entrepreneurs, leaders and creators will need to become comfortable behind a microphone, in front of a camera, on a screen or communicating through digital media. That makes broadcasting no longer merely a profession. It is becoming a life and business skill. The Four People We May Need to Become Stan's challenge can be reduced to four roles worth developing in this new world: Become an Entrepreneur. Learn to recognize opportunities, create value and build your own personal economy. Become a Broadcaster. Learn to communicate clearly, confidently and persuasively through modern media. Become a Transformer. Develop the ability to change yourself, your work and perhaps the lives of people around you. Become an Author of Ideas. Bring distinctly human experience, imagination, wisdom and judgment to AI tools capable of helping those ideas travel farther and faster. None of this guarantees an easy future. There will still be plenty to worry about. But perhaps there will be considerably less to fear. THINGS TO REMEMBER • Worry is information, not instruction. Fear may tell you that something deserves attention. It doesn't necessarily tell you what to do. • AI is both opportunity and disruption. Refusing to acknowledge either side leaves you unprepared. • Your ideas still matter. AI can generate words, pictures and possibilities, but human experience, judgment, character and wisdom remain extraordinarily valuable. • Entrepreneurship is becoming a basic life skill. You don't necessarily need to own a company to learn how to create value. • Broadcasting is becoming a basic communication skill. The ability to speak effectively through microphones, cameras and digital media will increasingly matter. • Transformation requires action. Waiting for certainty may simply mean waiting forever. THINGS TO SHARE Ask someone you care about: "If your present job disappeared because of AI, what useful thing could you create, teach, communicate or sell?" Then ask a second question: "What could AI help you do that you could not realistically have done five years ago?" Those two questions may start a far more productive conversation than another hour of worrying about artificial intelligence. THINGS TO TAKE NOTE OF Pay attention this week to the places where AI is already changing your life. Notice what it does extraordinarily well. Notice where it makes mistakes. Notice what frightens you. But especially notice where it gives you new capabilities. Instead of merely asking, "What will AI do to me?" begin asking: "What can I now do with AI that I could never do before?" That is the entrepreneur's question. THINGS TO DO Choose one idea you have been postponing. Write it down—or speak it into your phone. Use AI to help organize it. Turn it into something tangible: an article, presentation, proposal, podcast, video, course, business idea or conversation. Then put it into the world. Don't merely worry. Don't merely wait. Don't merely wonder. And don't merely wish. Create. THE INCONVENIENT CHALLENGE The AI digital world will undoubtedly produce disruption. Some careers will disappear. Others will change dramatically. New professions will emerge that hardly anyone can describe today. So the goal cannot be to make the future perfectly safe. The goal is to become the kind of person who is increasingly capable of meeting it. Stan Hustad has spent decades as an entrepreneur, broadcaster, communicator and coach. Today he is helping people learn how to become entrepreneurs, world-class broadcasters, transformational thinkers and Authors of Ideas who can work intelligently with artificial intelligence rather than merely worry about what it might do to them. If the new world has you worrying, waiting, wondering or wishing, perhaps it is time for a different conversation. Stan's invitation is simple: Learn to create your own economy. Learn to communicate your own ideas. Learn to use the new tools. Learn to become more useful. And learn to become less afraid of the future by becoming better prepared for it. Stan Hustad and What It Takes Radio are available to help. Stan@witradio.net Because in the end, the future may belong neither to the people who blindly embrace AI nor to those who desperately resist it. It may belong to the people who learn how to remain fully human while becoming remarkably good at using it. And remember: If an idea is interesting and important, there's a pretty good chance it will also be inconvenient.

July 30, 2026Episode 100819 min

Didn't Know Jesus Was That Smart!

Why Seeing Jesus Through the Eyes of an Entrepreneur Could Change Your Life, Business, and Calling This expanded feature article is designed for publication, distribution, teaching, and discussion within the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective. It explores one of the central ideas of the episode: many people know Jesus as a religious figure but have never seriously considered Him as an extraordinary communicator, leader, craftsman, entrepreneur, and builder of people. A Remark Worth Remembering During a business presentation, a young businessman approached Stan Hustad and said, 'I didn't know Jesus was that smart.' What sounded awkward became a profound insight. Many people separate faith from the marketplace. This episode invites us to reconnect them. Rediscovering Jesus Throughout the program Stan argues that Jesus understood people, stories, leadership, influence, timing, service, courage, reputation, and purpose. These are not merely religious ideas; they are the foundations of flourishing organizations and meaningful lives. The Hidden Eighteen Years One of the most thought-provoking themes is Jesus' long period as a working craftsman before His public ministry. Those years remind us that ordinary work can become preparation for extraordinary influence. Why a Collective? A collective is more than an organization. It is a community of people united around a shared mission, encouraging one another while contributing their own gifts. Stan suggests that this reflects the way Jesus gathered people. A Marketplace for the Twenty-First Century The conversation reaches into today's world of AI, entrepreneurship, media, technology, and rapid change. The question is not whether technology matters, but whether timeless wisdom still has something essential to say. The program answers with a confident yes. From Success to Significance The closing challenge asks listeners to think beyond paying the bills. What if our greatest regret would not be failure, but unused opportunity? The invitation is to become the kind of entrepreneur who builds people as well as businesses. Memorable Quotations "I didn't know Jesus was that smart." "Great movements begin as communities before they become organizations." "Don't merely make a living. Build a life that outlives you." "The greatest venture you will ever build is your own life." Things to Remember Jesus belongs in Monday's marketplace as much as Sunday's worship. Leadership begins with serving people. Community multiplies influence. Purpose gives success lasting meaning. Things to Share Discuss the question: 'Was Jesus the greatest entrepreneur in history?' Share this episode with business owners, students, pastors, and leaders. Start conversations about integrating faith, work, and innovation. Personal Action Challenge For the next seven days, identify one teaching of Jesus that can be intentionally practiced in your work, leadership, or relationships. Keep a journal of what changes. Invitation The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective exists to help thoughtful men and women discover timeless principles for today's marketplace. Stan Hustad invites listeners to join the conversation, grow together, and become builders of organizations, communities, and lives that reflect wisdom, courage, service, and hope.

July 28, 2026Episode 100819 min

Two men about my age died last week. Can I tell you the story.docx

Two men about Stan's age died within days of one another. One was a lifelong friend. The other was his own brother. Their passing became more than heartbreaking news—it became a deeply personal reminder that every one of us is living on borrowed time. In this thoughtful and surprisingly hopeful episode of Inconvenient Ideas, Stan reflects on those losses and asks a question that most of us avoid: How do we become fully alive before our lives come to an end? Drawing on the wisdom of philosopher and theologian Howard Thurman, Stan explores the difference between merely paying the bills and discovering the work that truly makes us come alive. Rather than focusing on death itself, this conversation turns toward purpose, calling, relationships, and what may become the most meaningful years of our lives. Along the way he introduces a new idea—the upcoming Encore Zone—designed especially for those entering the later chapters of life who believe their greatest contribution may still lie ahead. Whether you are twenty-five or eighty-five, this episode offers an invitation to step back from the noise, rethink your priorities, embrace new tools such as AI and modern media, and begin living more intentionally. Death may be inevitable. Living fully is still a choice. Things to Remember Life is fragile, and none of us knows how much time remains. Success is not measured only by what we accomplish, but by how fully we live. Discover what makes you come alive—and do that. The world desperately needs people who are fully alive. Your Encore Years may become your most significant years. Things to Share Share this episode with someone who has recently experienced loss. Share it with someone approaching retirement or wondering what comes next. Share it with anyone who needs encouragement to live with greater purpose. Take Special Note Stan introduces the upcoming Encore Zone—a conversation for people who believe life still has another chapter to write. Ask not simply 'When can I retire?' but 'What am I uniquely created to contribute while I still have time?' A Life Challenge Set aside fifteen quiet minutes this week. Ask: What truly makes me come alive? Am I spending enough time doing it? If I had five more years to make a difference, what would I begin today? Connect with Stan Stan Hustad has spent more than four decades behind the microphone and more than three decades helping leaders, entrepreneurs, organizations, and communicators discover greater purpose, performance, and impact. Email: Stan@witradio.net Because a better future rarely happens by accident. Sometimes it begins with one inconvenient idea. And if you'd like to watch the program on a video you can do so https://youtu.be/PfZa58OIUTU