Nova: Have you ever sat at your desk, buried under a mountain of paperwork, lesson plans, and emails, and wondered… is this really what I signed up for? You got into your field to make a difference, to connect, to serve—to use your heart. But sometimes, the daily ‘hustle’ can feel like it’s crushing that very heart. What if we could reframe that hustle?

Nova: Our guide today comes from an unexpected place: a book on faith-based entrepreneurship called by Amber Cullum. And we're going to see how its lessons are incredibly relevant for mission-driven fields like education.

Nova: Today we'll dive deep into this from two perspectives. First, we'll explore how to redefine the daily ‘hustle’ of our work through the powerful lens of stewardship. Then, we'll discuss how cultivating a ‘fierce faith’—your professional north star—can provide the resilience needed to lead with heart.

Nova: And to help us translate these ideas, I'm so thrilled to have RC with us. With over 15 years in education, from the classroom to management in K-5 literacy, RC lives at the intersection of hustle and heart every single day. Welcome, RC!

RC: Thanks, Nova. It's great to be here. And that's a topic that's on every educator's mind, even if we don't use these exact words. I'm curious to dive in because that tension between the passion and the paperwork is very, very real.

Nova: I'm so glad you said that. Let's start with that word, 'hustle.' In the business world, it often means grinding, outworking everyone, a relentless push for more. But Amber Cullum in presents a completely different view. She frames it as stewardship.

RC: Stewardship. That's a word you hear more in non-profits or churches than in a business book, or even in a school, for that matter.

Nova: Exactly! And that's what makes it so interesting. The idea is that your work, your skills, your resources—they aren't just things you. They are things you've been with. So, imagine a small business owner who makes, say, handmade furniture. In the hustle mindset, they're just trying to sell as many tables as possible. But in the stewardship mindset, they see the beautiful wood they were able to acquire, the skills they have to shape it, and the trust a customer places in them with their money. Every action—from sanding the wood to answering an email—becomes an act of faithfully managing those entrusted assets to create something of value and serve that customer well. It’s not about ownership; it’s about faithful management.

RC: Hmm.

Nova: RC, as an educator and manager, you're not managing inventory or profit margins. When you hear 'stewardship,' what does that look like in your world? Where does that idea connect for you?

RC: That lands powerfully. It’s a profound shift in perspective. My first thought, the most concrete one, goes to resources. We get a budget for literacy materials for the school year. On a busy Tuesday, it's easy to see that as just 'spending money' to check items off a list. But if I see it as an act of stewardship… the whole process changes.

Nova: How so?

RC: Well, the question is no longer "How do I spend this $5,000?" The question becomes, "How do I steward this $5,000 to best serve the specific, evolving needs of our students and teachers?" Suddenly, I'm thinking about the group of second graders who are struggling with phonics, and the new teacher who needs more decodable readers. Every dollar becomes an entrusted asset for a child's future literacy. It’s not a line item anymore; it’s an investment I’m responsible for.

Nova: I love that. It elevates a task that could feel administrative and transactional into something that is deeply connected to the mission. It turns the 'have-tos' into 'get-tos.'

RC: It really does. And it goes beyond physical things. As a manager, a huge part of my job is leading professional development. I'm a steward of my teachers' time and energy, which are arguably our most precious resources in a school.

Nova: Oh, that’s a great point. Teacher time is gold.

RC: It is. So when we have a professional development session, am I just checking a box for the district? Or am I stewarding that precious hour to genuinely equip my teachers, to solve a problem they're actually facing, and maybe even reignite their passion for teaching reading? That shift in perspective from 'delivering a training' to 'stewarding their time' is huge. It forces me to be more thoughtful, more prepared, and more respectful of the professionals in that room.

Nova: So stewardship is really about intentionality. It's about seeing the hidden value in every task and every resource and treating it with the care it deserves because it's all connected to the bigger purpose.

RC: Exactly. It reframes the hustle. The work is still hard, the to-do list is still long, but the 'why' behind each item feels different. It feels more meaningful.

Nova: But let's be honest, even with a stewardship mindset, that work is hard. Stewarding a budget is stressful. Stewarding a teacher's morale is emotionally taxing. It can be draining. And that brings us to the second, and maybe most important, part of the book's title: the 'Heart,' which Cullum defines as a 'Fierce Faith'.

RC: Okay, so this is the engine that powers the stewardship.

Nova: That's the perfect way to put it! Now, 'faith' can be a loaded word, and we can define it broadly here. In the book, Cullum is talking about her Christian faith. But the principle she outlines is universal: it's your foundational, non-negotiable 'why.' It’s the unshakeable belief that anchors you and your work. It’s the North Star that guides every decision when you're lost, tired, or facing opposition. It's what makes the hustle, the stewardship, worthwhile in the first place.

RC: The 'why' that gets you out of bed in the morning, especially on the tough days.

Nova: Precisely. So RC, in a field like public education, which is largely secular, what does a 'fierce faith' look like to you? What is the North Star for an educator?

RC: That's the core of it, isn't it? For many of us in education, our 'fierce faith' is a pedagogical one. It's a deep, evidence-based belief about how children learn. For me, in my role in K-5 literacy, it’s the unwavering belief in the science of reading.

Nova: Can you unpack that a little? What does that mean in practice?

RC: Sure. Education, like many fields, has trends and fads. New programs and philosophies pop up all the time, promising silver bullets. But decades of research show us, on a neurological level, how the human brain learns to read. It's a science. Holding onto that evidence-based 'faith' is absolutely critical when you have to make curriculum decisions that will affect thousands of students, or when you need to coach a well-meaning teacher who is using a less effective, outdated method.

Nova: So it gives you the courage to have those tough conversations, because you're not just pushing your opinion, you're advocating from a place of deep conviction.

RC: Exactly. It's not about being rigid or dogmatic. It's about being anchored in what you know works for kids. That's the 'faith.' The 'fierce' part comes in when you have to defend it. I can think of a specific time with a student who was really, really struggling to read. All the data suggested we needed to use a very specific, intensive, and frankly, time-consuming intervention.

Nova: What was the alternative?

RC: The 'easy' thing would have been to just let them continue in the standard program, to not make waves. It would have required fewer resources, less of the teacher's time, and less administrative juggling. But our 'faith'—our core, fierce belief that —is what drove the entire team. We advocated for them, we rearranged schedules, we found the resources, and we did the hard work. That's the 'fierce' part. It's an active, determined belief in the potential of that one child.

Nova: Wow. That story perfectly illustrates it. The faith isn't passive. It's a verb. It's the thing that makes you choose the harder, better path.

RC: It has to be. Because the daily grind will wear you down if you don't have that anchor. That belief is what you hold onto when a lesson fails, when a parent is upset, or when you're just plain exhausted. It's the reminder of why you're stewarding all those resources in the first place.

Nova: This is all connecting so beautifully. So what I'm hearing is that these two ideas from are completely intertwined. You can't have one without the other. Your 'fierce faith' in what's possible for students is what gives you the strength and motivation to practice good 'stewardship' with your time, resources, and energy.

RC: They're two sides of the same coin. The 'why' and the 'how.' The heart and the hustle. Without the heart, the hustle is just a grind that leads directly to burnout. We see that all the time in education. But without the hustle—the diligent, thoughtful stewardship—the heart is just a nice idea with no real impact on students.

Nova: It's such a powerful and practical framework for anyone in a purpose-driven career. It’s not just for entrepreneurs; it’s for educators, healthcare workers, non-profit leaders… anyone whose work is a calling.

RC: Absolutely. It gives a language to something I think the best educators do intuitively.

Nova: I agree. So for everyone listening, especially those in education or any service-driven field, here's the question we want to leave you with today, inspired by this conversation. What is your 'fierce faith'?

Nova: If you had to boil it down, what is the one, core belief about your work that you would write on a post-it note and stick to your computer screen? The belief that fuels everything else? Articulating that might just change how you see your hustle tomorrow.

RC: That's the perfect place to start. Know your why. It makes all the difference.

Nova: RC, thank you so much for translating these ideas with such clarity and heart. This has been wonderful.

RC: The pleasure was all mine, Nova. Thanks for a great conversation.

Nova: And thank you all for listening. Go out there and find the heart in your hustle.