2024 Recap! ✨

[00:00:04] Hello and welcome to the Ask About My Faith Podcast. We have a fun episode for you today featuring our small and mighty team. We wanted to introduce our team members to everyone. We're going to share a recap of the year and then some exciting news for this next year. As you know, I'm Abby and I'm alongside Jess. We host the Ask About My Faith Podcast.

[00:00:32] You're going to hear from everyone today, but to do some quick intros, Marit is not here. She has been a vital part of building our website, writing blogs and keeping us centered on our mission. And fun fact, her husband was our first podcast interviewee and her daughter was the youngest. So hello to the Gasper family. We love you so much.

[00:01:00] Also, Samantha and other writers who are using God's talents that God has given them, they are not here, but I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge them. Of course, Jess is sitting right here next to me in our little basement podcast studio. Hi, Jess.

[00:01:24] Jess does all of the recruiting and vetting for our podcast interviewers. And then she's also just a phenomenal host and the best question asker. Erin is joining today. Hi, Erin.

[00:01:38] Hi, morning.

[00:01:39] She's our incredible social media manager and graphic designer. And Dan is also on the call. Hello.

[00:01:48] Hello.

[00:01:49] Hello.

[00:01:51] He's officially our CFO, but also the visionary and the only OG member of Ask About My Faith. Dan and our dad, Randy, started Ask About My Faith in November of 2018. And so we just passed six years, which is amazing.

[00:02:10] So fun. Dan is going to start by sharing the mission and vision of our organization.

[00:02:17] Well, thank you, Abby. I can't believe it's been six years. It is so cool to see how God's blessing this ministry and the people that we're reaching.

[00:02:26] Well, how we're doing that is through our vision, mission, and core values. So I'd love to share with you guys. The vision we have for Ask About My Faith is to help everyone take their next step towards Jesus.

[00:02:40] That's what we're running after. That's where we're going. We are trying to help everyone take their next step towards Jesus.

[00:02:47] How we're doing that is through our mission. We're engaging, encouraging, and equipping. That is what we do. That's how we do it. Engage, encourage, and equip.

[00:02:57] And then we also have this amazing podcast. And our vision for the podcast is inspiring everyday faith conversations.

[00:03:05] That's what Ask About My Faith is about, inspiring everyday faith conversations.

[00:03:10] And then when you're like, well, what's the core values you guys have in thinking through and developing Ask About My Faith?

[00:03:15] This is who we are. This describes us to a T. Radically follow Jesus in a world that is maybe not following Him the exact way He teaches us to.

[00:03:28] We want to radically follow Jesus. Don't be afraid to share. I don't know about you guys, but this one's been pretty convicting, right?

[00:03:37] We have these podcasts about faith stories, and it's like, shoot, we got to have our own too.

[00:03:42] So don't be afraid to share. Conversation, not confrontation.

[00:03:46] Our father, Randy, he was huge about this. This is why Ask About My Faith started, because he wanted people to have conversations, not confrontations.

[00:03:55] I don't know, but I think that aged very well in today's society.

[00:04:00] Honestly.

[00:04:03] Not confrontations.

[00:04:04] The next one is lead with authenticity.

[00:04:09] Man, these aged so well.

[00:04:13] Right. These are original, right? From 2018.

[00:04:18] I mean, we refined them a bit, but man, lead with authenticity.

[00:04:22] In a world where it's easy to look good on social media, it's easy to be the cool person that actually doesn't have the best life possible.

[00:04:31] We want to be authentic.

[00:04:33] We make mistakes. We don't know everything.

[00:04:36] So I think that's something that our team does great with.

[00:04:39] And then live fully. Come on.

[00:04:41] Well, yes.

[00:04:42] You know how many people don't have full lives?

[00:04:45] We want to live a lot.

[00:04:47] We're not here to be boring, to be tired, to be lazy.

[00:04:53] None of that is biblical.

[00:04:54] We are here to live a full life.

[00:04:56] I personally like live fully.

[00:04:59] And then our key verse, but in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord.

[00:05:03] Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

[00:05:11] But do this with gentleness and respect.

[00:05:15] Awesome. So good.

[00:05:17] With that, I'd love to do some team intros.

[00:05:20] We follow EOS.

[00:05:22] And so we love to do personal and professional best.

[00:05:26] Erin, why don't you tell us your role and your personal and professional best?

[00:05:31] Definitely. Thanks, Dan.

[00:05:32] My name is Erin.

[00:05:33] And like Abby mentioned, I run the social media channels for Ask About My Faith.

[00:05:38] I love being behind the scenes.

[00:05:40] So this is quite uncomfortable for me, but we're just going to run with it.

[00:05:43] So yeah, anything with social media is in my lane.

[00:05:47] Graphics, copy, ads, and everything in between.

[00:05:50] So for my personal best, it's been a crazy year.

[00:05:54] It's been a wild year, an unexpected year.

[00:05:56] But I have to say that my niece, Elodie, being born, probably tops all of that.

[00:06:01] Being an auntie is the best role in the entire world.

[00:06:04] So that would be my personal best.

[00:06:06] And then on the professional side, my goodness, we've had so much growth this year on social media.

[00:06:13] So at the beginning of the year, we had 533 Facebook followers.

[00:06:18] And as of this morning, we have 5,256 followers, which is such a testament to God's power.

[00:06:26] It's wild.

[00:06:27] And our reach, oh my gosh.

[00:06:29] Okay, so we've reached 1.7 million people since May of 2024.

[00:06:35] Wow.

[00:06:36] So in just over half the year?

[00:06:38] Yeah.

[00:06:39] It's so cool how far God is reaching people and how he's bringing those people together in a faith-filled community.

[00:06:45] It's clear that people are hungry for Jesus.

[00:06:47] And it's just awesome to see how he's working through social media with that.

[00:06:52] So good.

[00:06:53] Yes.

[00:06:54] And Erin, you have been incredible with engaging with people and thinking about how to take our content from the website to social media.

[00:07:02] So great job.

[00:07:04] We're so glad to have you on the team.

[00:07:05] And you just joined this year, right?

[00:07:08] Last year, I think.

[00:07:09] Yeah.

[00:07:10] Ooh.

[00:07:11] Last year was a building year.

[00:07:13] This year, I mean, we're really growing.

[00:07:15] This year is a building year.

[00:07:16] It's been great.

[00:07:17] It just feels like she's been here forever.

[00:07:20] Erin, you have a really hard role.

[00:07:23] You have a really hard role because you're on the front line of the feedback.

[00:07:28] And while we get so many great comments and so much great feedback, you are also on the front, the receiving end sometimes of the negative comments.

[00:07:39] And so you're glad.

[00:07:40] I know you said you're glad to be behind the scenes.

[00:07:45] I'm glad I'm not the one getting all of those comments.

[00:07:50] While some of them are great, some are also not fun.

[00:07:53] So thank you for being that person.

[00:07:55] Yeah, definitely.

[00:07:56] Thanks for having me.

[00:07:57] A part of the team.

[00:07:58] So good.

[00:07:59] Thank you, Erin.

[00:08:00] Well, I'm Dan.

[00:08:03] I'm the visionary, personal best.

[00:08:05] Best, we have our fourth child on the way.

[00:08:09] Wow.

[00:08:09] And I just love these kiddos.

[00:08:11] We have three girls.

[00:08:12] And this is our first boy.

[00:08:14] So just very excited for next year when we get to meet our little baby boy.

[00:08:20] Professional best.

[00:08:21] Man, to see, ask about my faith in the best position it's ever been and seeing it growing and doing it at the most efficient budget possible in ministry, I think, is what's so cool.

[00:08:35] Because the reach, and you'll hear more about this, that we'll have for next year, is just going to be incredible.

[00:08:41] And we don't have to spend a ton of money to do it.

[00:08:44] So very grateful for that.

[00:08:46] So good.

[00:08:47] Awesome.

[00:08:48] All right.

[00:08:48] I'm Abby.

[00:08:49] I host and edit the podcast.

[00:08:51] And then I also oversee copy for the website.

[00:08:55] And I would say maybe the official checker offer of the list.

[00:09:00] I just love getting things done.

[00:09:02] And so that is a main part of my role here.

[00:09:05] We're grateful.

[00:09:06] And if you guys haven't gone to our website to check out the content Abby's helping create, it's incredible.

[00:09:13] Make sure you check it out.

[00:09:14] Yes.

[00:09:14] Ask for my faith.com.

[00:09:16] Okay.

[00:09:17] Personal best to let our listeners in a little bit.

[00:09:20] My husband and I have been on a journey of building our family for a few years.

[00:09:24] And this last year, we decided to pursue adoption and recently got fully approved all of the paperwork with the new agency.

[00:09:34] And yeah, we're excited to see what God is going to do.

[00:09:38] And yeah, my three friends here all wrote recommendations.

[00:09:42] And so I'm so grateful for you guys.

[00:09:46] Thanks for making it easy to write a recommendation.

[00:09:49] Amen.

[00:09:49] Okay.

[00:09:50] Oh, okay.

[00:09:51] Professional best.

[00:09:52] I've actually been working with a company to help improve SEO on our website.

[00:09:57] And we have been seeing phenomenal growth the last few months.

[00:10:02] It's like, it's working.

[00:10:04] So I'm so, so glad for that.

[00:10:06] Amen.

[00:10:07] Just to kind of show in January of this year, we had about 4,000 monthly website visitors.

[00:10:15] And then looking back at last month in November, we had 11,000.

[00:10:21] So big improvement there.

[00:10:24] So that is so fun.

[00:10:25] And then, yeah, we've increased over 80% for unique visitors on the website.

[00:10:31] So fun.

[00:10:32] That's amazing.

[00:10:33] Great work, Abby.

[00:10:34] Thank you.

[00:10:35] All right, Jessica.

[00:10:36] All right.

[00:10:37] So Abby, you mentioned it earlier.

[00:10:39] I get to host alongside you on the podcast.

[00:10:42] And I also have a main, kind of the main role in making sure we get awesome people on our podcast

[00:10:49] for us to interview.

[00:10:51] And selfishly, I love it.

[00:10:53] That's one of my favorite parts of what I get to do.

[00:10:55] Just meeting new people and having genuine conversations with them.

[00:10:59] So let's see.

[00:11:01] My personal best is probably that this year we had a lot of big decisions to make.

[00:11:09] And honestly, I don't like making decisions.

[00:11:11] I'd rather just let other people make the decisions and go with the flow.

[00:11:15] But so, yeah.

[00:11:16] So A, even making the decisions is the best.

[00:11:20] But one of them really impacts our family.

[00:11:24] And all of life for us, we're actually going to be relocating our family.

[00:11:30] And that's a big, it's kind of a big deal.

[00:11:33] We're not moving down the street or even in every part of the state.

[00:11:36] We're headed down to the Nashville area in Tennessee.

[00:11:40] So big deal.

[00:11:42] And you're growing a human.

[00:11:43] And I'm growing a human.

[00:11:44] That'll be, that'll be a fun, a fun little time in the spring.

[00:11:48] So, and then professional best.

[00:11:52] I mean, man, being a mom is a big part of my professional life, I guess.

[00:11:56] And then, but then also, I mean, this podcast, it's just been so fun to look back at the guests

[00:12:03] that we've had.

[00:12:04] And truly, I feel like I learned so much from the guests that we have on the podcast.

[00:12:10] Right?

[00:12:11] So again, selfishly, I'm grateful I get to be on this hosting and hearing all of these wonderful

[00:12:16] people share their stories and getting to learn from them.

[00:12:20] And I feel like I've taken a big step forward myself in sharing my faith.

[00:12:23] So that's fun.

[00:12:24] We'll have to do like a share our own stories.

[00:12:26] Yes, that'd be so fun.

[00:12:28] That's awesome.

[00:12:28] Yeah.

[00:12:29] And then as we look back at the podcast over the year, I mean, we don't have a ton of numbers

[00:12:34] to share.

[00:12:34] One of the numbers I can share with you is that we had, I think, 24 guests.

[00:12:39] That was my rough counting.

[00:12:41] And then maybe three, four, five, somewhere in there, bonus episodes, which means our guests

[00:12:47] had so many great stories to share that we couldn't fit them all into two episodes and

[00:12:51] we had to split it up.

[00:12:52] We had to have them back for a third kind of bonus episode.

[00:12:56] So that is so much fun.

[00:12:57] And we posted every week.

[00:12:59] Right.

[00:12:59] So every week, haven't missed one.

[00:13:00] We're at 50, 50 weeks so far.

[00:13:02] So that's great.

[00:13:04] Awesome work, guys.

[00:13:05] Okay.

[00:13:05] So fun.

[00:13:06] Yeah.

[00:13:07] And one thing that we wanted to do was take some of our comments and get to share those

[00:13:12] from the podcast.

[00:13:14] So team, I just texted you some comments and we're just going to kind of popcorn around

[00:13:19] and read what other people are saying about the podcast.

[00:13:24] And there's some social media and website things in here too.

[00:13:27] I did the first one.

[00:13:28] Yes, go ahead.

[00:13:28] Okay.

[00:13:30] This one says, excuse me.

[00:13:32] This one says, hi, friends.

[00:13:34] Oh my goodness.

[00:13:35] I am loving your podcast today.

[00:13:36] I listened to the Samantha Fisher episode.

[00:13:38] Shout out to Samantha.

[00:13:41] And I didn't want to pause it when I got to work.

[00:13:44] So good.

[00:13:45] I feel like running through a brick wall for Jesus after listening to these stories of

[00:13:48] how people are so boldly and obediently sharing their faith with others and how God works through

[00:13:54] them to reach the lost.

[00:13:55] You have a really special thing going.

[00:13:57] Thank you so much, friends.

[00:13:58] Wow.

[00:13:59] Snaps.

[00:13:59] That's so amazing.

[00:14:00] I'll take the next one.

[00:14:02] It's just as long.

[00:14:03] It's from Luca.

[00:14:04] It says, I love this website.

[00:14:07] Thank you, Luca.

[00:14:08] Thanks, Luca.

[00:14:11] Okay.

[00:14:11] Annie texted me the other day.

[00:14:13] She said, love, love, love the podcast.

[00:14:15] And I signed up for the newsletter and the guide about sharing faith.

[00:14:19] I had no idea about this until Samantha was on the show.

[00:14:22] The Lord is moving.

[00:14:24] So good.

[00:14:25] And that's like a biblical answer using love three times.

[00:14:29] Good job.

[00:14:30] Good job, Annie.

[00:14:32] Yeah.

[00:14:32] If we take a look at social media, so we're talking about impact.

[00:14:35] So we've had over 17,000 interactions on Facebook and those are shares, reactions,

[00:14:41] comments.

[00:14:42] A lot of those comments are powerful and simple saying amen.

[00:14:46] We've had a couple of people say, thank you for sharing these Bible verses.

[00:14:50] It's just been so cool to see that impact on social.

[00:14:53] Wow.

[00:14:54] That's amazing.

[00:14:55] Another one is ask what my faith makes learning to follow Jesus and share him with others

[00:15:00] simple.

[00:15:01] The stories that are shared will encourage you, challenge you, and perhaps even make you laugh.

[00:15:06] What a good one.

[00:15:08] Okay.

[00:15:08] A podcast one.

[00:15:09] With so many podcasts to choose from today, it's refreshing to listen to something so positive

[00:15:15] and uplifting.

[00:15:16] I also enjoy hearing about the variety of guests.

[00:15:18] Yes.

[00:15:19] Right.

[00:15:20] Another podcast one is I love hearing the open and honest conversations that occur about what

[00:15:26] it's like to be a believer in today's world.

[00:15:29] Yeah.

[00:15:30] Yes.

[00:15:30] That's so good.

[00:15:30] There's a lot of honesty.

[00:15:33] This is a comment about Damon Adcock.

[00:15:36] It said, this man speaks the truth and he lives a life he tells you about.

[00:15:40] He inspires people to do the same with their faith.

[00:15:47] Hey.

[00:15:47] That's so good.

[00:15:48] Thanks, Damon.

[00:15:50] For joining us.

[00:15:50] And then our last comment is from Elise Gasper, who is our youngest podcast interviewee.

[00:15:54] She said, very inspiring.

[00:15:56] It takes away the fear of sharing my faith.

[00:15:59] Thanks, Elise.

[00:15:59] Yes.

[00:16:00] If Elise can do it in high school, which is the most-

[00:16:03] We got this.

[00:16:04] Yeah.

[00:16:04] We got this.

[00:16:06] Cool.

[00:16:06] I love seeing just the, yeah, the impact that the podcast is making, like Jess was talking

[00:16:11] about, and social media, and the website.

[00:16:14] So fun to get to share those.

[00:16:16] Okay.

[00:16:17] And so now we're going to look ahead into what is next year going to look like.

[00:16:23] Dan has set some ambitious goals for us this year.

[00:16:28] Dan, do you want to share what those goals are going to look like?

[00:16:32] Well, I am just excited about this.

[00:16:34] You know, as we've discussed them as a team, it is so cool to see, like, this is actually

[00:16:38] possible.

[00:16:39] And so our goals in 2025, we're stepping out into faith, some big goals, but it's to reach

[00:16:45] 5 million people on Facebook with a message of hope and faith, produce 50 podcasts that

[00:16:51] inspire and encourage people to explore Jesus, and welcome 150,000 people to our website,

[00:16:58] offering resources to grow in their faith and share it with others.

[00:17:03] We're excited about that.

[00:17:06] Yes.

[00:17:07] We also have some podcast updates.

[00:17:10] We have absolutely loved the podcast that we're doing, and next year is going to look

[00:17:17] a little different.

[00:17:18] So we're giving you a teaser.

[00:17:19] We're going to be coming back January, late January, and telling you more about our plans

[00:17:25] for next year with the podcast.

[00:17:27] But we're excited to continue to have incredible guests, a variety of guests, and even some

[00:17:33] different things we may be talking about.

[00:17:35] So more to come on that.

[00:17:37] Yeah.

[00:17:38] And you guys are going to hear a lot more of Dan's voice on the podcast, which is so exciting.

[00:17:43] I apologize in advance.

[00:17:46] We'll have fun.

[00:17:50] Love that.

[00:17:51] Thank you.

[00:17:51] Okay.

[00:17:52] So for the website, we're going to continue to build content that is impactful and empowering.

[00:17:59] And we also want to be continuing to send out emails that just kind of touch base with

[00:18:05] our audience every month and point them towards those resources.

[00:18:09] So we're going to be investing more time in the website content and in emails.

[00:18:14] I love that.

[00:18:17] Erin, will you share a little bit about social media?

[00:18:20] Yeah, happy to.

[00:18:20] So this year, I think our goal was to reach people to truly grow our following.

[00:18:24] And yes, we want that to continue into 2025.

[00:18:27] But I think we want people to engage with each other and more importantly, with other people

[00:18:32] and sharing their faith.

[00:18:33] So we want those conversations to take place and for the stories that we share to reach

[00:18:37] and inspire thousands of others to do the same thing.

[00:18:40] And we trust that God will make that happen.

[00:18:43] That's so awesome.

[00:18:44] And it's going to happen.

[00:18:46] And guys, how this all happens is by the hard work that this team and many others put into

[00:18:51] it.

[00:18:52] You know, we've had some great success with Samantha and Brad Derry, who's helping us with

[00:18:56] our website and SEO.

[00:18:58] And we have been very blessed to be able to do this.

[00:19:01] Going forward, we need more people to partner with us financially in supporting the ministry.

[00:19:09] As you know, it takes money to do this.

[00:19:12] The IRS is saying, hey, you can't be self-funding this as much as you do.

[00:19:16] And so unfortunately, we have to, just to keep our status, we have to get more people involved.

[00:19:23] And this is not a normal ministry.

[00:19:26] This is a ministry where every dollar you have goes out into reaching people.

[00:19:33] We're not taking salaries, no officers taking a salary here.

[00:19:37] We are reaching people and doing this because we see the need.

[00:19:42] We see that the online world is going to not be a positive impact, you know, where it's

[00:19:49] heading.

[00:19:49] So, hey, how can we make a difference?

[00:19:51] And that's why we're trying to make a difference for those 5 million people or the 150,000 people

[00:19:56] that will join us on our website.

[00:19:58] So if you guys want to, we would love to have you partner with us financially.

[00:20:03] You can do that on askwellmyfaith.com.

[00:20:05] And there's a giving button.

[00:20:07] You know, a reoccurring monthly gift is so helpful to us.

[00:20:11] And that money goes directly out there.

[00:20:14] So Erin, if someone gave $35, what is the reach that that can do for Facebook?

[00:20:19] So on average, we reached 27,000 people with $35 spent, which is amazing.

[00:20:25] Wow.

[00:20:25] And that's just getting it more efficient.

[00:20:27] So let's just say if someone gives $5, that can by itself can reach over 2,000 people.

[00:20:33] Easily.

[00:20:34] What did like the last six weeks, if someone invested $210, like six weeks of $35, what

[00:20:40] did that give us the last six weeks?

[00:20:42] It gave us 170,000 people for our reach.

[00:20:46] Wow.

[00:20:47] 170,000.

[00:20:47] I mean, this is just amazing.

[00:20:50] And obviously engagement goes in there in many more numbers.

[00:20:52] But if God's called you to help us partner with us for $5, $35, 200 or more, we are grateful

[00:20:59] for any amount.

[00:21:00] It's going directly into marketing.

[00:21:02] We're excited to be reaching these people.

[00:21:04] So thank you.

[00:21:06] Again, askaboutmyfaith.com.

[00:21:08] There's a give button on there.

[00:21:10] Thank you guys.

[00:21:11] Yes.

[00:21:11] Yes.

[00:21:11] And when you're on the website, you can also sign up for our email list, which we'll be

[00:21:16] engaging with more this next year.

[00:21:19] So two little action items for anybody listening.

[00:21:23] And to all of our listeners, we are just so grateful for you.

[00:21:28] This has been such a fun ride.

[00:21:30] And yeah, I think Dan and Jess have both said this, but the podcast and the content on the

[00:21:37] website and social media has been so inspiring in my personal life.

[00:21:42] And the impact goes so far, which is so sweet.

[00:21:47] So thank you all.

[00:21:48] We love our little community.

[00:21:50] Feel free to leave a comment and share this podcast.

[00:21:55] And I think we'll just sign off.

[00:21:58] So well, hey, can I end with the last thing that I feel God's saying for us?

[00:22:03] Absolutely.

[00:22:04] For 2025.

[00:22:05] Yes.

[00:22:05] The best is yet to come.

[00:22:08] Hey, let's go.

[00:22:09] Let's make 2025 amazing.

[00:22:12] Thank you, everybody.

[00:22:14] The best is yet to come.