Welcome to the Christian Business Growth Podcast where faith meets entrepreneurship. Each episode, we uncover the strategies, stories, and spirit-led insights that help Christian business owners align their goals with God’s call. From practical tips to real-life testimonies, we explore what it takes to build a business that honours Christ, serves others, and impacts the Kingdom.
Episode Summary
In this episode of the Christian Business Growth Podcast, Belinda Terro Mooney shares an honest and deeply encouraging conversation about rebuilding a business later in life, overcoming fear, and learning to trust God through uncertainty.
Belinda’s journey is unique because this is not her first successful business. Years ago, she built a thriving counseling and training practice where she taught addiction counseling, ethics, and self care to professionals seeking continuing education. After stepping away to homeschool her children, she expected retirement to look very different. Instead, God led her back into entrepreneurship through coaching, speaking, and writing.
💬 Sound Bites From This Episode
🔹 Belinda Mooney Quotes
- “Your business will stall in the areas where you believe lies.”
- “Sales becomes easier when you see it as serving people.”
- “God didn’t set us up to fail.”
- “Truth changes what fear freezes.”
- “You can build any skill if you’re willing to work at it.”
- “What really happened was God used truth to break a lie.”
- “Before you build a business, build your relationship with God.”
🔹 Rev. Lyle Quotes
- “There’s power in replacing lies with truth.”
- “Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.”
- “Sometimes growth starts with changing the thought behind the fear.”
- “God often grows us while we’re rebuilding.”
Episode Highlights
How God Guides Entrepreneurs: Overcoming Fear in Business
Learn how to overcome fear in building a business through faith and actionable insights from Belinda Terro Mooney. Discover strategies that empower aspiring entrepreneurs to trust in their journey.
Starting a new business can be daunting, especially when faced with fears and uncertainties. In this post, we’ll explore how God has guided Belinda Terro Mooney through her entrepreneurial journey and the valuable lessons she has learned along the way. With a background in coaching and writing, Belinda shares her experiences and insights that can help others navigate their paths with confidence.
The Journey Back to Business
Belinda’s entrepreneurial journey began many years ago when she owned a training institute and worked as a social worker. After taking time off to homeschool her children, she felt a divine calling to return to business.
Why This Matters: Understanding the motivations behind starting a business can provide clarity and direction.
Key Takeaway: Belinda replaced her teaching income through coaching, allowing her to continue her writing journey.
Belinda had a successful career in the past, but starting anew brought about fears of failure and uncertainty.
Common Mistake: Many entrepreneurs underestimate the emotional challenges of starting over.
Overcoming Fear and Embracing Change
Fear can paralyze any entrepreneur, but Belinda shares how she is learning to overcome her fears through faith.
Why This Matters: Fear is a common barrier that prevents individuals from pursuing their passions.
Key Takeaway: Embracing faith can empower you to face your fears head-on.
Belinda emphasizes the importance of recognizing fears and reframing them with positive affirmations.
Actionable Insight: Replace negative thoughts with affirmations that reinforce your capabilities and purpose.
The Power of Mindset in Sales
Sales can be intimidating, but Belinda shares a mindset shift that can transform the way you approach selling your services.
Why This Matters: Changing your perspective on sales can lead to greater success in attracting clients.
Key Takeaway: View sales as a service rather than a transaction.
"Sales is service, or sales is love; it's about caring for those people enough to get past yourself."
Belinda encourages entrepreneurs to view their offerings as valuable solutions to potential clients’ problems.
Common Mistake: Many entrepreneurs fear selling because they focus on themselves instead of the needs of others.
Building Confidence Through Action
Taking action is crucial for overcoming fear. Belinda shares practical steps that can lead to increased confidence in your business journey.
Why This Matters: Small actions can lead to significant changes in mindset and outcomes.
Key Takeaway: Start with micro-steps to build momentum and confidence.
> "Look at what the thought is... and replace it with the truth."
Belinda discusses cognitive behavioral therapy techniques that can help reframe negative thoughts into empowering actions.
Actionable Insight: Identify one small action you can take today to move closer to your goals.
Wrapping Up
Belinda’s journey illustrates the power of faith in overcoming fear and achieving success in business. By embracing a mindset of service, taking actionable steps, and trusting in divine guidance, entrepreneurs can navigate the challenges they face.
Next Steps: Consider what fears are holding you back and how you can reframe those thoughts to take action.
📝 Full transcript here
Rev. Lyle:
Hello and welcome to the Business Growth Podcast. I'm here with Belinda. She's going to be sharing her story as an author, coach, and speaker. So Belinda, how did God get you started in business?
Belinda Terro Mooney:
Hi Lyle, it's great to be here.
Well, I think basically that this time around, because I was in business before I started homeschooling my children, but this time around I was teaching at a secular college in human services. It felt to me like God was saying that if I could replace that income with coaching, then I could continue to write because I'm primarily an author.
I'm coming to the end of the books that God has said I have to write. Thank God, because it's not an easy process. I'm at the ninth book now that I just finished, and I'm looking to those last two books as an ending point.
But having said that, I still need to earn a living and build my coaching business while I'm writing because the writing itself doesn't provide enough income for me and my family.
So God kind of guided me into coaching to replace the income from teaching and still allow me to keep writing. That's kind of how I got into business this second time.
A long time ago I was in business for myself as a social worker and addiction counselor. I was in private practice and I owned my own training institute where I would teach other people how to help people who had addictions, follow an ethical code, and take care of themselves while they were doing all that.
I had like 24 trainings in my institute and people would come to me for CEUs. That was a long time ago. Now this is more of a coaching and speaking business that goes with the writing that I'm trying to finish doing.
Rev. Lyle:
So God's using your gained wisdom to impact others through coaching.
Belinda Terro Mooney:
Right.
Rev. Lyle:
Tell me, what is one thing you think God has really given you as that thrust, that one thing that pulls you forward?
Belinda Terro Mooney:
I think He's trying to help me overcome the fear and freeze response that I have around building another business.
It wasn't in my plan to do this. I thought I would be retired right now and just giving my skills and gifts away. Because I'm a widow, I need to earn a living, so He's trying to help me overcome all the fear of redoing this all over again.
Sometimes I'm like a little toddler throwing a tantrum. I'll say, “I've already been there and done that. I've already done this, Lord. Do I have to do it again?”
Other days it's like, “What a privilege to serve all these people.”
So I go from my tantrum self to my mature self depending on the day.
But He is showing me that He's going to provide no matter what. When I have extra expenses, He'll send in a client. If a client bails on me, another client comes in to replace them.
It's not the five more clients I wish I had to fully replace the expense, but at least I'm holding steady.
Sales is always a little bit tricky. I think in building a business, the sales part is something a lot of people struggle with.
So that's the part God's working on me with. Trusting that over time it's going to build.
By the time I finished the first business before I shut it down to homeschool my children, that business was making a lot of money. God had really outdone Himself for me. I had people coming for CEUs, private practice clients, conference speaking, writing books and journal articles. I was wildly successful.
He's reminding me that it took ten years to build that. We're not there yet with this. We're only a few years into the process.
So He's working with me through fear and trust. Trusting that He'll always provide.
Rev. Lyle:
That's great. What's God doing right now in your business that you're excited about?
Belinda Terro Mooney:
There are a couple of things with book sales that I'm very excited about. There are also some new speaking opportunities.
Every time I go out to speak, I can sell both my books and coaching services, so that's really helpful.
I'm going to a Writers Guild conference at the end of this month. I also have some women's conferences that are seriously considering having me come speak.
That's exciting because I can bring books, sign books, and help people through the books because the only reason I wrote them is because I thought I could help people. God called me to help people through this writing.
Seeing growth in the coaching clients I work with is also very gratifying. I'm always grateful to God that He brought those people to me.
Rev. Lyle:
You and I have a coach in common, Justin, and he says sales is service or sales is love. It's about caring enough to get past yourself and into helping people.
Tell us about that mindset because I know you deal with it personally.
Belinda Terro Mooney:
When I was a therapist, I did a lot of work with cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT.
There's a great book called Feeling Great by Dr. David Burns. He walks people through how to coach themselves through these thought patterns.
Basically, you look at a thought that's killing you, making you fearful, overwhelmed, or frozen. Then you look at the feelings it produces and the actions or non actions that follow.
So maybe the thought is, “I can't do sales. I don't know what I'm doing.”
The enemy usually puts a little grain of truth in there. Maybe I don't know everything. But that doesn't mean I know nothing.
So we reframe it.
“I may not know everything, but I know enough to help somebody. God gave me these skills and wants me to use them for His glory and their good.”
That thought leads to encouragement, hope, and confidence.
Then you can take a small action. Maybe making a list of five people to contact.
So you go from frozen to moving.
Anytime something gets you stuck, there's usually a lie hidden in the thought behind it.
I had a student one time who believed she was stupid because of things her mother said to her. She was completely shutting down emotionally.
I asked her, “Do you want to get rid of this pain today?”
She said yes.
So we reframed the thought. We looked at the actual facts. She was intelligent, responsible, and doing extremely well in class.
We changed the thought from “I'm stupid” to “I'm an intelligent woman. I can set boundaries. I can succeed.”
Within minutes her whole posture changed.
She said, “Professor, I've been through five years of therapy and in five minutes you've changed my life.”
What really happened was God used truth to break a lie.
Rev. Lyle:
That's powerful. You're taking lies and replacing them with truth and God's Word.
Belinda Terro Mooney:
Exactly. How does God see you? That's what matters.
If you're struggling with negative thoughts, do something about it. Get help. Work through it.
Your business will stall in the areas where you believe lies.
A lot of authors and coaches struggle with sales and social media because of fear and insecurity.
But you can build skills. You just need support and guidance.
Work on your mindset. Work on your self care. Stay steady in what God has called you to do.
Rev. Lyle:
That reminds me of 2 Corinthians 10:5.
“We take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.”
There's power in the Word.
As we shift into business growth, what are some things you're doing to grow your business while redeveloping?
Belinda Terro Mooney:
I'm taking a Pinterest course right now. I've taken sales training. I'm learning Canva.
There are things I don't know how to do yet, but I'm positioning myself so those things don't continue to create fear and stress.
I can only take on one thing at a time, but I'm taking it on.
While I'm coaching, selling books, and sending out speaker packets, the writing is suffering a little, but I'm still writing articles because those help people and they're not as emotionally heavy for me.
There's also a great book I recommend called The Art of Principled Entrepreneurship by Andreas Widmer.
He talks about what business is actually supposed to be. Most business owners aren't greedy people trying to exploit others. Most are trying to serve people through their products and services.
That book helped wash away a lot of the negativity I had around business.
When you listen to the world's version of things instead of God's version, your mind gets flooded with negativity.
The book really helped reorient me to what business is supposed to look like.
Rev. Lyle:
As we wrap up, what's one piece of wisdom you want to leave everyone with today? And how can people get in touch with you?
Belinda Terro Mooney:
Your relationship with God and your commitment to daily prayer are foundational.
Before you do anything else, make sure you're doing what you feel called to do and that you're trying to give God the glory while serving people.
That's living out the commandment to love God and love others.
I can't build a life or business without that foundation.
Reading scripture, prayer, serving people, listening deeply, and taking your thoughts captive to Christ are all foundational to building a healthy life and business.
People can find me at BelindaTerroMooney.com.
My social media platforms are all under my full name, Belinda Terro Mooney.
You can also email me at Belinda@BelindaTerroMooney.com.
I have a self care workbook called My Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Workbook: Creating a Comprehensive Plan for a Calm, Ordered Life.
It helps people build wellness spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, creatively, and relationally.
Rev. Lyle:
Thank you for sharing with us today.
Belinda Terro Mooney:
I'm so happy to be here. I'll be praying for everyone who listens to the podcast and hoping you'll receive the little nugget God wanted you to hear today. God bless you all.