What's going on, Pursuers? Welcome to The Pursuit
of Calling, the podcast that provides you with
the strategies and tools needed to successfully
discover and pursue your calling. Whether it's
through inspiring stories, thought -provoking
interviews, or quick, insightful episodes on
personal growth and development, we've got you
covered. I'm your host, Thomas Carney. Enjoy
the episode. All right, everyone. Welcome to
this episode of the Pursuit of Calling podcast.
And today, you'll see him right now, I'm here
with Norbert Elnar. Is that how you say it? Yeah.
Great. I'm here with Norbert Elnar. We met through,
again, as you've seen with a lot of my previous
guests, through Maxwell Leadership. We are both
Maxwell certified. coaches speakers or whatever
track we decided to go down in the in that respect
and i met norbert recently we had a conversation
on zoom he told me like he lives over in germany
so we're recording here at noon here and 6 p
.m there which was like a different kind of setup
for me which i never like um so like right so
i never had to like coordinate with that far
of a uh time zone difference so that was so this
is honestly really cool And it's cool to be able
to talk to somebody. Technology is amazing. To
be able to talk to somebody on the other side
of the world. And guys, I want to share a story
with you. I learned recently that you can see
the book behind him if you're watching this on
YouTube. You see I Am A Masterpiece. It's a children's
book that he wrote. So go ahead and check that
out. And we'll put the link in the show notes.
But anyway, that's more than an intro. So Norbert,
who? Norbert, thanks for being on the show. Well,
Thomas, thank you so much for that kind introduction,
and I am so honored to be on your show. Definitely.
Thank you for your yes. This is honestly one
of the coolest things that I get to do with the
podcast, is just be able to talk to so many cool,
dynamic people. And now with somebody over in
Germany and all this other world, like I said,
it's just really cool. But Norbert, so for those...
I'm going to assume most of the people that are
going to be listening to this episode aren't
going to know who you are. So share with us a
little bit about your backstory and how God first
started stirring things up in you. I know you
shared some stuff with me on our previous call,
but let's start diving into that. Wow. Again,
thank you so much, Thomas, for the huge honor
to be on your show. It's, again, thankful for
technology that we get to do this. Hi, everybody.
My name is Norbert Elnar. I am born Filipino
and I was raised in the Philippines, but now
I live in Berlin, Germany. I am married to my
beautiful German wife, Sophie, who I met during
a volunteering. stint i would call it the stint
i met my wife in the in a volunteering season
of my life in south africa so we met there we
got together there now that's why i'm here living
in germany so um it's it's oh that question is
really loaded i think um when when when somebody
asks me about how you know how how my life went
and how I pursued my calling, I would always
say that it all started even when I thought I
was even called. And in general, I was a senior
art director for a multinational advertising
agency back in the Philippines. And I really
loved what I did. I mean, it's not every day
you get to make commercials and you get to...
really pursue what you're passionate about and
i love branding marketing creative work and i'm
really obsessed with creative work so um i went
through that field and it was only until a certain
time at least before around 2013 2014 when we
started to create we started to do some political
advertising and this is when it hit me really
hard about how powerful advertising is because
by definition, advertising is paid for non -personal
communication. And we are made to create messages
on promoting something. It's cool when you start
to promote coffee and bread and consumer products.
It's really fun. But when we started to do political
campaigns, it hit me hard. And then I realized
that, oh my goodness, we're not just pushing
our product. We are actually crafting a message
that will determine the nation's future. And
this was really scary for me because I was too...
I was afraid that I might be on the wrong side.
And because that was our job, we had to do what
we do. So that weight didn't sit very well with
me in the beginning. It was fun, but I really
felt it was really difficult. And that's where
I decided, I told God, like, God, this has to
change because I love what I do. It feels very
heavy and I was almost too scared to make a mistake.
And true enough, what happened was I actually
quit my job because I couldn't align myself anymore
with what I was doing, with what I love doing
and who and what I was serving. So it threw me
off. I had this moment when I was in a church
service, and literally, there was a call that
was made by the pastor. And in that moment when
this altar call was made, I realized that God
brought up an impression in my heart that I had
when I was young. And it's sort of like, It was
like a switch that was flicked, then turned on.
And then I realized like, oh my goodness, I feel
like I'm called to do something more. So I said
yes to God in that particular service, not knowing
exactly what I said yes to. I just realized that,
you know what, I love what I do, but I said yes
to the idea that God, you can use me to do something
with what I can. what i have what where i'm at
right now and you take care of it let me just
tell me what to do i'll do it yeah and this was
a very dangerous prayer because this decision
this answering of the call led me to south africa
in 2015 so i left everything i left a promising
career of advertising nobody understood what
i did why i did that just went to South Africa
and did this biblical internship. And during
this time, here in this period, which was supposed
to be only a year, became like four. And this
is where the entire story changed because I realized
that when you align your passions with a bigger
purpose, it unlocks a huge destiny. I realized
how powerful professional advertising, marketing,
and branding is when it's applied to kingdom
-minded, purpose -driven endeavors. And when
these two things mix, then it exploded like crazy.
And since then, I'm so passionate about serving
brands who really champion purpose. core is purpose
and purpose is not an afterthought whose brands
who are called to do something greater than for
themselves than themselves and they are pursuing
this calling on the brand themselves so yeah
and that's why i ended up doing what i do and
now i really help uh transform businesses and
organizations into influential impactful and
profitable kingdom brands through the kingdom
brand compass framework that we developed along
the process well you said that you like like
you're focusing on with companies to uh not have
purpose be an afterthought yeah right and whenever
you first enter these companies are is that sometimes
the case where it is an afterthought and you're
wanting and you need to bring purpose to the
forefront or is this already something that they
want to pursue so um It can be both. Sometimes
they already do something that gave them some
sort of income and they feel this emptiness,
right? So I come in with our Kingdom Brand Compass,
help them find that greater purpose and meaning
about their company. Or sometimes somebody comes
into our program who's really... who has that
big desire or that righteous anger who wants
to pursue something and who wants to start right.
So then we also help them craft the brand based
on their faith and based on the purpose that
was given on their lives. Man. I'm really interested
in diving into that Kingdom Compass framework
that you're talking about. Could you give like
a high level? I don't know if you have something
like that on top of your head, but do you have
like a high level version of that you could share
with us? Yeah, sure. The thing is, the reason
why it's a compass first is that the compass
is a very good illustration of direction. And
as businesses, as brands, we are thrown into
an ocean. of noise sort of right and it's like
you have a ship in the ocean and then your ship
first of all needs to needs to float and your
ship is either big or small whatever kind of
ship that is it has to navigate this ocean and
you have to go from point a to point b making
sure you do not sink and that you deliver the
right message the right cargo of what you of
what you're carrying for your audience so and
the reason why we It's a compass because the
compass always points you to your true north.
And the north part of our compass, we call it
actually the mandate. And the mandate is the
anchor scripture that really grounds your business.
This is the divine why of why you're doing what
you're doing. So no matter what craziness. And
no matter how things are going around, no matter
what storm your brand goes through, it will always
point you back to your true north. So that's
very important in the Kingdom Brand Compass.
The very first step is actually figuring out
the mandate of your business, why God has called
you to do business organization. The compass
has six major pillars. So it starts with the
first step is, of course, the mandate. This is
your define why. That's the northern part of
the compass. The southern part is called, we
call it the ministry. It's actually, in marketing
terms, we call it like the target audience, basically.
So this section answers like, who am I uniquely
called to serve? So in Kingdom Branding, we do
not, see people as cash cows. We treat them as
real people. We try to educate the brands to
see people for who they are, that God called
you to serve a specific group of people. So this
is what the ministry part of the compass does.
The eastern part is called the mission. And in
the mission, we answer the question, what is
the excellent service or product I deliver? So
in this area, we challenge, we help you craft
an excellent product or service in the way that
you communicate that. So that's because we represent
God across the board. So it has to be excellent,
not perfect. but excellent and on the west side
um we have uh this pillar called the media so
it's really just a section that answers where
do i strategically show up because um you know
media can be overwhelming already by itself so
we try to like help the business owners and the
leaders to think it through what kind of platforms,
what kind of media that your branches show up
to have the maximum impact without losing your
mind. Right? And I'm sure you know what I mean
because it's so overwhelming with how media is
being presented to us. And a lot of people, Thomas,
They approach me and say, I really don't want
to be part of this media economy and social media
is not this. It's too, forgive my term, sometimes
people think that it's too evil. People have
this idea of really demonizing social media.
But I think it's not right because it's a tool.
It's not supposed to be meant for evil. So we
as Kingdom brands need to shine light in this
area. That's why we need to be present in media.
So yeah, that's the media. And in the intersections
between the compass, the north, the northeast,
southeast, and all these other parts is called
the movements. So the movement is basically answering
the question, how do all the parts of the brand
work in rhythm? So these are the... The brand
expressions, your brand assets are here. We help
you craft your reasons to believe, how you write
your copy, how you do your tone, your personality.
Everything is in there. And then at the center
of the compass where your needle is, that needle
that points to the north always, is called the
message. It is the unchanging truth that your
brand stands for. This is the unique brand identity
and purpose, the greater purpose of your brand
that's being presented to the world. And it always
points back to your divine mandate as a business.
So yeah, that was like the bigger overview. I
hope that was helpful. No, no, that was great.
Hopefully I'm able to get like a... summary of
that in the show notes for for people that want
to go back and see what see and like you mean
you can rewind or you can go to the show notes
and hopefully i should be able to have a um summary
of what he just said uh for you guys so you guys
can uh look into that for yourselves as well
because i feel like you could also not just attribute
that to a business but contribute and contribute
that to an individual Absolutely. We found out
that it works for any kind of brand, be it a
personal brand, be it a non -profit or a retail
business or whatever kind of business. Because
I think even in the age of AI, these branding
concepts are so fundamental and so foundational
that it's worth stopping and figuring it out.
Because these are the core pillars that your
business should be built upon. And it makes the
brand agile. It makes the brand adaptable into
any situation, no matter how the mediums change.
So we're very passionate about really helping
the brands figure out. I mean, Thomas, you know
what it is when you're not walking in your calling,
right? Right. And this is exactly the same tool
that we're trying to implement for brands because
we also believe that brands are called into something.
Now, if you miss your calling, then I think it's
just a waste of resources. Yeah, like if you're
not working or living your calling, you kind
of feel lost, nameless. And that's what the compass
is for. Absolutely. I love that you used a compass
because whenever you're... following and having
something that guides you on the path that you're
supposed to be on, even if you don't know what
that path is, as long as you're keeping within
on the path that this compass is guiding you
on, on these guardrails, then you're able to
pursue what God has, like you said, divinely
bestowed on your life. And one thing you said,
and which I think we talked about previously,
whenever we talked last, you said that the north
part of the compass is the mandate, and that's
your divine why. And I think that's also, whenever
I ask you what calling is to you, it's kind of
the same phrase you use, I believe. You say your
divine why. Is that right? Yes. In reference
to the compass, yes. The calling is my divine
why, and it's that unique. purpose that god places
you know in my heart and um it's really it's
it's really less about finding out but more about
listening of of what he has for for me or for
the brand or for the organization I'm interested.
I'm curious. Whenever you would say, and I apologize.
Go for it. No worries. Whenever you were asked,
what is your calling? What is your purpose? You
might have already said it. That's why I was
saying I apologize. But if you were to be asked
directly, what is your calling? What would you
say? So it actually took me a while to be able
to get an answer to that question. And I think
even in the process of doing the Brand Compass
and all this transition of my life, I really
had a difficult time. moment of actually first
understanding what a call is and then defining
it for myself. Because when you're young, I really
thought calling was a career that you choose.
And that was it. That was the example. that we
normally see, that we're told. People ask you,
what do you want to do when you grow up? I thought
that was a calling already. And of course, it
changes over time. And I never knew what it meant
for me. And I think it's safe to say that I only
defined my calling when I sort of like, was about
to turn 30. And in the season where I told you
earlier, when I was in that space where I was
trying to really find myself in terms of my alignment
with my career, with my life, with my divine
purpose, this is when I started to question the
call on my life because I didn't know if I was
called to something. Because when you're in a
comfortable situation, you don't think about
these things. And I'm like, But that certain
unrest and unsettlement in my heart was the one
that was nudging. So when I went to South Africa,
I was part of a biblical internship program,
right? And in the middle of this, the first year
of our program, there was a preacher who talked
about calling. And it was a very simple example.
When Samuel was called into ministry when he
was 12, this very famous children's story of
Samuel, Samuel. And then he goes up, goes to
Eli three times, and this whole very powerful
Bible story. And in my head, because I read that
so many times in Sunday school, there's a picture
in my head of how that looks like. But once he
unpacked this scripture for us, I remember the
preacher said that, There was a time in your
life, and I think he did not say that this is
a formula, but for me, this worked. It spoke
to me a lot. He said, you might want to remember
a time in your childhood when you felt something
supernatural was spoken over you or was prompted
in your heart because that might be the specific
call of God on your life. Thomas, I was so shocked
when this was said. I remember bawling in that
service because when he pointed this out in the
scripture, especially on the story of Samuel,
one situation came into my mind immediately.
It was when I was around, I think I was 16 turning
17. I remembered out of nowhere, and it was so
clear in my memory, that I felt like God said
to me, you know what? You need to prepare because
something crazy will happen before you turn 30.
And that was it. And I, of course, as a 16 -year
-old kid, I would have, I'm like, yeah, 30, too
old, too far, whatever, you know? I never really
thought about it much. And I would have not thought
it was, you know, what was that? Like, where
did that come from? But when this was brought
up like 15 years later, it confirmed what I felt
was my call on my life. And I realized in that
moment that, oh my word, I am actually living
in that crazy moment that God was talking about
15 years ago. And this was the confirmation of
the call. And then I realized in that process,
in that entire year, I really tried to capture
what I was called to do. And as an artist, as
a branding person, it's very important to me
to really be clear on what the message is. So
in this process, I realized that my call was
to preach the gospel. And this is the entire
thing. I am called to preach the gospel, to bring
the gospel of Jesus wherever I go through my
creativity, which actually belongs to the Lord.
And I've been really checking on that call every
now and then. If I am doing that, then I am...
I feel the peace that I'm doing what I'm called
to do. And no matter what it looks like, whether
it's on a podcast, whether it's on a Sunday preaching
or just talking to clients or whatever that encounter
is, if I am aligned to that call, then it gives
me peace and I'm assured that I'm on the path
where I'm supposed to be. No, that's awesome.
The way you talk about it is like, it's a lot
how i like to view it as like a calling is like
the lens that you see your life through um there
is a uh someone that was on a previous episode
like maybe over a year ago they like use that
term lens and i was like i can't see it any other
way now and i'm like uh because you see like
i i have like a phrase for michael from what
i believe my calling is To provide people with
the tools needed to successfully discover and
pursue their God -given calling. And I see my
life through that lens. So I'm like, am I doing,
like you said, am I doing what I need to be doing
in this instance? Even at my job, I still have
a full -time job. So even at my job, am I doing
that? Am I building people up and not tearing
them down so that they can be doing what they're
called to do? And, or to bring them, or even
to bring them to Christ so that they can find
out what they're called to do. And like, like
that's with, like, I kind of did something similar.
Like I had a set something separate from my,
it was, it was part of my calling, but it was
more, it was like a goal I had set out. And I,
after reading a book, I think you grow rich.
I don't know if you ever read it by Napoleon
Hill, but I, I wrote down, I wrote out like what
he's like, write down like from like, this was
probably like financial goals. I write down a
financial goal and I write down everything you're
going to do in order to get reach that goal.
And I was like, well, I'm going to use my podcast.
I'm going to help people on my podcast, my coaching,
which I wasn't a coach yet. And, uh, and I'm
going to sell these different merch items, uh,
that, that's going to promote, uh, promote the
brand. I didn't know what was going on on yet.
And I, we realized just maybe like a month ago,
I was like, literally like everything I said
in that besides the money amount, but everything
I said in that, like in order to get from where
I want, uh, from where I am to where I want to
be, like everything I wrote down in that list,
I started doing without even like referring back
to referring back to it. And I wrote it down
over a year ago. I used to read it every single
day to keep it like ingrained in my mind. And
I'm at the starting block. I feel like I set
that foundation and I'm still need to build stuff
on top of it in order to like really get to where,
get to where I want to be. So I can reach the
people I feel called, I believe I'm called to
reach, but the, but like, I don't know if I glory
to God that like that actually what I wrote down
there is actually what I ended up pursuing. And
I always did that while I was pursuing him. as
my as the core focus as like nothing is like
um i think kind of what you said like similar
to what you said before people sometimes demonize
making money and demon and like it's not and
i'm like people sometimes demon like it's like
yeah i'm gonna sell these products because i
want people to um put money towards something
not towards me but like invest put their money
into something that's going to benefit their
lives and whenever you put something that you
value if you pay money which is something you
value towards something you value you're going
to value it more absolutely and and like um that's
why i have the like i mentioned my shirts earlier
um they say uh you were made for more on the
back and it's like the shirt isn't for you who's
wearing it it's for the people around you who
are going to read the shirt that's cool that's
amazing and And I think I really appreciate what
you do here because I think this year podcast,
you know, it is a springboard for people who
are even in the crossroads of their life thinking
about considering that they're called to a higher
purpose. And I mean, back in the days, I did
not have podcasts like this that I could sort
of like at least help me reflect, you know, like
you're just in the dark. And I think it's very
important what you do here. And I just want to
give you a really good shout out that this topic
on calling on purpose is so important, especially
for the young people who are really. trying to
figure out uh this whole thing and i think the
sooner you embrace your calling the sooner you
unlock this part of your life the the better
it it gets and it's not going to be easy but
it will definitely change the game oh for sure
for sure and like For those who have listened
to this podcast for a little bit, they know I've
said all the things that I just said. I've said
them so many times before. Whether you heard
it for the first time or heard it for the thousandth
time, it's like, I want to drill this into people's
heads. Your calling is the lens that you see
your life through. When you figure out your calling,
your life changes. Absolutely. but no man i appreciate
you diving into this with me and like i know
the um people can even take that king even if
they're what you're the compass uh that we talked
about even if they don't have a brand even if
they don't have something they can take parts
of that and be like what is my mandate what is
my personal mandate on my life my divine calling
that i can use to be my north star Absolutely.
And sometimes I talk to business owners and coaches
and stuff. And sometimes even non -Christians
approach me about this. And I always tell them,
okay, if there's anything in the compass that
you need to really experience, it's the mandate.
It's exactly that because the rest can really
be figured out and there are technical But there's
no shortcut to getting the mandate. It is a God
revelation. It is something that you need to
experience because once that is unlocked, once
that is revealed, it makes your brand unstoppable
and your life unstoppable as well. And that's
why it's a masterpiece. Masterpieces don't happen
overnight. It takes time. Sometimes it gets messy.
You need to stop, erase, correct, revise. At
the end of it all, at the end of your life, you've
painted this picture. And what kind of picture
have you painted? What kind of masterpiece are
you letting the world see about your life? Yeah,
so that keeps me up at night. That's amazing.
Again, I do really appreciate it. We're running
low on time. Really appreciate you being on the
show today. I guess people that listen to the
podcast with guests, they always know I have
two final questions that I like to ask every
single guest. Just to be able to provide us with
more value that maybe we didn't get that kind
of gives us a different angle of value in life.
So when it comes to resources, whether it be
books, podcasts, videos on YouTube. What's one
of the top resources you'd usually recommend
to somebody? Well, for books, especially for
children's books, I would just promote my book.
And in the most humble way, literally, because
again, we've talked about calling and I've realized
how important our identity in Jesus is. And this
is exactly why I wrote this children's book.
It's to help children already discover and accept
what it means to have an identity found in Jesus.
And this book... is really it's a family project
that we did back in the corona time and it has
its own life it's already been translated into
German so for the German speaking people there
you can also have it in German and it talks about
identity it talks about identity in Jesus and
I think it's the starting point of you know embracing
the call of your life so yeah I just got a message
right before we went on our call. Somebody in
Cyprus just told me that they got a book and
then they started to read the book into their
unborn child because they just found it. It's
very heartwarming. It's such a big blessing and
a huge... It humbles my heart so much that our
book is able to do this. And yeah, glory to God
for that. And in terms of like... marketing and
branding books. I really am a big fan of Donald
Miller and I'm sure he's a very huge figure in
the United States. So he just came out with a
book called Story Brand 2 .0 and it's such gold.
So everything, marketing, messaging, that book
is really the best to get. And then... Podcast
-wise as well. Well, I do have my own podcast.
So it's called Making a Masterpiece where we
really build your faith and inspire your business.
So that's literally what our show is about. We
talk about faith, entrepreneurship, creativity,
marketing, branding, and all the good things
in between. So Thomas will be there. I'm excited
to have you on our show as well, Thomas. Yeah,
and then in terms of also in practical terms
of building a brand and growing a business, I
listen to Craig Groeschel's Leadership Podcast
and the Amy Porterfield Show. So these are really
amazing shows that, I mean, you listen to one
and implement one thing, and I tell you, it changes
the entire. business so that's how I've also
managed to grow my own business just applying
little things from the wisdom of these people
and yeah I think And of course, there's so much
more, but those are my favorites. Fantastic.
I got those all written down. I'm definitely
going to get those links, hopefully for all of
them, but definitely for making a masterpiece
for your podcast. And then I have a masterpiece
that I mentioned in the intro that I just mentioned
with you. The final question is... Who do you
know that I should know? This is a question I
know you might have heard John Maxwell say before.
This is one that I've learned is very beneficial
to me and the podcast. Well, I would say also
John Maxwell, right? But because we all know
him and he doesn't need any more promotion. But
I think I have this friend who I also met in
South Africa. Our meeting was supernatural. It
was a divine way of meeting. And she hosts this
podcast called Talking Purpose. So I think it
complements so much on the topic of calling.
And her name is Katie Booth by Kung. And I will
send you the link to her show. And she's the
host of Talking Purpose. And she talks about...
different topics on sustainability, on retail,
on e -commerce, and a lot of variety of things.
But she's really, I love what she does and how
she presents her show and how faithful she is
in the things that she does. So yeah, I would
recommend go check her show out. Fantastic. Awesome.
Yeah, definitely send me the link to that for
sure. But Norbert, thank you for being on this
episode of the Procedure of Time podcast. For
everyone that has been listening, thank you for
listening to this episode or watching if you
watch on YouTube. Don't forget to share it out
on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen.
Give it a five -star review and we'll see you
next time. Thank you, Thomas.