From the Pews to Platform: Best Selling Author, Deacon Harold, Shares His Mission-Driven Technology
In this episode of Nasdaq’s Tech Talk with Jared Yellin, best selling author, and Dynamic Deacon, Harold Burke-Sivers talks about his journey to becoming an entrepreneur and how his passion for speaking birthed his latest tech venture Christian Marketing Solution for Catholic/Christian owned businesses.
Before becoming one of the most sought-after speakers in the church today, Deacon Harold had an interesting journey.
Born to immigrant parents, young Harold Burke-Sivers had that entrepreneurial spirit growing up. His father was a successful singer, nightclub owner and both his parents owned an apartment complex to which he attributes the drive to become an entrepreneur came from.
He would then go on to pursue a degree of Economics and Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame. Harold was the only one in his family to ever go to college. After completing his studies, he worked at the local Police Station. He then decided to enter a monastery to become a Benedictine monk but left to take care of his mother and sister when his parents divorced.
Harold returned to law enforcement and after 23 years of service he would later become the youngest division 1 size school Police Chief at the University of Portland. For the next 11 years, he worked as an instructor for the law enforcement academy mainly specializing in anti terrorism assessment.
Even though he was living a comfortable life with a fulfilling career, in 2012 Harold felt as if he was being called to a different field. He decided to listen to his guiding voice and made the jump to public speaking and writing as a full time job.
“Since then it’s been a tremendous blessing, I’ve been to 23 different countries around the world and I spoke to tens and thousands of people… I’ve written 5 books and have my sixth book coming out this year,” says Deacon Harold.
Never in his life would Harold have thought that he would be living his career in law enforcement to pursue a career as a speaker and writer. At the time he understood that in order to take himself to the next level, he needed to get out of his comfort zone, which he states is the step to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Harold also advises to diversify your income by creating a business model that is in line with your mission, which in his case, was to bring people to a deeper understanding with their faith. Now he has founded different businesses and created multiple partnerships with people from different countries to help him with his mission.
Harold has now ventured into the tech startup industry and has created a marketing solution tool for Catholic/Christian run businesses. Christian Marketing Solution aims to provide all the necessary tools needed to promote faith-driven business. It features unlimited email campaigns, social media scheduling, unlimited opt-in landing pages, and campaigns or event promotions tools.
After joining Project 10K’s ambassador program, Deacon Harold wants to create new innovations that will allow users of his platform to have their own voice and a level of freedom of speech that you can never find in other platforms.
“So what I want to do is create a platform where people are building relationships and interacting with each other. We’re using technology to bring the message to face the world and to create a stronger partnership, to create stronger relationships, to integrate their faith more deeply to the everyday lived experience,” shares Deacon Harold.
NASDAQ is a global electronic marketplace for buying and selling securities. Its focus is on high-tech companies. It is the world’s first electronic exchange where investors can buy and sell on an automatic computer network.
Tech Talk is a NASDAQ Series where Jared Yellin, Founder of Project 10K, interviews tech founders, investors, and strategic advisors on their trials and tribulations in the wild, wild world of tech.