A Woman of Mission: A Profile of a Catholic Entrepreneur
“Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same Everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations” (St. Francis de Sales).
Women of Mission: Following the Star
The Advent and Christmas seasons are full of journeys. At the beginning of Advent, we read that Mary, soon after conceiving Jesus, traveled what must have been a very physically challenging journey to stay with her cousin Elizabeth. Then, when we celebrate Christmas, we read about Mary and Joseph’s (again, likely very difficult) journey to Bethlehem, where Mary gave birth to her Son. Finally, at Epiphany, we read about the Wise Men’s journey to meet their Savior.
This year has been a journey. Every year is, but 2020, especially, has felt more arduous and demanding than most that we have seen. Traveling through the last 12 months has left many of us feeling weary, disconnected, and distracted.
However, Advent is a gift, a time for us to remember our mission and why we are traveling this journey as Christians seeking a closer union with our Savior.
As we travel through Advent and begin 2021, allow your eyes and heart to be redirected and transformed by the light of Christ. As Mary, Joseph, and the Wise Men followed the star of Bethlehem, let us focus ourselves this Advent on Jesus, our true star, our hope, our light, and our God.
Just as Advent is an invitation for us to grow closer to Christ, it may also be an opportunity to consider what Christ is calling us to. While for many people, 2020 has been a difficult year professionally, it has also been an opportunity to exercise creativity and think outside the box when it comes to our business interests and potential. Perhaps, for you, it has been an invitation to reconsider your personal brand or to dive back into setting goals.
Like Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, we are all on a journey to discover how to live out God’s plan for our lives.
Sometimes, that journey leads to starting a business.
Launching a Career
After working with Catholic Women in Business contributor Sarah Coffey on a project concerning a business idea, I asked her about how she moved into her own business full time this year and how 2020 impacted her opportunities. Coffey started her business — Coffey Copy + Content— in 2018 after freelance writing for about one year. It came naturally to her to support Catholic businesses, as she views the work as part of building up the Church.
Even though Coffey has found her niche, she didn’t happen upon it by chance. She had always been a writer, and after college planned on continuing on with her education by pursuing a grant-funded Ph.D. in history. While Coffey enjoyed history and acquired writing and research skills that she still uses today, she decided that, ultimately, history was not her path. After getting married, she returned to what she knew she loved to do: writing. She started freelancing for sites such as Busted Halo and Radiant Magazine.
Launching a Business
Since college, Coffey has had several jobs, including a research internship with the Hudson Institute and, most recently, as a history/reference assistant for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, financial stress caused the archdiocese to remove her position. She had always planned to eventually take her business full time, and this change was the push she needed to pivot into becoming a full-time business owner in spring 2020, two years after she started her business.
Coffey Copy + Content offers website copy, content creation, email marketing, strategy sessions, social media strategy and management, brand messaging, and copyediting. Coffey says that there is an element of branding in every project that she works on. To understand how her clients express their brand, she takes into account the audience they target and how they serve that audience. Coffey notes that brand voice and communicating in a way that resonates with the audience is important: “Each business is trying to serve and carry out a specific mission, and my job is to put that into words in a way that is compelling and effective.”
Building a Faith-based Business
Along her journey as a writer and to entrepreneurship, Coffey has found a couple of spiritual influences: Fulton Sheen’s writings were very influential for her conversion to Catholicism in college, and St. Francis de Sales’ writings are a daily encouragement. She keeps a prayer card inspired by him at her work desk, and his book “Introduction to the Devout Life” has been pivotal in her spiritual life.
Coffey is passionate about expressing faith as the heart of the businesses she works with. Her focus is on helping her clients convey their faith-based missions in a way that is unique for their audience and effective in terms of building awareness, promoting growth, and generating revenue. As such, her clientele includes primarily Catholic businesses and ministries.
“God gives us stuff in our lives to break down our pride and lies we tell about ourselves. [These elements] contribute to getting closer to Him,” Coffey says. When she approaches a challenge, she asks herself, “How can I give it up to Him?” She notes that everything she experiences in her work at Coffey Copy + Content is an invitation to follow Jesus and learn to surrender the things she can’t control.
Coffey’s path to entrepreneurship is her own and has consisted of unforeseen events that she never could have dreamed of. This Advent — and into 2021 — let us turn our eyes to Jesus for help in becoming all He desires for us.
Molly Franzonello is a wife and health care systems innovator in Washington, D.C. When not driving all over the metropolitan area to see “her people,” you can find her reading, writing, researching, or staycationing at her favorite spots in the District.