Selvin says that during those months away from business, his financial reserves became depleted.

He had experienced some success as an entrepreneur, but he describes much of that success as essentially creating a job for himself rather than building a large enterprise.

By the time he moved to Tampa, he says he had $199 to his name.

He also knew the move could involve suffering.

But Selvin says that experience strengthened his faith because it confronted something inside him.

His pride.

“It broke my pride,” he says.

Suddenly, he had to depend on others.

He had to trust God.

And he had to trust that the people coming into his life could be part of God's provision during that season.

For Selvin, that moved faith from something abstract toward lived experience.

Steve describes it as experiencing the faithfulness of God personally.

At the time of the interview, Selvin had only been in Tampa for about three weeks. He was still living through the transition rather than describing something that had happened years earlier.

He was staying in Airbnbs, using storage units, had a couple of bikes, and described himself as starting from “ground zero.”

Yet even during that season, Selvin was already serving others.

Since arriving in Tampa, Selvin says he had launched several campaigns through a nonprofit organization.

His focus included helping people experiencing homelessness.

He had participated in two Feed the Homeless campaigns and was preparing for another one around Thanksgiving.

The ministry included efforts such as:

• Food drives

• Clothing drives

• Helping adults experiencing homelessness

• Recognizing that children can also be experiencing homelessness

Selvin speaks about wanting to serve those he describes in biblical terms as “the less fortunate, the lepers, the drunkers, the tax collectors, so to speak.”

At the same time, he maintained his for-profit business, continued doing events, worked with nonprofits, and says he donated a large portion of proceeds toward the work.

What makes the ministry especially personal is the season Selvin himself is living through.

When Steve talks about how hardship can develop compassion for the people someone is called to serve, Selvin agrees.

Living through difficulty changes how he sees the people he encounters.

The conversation also explores how quickly circumstances can change.

Selvin tells Steve about meeting a man who had worked in blockchain and crypto and had recently raised $3.5 million for a startup. According to Selvin, the man walked away after deciding the company was doing things he believed were wrong.

Selvin encountered him later homeless and crying outside a gas station.

For Selvin, it was a reminder that people may be closer to a difficult situation than others realize.

Steve asks every guest a question he says they are rarely prepared for:

How does being in the marketplace disciple you?

Selvin’s answer comes from his experience in business and the secular entertainment world.

He describes that environment as harsh and ruthless.

Rather than saying business discipled him simply through professional success, Selvin explains that its harshness created a void.

It caused him to want something more.

He began searching for a kind of love that the environment around him could not provide.

That search ultimately brought him face-to-face with who he calls “the ultimate healer” and “the ultimate provider”: God.

“Business actually discipled me from its harsh nature by looking for love,” Selvin says. “Looking for that unconditional love.”

In other words, the marketplace did not only teach him how to operate a business.

His experiences there contributed to a deeper spiritual search.

Steve responds to Selvin’s story by sharing a similar season from his own life.

Around age 32, Steve was working as a banker, making six figures, living with his wife and young children in a new home.

Then he believed God was calling him to leave that life and pursue a ministry to entrepreneurs.

Steve quit his job, sold the house, and entered the pet business as part of becoming an entrepreneur himself.

He compares that season to Abraham being called out from what was familiar.

The financial transition became severe.

At one point, Steve says he went to an ATM and discovered he did not have enough money to buy McDonald’s for his children.

“I literally had nothing,” he says, while clarifying that his family still had a home.

The experience humbled him deeply.

Looking back, Steve believes the season helped prepare his heart for the people God was calling him to serve.

That creates one of the strongest connections between Steve and Selvin’s stories:

Both describe seasons in which security disappeared, pride was challenged, and trust in God became more than an idea.

Later in the conversation, Steve asks Selvin about three pillars connected to what Selvin calls “the shift”:

• Discover your true North Star

• Remove the mask

• Align your purpose with action

Selvin explains that the true North Star relates to what a person was designed to become.

But before someone can identify that direction clearly, Selvin says they have to remove the mask.

They have to stop living through a facade.

His explanation is direct:

“God can’t honor who you pretend to be. He can only honor who you actually are.”

Removing the mask also means confronting why the mask existed in the first place.

Selvin describes that as part of a healing process.

Steve then asks whether trials and adversity can help remove those masks.

Selvin says absolutely.

He believes people receive opportunities to walk into who they were designed to be, but they can resist those opportunities.

That resistance can lead into turbulent seasons.

Selvin also offers a caution about interpreting difficulty:

“Everything that’s good is not God, and everything that’s bad is not the devil.”

Sometimes, he says, a person has to work through a difficult process instead of immediately rejecting it.

Once the mask comes off, Selvin says a person can begin seeing more clearly.

Then the true North Star becomes easier to identify.

Selvin describes the true North Star as the version of yourself you are striving to become—and the person God made you to be.

That destination becomes a guiding light.

Once you know where you are trying to go, decisions can be evaluated against that direction.

He gives a simple example.

Imagine someone wants to own a home within five years.

Then a friend has a birthday celebration.

Suddenly, that person could be spending money on:

• A gift

• Dinner

• Drinks

• A new outfit

If owning the house is part of the direction that person has chosen, each of those decisions can be reconsidered.

Maybe they eat before arriving.

Maybe they skip the new outfit.

Maybe they still buy the gift.

The point is not the birthday party itself.

The point is knowing where you are going.

“You have to know where you’re going in order to make those decisions,” Selvin explains.

That is part of the work he says he does with people: helping them understand themselves, identify where they are trying to go, and develop tools to move in that direction strategically while keeping God at the center.

Steve asks whether this process is difficult to do alone.

Selvin responds with biblical relationships:

“There is always a Moses to a Joshua. There’s always a Samuel to a David.”

His point is that people need guidance.

They need counsel.

They need people who have gone before them.

Selvin distinguishes between book knowledge and learned experience—what he describes as the difference between knowledge and “street knowledge.”

Mentors can bring experience from actually walking through what someone else is trying to accomplish.

For Selvin, seeking counsel is not weakness.

It is part of moving into the next space.

Near the end of the conversation, Steve asks Selvin what encouragement he would give to a new entrepreneur who follows Jesus.

Selvin’s answer is immediate:

“Pray your way through it.”

He encourages entrepreneurs to keep God at the head of whatever they begin.

Pray:

• Before developing the plan

• While creating the business plan

• During the launch

• Through difficult seasons

Do not wait until everything goes wrong before calling on God.

Selvin describes prayer not merely as defensive, but offensive.

His message is to begin with God and continue with God through every step.

That advice reflects the larger story Selvin shares throughout the episode.

His journey is not one of having every answer before acting.

It is a journey of seeking God, walking away from familiar things, confronting adversity, starting over, serving others while still rebuilding, and continuing to look for God in the place where he believes God sent him.

From 19 arrests and 12 felonies to entrepreneurship, ministry, and a new beginning in Tampa, Selvin sees his past differently now.

What once looked only like adversity has become, in his words, preparation for what he is walking into today.

Watch full episode on YT - https://youtu.be/9eSDwqWrM5E

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