Check out the blogs that came out in March and April. There’s one for men (women will want to know this secret too), several for parents, a couple related to the workplace, an update on addiction in general, and two on “What to Do if You Spouse is Struggling.”
We are about to say goodbye to the 2 Samford interns who have been working with STEPS Ministries for the last few months. Ally Prespare and Alexis Hawsey have each done an awesome job, and we wish them the best as they move forward. Soon, we will welcome 2 new Samford interns in late May, William Marlow and Griffin Schou.
STEPS Ministries has entered into a strategic collaboration with Net Institute Center for Addiction and Recovery Education in Florida. We will create a course that Net Institute will offer to their international network of recovery coaches, people in related coaching roles, and businesses. STEPS Business Wellness will also market this course to businesses. It will be usable by companies and also help coaches operate in the workplace by integrating recovery, wellness, and resilience with a focus on addiction prevention. The course will be launched at the annual National Wellness Institute conference in Orlando in October.
STEPS Ministries has reached out to community addiction coalitions in Birmingham. I am presenting at the first parenting event for the Pelham group in May and have met with the Executive Committee for that group. We have a proposal under discussion with Homewood and have worked with Vestavia Hills. Conversations are pending with Mountain Brook and a new group in north Jefferson. A meeting with the Mayor of Hoover has hopefully set the stage for future collaboration. There are several forms of collaboration possible, and we are emphasizing delivering the online course to parents through the coalitions.
Facebook marketing for the online parenting course is being market-tested. We will review the results in early May and decide which way to move forward in those marketing efforts.
Our Facebook page has been given regular posts and updates, and we will transition that role to one of the new interns later in May.
The second blog for parents goes out every 2 weeks in parallel to the original blog.
The Content Library has continued to be populated with a large amount of research material that will be used for future projects and content.
STEPS Ministries manned a table at the Freedom From Addiction Coalition event, I have been to a number of conferences (in person and webinars) to stay up to date on key topics, and I do online research every week on various subjects related to our work.
I have dozens of one-on-one meetings every month: business development with organization; collaboration talks with other groups; research with subject matter experts; and fund-raising. Virtually every one of those meetings also has value in terms of helping shape the strategy and plans for the ministry and to provide a listening ear and some coaching on personal issues which arise.
STEPS Ministries was honored with its first foundation grant in March which will provide helpful funding each quarter for 3 years. We will keep this family foundation anonymous, but they have our heart-felt appreciation for their kindness and generosity. We will begin searching for other local foundations we can apply for starting in May with a desire to be accepted by two more by the end of 2019.
January and February, 2019
Presented 2 sessions at “The Struggle is Real” parenting conference with very positive feedback, operated an information table, and held coaching conversations with attendees.
Presented at church adult Bible study class a talk aligning STEPS to Biblical principles.
STEPS Ministries was a sponsor for the “End Heroin Bham” Walk, ran a ministry information table, conducted on-site coaching talks, and collected email addresses for the blog.
Held STEPS Ministries team meeting with web developer, 2 college interns, digital marketing agency, and bookkeeper. Hosted by Don Menendez, CEO of White Plume Technologies.
Created the STEPS Ministries Online Training Center on the Kajabi platform to house and deliver products, handle related email communications, and conduct eCommerce.
Produced 4 online products: parenting assessment, audio seminar, video seminar with charts, and full-length course. Packaged products into Bronze, Silver, and Gold offerings.
Online course has 6 hours of education with 15 lessons and 43 videos, chart deck, 20 exercises, associated Workbook, pre and post-assessments, and landing page.
For the online course, began “soft launch” and offered the course to a few churches. Will extend outreach with speaking engagements and schools and organizations. Based on that learning, will expand digital content delivery further with other products and audiences.
Hired Electromagnetic Marketing to conduct digital outreach, run Facebook and Google ads, execute a new-client campaign with email nurture, and conduct analytics for the process.
Improved related elements of our content and digital capabilities involving Kajabi, Camtasia, MailChimp, WordPress, YouTube, Evernote, SurveyMonkey, and other software tools.
Launched a new STEPS Proactive Parenting blog specific to parents.
Created a new ministry Facebook page and a Facebook group for parents.
Created a Content Library in Evernote which is being utilized to research and collect content that will be used in future blog articles, seminars, courses, eBooks, and other offerings.
Published 10 blogs and extended their reach with postings on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Reached agreement for future speaking and promotional engagements with First Priority, UAB Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Convene, Chick fil-A, Young Business Leaders, WXJC, Birmingham Christian Family magazine, and Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church.
Presented on white collar addiction prevention to the Kiwanis Club of Hoover Metro.
Presented to a multi-state group of church leaders hosted by Liberty Church.
December, 2018
In the first months of STEPS Ministries, we reached over 200 people through seminars and coaching conversations, more than 500 weekly with the blog, and thousands more via social media, radio interviews, and magazine articles on the ministry.
Researched and developed content for access face-to-face, via websites, and online delivery.
Successfully managed operations and finances for first 6 months as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Significant investment in content and digital platforms to position the ministry for 2019.
Steve was interviewed on the vision and mission of STEPS Ministries on radio station WXJC.
Published article on STEPS Proactive Parenting in Birmingham Christian Family magazine.
Published 5 STEPS Journey Blog articles and reposted some on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Conducted a comprehensive fundraising campaign to reach out to individual supporters one-on-one and conduct an organized outreach to encourage new donors using emails and videos to convey what the ministry is doing and the value of making a contribution.
Held 5 face-to-face meetings with other nonprofits that do work in related areas to investigate areas of possible collaboration in the future.
A strong foundation was built in 2018 that should serve us well for years to come. This includes collaborative relationships with organizations and individuals with a synergistic mission, fundraising support, 2 governance boards, and a growing set of churches, organizations, and companies with interest in preventing addiction.
In 2019, STEPS Ministries will serve over 1600 people with face-to-face seminars, coaching, and the blog. Early in the year, we will launch a new campaign to offer products for parents including a one-hour video and audio seminar and an in-depth online training course. Similar programs will provide training and content to other audiences later in the year.
Other items in plan or under consideration: more in-person seminars; structured coaching methodology; additional online tools, content, and courses; more collaborative partnerships with other organizations; audio podcast; short videos; a program to reach teenagers through schools and other organizations; and a number of other initiatives.
November, 2018
Presented at the Truth @ Work business conference, manned an information table, and held one-on-one conversations with attendees about their particular situations.
Created 5 1-page “quick study” sheets with a self-assessment and articles on: protecting kids from addiction; dealing with alcohol issues; workplace addiction; effective leadership; and overall wellness. These will be used with groups and individuals moving forward.
Confirmed plans with a church to hold 2 2-hour parenting conferences in 2019. Kept in communication with pastors of several other churches potentially interested in seminars.
Steve is booked for another radio interview on WXJC on December 6.
Each week, held several one-on-one meetings that include discussion of issues and how to make positive changes through increased awareness, greater connection, and healthy lifestyle principles. Many meetings lead to other people to talk to as well.
Published and distributed 2 additional short informational videos.
Created a 1-hour professionally-produced parenting seminar video to be available online.
For parents attending the last seminar, sent out the first of 5 weekly articles to help them go deeper on key topics and begin to implement them in their families.
Built content to make available these products for parents early in 2019: assessment tool; Parenting Prevention Tool Kit; 1-hour video seminar; and an in-depth online course.
Planned a significant marketing campaign in 1Q19 around these parenting products.
Hired a professional video production agency to produce a promotional “trailer” for marketing with plans for additional video work on some parenting products.
In planning with a professional digital marketing firm for digital advertising, social media marketing, and related services for the parenting campaign.
Reached out to Samford about possibly bringing on an (unpaid) intern in 2019.
Made a series of improvements to website and digital marketing capabilities.
Established plans to teach 4 sessions in the Oak Mountain parenting conference in February.
Met individually with each of the Board of Advisors to review status and solicit feedback.
Managed fundraising campaign, created key assets, sent emails and newsletter, and held many one-on-one meetings with current and potential supporters.
Published an article in Birmingham Christian Family magazine and made plans to appear again in several months of the magazine in 2019.
Published 4 STEPS Journey Blog articles and reposted some on Facebook and LinkedIn.
October, 2018
Presented a parenting seminar to over 70 people at ParentU event in partnership with Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church and received excellent feedback from parents attending.
Recorded a 1-hour video version of the parenting seminar to reach more parents via websites and digital outreach, and we will use that video footage to help create other online courses, short awareness and training products, and various educational assets.
Presented addiction in business session to a roundtable group of business people, facilitated discussion on personal and professional application, and received very positive feedback.
Conducted many one-on-one meetings. All of them served to create awareness and educate people on how to prevent addiction. Many became individual coaching related to particular personal situations and may also serve as fundraising or business development discussions.
Held second STEPS Ministries Board of Directors meeting and set plans for key topics.
Steve is now a certified facilitator (by the National Wellness Institute) for “Resilience and Thriving” and “Empowered Health Consciousness” to be used in business wellness training.
Purchased Kajabi software as the knowledge commerce platform for the ministry. Spent significant time studying online course development and training delivery and am in the process of developing website and email integration strategy with existing products.
Purchased Camtasia for video production and trained in production techniques.
Attended other appropriate educational and networking events including Freedom from Addiction “4 mayors” event, Mission Birmingham nonprofit training seminar, and others.
Met with fundraising consultant, created implementation plan, and kicked off the fourth-quarter campaign including initial YouTube video, email cadence, and related tactics.
Designed and began work on the first 2 online products to reach and impact more parents by delivering a “Prevention Tool Kit” and a web-based training course.
STEPS Proactive Parenting featured in October Birmingham Christian Family magazine. These articles are also shared on the magazine’s Facebook page for greater reach.
4 blog articles are being published and distributed to the email list during October. Selected articles are also posted to Facebook and/or LinkedIn to reach a wider audience.
September, 2018
Contacted 11 churches (via recommendations from Oak Mountain Pastors) about holding a parenting seminar; several conversations in progress.
Led parenting breakout session at Journey Day addiction conference at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
Finalized plans to teach Oak Mountain ParentU session. Held walk-through with church staff to video the presentation for use on the church and STEPS Ministries websites.
Delivered training proposals to 4 businesses; all discussions pending.
Established initial contact with Shelby County Schools and Westminster School.
Conducted personal coaching sessions with 5 individuals on addiction-related situations.
Held dozens of meetings with individuals for raising support and business development. Every meeting is also used to increase awareness and discuss issues related to addiction.
Took “Resilience and Thriving” (stress management) Facilitator Certification course from the National Wellness Institute (NWI) as taught by Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems (OWLS).
Completed training courses for business wellness, marketing launches, and online course development.
Met with subject matter experts to develop expertise in 5 different content areas. This included weekly sessions exercising the Biblical foundation of the STEPS material.
Created final curriculum for 60 and 90-minute parenting seminars.
Laid out the content structure for a complete business wellness curriculum.
STEPS Proactive Parenting featured in September edition of Birmingham Christian Family magazine.
5 blog articles were published and distributed to the email list during September.
August, 2018
STEPS Proactive Parenting featured in August in Birmingham Christian Family magazine.
Steve is interviewed on WXJC “Priority Talk” radio broadcast on STEPS Proactive Parenting.
Taught 2 Truth @ Work business roundtable sessions on addiction prevention and received excellent feedback. This seminar can now be offered to other companies or organizations.
Conducted coaching sessions (some as a series of conversations) with 6 individuals. Created a coaching methodology for ongoing use and reviewed it with subject matter experts.
Created the structure for a stress management training program and submitted a proposal to a large local company. This training methodology was aligned to that for addiction prevention and depression and can now be offered to other companies in various formats.
Conducted significant research related to addiction prevention, stress management, and depression to ensure our content and methodologies are very high-quality.
Created an improved structure for content and messaging and tied it to the StoryBrand approach for added effectiveness.
Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church (OMPC) agrees to formally support STEPS Ministries. Ongoing planning underway with Missions team and Pastors, especially related to parenting.
Letters of recommendation sent from Senior Pastor at OMPC to 4 churches with follow-up related to parenting by Steve and discussions pending.
Created outline for 4 introductory training courses for businesses and offered them (for free) to 5 companies with discussions pending.
The first STEPS Ministries monthly newsletter is published and sent to supporters and people interested in the ministry, and this will be repeated monthly moving forward.
Updated LinkedIn Profile to reflect the new ministry and published several blogs to reach the greatly expanded list of LinkedIn connections.
STEPS Proactive Parenting website was improved and content added in some areas.
Significant investment developing relationships with key individuals and organizations related to fundraising. Fundraising email sent to a broader set of people to solicit support.
Worked with the ministry’s accounting firm to develop and implement payroll and quarterly payroll tax processes and developed more detailed approach for monthly bookkeeping.
4 blog articles were published and distributed to the email list during August.
July, 2018
On July 1, STEPS Ministries begins official operation as a nonprofit ministry to help people improve their lives, grow closer to God, and prevent addiction.
STEPS Proactive Parenting is featured in the July Birmingham Christian Family magazine.
The first meeting of the Board of Directors is held in Birmingham, Alabama. A few days later, the official minutes of the meeting are approved by the Board.
The Board of Advisors has grown and now includes: Richard E. Simmons III (Executive Director at The Center for Executive Leadership); Tommy Brigham (Chairman of the Board at ARC Realty Co.); Don Menendez (CEO at White Plume Technologies); Tom Mayfield (President at M3 Resources USA LLC); and Harry Pearson (CEO at OneAscent Financial).
All 3 ministry websites were completed, so check them out at: LifeImprovementSteps.com, StepsBusinessWellness.com, and StepsProactiveParenting.com.
Met with the Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, Missions Pastor, Pastor to Families of Youth, and Shepherding Pastor to coordinate collaboration.
Confirmed plans to participate in Oak Mountain “ParentingU” in the Fall and the “Family Life Conference” in early 2019 as part of our collaboration on parenting programs.
Established financial processes involving the ministry business bank account, QuickBooks, and expense/income accounting.
Jackson, Howard & Whatley LLC has been secured as the accounting and tax firm for STEPS Ministries. On a quarterly basis, they will perform procedures to ensure all financial transactions are being processed and documented properly.
Began business development activity for STEPS Business Wellness with 3 companies.
Conducted research and initial content creation for a program on stress management in the workplace which enhances the portfolio of value-added services for companies.
Attended UAB Medicine Addiction Symposium with nationally-recognized speakers.
Actions from the July 2 Board meeting are accomplished or in motion, including an increase in the budget to match expenses to operating goals and creation of a 90-day work plan.
Confirmed agreement with Truth @ Work to facilitate sessions in 2 roundtables in August.
Made progress on processes for digital marketing, social media, videos, and online courses.
Strong focus on fundraising throughout the month with many one-on-one meetings, an application for church support, and submission of a foundation grant.
5 blog articles were published and distributed to the email list during July.
June, 2018
The official Business Plan for STEPS Ministries is completed.
The Board of Directors and Board of Advisors are established.
STEPS Ministries becomes a corporate entity in Alabama by filing Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, Conflict of Interest Policy, and Name Reservation and is assigned the Employer Identification Number of 83-0841792 by the United States Internal Revenue Service.
Initial website design is completed to restructure the current ministry website and add 2 more sites for STEPS Proactive Parenting and STEPS Business Wellness. Work to build out the design and content on these sites to continue into July.
After completing training of content created by Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems, Steve is granted the Certificate as an Empowered Health Consciousness Facilitator from the National Wellness Institute (NWI).
On June 30, Steve retires after 38 years with IBM to work full-time on STEPS Ministries.
4 blog articles were published and distributed to the email list during June.
