Helen Mitchell grew up in a home where money was lacking but love was abundant. As the fifth of six kids, she was aware that her family struggled to pay their bills and lived paycheck to paycheck. Many years later Helen Mitchell not only worked for a Fortune 500 company, but also rose to the position of vice president of that company. Today she is a business traction strategist. Her job is to help public and private companies relieve organizational stress, deal with growth, and build healthy leadership teams. However, Helen’s passion is to live her life as a Christian and to impact the business world for Christ.

A Love for Business

While Helen always had a love for business and its complexities, she never thought she would have a firm that directly assisted both public and private companies in the area of business management. Early in her career she managed all aspects of business and learned a great deal doing so. Helen’s love for business led her to transition from working in a specific business to working to assist businesses.

Although Helen attended church with her family as a child, her home was not a Christian one. At the age of eight Helen was selected by her church to receive a full scholarship to a Christian camp. She went to camp, enjoyed it thoroughly, and accepted the Lord. She lived as a Christian, then took a detour when she got on the fast track toward business and career. Helen achieved much success at a young age, then reached a defining moment when she realized life was about more than success. She got back on track and wholeheartedly threw herself into serving the Lord through her business.

In addition to her day job, Helen put together a strategic plan to launch a workplace ministry for her church. She presently serves in that position in addition to being a business strategist.

A Love for Others

God has provided many opportunities for Helen to share her faith while doing her job. Business owners want a competent person to help them with their business issues. Once Helen has earned respect and credibility with her business clients, she takes the opportunity to get to know them on a personal level. Once the personal level has been established, Helen’s faith shines through. “I believe the Lord brings me into contact with the right companies for both business and life transition,” she states. As she deals with organizational and growth issues, the Lord makes this connection on a deeper level so Helen is able to pray and counsel with her clients. At times she may explain to her clients that God has given her a Scripture that deals with their particular situation.

As the Lord continues to work through Helen as a business strategist, opportunities abound for her to make a difference in the occupation she has grown to love. One of her passions is to help Christians in all areas of business understand that work does matter and they can make an impact as a Christian in the workplace. Helen has worked with a variety of businesses including start-ups, the aerospace industry, and the media. Through her vast experience she has learned that each business, whether large or small, has similar organizational issues. In addition to these issues, every person she encounters in business is either a Christian who has needs or a non-Christian who has needs. Helen is confident God has called her to help meet both needs. She states, “This is where God has called me. God has brought me to this place.”

Helen is preparing to start the Orange County, (CA) chapter of the Association for Strategic Planning and currently serves on the National Board. As God continues to bless her, both in business and spiritual matters, Helen looks forward to seeing how she can continue to be a witness for God in the workplace . . . and help others do the same. |L

Susanne Dacus graduated from Pacific Christian College with a degree in Christian Education. She and her husband Brad work with Pacific Justice Institute in Citrus Heights, California. Brad and Susanne reside in Sacramento, California with their two children.

OTHER COLUMNS:
June 15, 2008 - A time saver who knows the soul saver
May 18, 2008 - Working by faith 24/7
April 20, 2008 - Motown, music, and ministry
March 23, 2008 - Be One Sportswear
February 24, 2008 - Fighting for the faith
January 27, 2008 - Healing for the Healer
December 30, 2007 - Parenting faithfully
December 2, 2007 - Building physical and spiritual strength
November 4, 2007 - Taking Christ into the classroom
October 7, 2007 - Changing lives through music
June 17, 2007 - Finding fulfilling work
May 20, 2007 - Faithful to his calling
April 22, 2007 - An unstoppable witness
March 25, 2007 - The perfect plan
February 25, 2007 - Teaching with faith
January 28, 2007 - Changing a community—one event at a time
December 24, 2006 - Business by the book
November 26, 2006 - Growing through life’s storms
October 29, 2006 - Giving God his best