The Finish Line Podcast Pete and Debbie Ochs, Business Owners, on the Shift in Perspective After Setting a Financial Finish Line (Ep. 184)
Pete and Debbie Ochs, longtime entrepreneurs and leaders in faith-driven business, share how God reshaped their understanding of money, work, and purpose over decades of walking with Him. Pete began his career pursuing success through hard work and financial gain, while Debbie brought a steady foundation of faith and generosity from her upbringing. Through seasons of business growth, financial pressure, and personal conviction, God led them to see that everything they had was not theirs to own, but to steward. That shift transformed how they built companies, gave generously, and ultimately released control.
Pete is the founder of Capital III, an investment and operating company focused on building businesses that create economic, social, and spiritual capital, and the founder of Enterprise Stewardship, which helps leaders build high-impact businesses rooted in purpose and long-term flourishing. From creating jobs inside prisons to establishing a stewardship trust for their business, Pete and Debbie’s work now reflects a commitment to building economic, social, and spiritual impact. Along the way, they learned to set a finish line, cap their lifestyle, and follow the Holy Spirit in both planned and spontaneous generosity, deepening their understanding of risk and surrender.
Explore how surrendering ownership can reshape your decisions, relationships, and long-term vision for Kingdom impact.
Major Topics Include:
- Stewardship versus ownership in God’s economy
- Surrender as foundation of faithful stewardship
- Integrating faith and business without compartmentalization
- Creating economic, social, and spiritual capital
- Setting a lifestyle finish line for generosity
- Shifting mindset from accumulation to outward impact
- Listening to the Holy Spirit in everyday generosity
- Practicing intentional and spontaneous giving rhythms
- Involving family in generosity and stewardship decisions
- Using business as a platform for Kingdom impact
- “Stewardship is not waving the white flag. It’s not giving up. It’s coming to the understanding that the Creator of the universe wants to come alongside you and co-create with you to change the world.”
- “My 30s were about success, my 40s were about significance, and my 50s were about surrender.”
- “When we really live as stewards, it’s not 2 million is mine and the rest is God’s. It’s zero-one hundred. It’s all His.”
- “The question is not a net worth number. The question is a lifestyle number. How much should you be paid to manage what God has entrusted to you?”
- “You cannot violate God’s principles and expect Him to bless it. When you live according to His principles, He will take care of you.”
- “Business, I believe, is the most powerful platform to change the world.”
- “We try to create economic capital, love people relationally, and be ready to share the hope we have with gentleness and respect.”
- “Our mindset changed from what we can get to what we can do for others.”
- “We want the Holy Spirit to lead us. When He prompts, we want to act.”
- “Generosity begets generosity.”
- “We didn’t want to just write checks. We wanted to be involved, to know people, and to walk alongside them.”
- “Communication is key. You have to share what you’re learning and how God is working in your life.”
- “Involve your family in giving. That’s how the next generation begins to see and live it.”
- “We started looking at everything differently when our focus turned outward instead of inward.”
- “When God gives you opportunities, you have to be ready to respond in that moment.”
- Enterprise Stewardship
- Capital III
- YoungLife
- Crown Financial Ministries
- Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounders Todd Harper and David Wills and CEO, April Chapman)
- National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
1 Peter 3:15 | Reason for Your Hope
“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
Galatians 2:20 | Crucified with Christ
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Luke 10:25–37 | The Good Samaritan
Proverbs 3:5–6 | Trust in the Lord
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Matthew 6:3 | Give in Secret
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
TAKE A STEP DEEPER On the Finish Line podcast, we are all about stories, seeing how God draws us into generosity over a lifetime.
But sometimes these stories can leave us thinking, “What’s that next step look like for me?”
That’s exactly why we’ve launched a whole new podcast called Applied Generosity which explores the full landscape of the generous life across 7 different dimensions of generosity.
Applied Generosity helps make sense of the hundreds of stories we’ve shared on the Finish Line Podcast to help you find that best next step.
If you’ve been inspired by these stories and want to take things to the next level, check out Applied Generosity anywhere you listen to podcasts or at appliedgenerosity.com.