Leading with faith and grit.
Greetings!
As a native of eastern Kentucky, I deeply care about and believe in the future of Appalachia and rural communities in general. I've spent my career helping teams and rural communities do things that have never been done. Over the years I've developed expertise in systems-based economic development, startup ecosystems, transformational leadership, and leading a backbone organization that implemented large-scale collective impact. My Christian faith has been a foundational element of my desire to serve my neighbors in very practical ways through community and economic development. I've never had a job that existed before I took it, and I can't imagine it any other way!
On November 1, 2020, after 6 years of serving, I transitioned from my role as the Founding Executive Director of Shaping Our Appalachian Region, Inc. (SOAR), a special initiative launched by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear (D) and Congressman Hal Rogers (R) in 2013. I'm looking forward to taking my passion and experience to help rural communities across the globe believe in, and create their own future.
In 2012, I Co-Founded Mountain Music Exchange, LLC, which is now the largest retailer of guitars in eastern Kentucky and has a customer base all over the country through its online presence. I'm also the founding Pastor of New Beginnings Fellowship Church in Pikeville, KY where I still lead and teach every Sunday morning and the Network Lead for Together for the Mountains, a church planting network in partnership with Southland Christian Church..
I have a bachelor’s degree in Paralegal Studies and a minor in Government, as well as an MBA from Morehead State University. I'm also a graduate of Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute, MIT's Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP) and the US Chamber's Institute for Organizational Management.
I live downtown Pikeville, KY with my best friend and wife, Bethany and our two amazing children Rosalind (Roz) and Harker.
Quick facts about my experiences.
Speaking.
500+ Speaking Engagements
Largest keynote audience 1,300
Breakout Speaker or Panelist at
Harvard’s Conference on Poverty & Equality with the topic “Big Ideas in Solving Local Poverty” (Cambridge, MA)
Robert Woods Johnson Foundation Conference (Louisville, KY)
National Association of Community Colleges (Chicago, IL)
Multiple Appalachian Regional Commission Conferences (Somerset, KY; Tupelo, MS; Washington DC)
Amazon Web Services Conference (Washington DC)
Keynotes including:
EntreEd Consortium of Entrepreneurship Education (Charleston, WV)
Kentucky League of Cities (Covington, KY)
University of Pikeville Convocation (Over 500 faculty, staff, and students) More..
Appalachian Association of Community Colleges (Hazard, KY)
East Kentucky Leadership Conference (Morehead, KY)
5 Annual SOAR Summits (Average attendance of over 1,200)
Appalachian Education and Workforce (AEW) Network Conference
Rural Future Creating.
As the Founding Executive Director of Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR):
Built and Maintained Consensus across 54 counties, the Governor’s office, and Congressman’s office around the Blueprint for the Future of Appalachia
After waking up in the middle of the night and securing the URL, www.thereisafuture.org, helped his team launch a PR campaign for Appalachia KY that reached 2 million+ annually
As a champion for Remote Work efforts, specifically with Teleworks USA, FlexJobs.com, and Digital Careers Now, Jared was part of a team that created more than 3,000 jobs in rural Appalachia KY.
Support of AppHarvest and its $100 Million+ investment in Morehead, KY to build a more than 2.5 million-square-foot high-tech greenhouse and create more than 280 jobs.
For more impact from Jared’s time at SOAR, visit www.soar-ky.org/impact
Start-ups.
Scaled a start-up political initiative, (SOAR) into a national model of collective impact backbone organization with a $1 million+ budget, reserves, and a talented team of 12 in 6 years.
Invested a keyboard as his start-up capital in 2012 to Co-Found Mountain Music Exchange, LLC with some friends, that now ships guitars to all 50 states, has a 5,000 square foot show-room, and 6 employees. Based in the heart of central Appalachia.
Founder of the StartUp Appalachia regional Pitch Competitions
Part of a church plant team and served as the founding Pastor of New Beginnings Fellowship Church, a non-denominational Christian church in downtown Pikeville, KY. Starting in the choir room at the University of Pikeville, now located on Main Street.
Co-Founder of FaithLife Ministries and FaithLIfe Market a non-profit Coffee Shop and Thrisft Store in Downtown Pikeville, KY.
My Story.
I’m not your traditional leader or pastor.
I’ve got an MBA and a Bachelor’s in Paralegal Studies with a minor in Government. I’m also a graduate of Oklahoman University’s Economic Development Institute (EDI), the US Chamber’s Institute for Organizational Management (IOM), and MIT’s Regional Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (REAP).
My first job out of college was as a bookkeeper at a struggling guitar store that I had taught lessons at through college. I was part of a team that quadrupled the sales at that store before leaving to help transition a local chamber of commerce into a regional chamber of commerce to serve our rural region. Within two years, I found myself as President/CEO of the new entity at the age of 28. 3 years later, in 2014, I was selected by the Governor of Kentucky and Congressman of our district as the Founding Executive Director of Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR), a bi-partisan non-profit they launched in response to the downturn in the coal industry. It was tasked with empowering the region to create a plan for its future, and ensuring that plan did not sit on a shelf.
I’ve been a Pastor, CEO, Founder, Executive Director. I’ve led non-profits from the staff position, from the board position. I’ve helped plant a church, launched new non-profits and new businesses. I’ve been a pastor for over 5 years while working at SOAR and found that my faith was playing a foundational role in the way that I was leading and serving my communities throughout the week.
In 2020, after 6 years of building and establishing sustainability, I felt led to make a transition from SOAR to spend more time as a pastor, be more involved at our guitar store, and launch a new ministry called FaithLife which includes a local Coffee Shop and Thrift Store called FaithLife Market. I want to help people live out their faith with purpose.
A little more on my Faith…
In 2019, while preaching through the book of Ephesians, I came to chapter 2 verse 10:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
This verse became the foundation for launching FaithLife Ministries. While I wasn’t evangelizing through the week, I came to realize my commitment to leading through serving was anchored in my faith. That being the best at my vocation that I could be, could actually be part of the good works He had prepared for me. I was feeling called to help Christian leaders connect their Sundays to the rest of their week. When cleaning out my desk, I found the card pictured in the background of this text that my wife, Bethany, had gotten me in 2015. Before we had even started the church. With the SAME verse and commentary. God confirming for me it was time… so here we go.
