Brandon Giella
10 min read ⭑
“In a world divided, we have to learn how to discuss important issues, disagree and still like the person at the end of the conversation. And I do mean it is a practice. We have to force ourselves to see the world from another’s eyes.”
When he’s not home enjoying time with his wife and daughter, you may find Brandon Giella, enjoyer of “healthy gracious debate,” at the local speakeasy, conversing about controversial issues and embracing the beauty of seeing the world from another’s perspective.
In his spare time, Brandon is a business owner, economic expert and marketing guru. He also holds an MA in biblical studies, and an undergraduate degree in creative writing. Keep reading to hear about his love of silence and solitude, how he balances his practical and impractical interests, and how he is fleshing out what’s important in life with the help of his 9-month-old daughter.QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?
Next to Coco Shrimp, just south of downtown Fort Worth, TX, is a white door without any signs or markings. You almost don’t notice it. But behind that door is a dimly lit speakeasy where I order a Sazerac Rye old-fashioned, sit down and cross my legs and enjoy the best conversations.
One of my favorite things to do, besides hanging out with my wife and daughter on a lazy Sunday afternoon, is to sit across from someone with whom I might disagree on a cultural or political hot-button issue and try to fix the world’s problems. It’s not productive. But that’s not the point. The point is to practice.
In a world divided, we have to learn how to discuss important issues, disagree and still like the person at the end of the conversation. And I do mean it is a practice. We have to force ourselves to see the world from another’s eyes. Most people are often shaded by half-truths, where social media personalities attempt to lift from our faces the veil of ignorance while being mostly ignorant themselves.
The really perplexing problems often don’t have answers or solutions. As the economist Thomas Sowell once said, “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.” The practice of conversing with a gracious opponent can help lift the veil in small ways, showing you new dimensions of topics that you haven’t yet considered. These small insights add up over time to provide a true education, revealing just how ignorant you really are about the world around you. It’s an unnerving place to be, but it’s a necessity to enjoy a well-lived life.
And I’ve found that the best place to do that for me is a little speakeasy in Cowtown.
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?
I mentioned one earlier about engaging in healthy, gracious debate about important ideas. Another one in the opposite direction is being with my wife and daughter. I say in the opposite direction because I often get in my head about so-called important ideas: economics, politics, theology and so on.
However, my wife, who works as a mental health therapist, helps ground me amid those ideas. She emphasizes the truism that people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. She says that most people aren’t hung up on the intellectual arguments, despite what they may say. Mostly all of our troubles are emotional — some nagging trauma or anxiety stuck in our side. That helps me cool it when I begin to wax ineloquent about some headline in The Wall Street Journal.
The second person who helps me with this is my daughter, a drooling gremlin who’s overcoming RSV and the useful skill of crawling. Kids have a way of teaching us about what’s truly important in life. I keep asking myself, “What is essential in this moment?” It helps to clarify and narrow the next steps. Kids help with this because of the raw logistics of managing nap times, solid food, diapers and more, all while juggling a full-time job and a social life. Yet they also help with this because they are the book of Ecclesiastes come to walk among us.
In the last year, while I was furloughed during my paternity leave, I started two businesses and I grew to look after my girls. I’ve learned so much about what’s important. I’m still learning, of course. But what has risen above the noise is that, like John Mark Comer cites in “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry,” hurry is not of the devil — hurry is the devil. Stress kills. The skill of cooking is one of the better ones to master. And that there truly is no greater ambition than to fear God, work hard, eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?
I wish I could better control my emotions. I use the mind to attempt to do so. It’s a grasp for control, a defense mechanism. I’m a 4 on the enneagram, masquerading as a 5. Stoicism is an ideal but not a reality. Just this week provides a perfect example.
I’m building a business called Snapmarket.co, a hyper-efficient marketing service. Hyper-efficient is the keyword. People come to us to get work done quickly and easily. If my week is thrown off, that value proposition runs aground.
On Monday afternoon, my internet was out. The wine bar down the street had internet, but it wasn’t much better. On Wednesday, my daughter came down with RSV, so I spent much of the afternoon at urgent care. She hasn’t slept well all week. On Thursday, with permission from the doctor, we took her back to daycare. They called an hour later saying she wasn’t feeling good. I spent Thursday with her. On Friday, my internet went out again. I’m now writing this to you on a Sunday, where I have a full plate of client work, hoping to finish it up before a conference that begins at the end of this week.
Much of my year has been like this, or so it feels. But that’s the problem: I feel too much. It robs me of productivity, serenity and serving others. I wish I could just get to work or listen to another person without self-pity or rumination. My wife, the therapist, tells me that I should stop feeling and start doing. She’s right — but how?
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?
My interests are split in two: highly practical and highly impractical. On the practical side, I'm building a company called Snapmarket.co, a hyper-efficient marketing service, with a wonderful business partner. We love all the latest software tools to get work done fast: Superhuman, Descript, Loom, Figma, Framer, Arc and more. We consider ourselves more storytellers or creators than marketers. Marketing has a deservedly bad rap. We just want to help companies get on the internet and do their thing.
This comes after about 10 years in the marketing industry, mostly in B2B tech marketing working for agencies as a consultant. I also have an MBA in finance, which lends itself to the practical side of my brain. There’s no free lunch, no solutions — only trade-offs. Interest rates are God’s fingers shaping society, and so on. That runs into the impractical.
On the impractical side, I have degrees in creative writing and seminary training. I’m interested in developing a theology of capitalism, far beyond the current faith-and-work conversation. I’m also interested in developing a theology of placemaking, or at least helping my friend do so, a friend who defended his PhD on the subject. To do that, I’m an associate fellow at a research group called the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge, where I help with marketing and research, albeit slowly. I also have two book projects that are due soon.
My ideal self also wears a smoking jacket and Oxford slippers, holds a cocktail and plays piano during Christmas parties while singing Frank Sinatra tunes. He’s a great cook, reads and writes for two hours a day, travels to Paris, Provence and Tuscany at least once a year, and speaks 5 languages. Another ideal self is a typesetter and typographer, photographing and designing books with a backwards hat and a hoodie. I either don’t know much about myself or want all that life has to offer. It’s an odd mix of interests, but I’m hoping to find ways to bring them all together or the time to do so. I think the solution is to become independently wealthy and retire at 35.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
That’s a great question. I ask my guests that question in my podcast “Working Theology.” But the truth is that I don't know. I think He has gifted me with several talents and a way with people, and I try to build the kingdom in the best way I know how. He’s given me so much opportunity, and I want to give that back in real, practical ways. The ideas of placemaking have helped, as have Kuyper’s theology, as explored by Craig Bartholomew and Mike Goheen. About that, though, I have much to learn.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin’ best for you right now?
I’m drawn to silence and solitude. I have watched many documentaries about silence. One of them was actually silent, a documentary about Trappists monks. I could be a monk if it weren’t for me being me.
I’m drawn to Wendell Berry, of whom I’ve read only one small book, and Eugene Peterson, of whom I’ve read nothing but I hear great things. I did read John Mark Comer’s “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” Despite his blog-style writing that I don't care for, its contents were wonderful, and I think about them every day.
We have to learn to slow down. Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, once said that one of the great things we need to learn in Western society is how to attend to things — how to, for example, pour a cup of tea and do nothing else. Simply pour the tea and drink it. There’s a lot of wisdom in that.
If you figure out how to do that with a 9-month-old while starting a new business, let me know.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are three resources that have impacted you?
My three favorite writers are all Oxford grads, which makes me wish that I had studied there. Perhaps one day that may come true. The writers are Christopher Hitchens, C.S. Lewis, and Oscar Wilde, respectively. They all had unique relationships with Christianity, and they were honest about that, which is why I love them.
Hitchens is best known for his anti-theist harangues and tomes, but I saw through it. He didn’t know what he was talking about, a sophist taking on the least intellectually demanding arguments of Christianity. He did acknowledge that at times, however. When he encountered people who really did know what they were talking about, he respected it. One such person was Douglas Wilson, with whom he collaborated on a book and documentary. What draws me to Hitch is his independent thought, charm, wit, memory and inimitable style of writing and speaking. I also saw more of the source of his hatred of Christianity by reading about the death of his mom in his memoir, “Hitch-22.”
C.S. Lewis is famous in Christian circles almost to the point of cliché. However, I’m not that interested in “Mere Christianity” or “Narnia,” the latter of which I never actually read. I’m more interested in his book “A Grief Observed,” which is perhaps my favorite book of all time. It’s magnificent, honest, thoughtful, depressing. You can read it in an afternoon. Another classic book, what he believed to be his greatest work, is “Till We Have Faces.” If you’re a Lewis fan and haven’t yet read those two, order them immediately. He deservedly has a place at Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey as one of the greatest English writers to have ever lived.
For similar reasons I love Oscar Wilde. His wit and charm were incomparable. He had such a vivid style of writing and expression. A book of his I read over and over is “De Profundis,” another afternoon read. The clarity and depth of emotion described in that book, one written while in prison for homosexuality near the turn of the century, are truly remarkable.
Other modern writers who have had a profound impact on me are Thomas Sowell and Steven Pinker. Sowell should be renowned as one of the most analytical and accessible thinkers alive today, but he's unfairly painted into a political corner from which there is no escape. I’ve read over a dozen of his books. Pinker is also amazing for his clear and accessible thinking on a range of topics, not least from “The Sense of Style,” “Rationality” and “Enlightment Now.” Both of these writers have made me a much sharper thinker.
We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it’s done for you.
Charlie Munger. The person, his thinking, his quotes, his reputation and example. Look him up. When I hear him speak, I feel a calm, warm breeze wash over my body. Also a kick in the ass. But a loving, grandfatherly kick in the ass.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
I’ve never been more insecure than I am right now in this season. New baby, new business, life’s unknowns. However, I aim to grow in new skills all the same: I really would like to learn how to cook. I want to impress my wife and dinner-party guests. I want to make lovely cocktails, espresso shots, desserts, charcuterie boards and so on. I want to play the crooners in the background and sing like they do. I want to play the piano. I want to learn Italian, French, German, Greek and Hebrew, in that order. I want to write books, a regular newsletter. (You can find my current one at brandongiella.com.) I want my daughter to grow up in a stable, secure, serene home where she can have whatever she wants while still being level-headed about her wants. I want my wife to be happy and at peace. I want the world. But I want it at a proper pace where I can sit quietly and drink my coffee, thinking of nothing else but silently sipping as the world spins madly on.
Brandon describes the beauty of engaging those with opposing viewpoints in loving conversation. He reminds us how important it is to have discussions on difficult topics with people who see things differently and then love them all the more when we’re finished. What does it look like for you to practice loving conversation with a friend, co-worker, or family member who disagrees with you? Ask God to help open your eyes to see the world through another’s perspective, and ask him to help you see the person as he sees him or her. Realizing that you have a lot to learn and growing as you listen and learn from others is, as Brandon says, a “necessity to enjoy a well-lived life.”
Brandon Giella is the owner of Snapmarket.co, a hyper-efficient marketing service to support and scale your business. He earned an MA in biblical studies and an MBA in finance. He publishes his ideas in an economics column for Common Good Magazine, a newsletter at brandongiella.com and a podcast called Working Theology. Brandon is also an Associate Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge, working on book projects on theology, economics, placemaking and more. Follow him on LinkedIn and at goodreads.com/brandongiella. He lives with his wife and daughter in Fort Worth, TX.
