Join other CEOs and business leaders in Philadelphia who are building great businesses for a greater purpose.
8
Forums
58
Members
It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn’t have to be.
We know leaders limit their potential when they lead from isolation. But, when surrounded by trusted advisors with a common goal and a biblical worldview, they can maximize performance and energize cultures. With faith as the foundation, this powerful group of peers meet in an exclusive, confidential forums around the Philly metro to have their questions answered and their answers questioned.
Chairs
Business Forum Leaders in the Philadelphia Area
DAVE SHOEMAKER
Three years before I knew there was a C12 Group, I sensed God was leading me to serve in this…
DAVE SHOEMAKER
Three years before I knew there was a C12 Group, I sensed God was leading me to serve in this capacity. Throughout my career, I’ve enjoyed helping owners and CEOs, whether through products/services offered by my company or by connecting peers with common agendas. I’ve always been intrigued by leaders’ stories and the dreams they hold. More than twenty years ago, I learned what it was to feel – to own my emotions. I discovered that vulnerability not only made me more approachable, but it invited transparency in those with whom I was meeting. Like me, I discovered many find it lonely at the top but are not inclined to openly share and explore. But, if deemed safe, it is from that realm of gut-level honesty that real growth is possible. In June of 2008 I participated in my first meeting of a C12 group and felt God was calling me to bring this to Greater Philadelphia. In September/08, in the early days of an extremely challenging business climate, C12 Philadelphia held its inaugural meeting. God motivates us to excellence and diligence in all things; He doesn’t do mediocre. All He creates – everything He touches is excellent. It’s the same with everything He wants to do in and through us as leaders, as individuals. Excellence brings God glory. When He leads through us, He wants nothing but more of the same. My training as a mentor/coach/spiritual advisor comes from 31 years in software and services and an ever advancing (read as “3 steps forward and 1 or 2 back”) walk with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My passions are sales, marketing, strategy and people. I ask a lot of questions to understand a leader’s motives and where their vulnerabilities lie. My joy is helping owners and CEOs see themselves as the steward of God’s business; the perspective from which the greatest “return” can be achieved. I’ve been blessed to walk through life since 1982 with Sherry as my bride. We live in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and worship at LCBC Church (Lives Changed by Christ). We love any time we have with our “little girl,” Jessica, and her husband Sean, who are in the Philadelphia area. And we often visit with our son, Jason, and his wife, Marsha in Redmond, WA; more virtually than physically.MARTY WOLFE
Born the youngest of five to parents of modest means in 1966, I was apparently a serial entrepreneur at a…
MARTY WOLFE
Born the youngest of five to parents of modest means in 1966, I was apparently a serial entrepreneur at a young age, selling my painted rocks to passers by at three years old! In June 1974, sensing disunity among the family, Dad closed his plumbing and heating business and moved the family of seven from our comfortable six bedroom, three bath home in a suburb of Philly to upstate Pennsylvania. We moved to the middle of 66 acres, our nearest neighbor 3/4 mile away, into an unfinished four room cabin with no running water. Five kids in a single bedroom. That first year, Dad succeeded in getting running water in the house, we farmed the land and learned to help each other as we survived on basics, while Dad and Mom made ends meet. Our family learned to survive and lean on one another, while Mom and Dad learned to lean on God. Late night TV ministry fed their curiosity and we found ourselves at a Jimmy Swaggart Revival in Binghamton, NY where I accepted Christ at the age of 12. To say the least, God has been faithful since then. Dad found employment in facilities maintenance at the local school. As my sisters graduated and married off, Dad built a house on the property where we all had a little more space. I began to develop the artistic and musical talents that God had provided me and graduated high school in 1984. The next four years for me were difficult ones, as my parents moved back to Southeastern PA because of a new job opportunity and I tried and failed at a few businesses. Performing music gave me my satisfaction, as I drifted further and further from my faith. Late in 1988, something prompted me to leave my Lead Vocal position and begin to seek a more honorable life for myself. I moved to closer to my parents and found my Art Director position. God was in it then, though I didn’t know. Mom and Dad had grown in their faith and spoke of their walk to me often, and I know now that they prayed often for me to really know God. In 1991, I married my wife Lynn. a precious gift from God. Together, God has led us on a life full of love and adventure. We met on a blind date months earlier and soon opened our hair salon, Mirror Images, which Lynn still runs today. After years of traveling, we had our son Josh in 1998, then daughter Alyssa in 1999. Always having an entrepreneurial spirit, I purchased PrintWorks & Company, Inc. in 2000, Linco Printing in 2003, then Fagan Printing and Nash Printing in 2006. We consolidated operations to a single facility during the recession of 2008, fully integrating by 2010. While I can see now that God has been in my life since I accepted my salvation as a kid, I wasn’t always with him. Asked to recollect when the moment my salvation became “real” for me, was through my mom’s example. See, on October 10, 2002, Mom let me know she wasn’t feeling well and would go to the doctor to see. By the 15th, she had been diagnosed with Small Cell Lung Cancer and went home to be with the Lord 16 days later on October 31st, just days after her 67th birthday. In my years, I had never seen anyone so strong in their faith as my mom was during the days when she knew she was dying. Her example was one to behold, as she held tight to her Jesus through the whole process. In her last moments, she was in a coma while my sisters sang her favorite hymn to her, “Softly and Tenderly”. As they reached the chorus of the song, “come home, come home, ye who are weary come home”, Mom opened her eyes, reached to heaven and smiled. Mom had seen her Jesus! God was there the day we said goodbye to Mom, comforting us in the knowledge that she was with her Savior. Since that time, Christ has made himself more apparent to me. Maybe it’s because I was looking? He has been in every aspect of life since. We are active in Morning Star Fellowship, Quakertown, PA, where we have attended since Christmas 2006. My wife and kids were baptized at church the following Spring, and I rededicated myself to Him upon my return from business the same Spring. Our lives have been in non-stop service to the Kingdom, through our businesses and in our personal lives, wanting to live a life that matters for Kingdom purposes – one of significance and meaning. We have successfully organized many large fundraising events for individuals and organizations through the years, participated in community outreach events. In January 2017, God woke me with a vision and complete business plan for what would become Kingdom’s Light Foundation later that same year. We use our resources to pour into Missionaries and Christian Organizations to help them proclaim the Gospel locally and around the world. We currently support fourteen missions, with a reach as far as Russia, Africa, Haiti and as close by as Philadelphia, PA. www.KingdomsLight.org A highlight of our family’s memories is serving Jesus on a mission trip in the bush of Tanzania, Africa together in October 2018. On the trip, we built an addition onto a school building and ran a VBS style teaching with the children of the Datooga tribe. The impact on all of us will be with us through our entire lives. I’m currently serving as a member of Morning Star’s Executive Leadership Team and a Worship Leader where you’ll find me “Raising a Hallelujah” on most Sundays. A proud member of C12 since 2016, I learned to focus on the importance of faith in the marketplace and how to run my business with a biblical perspective. I attribute much of the ability to navigate the business through the pandemic to the C12 cadre of leaders and my faith in God. I owe all the glory to my Savior, Jesus Christ. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Phillipians 4: 6-7 P.S.: Having just turned 90, Dad is pleased that all of his children are actively walking with Jesus!BILL DILWORTH
William (Bill) Dilworth is passionate about equipping leaders to follow God in every area of life so that they can…