People are the most precious thing.
Because of my Faith, I believe people hold the highest value. Made in the image of God, every one of them. Growth for the sake of generosity.
He is the founder of People Purpose Corporation, where he helps business owners build on purpose, the plan, the people, the sales, the systems, and the margin, in service of a purpose bigger than the business.
What I am here to do
Mentor others in their faith and business, to help them create alignment between their beliefs and their daily lives: personal, business and spiritual, so that they can lead completely and truly from who they really are, not from what they think is expected of them.
Help people create meaningful work for themselves and others, by building these alignment practices into their business, their career and their personal lives.
Teach how valuable people really are, beyond their earning potential, and help them see their true worth through the eyes of a loving Father.
Faith to Move Mountains
I believe God gave me an assignment. In Built on Purpose I wrote it down the way it came to me:
“My assignment was to move a mountain of money out of the for-profit world and into the funding of his Kingdom, here, now, on this earth.”
Rodney Penner, Built on Purpose
I understand how that may sound. I have also watched people who do not share my faith lean into that same sentence, because something in it rings true for them as well. So name it however you must.
A calling. A conviction. A man grown quiet enough, at last, to hear what he was made for. I know what it was for me. It was God.
And the instruction underneath it was at once simple and terrifying. Stop building for money. Begin building for purpose. And trust that the provision will follow the obedience.
What the faith does in the work
I am a man of faith.
There is no dollar amount that justifies unacceptable behaviour toward your team. Read people to serve them.
It shapes how I show up, not who I serve: owners of every background are welcome here, and you will always know where I stand.
How I hire for myself
So you pray, and then you run the ad. You ask for the right person, and then you do the disciplined, unglamorous work that makes it possible to recognize them when they show up.
Faith without the process is just wishing. The process without the faith is just mechanics. I'll take both, whatever you believe.
"I've dealt with many advisors over the years, but this experience stood out as truly exceptional. Rod provided practical, actionable insights for strengthening servant leadership across our team of about 45 employees... It wasn't just business strategy. It was purpose-driven counsel that honored God while driving real results."
Profit is the byproduct. Purpose is the point.
A business that can give. Opportunity for the people who work for you. Time for the people waiting at home. Money for whatever you were put here to fund.
Profit is not greed. Profit is fuel.
The thin-margin business isn't humble. It's just broke, and broke can't give.
What the faith part actually means.
It is not about preaching to your team or only working with Christians. It is about telling the truth, even when it costs the sale. It is about putting people first, before profit, on purpose. And it is about building for something bigger than the bank account.
Where it came from
There was a season that nearly took everything, and I came out the other side having lost the illusion that I was in control of any of it. That is where the conviction came from: profit was never supposed to be the point.
There is a two-chapter book near the back of the Old Testament called Haggai. It is about people who built their own houses while the house of God sat in ruins, working themselves to the bone, earning wages and putting them in a purse with holes in it.
The whole book turns on a handful of specific dates. When I lined those dates up against the dates of my own collapse and my own turning, they matched.
Two years later, when I opened the doors of People Purpose, I got to choose the day, and I chose the seventeenth of October, on purpose. Three clients signed that first week.
I had not read that book. I had lived it. Read how People Purpose began →
Built on Purpose starts before the plan, with one question: why does this business exist?
The people behind People Purpose
People Purpose exists to create meaningful work for people. Great client work is the byproduct. Everyone here is featured because their work is the point.
Rodney PennerChristian business coach and founder of People Purpose
He came up through the trades and years of sales and operations leadership, and he still sells and delivers the work himself.
Jacki SchulzA Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and registered CRA representative.
When a client's books need straightening out, Jacki is the one who does it: QuickBooks set up right, payroll running, filings handled, so the numbers can be trusted.
ChloeTalent Scout. She finds the people and keeps every search moving.
Chloe runs the hiring. She finds the people, does the interviewing, and keeps the schedule moving so a search never stalls waiting on a calendar.
She is also the first friendly voice of People Purpose, so whether you are an owner with a seat to fill or a candidate wondering where you stand, she is who you will be talking to. She is not selling you anything. She opens the door and makes it easy to walk through.
Growth for the sake of generosity.
People Purpose gives its partners money, time and strategy.
That line is on every page of this site, and this is the page where it gets real. People are the point, profit is the byproduct, and generosity is what it's for. These are the organizations People Purpose supports with our time and our resources.
Trellis Centre
A retreat and training centre just outside Steinbach, creating unhurried space for people to slow down, rest, and encounter Jesus. In a world that runs on faster chaos, Trellis builds the opposite, and we're glad to help them build it.
Engage Today
Engage Today comes alongside indigenous Christian leaders across Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Nepal, leaders who oversee more than 850 local missionaries bringing hope to people who have never heard it. Local people, reaching their own, supported to do it well.
Kleefeld EMC
Our home church, a mile north of Kleefeld, the first EMC church in Canada, gathering since 1874. People from different backgrounds and stories who choose to worship, pray, and serve together. Generosity starts at home, so this is where ours starts.
The list is meant to grow.
Every business we help build on purpose makes this page longer. That's the whole idea, grow the business, grow the giving.
Start with the books.
Two ways in
Any owner
You are in the right place anyway. The work is hiring, teams, and customers, and it stands on its own. The belief is why I do the work. The results are why you would hire me. Nothing gets preached.
The owner of faith
“That a good person, an honest person, a person of faith, charges the bare minimum and feels a little guilty even about that.”
“You cannot give what you never let yourself keep.”
Rodney Penner, Built on Purpose. See the books
Here's what to expect
Discovery callLeave with a clearer next step, and the relief of being heard.
- What you'll experience: A conversation about your business and what it is for.
- What you'll receive: An honest answer on whether I am the right help for you.
- Why it matters: You leave with a clearer picture of your next step, and the relief of being heard.
ProposalSay yes or no with a settled mind, because nothing is left to guess.
- What you'll experience: I put what we talked about into a written proposal, in plain words.
- What you'll receive: A proposal that says what the work is and what it costs.
- Why it matters: You can say yes or no with a settled mind, because nothing is left to guess.
How working together beginsStop carrying the whole build of this business by yourself.
- What you'll experience: I work alongside you, one step at a time, in the order that fits your business.
- What you'll receive: A clear first step, and someone in your corner.
- Why it matters: You stop carrying the whole build of this business by yourself.
Built on belief.
If any of this resonates, the next step is a conversation. A discovery call, not a sales call, and you will always know where I stand.
Book a discovery call