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How do you know when it’s time to make your next big career move? With International Women’s Day around the corner, we are excited to feature Avni Patel Thompson, Founder and CEO of Milo. Avni is building technology that directly supports the often overlooked emotional and logistical labor that falls on parents—especially women. Milo is an AI assistant designed to help families manage that invisible load more efficiently. In this episode, Avni shares her journey from studying chemistry to holding leadership roles at global brands like Adidas and Starbucks, to launching her own ventures. She discusses how she approaches career transitions, the importance of unpleasant experiences, and why she’s focused on making everyday life easier for parents. [01:26] Avni's University Days and Early Career [04:36] Non-Linear Career Paths [05:16] Pursuing Steep Learning Curves [11:51] Entrepreneurship and Safety Nets [15:22] Lived Experiences and Milo [19:55] Avni’s In Her Ellement Moment [20:03] Reflections Links: Avni Patel Thompson on LinkedIn Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn Ipsos report on the future of parenting About In Her Ellement: In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element? About The Hosts: Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030. Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders. Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.…
Content provided by Jonathan Minter and Eastgate Church Sermons. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Jonathan Minter and Eastgate Church Sermons or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Sermons from Jonathan Combs and the preaching team at Eastgate Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Content provided by Jonathan Minter and Eastgate Church Sermons. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Jonathan Minter and Eastgate Church Sermons or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Sermons from Jonathan Combs and the preaching team at Eastgate Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
How does King Jesus begin this sermon? He begins with a declaration of the blessings that belong to the citizens of God’s kingdom. Do you know this state of blessing that God offers to those who repent of their sins and follow Jesus as King? Or are you still seeking the temporary happiness that the world offers. In the gospel of Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount by declaring the blessings of those who live as citizens of God’s kingdom. We can experience the blessings of living as citizens of God’s kingdom.…
What are your greatest needs? Belonging? Purpose? Like every other human being that has ever existed, you want food, water, shelter, but you truly seek family, community and purpose. You were made that way. Do you pursue these deeper needs? Do you seek out Gospel community? Are you inviting people into this kind of community? Are you opening up your life as a conduit for God’s grace to others? In the book of Acts, Luke recorded how the early church cultivated a culture of Gospel Community, and God added to their number daily. We can invite others into Gospel Community with an eager expectation that the Lord will grow His church.…
Do you sometimes feel a disconnect between you personal spiritual life and your public life? Do you feel like there is a version of you that goes to church and community group, and then another version of you that goes to work or school or to the grocery store? What would it look like to be more consistent, being your true self everywhere you go? What if every day you could be more intentional about making your spiritual life and your public life one and the same? Wouldn’t that make every day more of an adventure? In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he told them that their ordinary, day-to-day lives could be radically used for God by living with gospel intentionality.…
Do you worry about the future? Do you ever wonder if God is really in control when the world seems chaotic? Maybe you feel uncertain about your job, your health, or your family. Maybe you're looking at the state of our nation or the world and wondering, "Where is this all going?" The people of Israel in Haggai’s day had similar concerns. They were a small, struggling remnant in a land that once flourished under King David and Solomon. Their temple was in ruins, their enemies were strong, and they wondered if God's promises to them were still true. But through Haggai, God gave them assurance that they could trust Him with the future. In Haggai 2:20-23, God spoke through the prophet Haggai to assure Zerubbabel that he could trust God with the future of Israel. We can trust God with the future.…
God cautions His people to understand that worshiping God, both giving and serving, must come from a heart that is pure and devoted to Him, not just outward religious activity. God cares more about the attitude of our hearts than the amount of our giving. He cares more about our motive than our money. He desires that we worship with a right heart. In Haggai 2:10-17, God told the prophet Haggai to help the Israelites to understand that what really matters to God is that they worship Him with a right heart.…
Do you worry about success? At work? For your family? In other words, do you worry about how things are going to turn out? Sure, we can put the work in, but how do we know it will be successful in the end? Is there a more trustworthy way to live? In Haggai 2:6-9, the Lord told the prophet Haggai to tell His people that if they would persevere in building His house, they could trust Him for the end result. We can join God in His kingdom work and trust Him for the end result.…
Discouragement is one of the greatest obstacles to faithfulness in serving God. When things don’t seem to be going the way we expected, we can easily lose heart. The people in Haggai’s day faced this same struggle. They had begun rebuilding the temple, but it didn’t compare to the former glory of Solomon’s temple. Many became disheartened, and some questioned whether their efforts were even worth it. How are you doing today? Are you facing some obstacle or difficulty that has you feeling discouraged, even feeling like giving up, or quitting? We all have feelings of discouragement from time to time. How can we find encouragement during times like this? That’s what today’s message is about. How to be encouraged in the Lord! In Haggai 2:1-5, the people of God were encouraged to overcome their discouragement and to persevere in His work. We can be encouraged to persevere in God’s work.…
Have you heard God’s call on your life? For some, it’s a call to come to faith in Jesus. You’ve never responded to the call of salvation. You’re still trying to live life according to your own priorities and purpose. For others, you’ve answered God’s call to come to Jesus. You’ve trusted Him as your Lord and Savior. But lately, you’ve been feeling stuck spiritually, you’ve lost the joy, the fire that you once experienced in Christ. Could it be that Jesus has called you to more? Could it be that you’ve gotten your priorities out of order and forgotten your true purpose? Jesus hasn’t left you nor forsaken you, but He can’t fully bless you and lead you until respond in faithful obedience to His call. That’s where the people of God in Haggai were. They had been stuck, but now they’re ready to move on with God again! In the book of Haggai 1:12-15, the people of God faithfully responded to God’s call to rebuild His house. We can faithfully respond to God’s call.…
Isn’t purpose one of the most basic questions we ask ourselves? “Who am I? Why am I here? What’s my purpose?” Some look around them and find purpose from the external sources. This is the traditional approach: My family and my community give me my identity and purpose. The post-modern approach is more common today: I look within to find my identity and purpose. But both of these approaches, the outward and the inward, fall short. They both lead to false identities and meaningless lives without real purpose and fulfillment. In the book of Haggai 1:7-11, God challenged His people to consider their ways to bring them into alignment with God’s ultimate purpose for their lives. We can consider our ways to bring them into alignment with God’s ultimate purpose for our lives.…
The pressures, demands, expectations, and tasks that push in from all sides assault our schedules. Do this! Be there! Finish that! Respond to that email! Answer that text! It seems as though everyone wants something from us—family, friends, employers, school, church, children’s sports and activities… Soon there is little left to give, as we run out of energy and time. We find ourselves rushing through life, attending to the necessary, the immediate, and the urgent. The important is all too often left in the dust. Our real problem is not the volume of demands or lack of scheduling skills, but our priorities—what is truly important to us? In Haggai chapter 1:1-6, the prophet challenged the Jews who had returned from Babylonian exile to consider whether they were giving God and His house priority. We can consider whether we’re giving God and His Kingdom priority.…
In this life there will be difficulty either physically or spiritually. Where there is greater physical difficulty, people tend to turn quickly to the Lord spiritually and where there is little physical challenge the people struggle to see God. We are beyond blessed physically but this means we have to actively and intentionally pursue the Lord and His will. Some of us are asking God today, “Can I avoid those challenges, Can I just be a spectator, Can’t someone else do the hard stuff?” But God wants to reveal Himself to us and change us in those times. When He calls you into deep waters will you pursue Him? In Isaiah 43, the prophet shared an encouraging word from the Lord that His people could fearlessly go through the difficulties ahead as they pursue the Lord. We can fearlessly go where God leads us too.…
It can be uniquely challenging to know what to do as a Christian because so much of our Christian faith is based on trust and dependence on God. But there is a distinct line between rightly trusting in God’s will, power, and provision and being spiritually passive or lazy. Maybe you are at a decision point in life about a job opportunity or a relationship or something major like that. Carefully praying and trusting in the Lord is right, but it doesn’t stop there. Pursuit is what follows. When it comes to our walk in Christ this is always the right pattern … prayer and then pursuit. In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul instructed the church in Philippi that the one thing he did was press on towards the goal God had called him towards. We can do this one thing and pursue God’s goal for us.…
The gift of gold points to Christ as King. The gift of frankincense points to His divinity and priestly work. So what does the gift of myrrh point to? It points to the cross. The gift of myrrh points to Christ as Savior! In the Gospel of Luke, he recorded the shepherd’s faithful response to the good news that Christ the Savior had been born. We too can faithfully respond to the good news about Christ the Savior has come.…
In John 1:1-18, the apostle John bore witness of Jesus as the Son of God who came into the world that we might believe in Him and become children of God. The Magi’s gift of frankincense points to Christ’s divinity. We can believe John’s witness that Jesus is the Son of God.
Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Don’t you feel the tension? Don’t you feel the pressure to spend more money than you have in order to give your kids (spouse, grandkids…) everything on their list? You want everyone to be happy and you want to be happy, so you spend, spend, spend… And the more you spend, the less it feels like Christmas. Or what it’s supposed to mean. How can we pull our affection off of the crazy, chaotic spending spree that comes every December and instead focus on worshiping Christ as King? How can we spend less and worship more? In the gospel of Matthew, the story of the birth of Jesus is told within the political backdrop of the times. From the beginning there was a battle between worshiping the true King and the false king Herod. The challenge for us is to remove our worship from the false king and to put our worship on the true King, Jesus Christ.…
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