“Praise God it’s Monday.”
Jody Hirschy, Hodson dean of the Cornwall school of business & leadership, begins morning classes with exuberance usually associated with Fridays, Ashlyn Hanson, a senior finance major, said.
Hirschy said she has always been a glass-half-full kind of person. Even deeper than that, Hirschy has the joy of the Lord.
When she wakes up, she hits the alarm clock and prays before her feet hit the ground. She makes a conscious choice every morning to give the Lord her plans.
“The prayer is something just that simple,” Hirschy said. “‘Lord, may today be Your day, and may I have eyes to see and ears to hear. Lord, use me as You see fit. May Your plans be my plans.’ It’s literally just that short, but it orients our day and reminds us, before we kind of start the race, why we do what we do.”
Hirschy grew up in a Christian home, but around her college years her faith simmered down to luke-warm. She was not doing anything against the law, she said, but she also was not being a light.
Gradually, she started to question the behaviors and attitudes in the people around her. It was not illegal, but it did bug her.
Hirschy decided she needed to get back to church. She connected with a group of faith-focused women, and alongside them she started to take her faith into her day-to-day life.
Hirschy knew she wanted to pursue a career in business, and she committed to following the path God set before her.
She attained an undergraduate degree before working for Bechtel in London, England; Leo Burnett and Time Inc. in Chicago; Eli Lilly; McDonald’s; Coca Cola; and other well-known companies.
However, she saw a need in her work place and found that business was a way to meet people where they are spiritually.
“In today’s culture, a lot of people who are not Christian will never beckon the door of a church, but they will get up every day and go to work,” Hirschy said. “So, what might that look like if we meet them where they are and bring Jesus to them?”
She met many professing Christians, but they did not live out their faith in the day-to-day. Eventually, Hirschy’s longing for a lived-out faith in the workplace led her to Taylor.
She and her family had moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and she thought she would face a significant career change considering there were no opportunities in Fort Wayne for doing nation-wide marketing at the time. During a visit to Taylor, she learned they needed an adjunct marketing professor, and people kept telling her she would be a good fit.
She taught one class for one semester and loved it. She tried other teaching programs, but God made it clear that the “next right step” was at Taylor.
Faith-integration is something Taylor does well as a school, and Hirschy does well with this as a business professor and professional, Hanson said. Some schools put a Christian filter over everything, but Taylor starts with scripture and everything else comes out of that, she said.
“How much better (would it be) if we’re just talking about all these things while we’re learning them,” Hirschy said.
From the beginning of their business journeys, students will learn how Scripture aligns with their calling. Paul was a tentmaker and Jesus was a carpenter, Hirschy said. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. The Bible does not promote laziness, but rather faithful worship through work, Hirschy said.
Hirschy equips students well, Hanson said, and in the process she is lovely to talk to. She is busy, and there is a lot of unseen work that she does, but she always makes time for students. Hirschy is both professional and personable, Hanson said.
“She talked to me for five minutes and didn’t even ask me direct questions, but directly answered everything that I was wondering about so quickly,” Hanson said.
The classroom is a place to train students how to steward their gifts, Hirschy said. What one is stewarding may change, but anyone can train hard in their approach to how they live each day and use their resources.
How a student engages with class shows future employers how they might engage with their job. Hirschy asked, If you don’t show up to class now, why would an employer think you would show up to work ten years from now?
Hirschy is the embodiment of servant-leadership, Hanson said.
“Her focus on building and equipping professionals to go out into the workforce is completely wrapped up in her love for her students,” Hanson said. “They’re the same thing. I can’t separate them.”
Whatever one’s calling is, work is worship, Hirschy said.
She encourages people to vet what they think God is telling them against Scripture while staying rooted in community and praying. Ask God to make His will clear, she said.
God may not show us the whole path, but He will illuminate enough for us to take the next best step. If one continues taking steps, they will find they are on a path prepared by God.
Listening for God’s voice is like picking out a close friend in a crowded room, Hirschy said. If one develops familiarity through constant conversation with God, they will be able to recognize His voice in a sea of different opinions. All that is needed is to look and listen for His response.
Hirschy has not always picked out God’s voice perfectly, and she has had setbacks, but she likes to think of them as gifts for refinement.
“I do know that He uses everything for His glory for those who know and love Him,” Hirschy said, “and so the good, the bad, the ugly — He’s got it. We just have to let Him do His thing.”
