Staying Equally Yoked with Business Partners (w/ Philip Kulishov)
On this episode, we’re joined by Philip Kulishov, co-founder of EBM Incorporated, a faith-driven holding company.
Philip shares how his mission to glorify God fuels the growth of EBM’s diverse portfolio—including manufacturing and homebuilding firms. He and Darren discuss leading with purpose, the dynamics of partnering with like-minded leaders, and building a company culture grounded in faith.
Philip encourages business leaders to view their work as a sacred calling and a means to serve others.
Key Takeaways
- Faith at the Core: Philip’s journey reveals how faith can be the foundation of business—shaping not just values, but the entire mission of a company.
- Redemptive Ownership: Owning and leading businesses is viewed as a sacred stewardship, meant to glorify God and serve people through ethical, value-driven enterprise.
- Partnership in Purpose: Working with seven like-minded partners, Philip emphasizes the importance of alignment in vision and faith to build lasting, God-honoring ventures.
- Calling over Career: Rather than treating business as neutral ground, Philip encourages Christians to fully integrate their faith with their vocational calling.
- Culture of Integrity: From manufacturing to housing, Philip stewards a culture that prioritizes character, humility, and servant leadership.
- Business as Ministry: For Philip, business isn’t separate from spiritual life—it’s a mission field where leadership, innovation, and discipleship converge.
Christian Business Leader is the show for marketplace Christians seeking to explore and apply God’s will for business. If you want to learn more about how to do business for the glory of God and shape culture through discipling the business world, this show is for you.
Full Episode Transcript
Heads up: This transcript was created with AI, so you might notice a few typos or small mistakes. We recommend listening to the episode for the best experience!
SPEAKER_01 0:05
Welcome to the Christian Business Leader Podcast, where Christ-following business leaders explore God’s will and ways for business. This show is the ministry of the Center for Christianity and Business at Houston Christian University and features conversations with today’s Christ-centered business leaders who are representing Christ faithfully in the business world. I’m your host, Darren Scheer. And if you want to make your work, leadership, and companies culture more Christ-centered, you’ve come to the right place. On this episode, we’re joined by Philip Kulishov. Philip is the co-founder and board member of EBM Incorporated, which is a holding company focused on businesses that enhance lives. At EBM, he oversees manufacturing leadership and company culture. And he’s helped grow EBM’s portfolio to include modern metals, Seattle metals, Green City homes, Northway products, and GCX. EBM aims to expand nationally, which I know they already are national. And he hosts Business 300, which is a podcast offering business insights with episodes twice weekly. And uh he’s got uh it’s interesting, he’s got seven business partners in this holding company with these uh manufacturing and and home building companies. And they are all on board with the mission to glorify God through this company and excited to hear what’s going on. Philip, welcome to the Christian Business Leader Podcast.SPEAKER_00 1:39
Thank you so much for having me.SPEAKER_01 1:41
When did you first realize God wanted to be involved in your work and business?SPEAKER_00 1:46
I I think it was it was always kind of there. Um uh that uh you know what what we should be doing should be connected to what God has for us. Um, but I do think that there is growing up, there was a sense of neutrality where maybe the uh what God cares about uh is maybe on a spectrum or not everything equally. And so we enter a certain kind of neutral playing field where uh Jesus isn’t um maybe Lord as much or doesn’t pertain to him as much when we’re there, and then we go serve Jesus elsewhere. Uh so really when it hit it off, I was reading uh Abraham Kuyper’s stone lectures, um, and uh he really helped me understand and present that sense of the lordship of Christ, carrying with it um uh dominion in every square inch. So, you know, he says that there’s not one square inch over which Christ is not calm, uh uh call mine. Um, and so uh seeing how that applies to business, I was already in business doing work, trying to build up companies uh when I learned about that. Uh, and so that definitely changed my perspective in how I approach work and what I even come to work to do, um, and what that looks like.SPEAKER_01 3:04
Influenced by Abraham Kuyper, and for those who may not be familiar, uh, we’ve mentioned uh his name has come up um many times on this show, but the former prime minister of the Netherlands, right? And so he had a uh absolutely a kingdom worldview, and it’s just uh it’s really exciting to think about a prime minister making a statement like that, that there is no square inch that the Lord does not declare mine.SPEAKER_00 3:38
Uh and yeah, Kuiper, I think um uh apart from his words, I think his his life kind of um demonstrates that where you know his uh interests and dominion expanded, you know, to where Christ’s interest and dominion expanded to. So when he originally uh before he was prime minister, he was a pastor. Uh and then when he started kind of uh changing some of his worldview, some of his uh look on life in that light, he ended up uh leaving the pastorate um and becoming a journalist. So he was um uh publishing both a weekly paper, a daily paper, uh, and then that led to him starting a whole political movement, a new political party. Uh that led to his own prime um minister position. Um, and then him starting the Free University of Amsterdam is then when he gave that speech that he said there’s not one square inch over. So he’s definitely a tornado of a man, uh, kind of involved in a lot of different things, um, and uh kind of on the go all the time.SPEAKER_01 4:45
Yes, and and has had a uh massive influence in what we think of as the modern faith and work movement for sure. Uh, one of the one of the names that comes up again and again. So I’m excited that you’ve got a holding company with these uh rapidly growing, really sizable companies, uh, and there are five of them. Is that right in the in the holding company?SPEAKER_00 5:13
Uh yeah, there’d be five, I guess. Yeah. So we have we do uh real estate uh uh development uh construction, um both uh in the Seattle area, uh kind of expanding there and then launching out in Greenville, South Carolina. Um, and so we build houses, uh spec houses. Um, then we have uh excavation company, and that one is focused uh right now, primarily in the Seattle area as well. Um and we’re also trying to follow our um Greenville path there. Uh and then that’s kind of the the side that’s focused on construction. And then we have three manufacturing facilities. Uh, one is a uh welding shop that does architectural instructional metal. Uh so we build, we provide metal products and install them for mid-rise buildings. Uh, we have a sheet metal company, uh, so we do uh weatherproofing sheet metal, other sorts of sheet metal. And then we have a CNC machining shop, so uh making products for um aerospace, medical, maritime, different sorts of um industries there.SPEAKER_01 6:12
Yeah. So how do you get seven business partners to get on board with and stay on board with this mission to glorify God through these companies?SPEAKER_00 6:22
Yeah. Uh it’s not easy. It’s not easy if you’re trying to uh walk with integrity and uh uh kind of walk in the light. Um, so yes, all seven are believers, and uh uh our faith is very much the reason why we are in business, and our faith is what keeps us together in business. Um, so we’ve been doing this together uh as a board of seven since 2017. Um, so maybe kind of out of the um honeymoon phase, and we already know how to work together. But getting to the spot uh definitely took a lot of uh tug and pull, figuring out how to work together. Um, but that um overarching mission to build up businesses that honor Christ, and doing so because Christ cares about it uh is what keeps us coming to work. And that is uh difficult to find a group of guys who uh uh uh hold those two things together and are able to carry it uh uh uh kind of long-term with a long-term vision as opposed to just like a short-term project. Um, and so I think there is a lot of value in uh seeing that like-mindedness, even if we have different approaches and different ways of doing things. We have uh uh people even coming from different backgrounds. Some of our guys on our team uh are more from a corporate background. They’re uh former Boeing executives, um, uh former uh MN MA merger uh uh workers as well. And then we have uh startup entrepreneurs uh kind of working up from the back end. Um and so people approaching business in different ways. Uh so keeping everybody on the same page together is challenging, uh, but I think that overarching mission is what connects us. And then, like I said, uh walking with integrity, like we understand that um Jesus cares about how we operate and what we do individually as well. Uh and so having to lay aside, you know, maybe some of our own preferences uh in order to um uh work together. Uh and then when there is um sin involved, when there is a certain kind of uh uh maybe backlash towards each other, we want to be able to uh reconcile, uh ask for forgiveness, uh forgive and move forward. Um, so treating each other like brothers in Christ, I think is really important and what has kept us together uh throughout this time.SPEAKER_01 8:47
Yeah. So there’s shared worldview, shared mission. And for that to be sustained over time, which evidently it has, I know that there are some habits that help you and your companies to reflect God’s character. Um, what’s one of those habits that comes to mind? Not so much a guiding principle, but a specific actionable and habitual practice that you’ve instilled in the culture.SPEAKER_00 9:15
Yeah. Well, so we we worship uh Trinitarian God. Um, and so his nature is communal, meaning his his nature is fellowship, love and fellowship is is God, it is what it is. Um, and so those things are not uh distinguishable from him. So trying to uh mirror that sort of nature of fellowship and community in our business, uh, we think is really important, a certain kind of camaraderie, right? Where we understand that it is not just me against the world, uh, but we are together as a brotherhood. Uh, I do think that just in the world in general, that is very much lacking. Um, and then you see that in the church also. Uh, so being able to flesh that out, what does it mean that uh we are a brotherhood? We are what whether it’s um um again believers outside of business as a community, but then specifically in business when you’re on mission together, you have a certain kind of objective, you’re trying to take this hill together. Okay, we are marching towards it as a brotherhood. Um, so you know, we we talk about these sorts of things all the time and work work with that. Um so even like we do weekly Bible studies together as a board. Uh, that’s just a very uh practical example of how we continue uh hashing it out um through our worldview and our understanding of what what the mission is and how to work towards that. And then we we flesh that out into each one of our uh businesses as well. Um so uh a little thing we do is a monthly Thanksgiving meal in in each one of our uh companies, where uh the last hour of one of the days a month is a uh a paid hour for all the guys, and we we provide food and we share a meal. Uh, and so again, focused on that sort of um camaraderie and fellowship that even within our businesses we’re trying to develop and build together. Uh so I think that sort of communal nature of our triune God is something that we hold dear and that we think is uh important to um manifest.SPEAKER_01 11:15
Yeah. What’s one of your favorite stories that illustrates this higher purpose that’s being lived out through your companies that would that would provide an example for us?SPEAKER_00 11:28
Yeah. Um, so when when we talk about uh Jesus caring about what we do in business or at work, um, I mean, I I do hear that sort of message a lot. Um, but a lot of times maybe it’s uh semantics, maybe it’s a certain kind of focus, where there are a lot of Christians in business who maybe um uh sprinkle a certain kind of veneer to uh Christianize their business, uh, to make it uh you know um appropriate for God. Um, where the actual work that the business does itself of building these products, whether they’re houses or parts or whatever the business is doing, software, that work itself is neutral playing field, and we have to uh make it Christian. Uh whereas if Jesus is Lord over our business, we don’t need to make him be Lord. We just need to acknowledge that he is and then work as unto the Lord. Uh and so in our business, as we serve our customers, build our products, as we manage our employees, we ought to be doing so as unto the Lord. Um, so our our uh um uh mission statement includes to bless people’s lives, right? So we uh at EBM we uh build up an impact culture by developing businesses to bless people’s lives. So that emphasis of blessing people’s lives, we think is again our calling in general as Christians to shine your light, uh, to love your neighbor, right? These are just different ways of saying that sort of thing. Um, but the the people specifically in business that we are after blessing is the customer. And those that is uh indistinguishable from the business purpose. So when we become uh business owners who are working as under the Lord, we should care more about serving that customer uh uh in in a way that is um uh in a way that is excellent, in a way that is good. Um, so one example, when we acquired uh our uh CNC machining shop, uh we did have um we we uh presented that sort of worldview, and uh not everybody was excited about it. Um uh and um there were people who were unbelievers, um, and uh they felt threatened maybe by that sort of religious talk. Um, and so again, we’re not uh kicking anybody out. This is just who we are, and we want to present that we’re building businesses in light of all of this. And so one um gentleman quit right away uh because he was not comfortable with the um word bless. Uh that uh uh terminology was threatening to him. Um and uh I think finally that’s what he said.SPEAKER_01 14:05
He just said I could because you guys use the word bless.SPEAKER_00 14:08
That’s right. Yeah, the word bless specifically, he emphasized that word that he did not feel comfortable. He felt like we were um indoctrinating him and trying to you know convert him because we’re using the word bless. He emphasized that word, um, which is interesting because you would think that even you know unbelievers would be uh at least uh entertained would would entertain that word, right?SPEAKER_01 14:31
I’m sure at least in the southeast, at least in the southeast.SPEAKER_00 14:34
This is in Seattle, that’s right.SPEAKER_01 14:36
Yeah, but it’s uh it’s it’s still a powerful word, you know, now that you really put it in that in that perspective, because it there’s a certain humility you have to have to acknowledge that the the good things that you have are blessings from a higher power, and that’s that’s hard to swallow for a lot of us.SPEAKER_00 14:56
Yeah, so I I was um encouraged when when somebody was threatened with the word bless. Um, so again, you know, when Paul talks about uh how um the um aroma we give off is like life unto life or death unto death, depending on if the person is living or dead. Um, and so uh just uh trying to present Christ’s goodness and that being a threat to somebody um is in uh something you don’t always experience, uh, but it was interesting to see. And um, I think five years later, that same uh guy came back and uh he knocked on her door and asked for his job back and said, I worked in a few different places. It’s I did not like it anywhere. Can I have my job back? And um when he before he left, he would uh ignore me, uh didn’t want to shake my hand, none of that. Now he’s smiling all the time. Might be one of our most um happiest uh workers uh on that floor is on board with with whatever we’re saying. I don’t think he’s a believer, uh, but but he um has definitely felt maybe a certain kind of blessing that he is attracted to and maybe wants more of. So that that overall kind of story arc for that guy for me was encouraging, even kind of what we’re trying to do to bless people’s lives, and how somebody was threatened with that blessing and then was drawn to it at the same time, yeah. Uh was interesting.SPEAKER_01 16:25
I love that. Have y’all ever revisited that particular um issue that he voiced?SPEAKER_00 16:32
Yeah, when he came back, so this is um uh he reports to our GM there. Uh so our GM had the uh conversation with him like, hey, like nothing has changed since you left. We’re still after blessing people’s lives. Uh so if you come back, uh you have to be on board with that, okay with that, and at least be willing to receive blessing. Um, and then again, uh work uh work as unto that, meaning like you also are trying to bless our customers with us. That’s what we’re uh inviting you to do. He’s like, Yeah, no problem. Uh, like I’m fine with that. And so never really addressed, you know, what changed in his mindset. He did say that he experienced different working uh conditions that he did not like, and so he he wanted to work here.SPEAKER_01 17:19
Yeah. Do you have a sense uh that um that you’re actually discipling the people that work in your companies as followers of Christ, even though they might not even be aware of it or think about it like that? Or what’s your take on that?SPEAKER_00 17:46
Yeah, yeah. So we have um maybe half of the guys who who we employ are uh believers and half are not. Um, but again, at the very least, we want to be clear and explicit on on the forefront of who we are and what we’re trying to do, and and kind of we’re building this as Christians. Uh, and so people at least need to be comfortable with that. Um, and so there definitely is um a sort of even explicit discipleship that does happen with those who are believers. Um, you know, where when when we’re talking with them, um uh we do kind of bring it on in that light. Um, but with those who are unbelievers, I do think there’s a the that sort of um attractiveness that that I was talking about before, where they are drawn to that blessing. Um, but the other kind of discipleship maybe that happens, I don’t know if I’d call it that, but it is a sort of accountability that these people are more accountable before God uh because their eyes are more opened. They they they they have seen more of God’s goodness, they’ve experienced more of God’s grace, and that’s that’s what what what we want to be as Christians are you know, uh the tools of God’s grace to be poured out onto people. And so these unbelievers have experienced more of that, and so they are with less excuse. Um, you know, we do want to again present uh uh God’s blessing as attractive, as tasty, as good. So people want more of it. Um, so if they could be drawn to actually uh becoming believers, that’s awesome. Uh, but if they don’t, that is still, I think, God’s God’s means of accountability for them and their ultimate life as well. Right. Um, so I think one way or another, we’re presenting that truth and um kind of presenting what God looks like to them.SPEAKER_01 19:38
Yeah. So in in addition to the evangelism side um aspect, uh, how about the the the discipleship aspect where if people are going to be discipled, the way I see it, it’s gonna happen in the workplace or it’s not gonna happen at all. I mean, at least if you’re if you’re a a working age person, and certainly you get uh most of your initial worldview, probably from your upbringing, but from that point on, it’s the workplace that really shapes people. Um, have you seen evidence that you’re you’re really shaping uh the way people behave, the way they think, the way not that you’re there to you know brainwash them per se, but yeah, but you have a tremendous amount of influence on them because they spend most of their waking hours on your clock.SPEAKER_00 20:40
Right, right. Yeah, and so I do think there’s a certain kind of um, you know, again, um, understanding as to what sort of relationship this is. Um, you know, uh at work, uh uh I am not their pastor, uh, I’m not their father, um, uh, I am their employer. Um, and so being able to understand what that looks like and how that applies, but uh uh work is part of our purpose. God created us to work. Uh, this is why why we’re here. He he blessed them and then gave them their assignment uh to go subdue and take dominion. So teaching people how to work, how to um uh take on that responsibility, and then giving them a path, how to grow in their career, uh, what that looks like, I think is very much connected to discipleship as well. What does it look like to become more responsible, to take on a heavier burden? What does it look like to become more of a master in your trade, uh, to excel in your work and like Proverbs says, stand before kings, right? What does it look like to have more autonomy and control to be able to rule your domain, your assignment here? Uh so as people learn and grow to become Become good workers and good uh good um craftsmen, that is a certain kind of discipleship that I think is very much relevant. Um, that even like a lot of um homes today that are maybe either uh explicitly fatherless or uh the the dads are um absent, uh those young guys are not trained in. And so even um hiring young guys who we could kind of put under that um umbrella and then train them and show them, hey, here’s an opportunity, uh, here are resources, here is uh a way for you to learn in your skill and grow and take responsibility, I think is uh discipleship. Um and so for sure, we especially when we see um hungry, eager young guys who are willing to work and wanting to learn, and for us to be able to provide that opportunity, I think there’s um nothing much better to be able to align those uh resources and opportunities with those guys. So yeah, I think uh uh discipleship in that way is very much relevant.SPEAKER_01 22:58
Yeah. And and work is not just uh a sort of uh skill set of a disciple. I mean, work is the context for that discipleship to happen because it’s it’s not only uh their craftsmanship and you know when they’re working with things and widgets and uh it’s their relationships because work is so highly relational. And that’s such a massive part of um discipleship is learning how to how to bring your entire life under the lordship of Christ, right? The way that you might feel bad today coming into work. Uh what are you gonna do with that? You know, you might be upset with this person. What are you gonna do with that? Um and just navigating all of life’s challenges, it all it all is right there in the factory.SPEAKER_00 24:03
Right, right, right. Well, and I think like work again, it it requires you uh to uh come out of yourself in the sense of your own self-uh focus. Um, you you can’t focus on yourself when you’re trying to be productive, when you’re trying to work, because there is an outside output of that work. Again, if you’re trying to serve a customer, if you’re trying to bless another person, uh there needs to be some sort of a recipient to your effort. Uh that is not you. Uh, and so for you to be productive at work, you need to focus on somebody else, on serving somebody else. And I think that in itself uh requires a lot of humility, a lot of uh kind of again, growth and maturity, and what that looks like and how to do that. And that that uh uh a lot of what Christ even comes in um brings with um getting down on his knees and washing his disciples’ feet, that sort of uh uh servant approach, uh, I think uh uh at least mentally is necessary in order to serve customers, in order to serve other people. We can’t be productive if we think it’s all about us. We have to come from a position of giving as opposed to taking or grabbing. Um, and again, so teaching our people what that looks like. So if we have employees, if we have people who uh uh come at their work very selfishly or grabby uh entitled, uh, okay, this isn’t working. This is why it doesn’t work. Um, and especially again if they’re uh confessing believers, uh, that does add uh an additional paradigm to all of that, um, where I think uh uh it makes it much more clear. But nonetheless, like I said, that sort of growth in discipleship happens whether they’re uh uh believers or not.SPEAKER_01 25:52
Yeah. Well, you shared the the really miraculous story of the man that came back after being upset about the word bless. Is there uh another story of a time when you saw God’s hand at work in your company or one of the one of the five companies?SPEAKER_00 26:10
Yeah. Um, I mean, one is the fact that we’re still here. Uh that that is definitely uh uh God’s hand at work. Um overall, so I’ve I originally uh kind of joined this effort in uh 2011, end of 2011. I was just looking for a job because I wanted to get married. I I found a girl and needed a job. Uh so I joined uh Modern Metals as the fifth employee there. Um, and then right now that company has um over 50 employees, and so it just kind of helped grow all that. Um, and uh definitely learning as I go. It’s been uh a roller coaster ride. I um I uh dropped out of UW in Seattle uh because uh I wanted to just pursue work and pursue the opportunity. And so I did not come at this with some sort of uh uh educational background. Um so God’s hand in my work throughout the last you know 13 years or however long it’s been has been very evident. Uh there has been a lot of moments where I feel like it’s just me and him uh doing this. And so that sort of uh even kind of where we are right now, I very much attribute to God’s grace and God’s miraculous work. Uh and then even the last couple of years, with where uh interest rates are at and with where where we are in our uh building efforts, uh kind of the um housing market has very much slowed down. Uh and so God’s sustaining work has come through over and over again. And one maybe interesting point as well. Uh so in our building efforts, uh, we uh have um equity partners where we we raise um equity uh with um uh uh just outside uh investors on a project-by-project basis. Um so that’s something we’re always uh actively looking to engage with and grow. And as we uh initiate projects, before we could go vertical, we need more equity there. Um and one target audience for some reason has been the uh Indian uh community, uh, so Hindus that have engaged with us, at least in this Seattle market, with a lot of our building efforts. Um and so God even uh coming through that way where we need to fund a project, uh, and then uh we we’re we’re maybe having a hard time finding that equity, but he comes through from like a back door uh of people who aren’t even in the same worldview box that we’re that we’re trying to do, but then he supplies and provides for us that way. Uh is also him uh uh uh coming through for us uh in uh again, providing, answering our prayers, uh again, from people who we wouldn’t even expect.SPEAKER_01 28:52
Yeah. Wow, truly miraculous. So your website is Philipkulashoff.com. That’s K-U-L-I-S-H-O-V.com. Uh, and that’s Philip with one L. People can get that in the show notes uh for this episode. Anything else you want to tell our listeners about how they can hear more from you?SPEAKER_00 29:14
Uh yeah, you could check out my my website uh on X. Also, you can follow me there. Uh it’s uh cool fill. So K-U-L, the beginning of my last name, and then P-H I L uh on X, and then um on Instagram as well. Uh so again, I’m uh actively trying to uh uh promote this idea of Christians in business, and that our end goal there uh under the Lordship of Christ is still to serve that customer well, to care about our work and to excel in it. Uh, it’s not that we need to, again, sprinkle a Christian veneer, but the work itself matters. And so that’s what I keep trying to uh talk more about.SPEAKER_01 29:54
Yes. Well said. Well, thank you for um moving the conversation forward. We certainly need it. There’s much, much to be done. Bill, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your your experience with us today. We’re all the better for it.SPEAKER_00 30:10
Yeah, my pleasure, Darren. Thank you.SPEAKER_01 30:13
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