My family and I have long believed that God calls us specifically to great tasks—perhaps not great tasks in their scope or measure, but always great in their purpose. Over the past four years, we’ve been called to what I believe to be one of those great tasks, and we’ve called it Old Glory Bank.
This journey began in late 2020, when I received a call from a former client and longtime friend, Eric Ohlhausen. Until this point, I had a great career as a successful lawyer and businessman, with an even greater life as a family man. The Lord had shown me tremendous favor and grace, and I had no reason to feel that my calling needed to be any larger than this. On that call with Eric though, we began to discuss our growing fears about cancel culture and found it likely that banks might soon begin to take sides and de-bank certain customers whose views they disagreed with. He proposed a solution – “a bank that serves everyone. A bank for America.”
It was a brilliant idea, and I knew it then. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable at the time dropping everything to pursue this huge idea. God had clearly given me a sign, but I was never the best listener. He’d need to give me a little nudge, and it wouldn’t take long for Him to do so. One day in January of 2021, I was tuned into Sean Hannity’s radio show. He was conducting an interview with Mike Lindell (the My Pillow Guy), whose products had recently been canceled by most retail stores due to his political beliefs. I found myself yelling at the radio – “Lindell, they are coming for your banking next! They are coming for your payments!” A bit silly, I know, but then it struck me. Eric’s idea was the answer. I couldn’t ignore this anymore; I was being called to start a bank for America. A bank that didn’t pick sides. A bank that would support any law-abiding American, regardless of what they believed.
Everyone said it was impossible. They said we couldn’t build a 50-state pro-America bank; it was just too difficult. They were nearly right, and if I had known then what it would take, I probably wouldn’t have ever tried. Thankfully, God’s calling was clear, and it was the firm conviction that my wife and I were being called upon to work for the Lord that kept me going.
The Lord ended up providing everything we needed, as He always does. He first provided our brilliant co-founders: John Rich, Secretary Ben Carson, Larry Elder, Bill Shine, and Governor Mary Fallin. He then provided the most passionate team that anyone could ask for. Finally, he provided the perfect name – Old Glory Bank.
It was a name suggested to me by a longtime client, a name that a lot of “experts” said wouldn’t work because you can’t have “Old” in the name of a brand. Fortunately, I went with my gut and stuck with it. Old Glory had long visually represented the America that we aimed to serve, so it was fitting that its fabric would interweave with everything we would soon be trying to do.
Old Glory Bank has been a huge success (crazy what happens when you genuinely love your customers). It hasn’t been easy, but following this calling has been life-changing in so many ways. Thousands of Americans can rest easy knowing their finances are safe regardless of what the future holds. I pray that many more can soon know that comfort as well. As servants of the Lord, we’re called to many different things - sometimes big, and sometimes small. What’s important is that we listen.
