A New Chapter Begins - (Published November 11, 2013)

When your passion and interests change (and they will over time), it's important to take inventory of what is really important to you and what your future is going to look like, and make changes as needed.

There are different levels of change, ranging from easy and of barely any consequence, to life-changing events that will completely reshape your future.  If you need new passion and have the faith in God to make such changes, then you should do so when possible.  In practicing what I preach, both Lisa and I have taken our second leap of faith recently, and wanted to relay that news here.

We started the largest of our companies on a folding table in the basement of my parents house, 21 years ago.  With a lot of hard work, a little luck, and God guiding us, it soon became a full-time job and eventually we quit our "real" jobs.   There were very few people who thought it would work, and doubters quickly provided ample reasons on why it wouldn't work.  Sadly, most of their bullet point reasons were right and I didn't have any rebuttal other than we had passion, determination, and were willing to do "whatever it takes" to make it work.

Several years passed and as the company grew, so did our client base.  We moved into larger offices, added employees, and became "known" in our industry nationally.  Our goals were achieved, new ones were set, and achieved again.  This went on for over two decades and near the end, our passion and interests changed.  It's hard to summarize 20+ years into a paragraph, but let's just say we were blessed in many ways, met wonderful people along the way, learned many things, and feel extremely blessed and fortunate "it worked out" for us.

Recently, we had an opportunity to sell our company, and after looking at everything from a business standpoint, we prayed to God as we have with all little and large decisions over the years.  The answer was one of peace and contentment, and we knew it was time to start a new chapter, and trust in The Lord again.   Growing a company from nothing to 43 employees at one point, is similar to raising a kid.  It's your life, it's important, around you daily, and selling it would be like walking your daughter down the aisle.  Well, perhaps not that dramatic, but envision what you have made your living at and spent a large chunk of your life doing, to one day walk in and not be owner, the boss, etc.  Your habits, routine, and all that you have known changes immediately.  We would sell, but we would be very selective in whom the buyer would be.

With that said, the big life event that we have been discussing on social media for some time is this:  Lisa and I have sold our "baby" to family members, and trust that Shadow Trackers Investigative Services, Inc. will continue to help others, provide outstanding service, and continue to grow with the passion that comes with the new owners, Mike and Scott Kern.  We felt it very important to keep it in the family so that morals, ethics, and integrity remain in the fashion that has taken 20 years for us to mold.

We expect it to flourish and provide a solid place of employement for the many we interviewed and hired, some almost a decade ago, and continue to be considered one of the best.   Shadow Trackers is one of the top 5 largest investigation and employment screening firms in the USA, and likely it will move up that scale over time.

We are happy to move forward to countless new experiences, places, and people that God has in store for us.  We understand that this wonderful blessing of a company that we started doesn't define who we are.  We are continuing on as consultants for a short time, but have a wonderful peace about this decision that just confirms it is the right thing to do.

Many have asked what we are going to do being "retired" so young.  Well, if you know me, I am not one to sit still, and God has placed many new people and opportunities already in our path.  Some of these inlude the writing of 3 books, launching a ministry, having the privilege to work with and be on the Board of Directors for Stand Up America; starting a radio show, and many more things -  believe it or not.

I'll try to summarize our new direction and passion:  "With God's help, Lisa and I want to be a blessing to others in a way that will have a strong, sustainable, and large impact on peoples lives in a positive way, regardless of the platform."

The only thing that could have made this better, would have been to have my Mom still with us to see it.  I think she would have been very proud.

We cannot see the future and don't know exactly what it will bring, however we have full faith and trust in God to direct us, all of it.

We want to thank you for taking time out to read this, which is a huge change for us.  We ask that you take a few minutes to visit, "like", get involved, and see some of the things we are doing by clicking the below links.

Sincerely,

Ronald and Lisa Kern

Ronald and Lisa Kern - Here you will find everything you need to know.

Kern Ministry Foundation, Inc.   - Our 501c3

Roatan Christian Outreach Ministry - Impacting the people of Isle of Roatan

Stand Up America -  Providing collaboration opportunities, training, technical assistance and funding opportunities for underrepresented populations across America.

The Brighter Side Radio Show - Discussing the Brighter Side of the news with focus on the positive that is happening.