Faith as Foundation: How Elise Theobald Built Covenant Signs on an Uncompromising Covenant with God

Elise Theobald didn't set out to become a CEO. She had a plan — a comfortable retirement, a dental career winding down, maybe a little more margin in her days. But as she'll tell you with a knowing laugh, God tends to have other plans.

Four and a half years ago, Elise and her husband Theo launched Covenant Signs & Graphics in De Pere, Wisconsin, after Theo was unexpectedly eliminated from an executive corporate role he'd held for nearly two decades. What began as a necessity quickly became something far more intentional — a business where the name, the logo, and the way every single customer interaction unfolds all point to the same thing.

"It was very important for my husband and I to ensure that our faith was our foundation. We weren't going to deviate from it, we weren't going to compromise it."

That conviction shows up before anyone even walks through the door. The Covenant Signs & Graphics logo features a cross built right into the letter "T" — a visual declaration that required no explanation the moment Elise saw the designer's first draft. She'd combed through nearly 700 design concepts before landing on the right one, created, as it turned out, by two designers from her homeland of the Philippines.

"That gal just knocked it out of the park," Elise says. "And I said, that's it — that's my logo." For her, the full-circle moment of supporting her homeland while launching a faith-filled business wasn't coincidence. It was confirmation.

A CEO Who Didn't See It Coming

Elise spent 30 years building expertise in the dental industry — operations, systems, small business rhythms. She assumed Theo would run the sign shop while she served in a quiet support role, writing standard operating procedures and staying mostly in the background. Six months in, Theo had a different idea.

"He voluntold me to come and work in signs," she says with a laugh, "where I thought I was just going to ride off into the sunset with my dental chair in tow and enjoy retirement."

Instead, she found herself at the helm of a business she knew almost nothing about — custom exterior and interior signage, vehicle graphics, ADA compliance, vinyl work — a field that never stops evolving. "I think I've got something down pat," she says, "and then I get another project that requires more research, more digging." The learning curve was steep. But the foundation was already set.

Faith That Breathes Naturally

When asked how she intentionally integrates faith into her daily operations, Elise pauses — not because the answer is complicated, but because the question almost doesn't compute for her.

"I don't even think about how I integrate my faith in business because my faith is very centered, personally and professionally. It just comes naturally."

For Elise, the cross in the logo isn't just branding strategy — it opens conversations she never has to start. Customers who find Covenant Signs online, or drive past the studio, often lead with it. "Tell me about your business — clearly you're Christian-based." That cross does the work of introduction. What happens next is up to her to honor.

And she knows it tests her. Running a business-to-business operation means she regularly deals with people who don't share her faith, or who have complicated relationships with it. She's unapologetic about who she is — but never unkind about who they are. "I am very unapologetic about my faith," she says, "and that's brought some interesting people just stopping into our studio."

Grace in the Hard Moments

One story captures the texture of that balance better than any principle could.

A young woman contacted Covenant Signs about a project. Before sharing any details, she paused and told Elise she hadn't initially realized it was a Christian-based business — and that her project involved adult content. Rather than assume judgment, she offered Elise a graceful exit. Elise responded in kind: no condemnation, just honesty. She reviewed the materials. And then, with warmth and no drama, she declined.

"The way she handled herself in accepting the fact that I was a Christian-based business — that's a divine intervention right there," Elise reflects. "She respected my position, my faith. I never even asked what hers was. We had the best conversation. I applaud that young lady."

It's a quiet illustration of something important: faith lived out loud doesn't have to be loud. Sometimes it just means being so clearly, consistently yourself that others know how to meet you honestly — and you know how to receive them the same way.

Generosity Beyond the Checkbook

Elise and Theo have a long-term goal to elevate their tithing ratio. That vision drives how they approach every project and every financial decision. But when Elise talks about generosity, she quickly moves past dollars.

She describes a habit she's carried for years: when she's out getting a meal, she scans the room for elderly people sitting alone. Quietly, she'll ask a server to bring her their check. No announcement. No recognition. Just a nudge to pass the kindness forward.

"It's not about the financial thing — it's that I just don't believe you should have to eat by yourself. Food is what brings us together. And it serves me more than it serves them."

She lights up talking about the seniors she's encountered across decades of waitressing and now across life. "At 18, listening to their stories, I thought, I want to be like you when I get to that age." She grins. "Now I'm asking for my senior discounts."

The Counsel That Changes Everything

If there's one thing Elise would hand to any new Christian business owner, it isn't a productivity system or a marketing framework. It's this: build your band.

She and Theo sought outside counsel from the start — experienced business advisors, a franchise network, analytical minds who could stress-test their decisions. But for Elise personally, she needed something more specific: a small circle of women in faith who would tell her what she needed to hear, not just what she wanted to hear.

"Our pride gets in our way and we don't even recognize it," she says. "Those band of sisters who know me intimately — they know when they need to pull me back in. They make me accountable."

"You go to a fool, you get a fool's recommendation. You go to someone wise, with experience, who's been through hardship — you make better decisions."

It's a principle as old as Proverbs, and Elise has lived long enough to know it's not optional. In a season when she found herself wrestling with whether a new calling was from God or from her own ego — she describes feeling a little like Jonah, trying to get some distance from a direction that kept finding her — it was those sisters who helped her discern the difference.

If You're Going to Proclaim It, Live It

Elise closes the way she opened — with directness and grace in equal measure. For any leader wondering whether faith belongs in their business, or how to hold it when the business gets hard, she doesn't soften the ask.

"Faith is the best umbilical cord to the success of your business. If you're going to proclaim that you're doing this for his glory — then live it, speak it, and do it."

And if the business doesn't make it? "That doesn't mean you failed. That just means God put something in the middle of it to say, stop — because I want you to go in this direction."

For Elise Theobald, the sign on her studio is more than a logo. It's a declaration. And every customer, every relationship, every quiet act of generosity toward a stranger eating alone — it all flows from the same source. Not as a strategy. As a life.