Faith Has No Off Switch: How Steve of 828 Marketing Leads with Integrity in the Digital Age

There Is No "Work Self"

Steve was 19 years old, working the night shift at Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Virginia, when the internet showed up and changed everything. While the rest of the world was still figuring out whether a browser was useful, Steve was already automating systems and building web applications. Within a few years, he had led development for the first e-commerce site for the federal government, worked alongside brands like Nike and Black & Decker, and earned a reputation for helping organizations do things online that had never been done before.

But here is what Steve will tell you matters more than any of that: he never once believed he could leave his faith at the door when he walked into a boardroom.

"I ran into a lot of guys who were Sunday and Wednesday Christians, but I never really understood the idea that you had different versions of yourself. A church self, a work self, a home self. For me, faith doesn’t turn on and off depending on the setting. If I’m called to honor and glorify God, then that should shape how I live, lead, and treat people every day, everywhere.”

More than 30 years into a career that has spanned five businesses in total, including three that were created specifically to help companies and nonprofits grow online, Steve now leads 828 Marketing and Web Design, a family-owned agency built on faith that focuses on lead generation for service companies. The name is no accident. It comes from Romans 8:28–30, verses Steve says have deeply shaped his family and the way he leads the business.

What Faith Actually Looks Like at 6 a.m.

Ask Steve how he integrates faith into his day-to-day leadership, and he will resist the easy answer. He is not going to hand you a checklist of devotionals and memory verses. He goes deeper than that.

As a self-described Type A personality — and a man who has led teams since his early-twenties — Steve has had to learn something that does not come naturally to high achievers: surrender. Not the passive kind, but the active, daily decision to begin each morning with his spirit already oriented toward God before the first email arrives or the first problem surfaces.

"It's not what do I do to honor God — it’s about where my heart is before the day even starts. Have I already entrusted my anxieties to God? I have a sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient God who is in control of everything. Am I really going to stress about everything today?"

That posture, he says, is less about tactics and more about identity. In a culture that scrambles for purpose in careers, relationships, and social movements, Steve sees his identity as settled. He is an adopted child of God. That is not a cliche for him — it is a load-bearing truth that shapes how he hires, how he handles business, and how he responds when a client pushes back.

He points to passages like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 as models for faithful leadership. If attributes like self-control, integrity, hospitality, and sound judgment are required of church leadership, why would the standard be any lower in business? For Steve, it would not make sense for it to be.

The Contract He Would Not Cash

Steve is quick to point out that cultural ethics and biblical faithfulness are not always the same thing. That distinction came into sharp focus through a situation that could have been easy money.

Imagine quoting a fixed-price project based on the best information available. A website rebuild, for example, looks complex: outdated systems, dozens of pages, significant work ahead. The estimate is agreed to and the contract signed.

But once the work begins, things change. The site turns out to be easier to migrate than expected. Half the content is no longer needed, and the actual effort turns out to be far less than expected.

Legally and ethically, collecting the full amount would be completely defensible. The agreement was signed. Most business owners would simply move forward.

Steve sees it differently.

“I could be ethical and still violate my faith,” he says. “Our first lens is always our worldview, and our worldview is shaped by Scripture and centered on Christ. If something feels out of alignment with that, we stop and think about it. Just because I’m allowed to do something doesn’t always mean I should.”

For Steve, faith sits above ethics. Ethics matter, but they are filtered through a deeper question: What honors God and serves people well?

This is not naïve idealism. It is simply the natural result of living out what he believes. Faith is not something he turns on for church and off for work.

That also means he does not lead with faith in client conversations. He does not open sales calls with Scripture or expect clients to share his beliefs. 828 serves businesses across many industries and backgrounds. But over the years, clients have noticed something different about the way the company operates.

One moment especially stood out. A Jewish client once told him plainly:

“I don’t agree with your faith, but I really appreciate the way you guys try to live it.”

That meant a lot to Steve. Not because it changed anyone’s beliefs, but because it affirmed something he deeply believes: when faith genuinely shapes how you treat people, lead, and serve others, people notice — whether they agree with you or not.

You Cannot Lone-Wolf a Holy Life

When asked what he would say to encourage other Christian business leaders, Steve did not offer a productivity tip or a leadership framework. He offered a warning.

The most dangerous thing a Christian entrepreneur can do, in his view, is convince themselves they can handle it alone. We have all watched prominent pastors fall. He has seen ministry leaders with admirable missions quietly abandon the ethics they once preached. He has felt the pull himself. And he is honest about why it happens.

"Every sin involves choosing our desires over honoring God in that moment. You'll find yourself making exceptions. You'll concede here, make an exception there. Accountability matters. None of us are above it. If we don't have support, we're basically letting pride get in the way of ourselves."

The antidote, he says, is community. Find people who share your values and are fighting the same battles. Stay in the Word — not as a religious routine, but as genuine nourishment. Be accountable to someone who will tell you the truth. Peter did not suggest holiness. He commanded it. And none of us are equipped to pursue it in isolation.

Steve acknowledges that even the church is navigating complicated cultural pressures right now. The culture increasingly pressures Christians to blur lines Scripture keeps clear. That reality makes intentional community not a nice-to-have, but an essential lifeline for anyone trying to lead with faith in the modern marketplace.

An Identity That Does Not Clock Out

For more than three decades in the digital world, Steve has watched technologies rise and reshape entire industries — from the first browser to e-commerce to artificial intelligence rewriting its own code. He is neither dazzled by it nor afraid of it. He uses what serves people and keeps his focus on what endures.

What endures, for Steve, is this: you are not a business owner who happens to be a Christian. You are first and foremost an adopted child of God who happens to run a business. That sequence matters. It determines what lens you use when the hard decisions come, whether integrity matters when nobody notices, and whether the people around you — believer or not — see a life shaped by something deeper.

The name of the agency is 828. The principle behind it is ancient. And for Steve, it is not a brand strategy. It is simply who he is, every day of the week.

Are you a Christian business leader with a story worth telling? Connect with Kingdom Factor Collective and share the testimony that someone else needs to hear this week.