When God Fires You First: Kyle McCalla's Leap Into Purpose-Driven Consulting

Kyle McCalla thought he had more time. More savings in the bank. More experience under his belt. More of everything before he'd actually step into what he knew God was calling him to do.

Then he got fired.

For the first time in his career, the steady paycheck disappeared. The bonus potential evaporated. The security he'd wrapped around his young family like a blanket—gone. And in that terrifying moment, Kyle heard something he'd been avoiding: Now is the right time. Quit waiting.

So he launched People First Consulting, a leadership and employee development firm for small and medium-sized businesses. No safety net. No guaranteed clients. Just a conviction that when you put people first, performance and profits naturally follow.

Four months in, Kyle joined a Kingdom Factor peer advisory group led by Jim. He came looking for what every entrepreneur needs but few admit: accountability, vulnerability, and a place where faith and business aren't kept in separate lanes.

The Fellowship You Didn't Know Your Business Needed

Kyle's first concern wasn't whether the group would be helpful—it was whether strangers would actually be honest with each other.

"You never really know how vulnerable people are going to be, especially with strangers," Kyle admits. "Me coming into an already established group, people had known each other. But man, just from—I'm a pretty open book. And so the fact that everybody else was the same way was really refreshing."

The group talks about everything: money, relationships, sin, struggles with clients, challenges at home. There's no compartmentalization, no pretending that the guy leading a business on Tuesday is a different person than the dad struggling on Wednesday.

"We bring all our struggles—personal, professional. I mean, we talk about money, relationships, sin, anything and everything. That's what I hoped it was. And after being in it for going into my fifth month now, I can say that's exactly what it is."

This kind of integration—the refusal to separate faith from work, marriage from leadership, fear from profit—is what makes Kingdom Factor groups different. Kyle didn't join to get business advice with a Bible verse tacked on at the end. He joined because he needed a place where his whole life could be on the table.

The Enemy Knows Your Calendar

Kyle doesn't struggle with the time commitment of the monthly meetings. But he's learned to recognize a pattern.

"The Enemy certainly—it's always funny—he always starts well enough the week before and certainly the week of. There's always something to do, right? There's four hours that I could do X, Y, and Z."

The resistance shows up like clockwork. An urgent client issue. A family obligation. A dozen reasons why this month, maybe just this once, he could skip.

But once he's there? The four hours fly by. He could stay all day.

Kyle has learned that the very thing trying to keep him away is proof he needs to show up. Scripture never promised that following Jesus would make life easier—just the opposite. The same is true in business. The more you're doing something that matters, the more resistance you'll face.

"All the more reason why I know I need it is because the enemy's constantly trying to work his way into business. Just to have that monthly time to refocus, recenter, re-engage, and be vulnerable—that's great."

Living Paycheck to Paycheck—By Faith

Kyle never loved money, but he definitely loved the security of a regular paycheck. Starting his own business shattered that illusion of control.

"I don't know where the next client's going to come from," he says. "In a lot of ways, you could look and say that I'm living paycheck to paycheck. But God keeps providing. He keeps giving me clients when I need them. He keeps giving me recurring revenue when I need it. And sometimes it's just enough to get by."

Just enough to get by. That's not the prosperity gospel. That's not the promise that obedience equals abundance. It's something harder and more real: the daily dependence that teaches you where your security actually comes from.

Kyle sleeps well at night—not because his bank account is full, but because he knows his joy doesn't come from his balance sheet. His mercies are new every morning. And every morning, he wakes up and prays the same thing: God, if this is the path you're calling me to, just help me be content with today and provide me with tomorrow.

"There's no doubt in my mind I could not do this without my faith in him, because I think this is what he's called me to. And it's hard to follow that because it's not easy. But I know where my joy comes from."

That kind of faith isn't theoretical. It's the faith you build when the savings account is low and the next invoice hasn't come in yet. It's the faith that holds you when you're doing exactly what God called you to do, and it still feels terrifying.

Accountability That Goes Beyond Business

Kyle's personal testimony includes a battle with pornography that lasted most of his life. The freedom he found didn't come from willpower—it came from the men in his life who held him accountable.

"I'm really big on accountability," Kyle says. "A big part of not only the Lord freeing me from that is the men in my life that help hold me accountable. And I think even more so in business."

His Kingdom Factor group provides that same kind of accountability—not just for business metrics, but for the whole person. When he pours his heart out about struggles with his marriage, his kids, his finances, or his clients, the group doesn't give him generic advice. They give him biblical counsel. They pray for him. And he knows they actually do.

That accountability will keep him coming back long after his business is stable. Because the struggles change, but the need for a community that puts Christ first never does.

When Millionaires and Bootstrappers Pray Together

Kyle's group includes people worth millions. And then there's Kyle, essentially living paycheck to paycheck.

"We come together, we pray together," he says. "He doesn't think any less of me. I don't think any less of him. And we're all just trying to steward everything that God gives us the right way."

In a world where money, power, and authority define success, Kingdom Factor has a way of putting that in perspective. Because when you strip away the revenue numbers and the org charts, you're left with a group of people trying to honor God with what they've been given. And that levels the playing field in the most beautiful way.

What Are You Actually Trying to Build?

If you're considering joining a Kingdom Factor group, Kyle has one question for you: What's your ultimate goal? What's your why?

If your answer is to honor God, there's no better place to make that commitment than with a group of other believers doing the same thing.

But if you're looking for a business strategy group with a prayer tacked on at the beginning, this isn't it. Kingdom Factor is a fellowship. It's a ministry. It's a place where you bring your whole self—the business owner, the spouse, the parent, the person struggling to trust God when the bank account is low.

"Kingdom Factor is more than just a business accountability group. I see it as a fellowship and a ministry in and of itself where we encourage one another. We take that responsibility of stewardship very seriously. And it takes a village—whether it's raising kids or business, which feels like raising kids in a lot of ways."

Kyle didn't get fired so he could build a more comfortable life. He got fired so he could finally step into what God had been calling him to all along. And now, four months into the hardest and most rewarding season of his life, he's learning what it means to steward not just a business, but a calling.

Sometimes the push you need comes wrapped in what looks like failure. And sometimes the community you need is waiting on the other side of your willingness to show up vulnerable, broken, and ready to build something that actually matters.