About No Holy Handcuffs

Hi, I’m Kevin Tracy. For the last seven years, I have been the creative director of Kevin Tracy Design and Scrum.Marketing — a branding and design agency in Denver; I’m a writer and an award-winning multidisciplinary designer. Over the years, I developed a keen sense of hearing the words between the words, a by-product of struggling to navigate new cultures and contexts with a neurodiverse brain (I’m ADD, too).

Before all that, I was a circuit preacher in the Midwest, a missionary, a church planter, and a pastor. I learned a few things along the way, which led me to launch No Holy Handcuffs.

My listening and coaching skills draw the hero out of each client. That helps me create powerful brand and design systems for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits. They also come in handy staffing addiction recovery retreats for men here in Denver.

My family and I lived in Lima, Peru, for over six years. We planted two churches and launched a Pastor’s School in the Andes and a Student Exchange Ministry while working with a diverse range of leaders and nonprofits.

My resume includes cross-cultural teaching, curriculum development, fluent Spanish, front-end web development, general UX and UI design, coaching, and international speaking.

Thanks to Living Water Intl. in Texas, I can repair almost any well in the world (with the right tools and parts). I had the joy of training teams in Sub-Saharan West Africa to do just that, then watching, from half a world away, as they solved a water crisis spurred by the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia before UNHCR or the Red Crescent could even get off the ground.

I have seen the power of micro-enterprise firsthand, partnering with The Gemach Project to launch no-interest micro-loans in Africa. Through those efforts, a tiny village outside of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, leveraged their micro-businesses to send relief funds to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after the devastating tornadoes of 2011. Let that sink in, a tiny spot on the map, two klicks off the road to Timbuktu, helping a major US city.

So, what’s the connection between design, branding, marketing, and the missions, pastoral, and nonprofit work?

And, more importantly, how does that help pastors thrive after leaving the ministry?

That’s easy. Both ends of that spectrum should serve a greater good, not themselves. And both can leverage the power of entrepreneurship and small businesses to make a greater impact.

To stand out in a hypercompetitive marketplace, brands and businesses must be simple but not simplistic, easy to grasp, hard to forget, and capable of drawing customers into a bigger story.

To grow in a tightening economy, churches and nonprofits have to cast a simple, easy to grasp, hard to forget vision that draws volunteers into a bigger story and transforms them into stakeholders and leaders.

Between the two, businesses are positioned to make the most significant tangible impact on our world. Nonprofits need revenue from businesses to run, while Kingdom-focused businesses generate their own funding. Both are needed.

Here’s where ex-pastors and ministry leaders come in.

Lacking a Kingdom perspective, businesses tend to serve themselves. Though that is changing, do a Google search for B-Coprations, or visit B Lab to see some exceptions to that rule. There is a huge need for experienced, Kingdom-minded leaders to influence the business world from within. And pastors—moving into the marketplace—may hold the answer.

Imagine a seasoned leader with a deep understanding of Scripture, a heart for people, and a seat at the table in the world of business. Now, imagine the impact he or she could have on everyone who works there and in helping to guide that business into becoming a force for good in the world.

There is a process, a step-by-step framework with support, that can help you transition from the ministry to the marketplace without losing your mission, your marriage, or your mind. It’s not complicated, but it may be the biggest challenge of your life. The rewards are reigniting your passion for people, seeing God move mountains, and stepping into an adventure worth telling your grandkids.

Whether you think you’re ready to shift out of the ministry, see the inevitable coming and want to prepare, or suddenly find yourself “released” from a church, there is a plan that can work for you. Book a free discovery call by clicking the button, or contact me using the form below. Let’s get started.

Here’s to your growth and future success.

Strength and peace,