Diana Romero, founder and CEO of Integrated Purpose Management, offers examples of how she was able to integrate her faith with her work in corporate America, and shares her hope and prayer for companies across the country to become faith-forward and inclusive in the next ten years.

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You can listen to this conversation with Diana on our podcast, Work, Love, Pray! Listen below or click here to find your preferred listening platform.

When you worked in corporate America, how did you integrate your faith with your work?

Beginning in my early career all the way up to being in executive management, I would organize book clubs. I would choose books like John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, because I knew that John used to be a pastor and put faith into each of his books. He wouldn’t constantly quote scripture in them, but you knew his faith background. By taking books like this one into an organization, I was able to talk about my faith in a way that my colleagues could more easily relate with. Anyone who enjoyed these book club discussions would stay, and if anyone didn’t like it, they were able to leave.

People from all walks of life and faiths would join these book clubs, even people that didn’t necessarily believe in God. I have a really good friend who was an atheist when I met her and through conversations with her, talking about how I study the Bible, it opened up her eyes. She studied a lot of different religions and eventually came to the conclusion that the Bible was the truth, but what really got her attention was when I told her I was studying about plants in the Bible. My friend, who loved gardening too, was just so intrigued with the fact that I was using my Bible to study plants! A lot of people see the Bible as just a set of rules or think it’s hard to read, but I approached it in a different way and it really opened her eyes.

When I was with Abbott, I started a prayer group. I went to HR and asked them if the prayer group could meet at work. They told me the only rules were that we couldn’t meet on company time, and if we were using a conference room that someone needed last-minute for work, we would have to vacate the room. I said we could live by those rules, no problem! I left that role twenty years ago, and that prayer group is still going strong at American Express. I always say that I didn’t start the group—God started the group.

Do you think that workplaces today are more accepting of faith-forward employees?

I love and follow the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation with Dr. Brian Grimm. There still are organizations that he calls ‘faith-phobic.’ They don’t want anything to do with allowing people to have their faith at work. And then there are other companies that we might not think would allow faith-based ERGs, like Apple, Target, American Express, and American Airlines, to name a few.

When you have a faith-forward atmosphere at work, it does have a positive impact on the whole organization. You have less employee turnover, you have a happier workforce because they can bring their faith to work, and you have a more productive and healthier workforce. I believe it is the next big development in diversity, inclusion and equity will be allowing people to bring their faith to work. I hope that 10 years from now, faith at work will be a norm in corporate America, not just a spattering here and there.

Diana Romero is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Purpose Management (IPM) LLC, a family owned and operated company. IPM enables you to realize your integrated purpose by providing business management expertise to grow your business, professional coaching to elevate you to your full potential and understanding in communication intelligences to cultivate your professional and personal relationships. Diana hosts a podcast called The Integrated Life where she encourages her listeners to have a life where they integrate their faith, family, and work so they can become whole again. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of North Texas and an Executive MBA from Texas A&M, Mays Business School.

Prior to founding Integrated Purpose Management, Diana has over thirty years of experience in the healthcare industry, most recently working for Abbott. She has served in the areas of project/program management, research and development, global quality assurance, regulatory affairs/compliance and executive management. Diana is a certified Communication IQ* consultant for Life Languages International*. Diana is married and has a grown daughter.