Catherine Wood is on a mission to discover God’s new creation and make the world a better place, and she does it in a way that you wouldn’t think of immediately. In 2014, Cathie founded an investment firm called ARK Invest, and they work to identify and invest in the leaders of the world’s newest and most innovative technologies. Catherine tells us about her rich career in the finance industry, and how her faith and trusted resources like Jesus Calling helped keep the ground under her feet during some of the most shaky times in our economic history.
Catherine Wood: My name is Cathie Wood. First of all, I’m the mother of three children, Caitlin, Caroline, and Robert, and I’m also the chief executive officer and chief investment officer of a company I founded in 2014 named ARK Invest.
Born with “The Gift of Faith”
So I was born with the gift of faith. I really do believe that. It has come very easily to me, though it has evolved and deepened over the years. And as a child, I think I did start to develop a relationship with God, the Father, and Jesus, our Redeemer.
As I grew older and left home, when I was on my own, faith took on a completely new dimension. It deepened as I was going through college. Having been born the child of immigrants in the United States, I was very fearful as I went into college that I was the oldest and I had to carry the mantle for the family. And so I approached it with a great bit of trepidation.
So every time I moved into a moment like that in my life—college would be one; when I started my career, another; when I moved to New York in my career, another; when I went through the various crashes in the stock market, so the tech and telecom bust and and the 2008/2009 meltdown; when I went through my divorce—each of those times was a time of deepening my faith. I never felt that God was leaving me or deserting me. I felt like I had to hold on a little tighter.
“I never felt that God was leaving me or deserting me. I felt like I had to hold on a little tighter.”
Innovation Means Discovering God’s New Creation
I started my career at the age of twenty, [I was] introduced to Capital Group on the West Coast by a mentor from college, Art Laffer, who is a famous economist. And I worked my way through Capital as an assistant economist and then moved on to Jennison Associates in New York City, where I spent eighteen years. So I grew up there, and they gave me an amazing opportunity to grow as a professional.
While I was at Jennison, I started thinking about the markets in a way that began to differ from the way markets are analyzed today. I couldn’t cover something that someone else obviously was covering at the firm, so I had to wait for new ideas to come along, ideas that sort of fell through the cracks that nobody wanted. I often say I was like a little dog under the table scrapping for bones.
And these stocks came along one by one. They were usually new companies coming to market, Reuters and Telerate being one of them. Nobody wanted database publishing companies, and I thought, Wow, that’s a very interesting concept. So I picked it up. That concept ended up becoming the World Wide Web and the Internet. So an idea that was dismissed or discarded as falling through the cracks, I wanted and I ran with it.
That is what made my career, but also made me appreciate innovation, the power of innovation, how much it’s underestimated in the early days and how exponentially explosive growth can be over time.
Finding Jesus Calling in the Midst of the Maelstrom
2008/2009 was a wakeup call for the financial world, truly. Two years prior to that, I had become very confused about what was going on in the world. There were all kinds of conflicting signals. Commodity prices, including oil prices, [were] soaring and interest rates [were] starting to tip down. And regulators in the United States [were] saying, “We don’t think we like these exotic home equity loans and we’re going to look more closely into them.” And I began to feel that something was very wrong. So we pulled a lot of the risk out of our portfolios—anything cyclical, anything housing related. And we did very poorly that year. I thought being up five percent in a year when the market was up twelve or thirteen percent, that I had done a horrible job, and I began to feel terrible about myself.
Well it turned out I belong to a group at Walnut Hill Community Church, an incredibly supportive group for leaders of companies. One of the leaders introduced me to the book Jesus Calling and said, “I have just become a believer. I’ve started reading this book.” His wife had been a believer for her entire life. “I’ve started reading this book, and it’s transformed me in terms of thinking about my business in the context of my faith.” And so I began to read Jesus Calling every day, starting in 2006. And it really helped to center me and ground me.
First thing I do in the morning as my coffee is brewing, I read Jesus Calling, and it always centers me. I’ve read each page thirteen times, but I don’t remember because I’m at a different place in the journey. The reading each day means something different today than it did thirteen years ago. I would say almost every page is meaningful.
I just opened randomly to this page, it was for January 19th. And yes, in reading it, it provides the epitome of what I feel each morning. So it says:
SEEK MY FACE, and you will find more than you ever dreamed possible. Let Me displace worry at the center of your being. I am like a supersaturated cloud, showering Peace into the pool of your mind. My Nature is to bless. Your nature is to receive with thanksgiving. This is a true fit, designed before the foundation of the world. Glorify Me by receiving My blessings gratefully. I am the goal of all your searching. When you seek Me, you find Me and are satisfied. When lesser goals capture your attention, I fade into the background of your life. I am still there, watching and waiting, but you function as if you were alone. Actually, My Light shines on every situation you will ever face. Live radiantly by expanding your focus to include Me in all your moments. Let nothing dampen your search for Me.
Funding Technologies That Change Lives
Well, I started ARK Invest at the age of fifty-seven, so it was quite late in my career. I believe my career is starting all over again, though. I decided to name my company after the Ark of the Covenant, because as I was going through that very difficult period starting in ‘06, where the market, nothing made sense to me, I started reading the One-Year Bible, after I would read the passage for the day, I would then just open it up randomly and say, “God, speak to me. Just show me what to do. Show me Your will. Show me Your way.”
And not every time I did that, but I would say every third or fourth time, I would run into the Ark of the Covenant being taken into the Israelites, taking the Ark of the Covenant into battle before them, because they believed that the presence of God was in the Ark of the Covenant. As I began to get this idea of a firm going and realized that I was fighting this war, I knew I had to name my company “ARK” for Ark of the Covenant.
I founded the company out of faith. I got this calling one day when I walked into my home. It was a beautiful summer day. I walked in to complete silence, which was very unusual in my household at that time. The children were all gone to Christian camps and other activities. And so I was all alone for the first time ever in my house, all alone for two full weeks. And I walked over to the kitchen island and I wasn’t happy and I wasn’t sad. I was just, Wow, this has never happened to me before.
As soon as I said that to myself, I felt a wham and I really feel like that was the Holy Spirit just saying to me, “Okay, this is the plan.” And the idea was basically, “Look, you’ve been a student of disruptive innovation your entire career. Why don’t you disrupt your own industry? It’s broken. Why do you disrupt it with some of these new technologies? Why don’t you harness social media? Why don’t you invite people in—even your competitors—to brainstorm about these new ideas, to help spread the word?” And so I did that, and it’s been amazing. It’s so much better than anything that I could have possibly imagined.
I funded it for the first three years all by myself. And for the first three years, our assets didn’t grow that much. And I thought, Oh my goodness, what have I done? Every two weeks there was an exit of a significant amount of my wealth into the company. And I would kneel down and say, “Okay, God, You’re in control. Even if this company fails, I know I’ve done the right thing. This is a walk of faith for me. Your will be done.”
“I would kneel down and say, ‘Okay, God, You’re in control. Even if this company fails, I know I’ve done the right thing. This is a walk of faith for me. Your will be done.’” – Catherine Wood
What we were really doing was encouraging the new creation, God’s new creation. We were allocating capital to its highest and best use: transformative technologies that were going to change the world and make it a better place, while the rest of the world started investing in the past, which they thought was safe. Today, the tables are flipped, so we feel like we’ve done the right thing. It is by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, I will tell you, that I moved in this direction.
God’s standard of success for me in the financial world, and in my life generally, is following His will. And I believe that in starting ARK Invest, I was fulfilling His will for me here on Earth and that if I had not done it, that I would have died an unhappy woman not having not fulfilled my promise here. And so it’s not so much about me and my promise. It’s about allocating capital to God’s creation in the most innovative and creative way possible.
“I believe that in starting ARK Invest, I was fulfilling His will for me here on Earth and that if I had not done it, that I would have died an unhappy woman not having not fulfilled my promise here.” – Catherine Wood
Narrator: You can learn more about Cathie and ARK Invest at ark-invest.com.
If you’d like to hear more stories about people using their God-given talents to serve others, check out our interview with country music artist Josh Turner and NASCAR driver Michael McDowell.
Narrator: Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we speak with motivational speaker and author Trent Shelton. When he was a little boy, Trent dreamed to play in the NFL and worked tirelessly for years to make his dream a reality. He eventually made it to the League—but found that life at the top was a bit rockier than he was banking on.
Trent Shelton: I was dealing with being released from NFL teams and having an uncertain life. You know, one week you’re here, the next week you’re at home. You don’t know where you’re going to be in different cities. And I found myself really questioning God and just becoming angry. And it took one of my closest friends committing suicide to really wake me up in my life and make me realize, like, What am I doing with myself? Do I want this to be the legacy that I leave for my family, for my kids and for my grandkids? That answer was no.
Narrator: Want to hear more inspirational stories of people who have been changed by a closer walk with God? Then subscribe today to the Jesus Calling Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And please be sure to leave a review, which helps us reach and inspire others with these stories. Plus, if you like seeing our guests as well as hearing them, you can find video interviews available on our Youtube channel at youtube.com/jesuscallingbook, on Facebook, and on the Jesus Calling Instagram page.
：凱瑟琳·伍德（Catherine Wood）的任務是發掘上帝的新造物，並使世界變得更美好，她以一種您不會馬上想到的方式做到這一點。2014年，Cathie成立了一家名為ARK Invest的投資公司，他們致力於尋找和投資全球最新，最創新的技術的領導者。凱瑟琳（Catherine）向我們介紹了她在金融業的豐富職業生涯，以及她的信仰和可信賴的資源（如耶穌召喚）如何在我們經濟史上最搖搖欲墜的某些時刻打起了基礎。
凱瑟琳·伍德（Catherine Wood）：我叫凱茜 ·伍德（Cathie Wood）。首先，我是凱特琳（Caitlin），卡羅琳（Caroline）和羅伯特（Robert）這三個孩子的母親，我還是2014年成立的一家名為ARK Invest的公司的首席執行官兼首席投資官。
出生於“信仰的禮物”
因此，我是帶著信念的禮物出生的。我確實相信這一點。儘管這些年來已經發展並深化了，但它對我來說卻非常容易。小時候，我想我確實開始與上帝，天父和我們的救贖主耶穌建立關係。
隨著我的長大和離開家，當我獨自一人時，信仰有了全新的面貌。當我讀大學的時候，它變得更加深了。在美國出生的時候，我就非常恐懼，因為我上大學時才是最年長的人，因此不得不背負起家庭的重擔。因此，我非常恐懼地走近了它。
因此，每當我進入生活中的那一刻時，大學就會成為一體。當我開始我的職業生涯時，另一個 當我職業生涯搬到紐約時，另一個 當我經歷了股市的各種崩盤時，科技和電信泡沫破滅，以及2008/2009年的股市崩盤；當我經歷離婚時，每個時候都是加深我的信仰的時候。我從來沒有覺得上帝會離開我或拋棄我。我覺得我不得不更緊一點。
“我從來沒有覺得上帝會離開我或拋棄我。我覺得我不得不更緊一點。”
創新意味著發現上帝的新造物
我的職業生涯始於20歲，當時我是由大學經濟學家Art Laffer的導師介紹給西海岸資本集團（Capital Group）的。然後，我在Capital任職，擔任助理經濟學家，然後搬到紐約市的Jennison Associates，在那裡度過了18年。所以我在那里長大，他們給了我一個成長為專業人士的絕佳機會。
當我在詹尼森（Jennison）時，我開始以一種不同於今天分析市場的方式來思考市場。我無法涵蓋其他人顯然在公司中所涵蓋的內容，因此我不得不等待新的想法出現，這些想法掉進了沒人要的縫隙中。我經常說我就像桌子底下的一隻小狗scrap骨頭。
這些股票一一出現。他們通常是上市的新公司，路透社和Telerate就是其中之一。沒有人想要數據庫出版公司，我想，哇，這是一個非常有趣的概念。所以我撿了起來。這個概念最終變成了萬維網和Internet。因此，一個想掉進裂縫的想法被我拋棄或拋棄了，我想要，並且我接受了這個想法。
這就是我事業的源泉，但也讓我欣賞到創新，創新的力量，在初期被低估了多少以及隨著時間的推移會出現指數級的爆炸性增長。
在大漩渦中間找到耶穌呼喚
確實，2008/2009年是金融界的一次警鐘。 在此之前的兩年，我對世界正在發生的事情感到非常困惑。有各種各樣相互矛盾的信號。包括石油價格在內的商品價格飛漲，利率開始下滑。美國的監管機構說：“我們認為我們不喜歡這些奇特的房屋抵押貸款，我們將對其進行更深入的研究。” 我開始覺得有些不對勁。因此，我們從投資組合中撤出了很多風險—任何週期性的，與住房相關的任何東西。那年我們做得很差。我認為當市場上漲了12％或13％時，一年中的漲幅是5％，我做得很糟糕，我開始對自己感到恐懼。
事實證明，我屬於核桃山社區教堂的一個小組，該小組為公司領導者提供了令人難以置信的支持。一位領袖向我介紹了《耶穌呼召》這本書，並說：“我剛剛成為信徒。我已經開始讀這本書。” 他的妻子一生都是信徒。“我已經開始閱讀這本書，這使我在信仰背景下思考自己的業務方面發生了改變。” 因此，從2006年開始，我開始每天閱讀《耶穌呼召》 。它確實幫助我集中精力並使我接地。
早晨，我正在沖泡咖啡時做的第一件事，是讀《耶穌呼喚》，它總是使我集中 精力。我已經閱讀了十三頁，但是我不記得了，因為我在旅途中的另一個地方。今天的閱讀意義與十三年前不同。我會說幾乎每個頁面都是有意義的。
我只是隨機打開了此頁面，時間是1月19日。是的，在閱讀時， 它提供了我每天早晨的感受的縮影。所以說：
搜尋我的臉，您會發現比想像中更多的東西。讓我把憂慮轉移到您存在的中心。我就像一朵過飽和的雲，在你的心靈中沐浴著和平。我的天性是祝福。你的本性是感恩地接受。這是真正的契合，是在世界建立之前設計的。感激地接受我的祝福，使我榮耀。我是您所有搜索的目標。當您尋找我時，您會找到我並感到滿意。當較小的目標引起您的注意時，我就會淡入您的生活背景。我仍在那兒，看著等待，但您的工作就像一個人一樣。實際上，“我的光”照耀著您將要面對的每一種情況。通過擴展您的關注範圍使自己充滿光彩，讓我在所有時刻都包括在內。不要讓任何事情挫敗了您對我的搜尋。
改變生活的融資技術
好吧，我五十七歲時就開始了ARK Invest ，所以那時我已經很晚了。我相信我的職業生涯將從頭再來。 我決定以“約櫃”命名我的公司，因為當我經歷從06年開始的那個非常困難的時期時，在那個市場，對我來說沒有任何意義，我開始閱讀《一年聖經》，閱讀當天的文章，然後我會隨機打開它，然後說：“上帝，對我說話。告訴我該怎麼做。告訴我你的意願。告訴我你的方式。”
並不是每次我都這樣做，但我會說每三到四次，我都會遇到被帶入以色列人的約櫃，將約櫃帶到他們面前作戰，因為他們相信存在上帝的聖約在約櫃中。當我開始有了堅定不移的想法，並意識到自己正在與這場戰爭搏鬥時，我知道我必須將我的公司命名為“ ARK”，作為《約櫃》。
我本著信念創立了公司。有一天， 當我走進家時， 我接到了這個電話。那是一個美麗的夏日。我走進去完全保持沉默，這在當時我的家庭中是非常不尋常的。孩子們都去了基督教營和其他活動。因此，我第一次獨自一人呆在家裡，整整兩個星期。然後我走到廚房小島，當時我不開心，也不難過。我只是，哇，這從來沒有發生過。
當我對自己說完這 句話後，我感到一陣痛心，我真的覺得那是聖靈對我說：“好吧，這是計劃。” 這個想法基本上是：“看，您在整個職業生涯中都是顛覆性創新的學生。您為什麼不破壞自己的行業？壞了 您為什麼用其中的一些新技術來破壞它？您為什麼不利用社交媒體？ 您為什麼不邀請甚至是您的競爭對手在內的人們就這些新想法進行頭腦風暴，以幫助傳播信息？” 所以我做到了，這真是太神奇了。它比我想像的要好得多。
我在前三年全部由我自己資助。在最初的三年中，我們的資產增長不那麼快。我想，哦，天哪，我做了什麼？每隔兩週，我就會有相當數量的財富退出公司。然後我跪下來說：“好吧，上帝，您在控制之中。即使這家公司倒閉，我也知道我做對了事。這對我來說是一個信仰之路。您會完成的。”
“我會跪下來說，'好吧，上帝，你在控制之中。即使這家公司倒閉，我也知道我做對了事。這對我來說是一個信仰之路。您會完成的。'” –凱瑟琳·伍德（Catherine Wood）
我們真正要做的是鼓勵新創造，神的新創造。我們正在將資金分配給其最高和最佳用途：變革性的技術將改變世界並使其變得更美好，而世界其他地區則在過去開始投資，他們認為這是安全的。今天，桌子被翻轉了， 所以我們覺得我們做對了。我要告訴你，靠著上帝的恩典和聖靈的力量，我朝著這個方向前進。
上帝對我在金融界乃至我一生中成功的標準是跟隨他的旨意。而且我相信，在啟動ARK Invest時，我是在地球上實現他對我的意願，並且如果我不這樣做，那我將成為一個不幸的女人，如果沒有履行我的諾言，我就會喪命。因此，與我和我的諾言無關緊要。這是關於以盡可能最具創新性和創造力的方式將資金分配給上帝的創造。
“我相信，在啟動方舟投資計劃時，我是在地球上實現他對我的意願，如果我不這樣做，那我將成為一名不幸的婦女，如果沒有履行我的諾言，我將喪命。” –凱瑟琳·伍德
旁白：您可以在ark-invest.com上了解有關Cathie和ARK Invest的更多信息。
如果您想听到更多有關人們使用上帝賦予的才能服務他人的故事，請查看我們對鄉村音樂藝術家Josh Turner和NASCAR駕駛員Michael McDowell的採訪。
旁白：下一次在《耶穌呼喚播客》中，我們與勵志演說家兼作家特倫特·謝爾頓（Trent Shelton）交談。小時候，特倫特（Trent）夢想著參加NFL比賽，並且不懈地努力了多年，以實現他的夢想。他最終進入了聯盟-但發現高層的生活比他的事業艱難。
特倫特·謝爾頓（Trent Shelton）：我正在面對被NFL球隊釋放和不確定的生活。你知道，一個星期你在這裡，第二週你在家裡。您不知道在不同城市的去向。我發現自己真的在質疑上帝，只是生氣了。 我最親密的朋友之一自殺後才真正喚醒我的生活，讓我意識到，例如，我在對自己做什麼？ 我是否希望這成為我留給家人，孩子和孫子孫女的遺產？答案是否定的。
旁白：想听聽更多因與上帝近距離接觸而改變的人們的鼓舞性故事嗎？那麼今天訂閱耶穌呼喚播客上蘋果的播客，縫合，或任何你聽你的播客。並且請務必留下評論，這有助於我們通過這些故事吸引並啟發他人。另外，如果你喜歡看到我們的客人，以及聽，你可以找到我們的YouTube頻道提供視頻訪談youtube.com/jesuscallingbook，在Facebook上，並在耶穌調用Instagram的網頁。
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