In this inspiring episode of The Calling’s radio show, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson welcomes celebrated media influencer Jess Stainbrook to discuss pursuing God-given dreams without fear of failure. The conversation dives into Jess’s fascinating journey from humble beginnings to becoming a significant figure in the media industry, including his work at the Super Bowl and other major events. With Dr. Brunson, Jess shares how faith and media can intersect to create impactful stories and foster genuine connections in various sectors, inspiring audiences everywhere.
Welcome, everyone, to The Calling’s radio show to all the dreamers. I’m your radio host, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson, and it is such an honor to be with all of you today. You know, at The Calling, we have realized that so many people are afraid to go after the dreams that Jesus has placed inside each one of our hearts because they are afraid to fail. And that is just plain wrong because if God has given us a dream and we’re not living it out, we are wasting it. And we do not want to die with regret. That’s why the calling we love to inspire, empower, and equip people to after God’s calling on our lives, treat the best kind of eternal legacy possible to have immediate impact on ourselves and our families. And we love to do this through so many different avenues, through custom tools, programs, workshops, global conferences, but especially through this radio show where we bring on world-renowned guests to share how they’re going after their God-given dreams and how you can do the same. You guys were in for such a treat. In studio, live, the one and only Jess Stainbrook. Jess, welcome to the show.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Thank you so much. It’s really great to be here.
CHRYSANDRA :
and it’s great to actually listen to you i mean just the introduction in the doctor i just like whoa everybody like here she is oh well that’s how i feel about you jess and you know our listeners um they may have caught the first part of your show um you’re able to join us um but in case they didn’t can you tell us a little bit about your background and why we all are in awe of you
JESS STAINBROOK :
Well, I don’t know about the awe. I think it’s notorious or infamous, not famous.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah, let’s see. I mean, gosh, I didn’t really grow up in a Christian home, which was interesting. And my parents got divorced, and it was probably over finances or something silly. But in seeing that, I really grew up with that idea of, boy, if I can make lots of money, that should fix everything. And so that’s actually what I pursued. I mean, I played soccer in college, went on a soccer scholarship and got to play some more after, but was at Temple University and went through their communications program, radio, television, film specialty. But it was interesting. They didn’t. They didn’t actually let you get your hands on the real gear until you were a senior. And that just really frustrated me. And so I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not. I mean, it’s funny. You know how those big classes are, right? It’s like 500 kids and, you know, media, whatever, mass media class and some guys down there at the bottom. And he said this thing. He said, look around you. Only two of you will make it in this industry. And just as kind of a wise guy kid from Philadelphia, I stood up and I said, I wonder who the other one is. And everybody laughed and he was like, I don’t know. But it’s funny as I look back, it’s actually true. Yeah. So getting into that. But anyway.
CHRYSANDRA :
The Lord’s prophecy. Yeah.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Through yourself. It’s interesting that God… I can look back after I became a believer and actually see the hand of God pointing me in a particular direction and teaching me things. And, you know, one of the things that I really felt the call was in the context of me being involved in media, doing TV, doing movies, really was him wanting me to be in the midst of that, right? Because, you know, I mean… We’re in an industry that that believers usually can’t get near. Right. And so having the ability to talk to people about Jesus and and being a leader in the industry or like, you know, at the executive producer level for a lot of projects, people have to listen to you. I mean, you don’t want to necessarily force anything on anybody, and I don’t, but we do spend time on our sets treating people well and making sure everybody’s fed and praying for people and praying before we start and actually having the ability to get together with folks. or be available and so if something’s going on i mean i’ve got so many stories about crazy stuff happening i mean happens at the super bowl too we’re getting ready to go and you know i it always excites me to go because yes we’re getting these stories of the guys talking about their faith But, you know, when we step up to interview them and and we ask a question like, hey, how does your faith impact you on and off the field? They’ll kind of shake their head like, what did you just say? No, no.
CHRYSANDRA :
And where are we at right now?
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah. And it’s really interesting because what happens is it’s almost like everything goes away.
JESS STAINBROOK :
All the noise, all everything. And we’re in this deep conversation. And usually afterwards I will lean in and I’ll say, hey, man, you got a big game coming up. Can I pray for you? And these big guys will like wrap their arms around me and stick their their ear right at my mouth so they can hear the prayer and get the blessing. It’s so powerful. But yeah, it’s it’s it’s it’s all part of the adventure.
CHRYSANDRA :
And just so and just rewinding a little bit, they’re hearing Super Bowl. How did you get there and saying that? So you were part of those two people to be able to make it in the industry. What happened?
JESS STAINBROOK :
I think, well, it’s kind of like you said, is having the confidence and the boldness to be able to step into anything. You know, my dad always would say something like, you know, if you don’t ask, the answer is always no. Right. Exactly. You know, Wayne Gretzky, he says, you know, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. Exactly. So you might you might as well take a shot. And because, you know, if it goes in great, if it doesn’t. OK, well, then keep going.
JESS STAINBROOK :
So the Super Bowl started for us back in 2006. And we connected with somebody who needed some help going there. And was a former player and some stuff like that. And that just opened this bigger door for us to continue to go and actually to wrap our arms around creating a network. I think we talked last time about FSP and the faith in sports family or the sports programming network. And that’s really become a known entity at the Super Bowl. Right. Where people know who we are and they know what we’re going to talk about. And we partner with Athletes in Action on that. So, you know, both ministries are really trying to advance the gospel, but using pro sports and interaction with that on a regular basis. So, yeah, it’s a lot of fun and it’s pretty crazy every year. So, yeah, this is year 20 for us.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, my goodness. I mean, I think just these are just bucket list items. And to see how the Lord and your obedience to be able to step into. You were mentioning in the first show with us that you were in an internship and it was kind of the bottom of the barrel internship.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Well, everybody else thought it was bottom of the barrel. It was really top notch.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
I mean, I think back then, I mean, this is 40 years ago, you know, you don’t realize that not everybody had access to cameras, high quality cameras or editing systems or even the decks recording areas and things like that. So it’s so interesting that my internship was with the phone company and And everybody, all of my friends thought, oh, man, that’s horrible. We’re so sorry you got that. And it turned out to be the better internship than anybody else had because they had all the gear at that time. Corporations had a corporate television department and it really was geared up with millions of dollars worth of gear, probably better than a TV station. And they were doing all their own in-house stuff. And it was amazing. And so every day I went there, somebody took me aside and this is how you use this. And this is here’s a two hundred thousand dollar camera. Careful. And but but but I would get my hands on it. And the entire time I was there, I learned it. It was so much fun. And it’s actually, you know, I’m at Colorado Christian University now building their digital media program from scratch. And really, it’s that same thing. The way that I learn and I did learn there in that internship was all hands on. And so all the programs that we’re doing a CCU all hands-on like you step into a class You’re gonna be using the cameras. You’re gonna get on an audio board You need to know how to use all this gear and we’re gonna go use it right and then Usually there’s about eight students that go to the Super Bowl with me every year as college students It’s an awesome opportunity
CHRYSANDRA :
I mean, there’s a free plug for CCU. I know. I was just going to say there’s so many reasons to go to CCU. I am an alum of CCU for my bachelor’s and master’s program. And I think that that alone is the biggest reason to come to CCU. Well, we’ve had that program, Jess, if I would have had that.
JESS STAINBROOK :
We’ve had a few students that have come specifically seen the programs that we produce because, you know, you’re producing for me. And we’re yes, we’re a nonprofit network. But our clients or our outlets for broadcast packages are CBS, NBC, NFL Network, Fox Sports. I mean, it’s all the big boys, along with other places that we do from like a ministry or outreach standpoint. Right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
So there’s a lot of that stuff that’s going on, but they get that experience. But there’s been a few students that were like, I want to do that. And they have done it really well. As a matter of fact, the one kid from Kansas City, Alex, maybe he’s listening. You know, he came with me for the first year and then he got invited a second year. And being from Kansas City both years, Kansas City was there. And I thought he was going to freeze up.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Oh, yeah. Both times. And so it was really interesting. But he met enough people that he ended up doing a lot of social media stuff for Kansas City Chiefs after he graduated. That’s his job now. I mean, talk about the perfect job, right? Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, I think that you just have pioneered the way for so many different individuals and have impacted millions through the Olympics, through MTV, through NASCAR. And you were just mentioning some of these experiences. jess when it when you think about it and just reflecting on just those that you have encountered is there one individual and one event that really stands out that i know there can be countless but just for one that first comes to mind that it was a story that you heard that you just knew that they were going after their god-given dreams and you were too
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah, without a doubt, Tony Dunchy. Tony is an amazing man that I’ve met and been able to work with a few times on a bunch of different things and hosting some of our shows and doing different things for ministries. But he’s got a huge heart, but he’s really this amazing guy. I mean. It was interesting when they won the Super Bowl 41 in Miami that after they won and everybody was going crazy, you know, as he stood there in the locker room, he basically said, OK, OK, OK, lock the door. Media, put your cameras down. We start every game this way and we finish it this way. Everybody got on their knees and they prayed.
CHRYSANDRA :
I have goosebumps.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah, you do.
CHRYSANDRA :
Wow.
JESS STAINBROOK :
No, it was. And then they said, okay, now let’s celebrate.
JESS STAINBROOK :
But every time you talk to him, he’s basically living, preaching the gospel in such a way. I mean, he’s also the kind of coach that, you know, when he coached most coaches, when they get mad at her, you know, and they’ll scream and yell. He goes, you know, this is my voice when I’m coaching. This is my voice at home. And you’re like, oh, my God. Talk about forcing you to lean in.
JESS STAINBROOK :
And pay attention when he’s mad. Right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah. He’s a really incredible example and stuff. His family, he and Lauren have been through. But it’s just he’s an incredible person.
CHRYSANDRA :
And just when people, you know, they’re hearing about media and I think all of us are encountering it in new ways, especially through social media and all these different outlets, whether we know it or not, we are surrounded by media, billboards, signs, radio, uh, How would you say that Jesus wants us to be able to use media to be able to impact the kingdom like never before? How can we use these tools?
JESS STAINBROOK :
That’s a really good question. I mean, you know, my thing, I think I told it in the last episode was, you know, if I became a really good pastor, I could, you know, 10,000 people a week. I can make a horrible movie and reach 10 million people in a heartbeat.
CHRYSANDRA :
That’s right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Right, right.
CHRYSANDRA :
That’s right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
No, no, that’s a really good example of what is your influence. And I think media gives us that potential. I mean, you know.
CHRYSANDRA :
And Jess, I’m going to stop you right there. Yeah, go ahead. We need to take a short break. But everyone, you’re listening to the one and only Jess Stainbrook. We’ll be right back. Twist and shout with Lee & Co. They are the premier oldies band delivering the rock and roll vibes you’ve been missing. Great songs, great memories. Book them at LeeAndCo.com. Hi guys, this is Chrysandra Brunson, host of To All The Dreamers. I am so happy to introduce personal training, nutritional guidance, and behavioral change coaching. Healthy, happy, and heavenly for your wellness, spirit, soul, and body. Contact Mimi Kroger at healthyhappyandheavenly.com. Continue to grow in the calling God has for you through ORU online. You can earn your degree without changing your busy schedule. 100% online and 100% on your time. Learn more today, oru.edu slash calling. At Ignite Brilliance Coaching, you will get 34 years of science teaching, a decade of university-level instruction, and over 10 years of instructional coaching to empower educators with the tools, mindset, and confidence to thrive. Contact Ignite Brilliance Coaching on Facebook. we are back thank you for listening to all the dreamers radio show i’m your host dr chryssandra brunson founder of the calling and so honored to have live in studio with us the one and only jess stainbrook and jess you were just this you know this first half of this show declaring the power of media and the way that the lord has used you through so many different media outlets of the super bowl to nascar to mtv worked with almost every news outlet out there and just sharing how we can be able to be the light of the world through media and your lens
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah, most of the students that I’m working with today, I mean, they’re so good. They’ve been brought up as digital natives, right? So their phone is part of who they are. For me, my phone is a tool. I can actually put it aside. I know how to use it. It doesn’t control me, if you will. But for them, and they really understand it well. And so that is an outlet and a form that we can use for evangelism to reach people with the gospel or, you know, whatever it is. I mean, you know, the same… Internet that brings us 100 free translations of the Bible also overwhelms our world with pornography and things like that. I mean, it’s horrible. But we as believers have to be able to regulate and know what’s going on and to be able to reach into that. I mean, I fully believe that if Paul was on Earth. He’d have a podcast. He’d have, you know what I mean? He’d have a website. He’d have all this stuff. I mean, he’d be using it that way. And, you know, I kind of joke in class about, you know, the end times. It talks about Jesus coming back in the cloud. Well, I think he’s probably coming back in the iCloud. No, because it says everybody has to be able to hear or have heard the word before he’s coming back. Well, we’re almost at that point where I can push a button on my phone and reach almost everybody. So, I mean, my goodness, right? That’s going to be the thing because, I mean, it’s the way our social media works now. In the old days, you had to wait till the newspaper came out. You had to wait till Walter Cronkite got on and said, good evening. This is the news. Right. And he would tell you what was going on that day. Well, now it comes at us. I mean, same thing, good and bad. I tell them, you know, I feel bad for you guys as Gen Z because I at least had to go find the bully to get beat up. You let him into your pocket every single day. And you pay attention to it, right? So there’s this, like I said, a good and a bad of the technology that we have and how we utilize it. But I do think it’s advantageous for evangelism spreading the gospel.
CHRYSANDRA :
I couldn’t agree more so. And Jess, when people hear about these different outlets, and particularly MTV, would just love to hear about your experience on how to be light in these secular environments today.
JESS STAINBROOK :
I actually think the ability to be yourself and to be accepted for that. I mean, everybody in that works with me, wherever it is, Hollywood, New York. I mean, wherever you’re going to be, they actually know I’m the faith guy. And if they’re hiring me and it’s not a faith based project. They know at one point something’s I’m going to talk about it somewhere some way. But I think what I’ve found is when I work with crews, especially out of Hollywood, when we’re doing movies, you know, a lot of times crew members will come up after, you know, 30 days of a shoot or something and go, oh, my gosh. If you work on a I want to be on your crew anytime. I’ve never been treated. This is amazing. And so there’s an obvious way that your your walk becomes your witness. Right. And people are watching that and seeing what’s going on. So and I think that’s a that’s actually a good statement for us as believers and Christians is that if people see you wishy washy. Why would they believe in a God that’s wishy-washy?
CHRYSANDRA :
Right, right. The authenticity and integrity makes all the difference. That’s life-changing right there, Jess. And just looking at all these different sectors, when you see the different, you know, the… giants that do come in we did talk about this a little bit but especially in media and encountering all the different uh realms how have you been able to persevere uh through you know what whether those were hard circumstances say yes to or no to and maybe just on a movie set just in speaking into the several films that you have been an executive producer for
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah, gosh, like I said before, I think just being open to people’s circumstances and whatever’s going on. I mean, the first movie or film that I worked on that we shot here in Colorado back in 2007, I was doing lots of TV, but I had never really done a feature film kind of thing. And one of my buddies had written the screenplay, and he wanted to direct, and so I actually produced it. But it was really interesting because… there were times there were Christian themes woven through it, but it didn’t end like a typical Christian movie. I mean, Christian movie is, you know, uh, everything’s horrible. And then everything’s great. Right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
And that we produced ours, the opposite where everything’s horrible. And one of the people in the relationship came to know Christ, but the other one didn’t. And so instead of following the, the, the natural kind of, you know, Christian yeah yeah yeah we actually followed the other one and it was really scary I mean it was more like a Quentin Tarantino film where you’re like oh my gosh that’s what like that’s horrible yeah it is actually so in shooting a lot of those scenes though because you know you have to shoot scenes over and over and over again and And we had a crew from out in Hollywood that came out here to help us shoot. So they’re all professionals. They know what’s going on. They’ve been through this industry. Well, we’re shooting this one scene where the girl got cancer and she’s the one who eventually gets baptized and lives the right way. And the man decides, no, I’m not going to do that. Um, And but but in the midst of this exchange where they’re talking about the cancer, you have to do it over and over and over again. But there was this really godly message in the midst of that. And about halfway through, there’s this noise. And Matt, the director, he looks at me like, dude, what does that know? And the gaffer was crying. And I said, oh, I got this. And so I took the gaffer outside. I said, Scotty, are you okay? And he goes, no, I’m not okay. And I go, okay, what’s going on? Well, I do this for a living. Like I know this over and over, but there’s something, you’re talking about something that matters. And I don’t know what to do with that. And I said, well, I do. And we got a chance to pray. Right? And that happened a bunch of… We actually had a baptism scene on the movie set where we spent a couple days doing this thing. And what happened was we were doing these scenes and then all of a sudden it turned into a real baptism where members of the crew were dropping like flies. And I’m like, oh my gosh, how do you play? Guys, you’re messing up the budget. No, we have a timetable. We’re on schedule. How do you interrupt the Holy Spirit that way? You can’t.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
You know what I mean? And so…
CHRYSANDRA :
He’s like, actually, this is on the program.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah. And so you back off and go, oh, my gosh, I can’t believe this is happening. And so there’s so many times that that’s happened. I mean, again, football stuff. I call our stuff football church. It’s silly to me that I can interview a player and somebody who’s put that player on a pedestal for all these years. Here’s them talk about Jesus or a Bible verse. And it literally changes that person’s life. to the point where they will either call or reach out or an email and they’ll go, oh my gosh, I saw your show and I saw so-and-so talking about this thing and I can’t believe it and now I have all these questions. Well, so we’ve created a bunch of reading plans through YouVersion, the Bible app, where it addresses that in seven day, I would call it new to faith concepts, right? Hey, you’ve never heard of this stuff. You don’t know what Christian vernacular is kind of wacky. Well, we’re going to walk you through this thing. And gosh, if you have questions, but by the end, a lot of people give their lives. You know, there’s probably like 70,000 people that tune into these things every year because we can track them through YouVersion. You know, YouVersion just passed the 1 billion with a B mark of subscribers.
CHRYSANDRA :
Just recently, right? Yes, yes.
JESS STAINBROOK :
So all of our reading plans on sports or life or marriage or whatever. I mean, we have them all out there, but they’re really practical. Usually five or seven days. Simple, super simple. But something that you can kind of wrap your arms around, you know, anytime somebody. I mean, this is the time of year. Everybody’s going to go read through the Bible in the year. Well, thanks anyway, but you know, February’s Leviticus, I’m out, you know? So, I mean, so, so how do you get in bite-sized pieces that start to influence how you think about your life and how God has created you, loves you, made you special? What does that mean? Right. And, and, and how do I react to that? So that, that’s really, I mean, you look at all the programs we’re doing, that, that’s what we’re trying to usually do. I mean, Yeah. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yep, the mystery, the holy mystery. And Jess, we’re coming up towards the end of our show. I don’t know where time goes, but we are holding on to all of your wisdom and truly just so honored for your heroic example. And we have to know, Jess, Every show, we just know someone’s tuning in and they don’t know how to go after God’s calling on their life. They have these dreams. They know they’re divine, but they don’t know how to go after them wholeheartedly. What would be your encouragement?
JESS STAINBROOK :
Yeah, I think we talked about the book The Dream Giver last time. Yes. That really is a great book for going, wow, you know, coming from a life coaching standpoint.
CHRYSANDRA :
It’s one of my favorites. It is.
JESS STAINBROOK :
No, it’s a real, it’s funny. You and I talked and I cracked it back open and read it again. I mean, it has this really good example of what I would call like an ordinary person in an ordinary life and yet feels a call or feels a vision, feels something of, hey, I’m not doing what I think I was built to do today.
JESS STAINBROOK :
And it’s the way I encourage my students as well, is that you are built for something. OK, well, then let’s train into that. Let’s practice it. And even if that’s not your full time job now, well, you can start to do it in small pieces. And who knows, it may eventually take over what was your full time job. And then you make that switch. Right. I mean, I’m always encouraging people of, you know, do what you love and the money will follow. Right. I mean, and then you’ll never work a day in your life. Right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
We have so much fun. It doesn’t mean we don’t work hard.
JESS STAINBROOK :
Right. I mean, we carry a lot of gear. We travel. You know, we work long days. It’s crazy. But it’s what God has called us to. And so it’s a blast.
JESS STAINBROOK :
And in the midst of that, again, always looking for that first Peter 315 moment. We get to share the gospel when people ask us, hey, why are you so good at this thing? What? How’d you get into this?
CHRYSANDRA :
Right.
JESS STAINBROOK :
You know, well, let me tell you, you know.
CHRYSANDRA :
Another mic drop Jess and everyone wants to know how they can come alongside you in this movement inside of media, inside of just changing the world through these students at CCU. How can people get in touch with you?
JESS STAINBROOK :
Sure. You can always go to our website, fspn.net. And, you know, there’s a lot of different things that are there. We do have a YouTube channel. We have a little bit of a social media presence. But, you know, ironically, almost through my entire career, we’ve been so busy doing what we do.
JESS STAINBROOK :
That’s okay with me. But yeah, there’s a lot of different things that were out there. You’ve probably seen, if you’ve seen any interview with a player about faith, it’s usually one of our team that’s doing it. But like I said, the website’s probably the best place to go. If people want it, we are a nonprofit. If they want to give, they want to donate, it’s the year end time. So yeah, fspn.net and you can help us out there.
CHRYSANDRA :
Please, yes, everyone, you’re tuning in for such a time as this. There’s such a reason. Please give whatever you can. Donate, give your time and resources, prayer. Jess, we’re just so honored to be able to have you in studio with us. Please be part of this and challenge everyone with the question, what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? God’s put that on your heart for a reason, that answer. Till next time, dreamers, keep dreaming big.
