There’s something so sacred about watching someone walk out of fear and into a calling that scares them.
This is how I felt listening to Meredith Limoges share her story on the podcast. She’s the founder of Beaudin Designs, a luxury brand that makes upcycled designer handbags, and she’s also behind the Door of Hope, a nonprofit business working to rescue and restore women trapped in sex trafficking, particularly in Pattaya, Thailand.
What fascinates me most is that she didn’t have a background in business. She didn’t have funding. What she had was this quiet, holy thought that dropped into her spirit one day while doing her makeup: “I should start a handbag business.” And all she did was say yes.
The Calling
Before launching Beaudin Designs, Meredith worked in corporate sales and was successful in her career. However, she knew she didn’t want to trade time for dollars forever; and she wanted freedom. Her journey into entrepreneurship wasn’t planned, and as a new Christian, she prayed: “God, what is Your will for my life?”
Then one day, as she was getting ready, she had a thought that seemed to come out of nowhere: “I should start a handbag business.”
At first, this idea felt random, but in hindsight, it all made sense. Meredith had always enjoyed making handbags for fun, and her mother was an interior designer, which gave her a natural sense of craftsmanship and creativity. Despite having zero experience in business, she just said “YES.”
Listen to Meredith’s full story here.
The Freedom Business
Early on, Meredith knew she wanted her business to support something meaningful. Prayers helped the most, as God answered her directly when her friend gave her a pamphlet about an anti-trafficking organization in India. She read it, and she immediately knew: “This is what I’m going to support.”
From that point forward, Beaudin wasn’t just a business. It was a freedom business.
Now, freedom businesses can usually mean three things:
- Businesses that give a portion of profits to fight human trafficking
- Businesses that employ survivors or those at risk
- Businesses that exist to advocate for and raise awareness around exploitation and injustice
For Meredith’s case, her business became all three.
But it wasn’t sustainable.
Meredith admitted, “I treated the business like a ministry. And because of that, I wasn’t being a good steward of the business, or the people God was sending me.”
And this stopped me in my tracks.
Because so many faith-driven entrepreneurs feel like if it’s from God, they shouldn’t focus on profit. But Meredith learned the hard way that impact without income isn’t sustainable. God gave her a vision of women rescued from trafficking sitting at sewing machines, crafting beautiful handbags. So she built the company around that. But early on, she didn’t set strong business foundations. She poured everything into the mission and forgot to build the machine that would fund it long-term. That nearly took her – and the business – down.
But Beaudin Designs now has a clear niche: upcycled designer handbags. She’s part of an entrepreneur organization. She has systems. She pays herself. She builds products people love and a brand that speaks life and justice. Because freedom businesses aren’t just about helping peoplel, they’re about helping people through something that lasts.
The Realizations
Now, here’s what I wish every faith-driven entrepreneurs knew:
You don’t need to be the most qualified.
You don’t need the full plan yet.
You don’t need to get it right the first time.
You just need to say yes.
A real, trembling, mustard-seed kind of yes.
Meredith’s story is full of miracles, but none of them happened until she moved. Until she walked out what she didn’t fully understand. Until she let go of the ministry-model and built something that could actually grow. And God met her there – again and again.
In the brothels of Bolivia.
On the streets of Atlanta.
In a hotel room in Thailand, where she cried at the weight of the sex tourism crisis and heard God say, “Build me a house here.”
Today, her nonprofit Door of Hope is doing just that.
So, if you’re being nudged toward something bigger too, I hope this helps you.
You’re exactly where you need to be—on the edge of your next yes.
So go ahead.
Start the thing.
Send the email.
Launch the product.
Join the nonprofit.
Say the prayer.
Sign the lease.
Hire the person.
Write the first sentence.
And trust that God will meet you – just like He met Meredith – every step of the way.
If you need help figuring things out, just book a FREE, no-obligation consultation call with us to get started: Schedule here.
Listen to the full episode here.
