{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Workmatters Podcast","title":"From Prison to Purpose: How Faith Transformed a Family Business with Dave Hataj and sons","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/c3a1ce08\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1876,"description":"He swore he'd never come back to the family business. 34 years later, Dave Hataj — along with his sons Jason and Caleb — is running Edgerton Gear as a place where faith and work aren't separate at all.\nIn this episode of the Work Matters Podcast, Dave, Jason, and Caleb Hataj open up about generational dysfunction, burnout, a father-son surrender in the middle of the night, and what it actually looks like to bring God into a blue-collar machine shop every single day.\n🔑 In this episode:\n- Why Dave initially refused to return to the family business\n- The 20-year wrestling match that finally broke in a moment of surrender\n- How burnout and health struggles reshaped Dave's leadership\n- Caleb and Jason's honest take on growing up in the shop\n- Breaking generational cycles of dysfunction\n- What \"embracing the suck\" really means\n- Three practical ways to bring your faith into your workday\n⏱️ TIMESTAMPS\n00:41 – Meet Dave, Jason & Caleb Hataj\n01:24 – Introducing Edgerton Gear & Craftsman with Character\n02:23 – When faith and work first clicked for Dave\n03:08 – Regent College and the calling he tried to run from\n03:45 – The vocational test that sent him home\n04:29 – Wrestling with God for 20 years\n05:33 – The bedroom surrender that changed everything\n06:54 – From \"prison\" to \"happy place\"\n07:31 – Burnout, health issues & changing the culture\n08:37 – Losing employees who wanted \"the old Dave\" back\n10:34 – Caleb's winding path back to Edgerton Gear\n12:23 – Jason's story & Dave's dinner-table faith lessons\n13:56 – The Isle Royale trip and healing as a family\n15:56 – Discipleship of work & breaking generational cycles\n17:52 – \"Embrace the suck\": what stress reveals in us\n19:46 – What it's really like working together as family\n21:07 – Advice for young people starting their careers\n22:11 – Why work itself is good — not just a means to an end\n23:40 – Jason's honest struggle to keep God in focus daily\n25:45 – Encouragement for every listener\n26:17 – 3 practical ways to practice...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/pa6wiLuY6BOn8zeHfUdRA2zN311jYwUWvA9kOC6UnAI/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9hOWFi/NzQzZTI4OGRmNDIz/NDE1YTBhMjFmYWNi/Yzk4Zi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}