Community Spotlight: Jerry Howard
Jerry Howard: From Jail Cells to the C-Suite
Jerry Howard has a phrase he sometimes uses when telling his story: "I went from jail cells to the C-suite in about 60 months." It is not an exaggeration, and he is comfortable telling it, because for him it points directly to what God can do with a life surrendered to Him.
Today, Jerry is the founder of Executive Corps®, an applied psychology and business consulting practice based in Chesterfield, a Marine Corps veteran, and a longtime business owner, executive, and friend of Needle's Eye.
A Hard Fall
Jerry grew up without a church background, the kind of talented kid who found himself in leadership positions without trying too hard. He excelled in Marine Corps JROTC and Virginia Tech's Corps of Cadets, but without real grounding in God, achievement gradually became ego. Drinking and drugs followed, and Jerry dropped out of Virginia Tech. After September 11, 2001, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and finished his bachelor's degree and MBA while serving, married, and starting a family. On paper, his life looked successful. Underneath, alcohol was becoming increasingly destructive.
By his late twenties, alcohol had contributed to two DUIs within twelve months, and Jerry spent both his 28th and 30th birthdays in jail. His marriage had deteriorated to the point that he and his wife, Sonia, were discussing divorce.
A Light He Wanted
Then a group of Christian business owners, much like those at Needle's Eye, began inviting Jerry to church. Something about their marriages, families, and confidence looked different from what he had known.
A few visits in, a businessman shared his testimony, and what struck Jerry was not the story but the confidence behind it. "He knew he was on God's team," Jerry remembers. "And he was absolutely convinced that God was FOR him. And I'd never had that." When the altar call came, Jerry practically ran forward.
The change was immediate in some ways and gradual in others. His convictions shifted, his commitment to his marriage deepened, and he developed a hunger for Scripture and a new love for worship music. Years later, while leading a healthcare organization, a colleague told him, almost in passing, "I just assumed you were a Christian man. You have this light about you." Driving home, Jerry realized the very light he had once wanted was now something someone else saw in him.
From Faith to Work
As Jerry grew in his faith, God also reshaped how he understood work. During one financially uncertain season, he and Sonia began tithing despite having little margin, giving roughly $8,000 in a year, and soon after Jerry entered a healthcare administrator training program at a starting salary of $80,000, far more than the $45,000 to $60,000 they had prayed would make returning to work feasible. "I think sometimes God just likes to wink at us," Jerry says, "so we know He's involved." Within a few years he was leading a nonprofit continuing care retirement community, and faith no longer felt separate from work.
Jerry went on to buy and operate multiple businesses, including a commercial window film company and a shades and lighting company, and began consulting with CEOs and other business owners. The work taught him something he cannot unsee. "People spend all this time building their business," he says, "but they don't build their faith."
That conviction grew during COVID, as Jerry moved into more formal leadership and business consulting, work that eventually became Executive Corps®. Conversations with founders and executives kept moving beyond systems and strategy into questions of meaning, identity, and faith. "I realized you really can't separate faith, leadership, and business," he says. "If I'm going to teach leadership and business, faith has to be the foundation."
That conviction also shaped Jerry's doctoral work in industrial and organizational psychology and his Motivational Drivers framework, rooted in Romans 12 and supported by psychological research, designed to help people understand the God-given wiring behind how they naturally contribute at work. "The marketplace," Jerry says, "is the nation's largest mission field," which is exactly why he calls Needle's Eye "church for work."
Still Leaning on the Same Promise
Following Christ did not eliminate hard seasons. About ten years ago, Jerry weathered a collapsed book deal, the sudden loss of a close friend, and the pressures of business ownership, and he sought counseling during that season. That work grounded him for what came later: COVID, the closing of a business, and other financial and professional transitions. "If you start looking for the Lord in everything you're doing," Jerry says, "He'll reveal Himself."
Since early in his walk with Christ, Jerry has returned to 3 John 2: "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." He reads it as a reminder that God cares about the whole person, spiritual life, health, relationships, and work alike. He is still completing his doctoral work while building Executive Corps®, convinced that the Marine Corps, business ownership, hardship, and faith have all been part of the same process of formation.
Join Jerry at the Motivational Drivers Workshop
On Thursday, October 8, Jerry will bring this work to Needle's Eye through the Motivational Drivers Workshop. The framework examines the God-given differences behind how people naturally lead, teach, build, steward resources, and care for others, and how those differences map onto the functions every organization needs. Drawing on Romans 12, peer-reviewed psychological research, and Jerry's years of experience, the goal is practical: help people understand how God has wired them to contribute, and how those differences affect their teams and workplaces.
Whether you own a business, lead a team, or simply want to understand yourself and the people you work beside, this workshop is for you.
Thursday, October 8, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, Needle's Eye Office
Register today to reserve your spot. Space is limited!
