Cutco wanted to move Seals to Chicago, increasing his territory to five states and doubling his income. Seals, as much as he wanted to do something else, couldn’t object. Three years passed and thousands of knives were sold as Seals watched for what might be next. Nothing fit. Then, late one evening, Seals put his feet up on his desk and called his friend Duane Hixon, who had previously worked at Cutco, and told him after three years of running five states he was finished. “He says, ‘Good. I have another idea,’” Seals said. “And the Spirit of God whispered very clearly, ‘Pay attention. This is it.’ I didn’t even knowwhat it was. I just knew to pay attention because this was it.” Hixon’s idea: a neighborhood newsletter supported by advertising. “It didn’t matter if he said paper clips or pens,” Seals said. “God’s prompting and direction was what I desired more than anything else.” In 2004, Seals and Hixon started The N2 Company with the goal of turning neighborhoods into communities. Through franchisees, N2 produces over 500 hyper-local magazines in affluent areas across the country, reaching over a million households and donating 2% of all sales toward efforts to end human trafficking. “We started at zero. It took three years to make one dollar,” Seals said. “What’s really hard about this story is God also whispered, ‘You have to start over,’ which means sell your house.” As much as Seals wanted a change, his day-to-day comforts were gone. They left behind their custom house, their Christian neighbors, their Christian school, and their luxury car. Hixon started a magazine in North Carolina, and Seals started one in St. Louis. After three years, they broke even and earned $4,000 each. Twenty years later, N2 does over $150 million in annual sales. And the Seals eventually returned to Chicago. Since then, Seals launched Christian Business Fellowship, an organization meant to help businesspeople help churches with organizational development and create long-lasting Kingdom impact. He also became involved with The Chosen streaming series about the life of Jesus. He is listed as an executive producer for his counsel on the business side of The Chosen. In October, Seals came to Cedarville for the Impact 2024 business conference, encouraging businesspeople and church leaders to work together for the common purpose of Gospel ministry. Seals’ story from redemption to Gospel ministry as a businessman came full circle a few years ago. Before John Seals died at 21 — after going into remission — he wrote a letter in response to the question, “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” That letter made its way to Earl Seals. John’s answer? He realized howmuch more effective his witness was for Christ when he had cancer. So, he prayed for the cancer to return if it meant he could be more effective. Two weeks later, his prayer was answered. “My brother fully understood his role in God’s story,” Seals said. “That many may come to Him because of the battle that John was having with cancer. It’s one of the most beautiful stories ever.” And Seals has come to terms with his mission as well — a life pursuing Christ and using his resources for Gospel purposes. “ I would go before the Lord consistently and say, 'Why do I have to do this?'" Seals said. The answer was the same. The Lord wanted him to be patient. He was preparing him ... but for what? Jeff Gilbert ’87 serves as Assistant Professor of Journalism at Cedarville University 23
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