Aro Ambassador
Todd Linder
About
Todd
Todd and his wife, Taylor were both born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Todd attended the best university in the world (in his opinion), the University of Georgia, where he helped to launch and grow a non-profit that provided free non-alcoholic events for college students. During his time there, the events grew from a couple of hundred to hitting over 4,000 students from over 10 universities attending each event. After college, Todd worked for a conference and church based in Atlanta, where he met Taylor. Together, Todd and Taylor founded Launch Point, which helps people in ministry get marketplace jobs without getting overlooked because of their experience. Todd’s favorite moments in life are quality time with Taylor on walks and evening drives, getting competitive about anything or sitting around a fire having good conversations with friends, and watching UGA football on Saturdays (all with his phone in the Aro, of course).
Q&A with
Todd
What do you love most about helping people find marketplace jobs?
The people who commit to being in full-time ministry are choosing sacrifice, a vocation of service. They work hard day and night to serve the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of their community - often for a small paycheck. They have amazing hearts, but sometimes, the time and financial needs of their family outgrow what their current situation can provide. I love helping them make the transition into marketplace jobs because they can bring an incredible impact to a company’s culture and performance with their ability to get things done while clearly seeing the needs of the people around them. Not to mention, the time they get back and the salary increase can be a game changer for their family. Any company would be lucky to have someone with a ministry background on their team.
Tell us a story about how Aro has impacted your relationship with your spouse.
Life is busy. All of the time. And our response to that was usually to watch a show or scroll. Phones in hand until we realized that we were in bed, but awake, way too late again. Another night with screens in our faces, another night without much conversation. Since using Aro in our home, phones go there as soon as we get home from work, and until bed through the next morning. Without our phones in our faces, our relationship has grown deeper and more fun. We read more, exercise more, sleep more, go on more walks together, spend more time with friends, and connect over the little things and the important things. Aro has been an important part of providing the structure that has led to us being healthier in every way.
What is something you haven’t accomplished yet that you aspire to do?
I’m a dreamer, so… a lot of things. The most out there one is to visit all 7 continents or go to space. I’m at 6, so Antarctica here I come. Possibly more realistic, my wife and I want to buy a large piece of land and live on it with our friends.
If you could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive) who would it be?
William Wilberforce. His story is fascinating and he overcame massive cultural adversity with influence and creativity to launch a justice movement that changed the world. But his day-to-day life is even more unique - full of community and generosity, and prayer.
Do you have a moment when you realized your phone was getting in the way of what’s important to you?
When I didn’t have a meaningful conversation with my wife for two straight weeks after work because we were tired and just went to our phones, I knew that something needed to change. We didn’t want that to be a normal habit in our home, especially with kids coming.
