It started on a Wednesday evening with a message from a local business leader I barely knew. He asked if we could meet at his office—a space that, upon my arrival, felt beautiful but unusually quiet. He invited me in, closed the door and moved his chair from behind his desk.
Over the next ten minutes, this man, a person with a reputation for success and generosity, poured out the reality of his troubles. A group of his most trusted employees had just left to start a competing firm. His beloved wife was enduring a tough health journey. Beneath the surface of his professional wins, he was struggling to see if any of it was still worth it. He looked at me and said, "I need a few people in my life right now that I can trust and who understand what it's like to walk in my shoes."
In that moment, I was reminded that even the most successful leaders are often the most isolated. I didn’t have a magic formula or a ten-step plan to fix his situation. So I did the only thing I knew to do: I listened and shared the stories of other leaders who had navigated similar storms with faith and grit, and those stories became his fuel.
The conviction that there’s something redemptive and life-giving about hearing how someone else made it through the near breaking points of leadership is what birthed Leaders on Tap.
It is a live audience conversation series where successful business leaders from around Maryland share their stories—the good, the bad and the ugly—in comfortable public venues like RAK Brewing Co., whose beautiful lounge has become our monthly home.
Leaders On Tap is for anyone who has ever sat in that chair—men and women alike—who just need to know they're not alone, that there is hope and that in their life, leadership, and business there is a greater purpose.
These are some of those stories.
Leaders on Tap Founder & Host, David Weigelt | Principal Chair of C12 Business Forums
AJ Ballantine – From "Stunted Shrub" to Stewarding Influence
The inaugural Leaders on Tap event featured AJ Ballantine, the high-energy founder of Cornerstone Home Remodeling and the software startup, RENDR. While AJ appeared to be "making it look easy" from the outside, he opened the conversation with a refreshing vulnerability regarding the weight of running two fast growing companies doing over $10M in business. He spoke candidly about the "culture shock" of managing competing priorities and the creeping shadow of imposter syndrome.
The turning point for AJ came through a deep dive into Jeremiah 17. He described a season where his identity was so tightly wrapped in his professional success that he felt like a "stunted shrub" in the desert, surviving but barely living. Through prayer and his community of peers at C12, AJ learned to detach his personal identity from his balance sheet. This surrender was put to the ultimate test when a cash offer for his company sat on the table. By being willing to walk away regardless of the terms, AJ found that God provided a "third way", bringing in key employees as minority owners, granting him the freedom to lead from a place of peace.
Today, AJ lives in a "ministry of influence." Whether it is placing Bibles in his office foyer, an act that remarkably saved an employee's life during a mental health crisis, or speaking at industry prayer breakfasts, AJ views his businesses as opportunities for others to bump into God. He emphasizes the importance of "focus blocks" to protect his most valued asset: being fully present at the dinner table with his family.
Charles Griffin – The Power of the "Not Yet"
Charles Griffin, former CEO of NexRev Technologies, shared a masterclass in faithful discernment. Charles spent years "running hard," waking up at 4:00 AM to build a premier government contracting firm. However, as the business grew, so did the internal tension between his professional success and his role as a husband and father. During a pivotal presentation to his peers, Charles admitted he felt he was failing his family, only to have his children chime in over speakerphone to express how much they admired his support and work ethic.
The core of Charles’ story revolves around the "Not Yet." When a lucrative acquisition offer arrived, Charles was exhausted and ready to exit. However, through prayer, he felt a clear prompting that the timing wasn't right. He boldly told the buyers "not yet," a move that shocked the other side but honored his spiritual conviction. Several months later, a significantly better deal materialized, one that not only rewarded him financially but also honored his team and integrity.
Now in his "post-exit" life, Charles remains active with a mission of building future leaders, but with a renewed perspective. He warns other leaders not to "forget the scraps", the lessons and disciplines learned during the lean years. For Charles, success is no longer defined by the exit, but by the fruit of his relationships: the ability to be present with his wife, family and those he leads.
Vineet Rajan – From Drift to Drive
Vineet Rajan, CEO and co-founder of Forte, opened with a confession that resonated across the room: "You can be successful on paper and still feel yourself drifting." Despite building a company, leading teams and providing well for his family, Vineet found himself running low on the clarity and energy his professional life demanded. The productivity tools and performance hacks that had gotten him that far weren't built for the parts of him that mattered most.
That gap gave rise to the question at the heart of Forte: What if the work of being human deserves the same serious training as the work of being a professional? Operating as a Public Benefit Corporation, Forte has built what Vineet calls a "mental fitness" platform — a proactive way to strengthen the mind, will, emotions and spirit rather than wait for crisis to force the conversation. Through assessments, short training exercises, paired coaching and real-world application, leaders and their teams learn to move from drift into drive.
For Vineet, this is ultimately a "ministry of presence." He challenges leaders to see their people not as units of production but as whole human beings with a God-given story — and to see themselves the same way. When inner strength is trained like a muscle, faith and ambition stop competing and start compounding, at the office, around the dinner table and across the community.
Whether you are a leader seeking a fresh infusion of hope or one ready to steward the fuel of your own journey for others, Leaders on Tap has a seat saved for you. Join us every fourth Thursday from 3:30 to 5:00 PM at RAK Brewing Co.—or at one of our rotating venues across Maryland—for an authentic audience conversation followed by fellowship and networking. No leader was meant to navigate the furnace of leadership in isolation. Watch our full conversations and discover upcoming gatherings at LeadersOnTap.Live.
Shared stories have the power to turn breaking points into fuel.