Kevin and Lori McNulty, owners of LifeStyle Home Builders in Virginia, knew that building homes – the place where people experience the best and worst things in life – was a ministry. But when the couple attended their first Kingdom Leadership Workshop in the fall of 2022, the experience was an “aha” moment for both of them. Thanks to Kingdom at Work, the McNultys realized that faith can thrive in the business world. Lori shares, “I saw that I can be who God wants me to be in the workplace. I didn’t have to be afraid of wearing my church hat to work anymore.”
They returned to a Kingdom Leadership Workshop in May of 2023 with their executive team. Kevin, CEO and chief stewardship officer, and Lori, vice president of culture, attended to support their business’s leaders. The couple didn’t expect to gain much since they’d heard the material a few months earlier.
But God had something special planned for Lori, Kevin, and their business.
First, the Lord showed Kevin that his role in the company needed to shift to that of a shepherd. And second, Kevin and Lori began to imagine what a team member-owned business could look like for LifeStyle Home Builders.
After the workshop, Kevin discussed an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) with Cal Zant, president of Betenbough Homes. Kevin shared, “My wife and I have plenty of material wealth. At some point, enough is enough. We don’t truly own this company, anyway, so how can we change what we’re doing to bless others?”
Cal replied, “That’s the mindset of a king.”
The McNultys spent one final night at their Lubbock hotel before flying home the day after the workshop. Kevin recalls that he barely slept that night; the Holy Spirit impressed in his heart that LifeStyle Home Builders would implement an ESOP.
The next year-and-a-half was a roller coaster ride for Lori and Kevin. LifeStyle Home Builders hired a consultant to help them transition to an ESOP, but after the education phase of the consultation, the process stalled. A buyer for the residential building company came forward, so for a few months Kevin and Lori considered selling. They ultimately realized that this path would destroy the culture they’d built, so they terminated those discussions. Kevin then met another builder whose business had implemented an ESOP, leading the McNultys to hire a different consultant that could help LifeStyle Home Builders complete the transition to employee ownership.
Kevin shares that this tumultuous process was necessary. “I was a wrestler in high school. God gave me this personality. He allowed me to wrestle through the ESOP idea and sort it all out in my own way. That’s what it took to get me ready to go forward with it.”
Corey Lusk, vice president of operations for Betenbough Homes, led their Kingdom at Work Action Group which provided Lori and Kevin with a tremendous amount of support throughout their company’s journey to becoming team member-owned. Corey and the members of the group prayed for the McNultys, affirmed their choice to follow God with their business, offered sound counsel, and served as a sounding board throughout the process. Lori explains, “Everyone in that room was wrestling with business, marriage, life, etc. We were a group of people seeking God’s heart, and we got to do that together in business!”
In early 2025, LifeStyle Home Builders officially became a team member-owned business, implementing an ESOP. This transition reinforces the company’s core values, grants team members a more meaningful stake in the business, and further enhances LifeStyle’s culture.
Jen Martin, CFO for LifeStyle Home Builders, shares, “Becoming an ESOP has given me a deep sense of freedom and fulfillment – knowing that all our hard work has built something meaningful and lasting. It’s a legacy we can share with our team members, their families, and the generations of Team LifeStyle to come. It brings us together in unity, allowing us to carry on God’s vision and continue the work.”
Betenbough Companies served as a model for the McNultys to reference. Through the Kingdom Leadership Workshop, our company was a conduit for God to share the idea of employee ownership with these Kingdom leaders. Kevin remembers the workshop as a “platform for me to hear from God and respond.” Lori shares, “In my nursing career, I learned that God puts people in your path when you’re facing a struggle. Betenbough was that for LifeStyle.”
Kevin sums up the whole experience this way: “We have always felt like we didn’t own this company. We’re just stewards of a resource God put in our hands. We look at where we are in life and are ready to prepare ourselves and LifeStyle Home Builders for the next season. Becoming an ESOP allowed us to do this strategically and methodically. It’s also been an opportunity to guard my heart from always chasing more and instead embrace an abundance mindset.”
“We have talked to dozens of business owners who were excited about the idea of an ESOP, but only a handful have actually followed through with it,” reflects Cal. “Making the shift to an ESOP is incredibly rare because it requires an owner to give away something they spent a lifetime building. They must give up financial privilege and even the right to pass the company on to their children. Kevin and Lori’s decision reflects the same radical generosity I saw in Rick and Ron Betenbough when they gave ownership to the people they worked beside every day.”
