Bob & Linda Black (Business)   Personal Name: Bob (68) & Linda (62) Black (www.cleanadvantage.com) Education: Linda – high school, Bob some college Family: 4 grown children, 3 granddaughters Business: Clean Advantage, Inc. (Specialty Cleaning Products) Hobbies: Used to be Clemson Tiger football but work is too much fun now Home church: Living Praise Worship Center, Pastor Scott Pritchett   How it started: Bob and Linda met and married in their 30’s.   Bob was a carpenter, contractor and they nearly went bankrupt three times (as recently as 1999).  They asked the Lord to show them a new product outside construction and real estate.  One of the reoccurring themes is the prophetic direction they have received at strategic points in their business.  One of the first was a word to abandon the business direction they were taking because it would be an Ishmael (that meant returning $50k from friends that had purchased stock for start-up money).  The next word was that God would give them favor regarding startup and business contacts.  They started out $1M in debt, but in 17 days their concrete cleaner was in Home Depot.  There were similar miracles getting into their 65,000 square foot building.  At one point the SBA not only loaned them their start-up capital but returned their down payment.  The first quarter in 2000 resulted in $1M in sales.  God’s favor coupled with prophetic direction, apostolic covering, faith, and persistence has been a theme throughout.   Personal Passion: Linda’s favorite saying from Proverbs 18:21, “life and death are in the power of the tongue” started through her mother.  After Linda’s first marriage failed she moved back home defeated.  Every Morning her mother would wake her with Isa 60:1, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.  She asked the Lord to be a housewife, with 4 children living in a nice neighborhood by the time she was 35.  She met Bob who already had children and they moved into the house she dreamed of.  (She had to take back the request to “just be a housewife.”)  Their lives had many ups and downs that include near bankruptcy, alcoholism, stays in a mental hospital, affairs, and mafia involvement.  Their passion is to minister their life story – God can turn any life around and bless it greatly.  They love people and they love to make a difference in lives.   Personal Benefit:  Clean Advantage is a ministry platform for Bob and Linda.  They are simply having too much fun in their business.  Bob enjoys the creative aspects of engineering the equipment.  They love helping people get through the same difficulties they conquered.  Their lives are testimonies of people that not only found forgiveness but great blessing.  Clean Advantage is a woman-owned S Corporation which translates to another message – Linda loves to encourage woman that they can do it.  Bob loves to encourage men to allow their wives to walk in their gifting.  They are a team with boundaries; Linda works the office and Bob runs the production floor.  Another motto they quote is that “live begins at 40” and in their case they are thankful to have survived those wilderness years.  They are a great example of marriage partners being business partners.   Value to others:  Bob and Linda take a lot of pride in the quality of their products.  If you have purchased a cleaning product from Lowe’s or Home Depot, you’ve probably already been blessed by them.  Their production facility has great eye appeal and the grounds immaculate.  They have pioneered a marriage of business and ministry.    Business Potential (upside):  Clean Advantage currently brings in about 3M /yr gross in a 55,000 square foot facility.  They are looking at an additional building (45,000 square feet) to grow the company to 10M/yr in three years.  They have 22 employees with very little turnover (except for moves and babies).  They choose employees with potential of talent and many are not Christians so they have ministry opportunities with their staff as well.  In some ways they prefer to start with unbelievers so they can mentor them both spiritually and vocationally.  Bob and Linda are very generous.  Their business provides a level of income that allows them to support two churches, missionaries, local benevolence.  Linda finds something she likes and buys two so when others admire it she can give them one as well.   Complexities, failures (downside):  Linda struggled with this question because she couldn’t think of a downside – they love their work and see it as their Kingly ministry. One question people ask is “what happens when Bob and Linda go home to be with the Lord.”  They are in the process of mentoring people can run Clean Advantage – even though they have no plans to retire.    Vision for the Kingdom:  Bob and Linda use a storage area in their building for “Joseph’s Pantry”.  They store items that can be given to families in need and run the benevolence ministry for their local church.  They tithe to their own church as well as another pastor from the Midwest that helped them personally.  Lastly, they support and mentor a missionary couple working in Lithuania.  Their own business and the network of contacts they have in the business community allowed them to raise $15k to buy a van for their missionary team.   Bob and Linda are examples of what God can do through people that trust Him to be their source.   Impact from Releasing Kings:  Bob and Linda have personally lived the book and they found a confirmation of their anointing to be Christian Business trail blazers in the market place.