Christian Capitalist Lori Leath Miller: Led by Purpose

By Richard Sanders

As a publisher and executive editor at Life Media Group, Lori Leath Miller is in a unique position to spread the Good News to over 80,000 people every month throughout the Emerald Coast. The company’s slogan, “Locals Get It,” has a double meaning: it is delivered free of charge to homes and businesses from Panama City Beach to Fort Walton Beach and north of the Bay from Eglin Air Force Base to Freeport, and it includes news and notes about our communities that help bring its residents closer together.

It is also a terrific instrument, as founder Dave White likes to say, for “spreading salt.” As Lori and I joked on her appearance on the Christian Capitalist podcast last month, it is one of the few newspapers in the nation that features Easter and Christmas as front-page news!

After beginning her career at Southern Living magazine and Time Inc., Lori brought an innovative spirit to her next chapter. As a young mother, she wanted to continue working while spending time with her young children. So, she started her own at-home marketing business. Talk about a self-starter: she made it work before email, cell phones and the internet!

Like so many other locals, Lori moved here 20 years ago from Alabama, because she sought the beautiful weather and beaches and a fresh start. With marketing positions for two different large organizations here on the Emerald Coast, she quickly became an integral part of the business community.

Today, Lori is a devout woman of faith and is led by purpose in her work at Life Media. While Lori thought about ordained ministry at one point in her life, she ultimately determined that God called her to work in marketing, communications and public relations, and later, coming full circle, in publishing media, to serve His purpose. She realized that a layperson can have a ministry in business. “Personally and professionally, I feel like I’m a marketplace minister. In that respect, working hard in what you do, being excellent at what you do professionally, and then allowing God to infiltrate that, put the spiritual aspect to it, is helping people.”

A key part of her role as publisher is supporting the hundreds of nonprofit organizations on the Emerald Coast. Through prayer, she seeks God’s guidance on which organizations and events to highlight each month, helping readers in Life Media’s eight communities discover where they can make a difference. “We feel like we’re one of the best avenues for [nonprofits] to get the word out about that because we’re going to do it more in depth.” She is thankful for the advertisers who support each publication, praying regularly that their businesses thrive and their advertising generates a strong response, as well as seeking direction on the topics and articles to include in each issue.

Lori embraces her role as a Christian Capitalist and encourages others to look at their spiritual and business lives as integrated. “You can bring [your faith] into your business relationships, your dealings, your workplace, whether it’s your employees or clients.… God can use you right where you are!”

Lori recently appeared on the Christian Capitalist podcast, and you can listen to the entire episode on Sowal Life’s website. We are excited to share inspirational stories of people like Lori Miller, whose hard work and generous giving help the poor and needy in the name of Jesus Christ!