Everyone’s favorite Christian music artist for families is back with a bang! Yancy has been working hard in the studio, and this week, released her fourth album called Jesus Music Box.

Jesus Music Box is all about professing Jesus out loud in life and in worship for preteens and families. These songs are written to inspire the listener to stand up, be bold and shine the light of Jesus to the world around them. The music is rocking fun, all about Jesus, and written for the entire family to enjoy together.

“These songs are really all about making Jesus loud in our life,” says Yancy. “One of my biggest passions, through the songs that I sing and through my life, is making sure it shows that Jesus is in my heart and that I love Him. There are several songs on this album that are all about that—it’s about turning up the volume and letting Jesus shine!”

Also available, the Jesus Music Box DVD worship resource for churches assists children’s pastors in pumping up their time of worship. All soundtracks for the 12 songs are included and feature live lyric videos along with three bonus music videos.

And did you know that you can connect with Yancy at The Orange Conference, April 24-26, 2013? Yancy will be presenting two breakout sessions at OC13:

Everybody, Clap Your Hands
Worship leading is just that, it’s you leading worship. There’s more to it than just fun songs and jumping around, too. Come and learn easy steps you can take to connect with and lead preschool and elementary-age kids into worship.

The Power of Music, and Teaching Kids to Worship
There are two powerful things that go hand in hand—music and worship. We’ll discuss why that is, and different ways you can use music effectively in your kids’ ministry to help connect with families. Giving kids the opportunity to worship in your classes is important. We’ll share practical ways you can teach kids each week to grow and participate in worship.

If you’d like to purchase Yancy’s Jesus Music Box CD or DVD, you can do so at www.OrangeStore.org.

Or, if you’re feeling rather lucky this weekend, participate in the Orange Leaders’ Facebook contest here for a chance to win a Jesus Music Box CD/DVD set. Here’s how:

1. Before Sunday, March 10 at 11:59 p.m., post in the comments section below this blog post with your answer to this question:

Old or new, what’s your favorite Yancy song?

2. Once you’ve posted your answer to the question in this blog post’s comment section, go to Facebook and comment on the Orange Leaders’ contest post with your same answer to the question. Participants must leave a comment on the blog AND leave a comment on the Facebook post about the giveaway.

3. The giveaway winner will be selected at random and notified on Monday, March 11, via Facebook.

Good luck!

by Elle Campbell

I recently read an article from Art Markman about “the benefits of being an expert generalist.” You should really read it. Markman’s article is the inspiration for today’s blog because, I’m convinced, this “expert generalist” thing is something that we, as youth workers, could really learn from.

First, a quick summary of the original article . . .

The greatest innovators throughout human history have something in common—while they might be known for their contributions to one particular field, the greatest innovators know a lot of things about a wide variety of topics.

They are expert generalists.
People who love and are committed to learning.
People with a wide knowledge base.
People who explore and delve into many different fields of study—even those unrelated to what they do.

These “expert generalists” are often the people who are our best creators and innovators. Because they have expanded their knowledge beyond one single field of study, they are able to see connections, draw parallels, and solve problems that the rest of us simply can’t.

So, what does this have to do with youth ministry?

Take a second and think about all of the “knowledge” you consume during a typical week. Books you read. Blogs you subscribe to. Videos you watch. Podcasts you listen to.

What percentage of those books, blogs, videos, podcasts, whatever, are ministry related? Sermons, youth ministry blogs, books by your favorite theologians or ministry heroes. Chances are, for most of us, that percentage is pretty high. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Learning about ministry stuff is good. Keep it up.

But, maybe, what we can learn from this “expert generalist” thing is that we need to expand our horizons a little bit. Maybe, by seeking out knowledge in new fields—like economics or marketing or psychology or design or literature—we can actually do more for our ministries, and for ourselves, than we could by simply consuming more ministry-related knowledge.

Maybe . . .

• Staying current on new technological advances sparks an idea for better way to connect with your students outside the church walls.
• A leadership lesson from the business world helps you become a better manager of your volunteer teams.
• A novel you read helps you better empathize with the situation of one of your students.
• Studying the work of some talented designers and artists inspires you to step up the quality of what your ministry creates.
• An obscure story, fact, or historical event you’ve been studying turns out to be the perfect metaphor for that message you’re preparing.
• An article written by someone of a different theological persuasion, or a different faith altogether, opens your eyes to something you never really considered before.

As youth workers, I believe broadening the scope of the knowledge that we consume is essential. We church people have a tendency to become a little “ingrown” sometimes, both in the way we do things and in the way that we think. But by choosing to listen to new perspectives, deciding to learn new things, and being strategic about the knowledge that we consume . . .

We can become better people.
Better thinkers.
Better problem-solvers.
Better leaders of the next generation.
Better innovators.

And to get us started . . . here’s our all-time favorite places to learn about non-ministry things.

What about you? Has there been a time when something you learned outside of ministry that helped you innovate, problem solve, or create something new in ministry?

Elle is the Small Groups + Volunteer Coordinator for the Middle School Ministry of The Chapel in Buffalo NY and Co-Creator of stuffyoucanuse.org. She loves Kenny, small groups, orange, coffee, making stuff, and sharing. This post originally appeared on StuffYouCanUse.org. Used with permission.

by Jaime Handley

At this year’s Orange Conference 2013, the theme is simple, one word even—Focus.

We are going to focus on the specific needs and issues that we hear come up over and over again in the youth ministry world. We are going to focus on developing a dialogue and making connections within the national and global community of youth workers. And we are going to focus on you, your team and your ministry needs.

But we are asking you to do some focusing too. We are asking you to focus on the areas of your ministry that you want to see impacted in the next year, whether that’s middle school, your parent community or those outsider students in your community who you just can’t seem to reach.

This year’s Orange Conference will feature all the usual suspects that you’ve come to expect: Challenging and inspiring speakers, networking opportunities, a chance to meet with and talk one-on-one with the XP3 team and your Orange Specialists. But we’re also hoping that you’ll come—and leave—with some specific goals in mind. We hope you will be stretched, inspired and energized to go back to your own student ministry and use some of the specific tools you will gain over the course of this three-day experience to impact them and draw them closer to Jesus Christ.

This year we’ve also added Track Champions to provide a greater explanation of our tracks. You can learn more about the goals of the Student and Middle School Track here.

Here is a sampling of a few of the new breakouts that we are especially excited about:

Outsiders: Five Questions to Ask Yourself When Reaching Unchurched Students
In student ministry, it’s easy to build a program that caters to insiders. Conversely, it’s extremely difficult to create an environment that’s engaging, clear, and compelling for outsiders. As the Church, how do we target unchurched students? How do we help them connect? And how do we get them to show up again?

[STUDENT MINISTRY]
Off the Couch! Developing a Student Leadership Culture
What if we could effectively minister to more students by asking them to participate (play a role), not just observe (be quiet and listen)? It’s time to tell the next generation that we need their help, instead of simply telling them to come back next week. In this breakout, we will discuss the fundamentals of building a strengths-based volunteer/staff team for your student ministry. We will discuss practical steps pertaining to volunteer recruitment, such as how to communicate ministry policies and procedures and examples of what that looks like; developing and communicating roles effectively; best practices on team training; and how to place volunteers in their “sweet spot,” therefore increasing staff and volunteer retention from year to year.

[STUDENT MINISTRY]
Moving from Cliques to Small Groups: Building a Relational Lead Small Culture for Students
If you want to build a solid foundation for your student ministry, you need Small Group Leaders who have a heart for pursuing teenagers. Students want to connect and belong. And they need space to discuss and personalize their faith through relationships. This workshop will address how to make a strategic shift to a Small Group model for any student ministry. We’ll share the powerful secrets of how to make the Small Group Leader the hero in a student ministry. We’ll also address how the environment and program need to cater to the Small Group Leader and Small Group time in order to have a successful Small Group ministry.

[MIDDLE SCHOOL MINISTRY]
The Parents who Need You Most: How to Communicate and Partner with Parents of Middle-Schoolers
All student ministry leaders recognize the importance of successfully partnering with parents. Sometimes it can feel like parents are just not engaged and we, as leaders, aren’t sure exactly what to do about it. In this session, we will address that very concern, not only how to begin the conversation with parents, but how to maintain momentum with the ministry/parent relationship.

So, what is the theme of 2013 for your student ministry? We invite you to share in our vision to FOCUS on those things that will be most impactful for your student ministry. Come join us at Orange Conference 2013 and find your focus!

by Jennifer Cooke

My grandfather loved to fish. He knew exactly the right bait to use, where all the best fishing holes could be found and when the fish would be biting. He tried to get me to go with him on several occasions and I humored him a few times but quickly learned it wasn’t for me. I found the whole thing boring, not to mention the worms were slimy and I didn’t like baiting the hook. You sit there for literally hours at times waiting for the tiniest nibble only to have the fish get away. I determined at an early age that fishing just wasn’t for me.

That is, until I started leading in student ministry. Then, Jesus’ call to become “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19) took on whole new meaning. I had to fish for a specific type of person. I had to fish for volunteers! I needed to find people that loved the Lord and had a desire to care for and lead students. Suddenly, the techniques my grandfather used for fishing seemed much more important to me.

Know where to fish.
Volunteers are out there. They may just be hanging out in areas you haven’t discovered yet. If you continue to go to all the same places to recruit volunteers, branch out and try something new. Spend some time with adult small groups, empty nesters or singles and invite them to think about serving in student ministry. If you work with middle-schoolers, consider recruiting some mature high school students to mentor the younger students.

Know what bait to use.
Sometimes all it takes to land a great volunteer is the right bait. What might lure them in? A video that captures not just the fun but the way God is working in your ministry? A special message from your senior pastor where he champions the work you’re doing? Better yet, let some of your current volunteers share why they love student ministry and invite a friend to join them at your next event.

Know when to fish.
Fish early and fish often. You know your ministry and the seasons where you need more help. Don’t wait until the last minute to recruit. Instead, back out a month or two or more to start those conversations. When you invite people to serve, cast compelling vision so that they want to join rather than appearing frantic or desperate.

The need for student ministry volunteers is great but they are out there! Don’t give up and don’t get discouraged. If the fish aren’t biting one day, shake it off and try again the next day. Eventually, the right people will come!

Jennifer serves as the transit female group director at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. She has spent five years on the North Point Ministry team. Before coming to North Point, she served as the youth pastor for First Colony Church in Houston, Texas, working with middle and high school students. Today, Jennifer helps create exciting and safe environments for middle school students to develop a faith of their own. She is passionate about building relationships with Small Group Leaders that build relationships with middle school students.

In most student ministries, there is a group of people who begin to disappear this time of the year—your seniors. For high school seniors, the countdown is on. And in between school projects, college/scholarship applications, jobs and everything else, your seniors are beginning to feel like they are on a fast track to whatever is next.

The pressures they are facing—as well as the options that are beginning to open up for them—put them in a much different point of life than a high school freshman, sophomore or even junior.

So, as they prepare for the “next” in each of their lives—whether that’s college, the military, work—what can you do to help them make that transition?

We’ve launched a resource to help with that transition. It’s called XP3 Next, and it’s a series of four conversation guides to open up a dialog. It’s led by their existing Small Group Leader, and it’s intended to prompt them to think through what they believe, where God is leading them and what life might look like six months from now.

It’s different than your typical Small Group dialogs. In fact, it’s more about the Small Group Leader journeying together with a group of seniors, than solely imparting wisdom. The conversation guides also are designed to connect students with your church, and not just your student ministry.

XP3 Next isn’t a curriculum, it’s simply a way to describe a new resource that we feel will help prepare your high school seniors for the next. The guides hit on topics and tips that will lay a foundation for the next—both in content and in relationship.

Keep in mind, this is different from a normal XP3 Student series. There isn’t a Parent CUE. There isn’t an XP. There are no art files or environment ideas. There isn’t even a teaching script. These are Conversation Guides, designed to open up a dialog and build relationship that will transcend your student ministry.

The XP3 Next Conversation Guides have been created by our XP3 College team of Chuck Bomar and Abbie Smith, co-authors of The Slow Fade. Here is a brief description of the four available Conversation Guides (shown in suggested order):

• Guide #1: The One About Transitions: Changes are rampant in the life of a high school senior. God designed us in a world that continually goes through changes, growth spurts, transitions. And therefore, it’s only consistent with His character that any of these transitions are opportunities for us to grow closer to Him.

• Guide #2: The One About God’s Will: Imagine if you’d understood that God viewed you and your life and decisions through the eyes of Christ—not your success, failure or status in society. Imagine having grasped that God’s will was more about your sanctification than an exact answer or success. How would that change the way you face life’s uncertainty that comes with the next? These dialogs are intended to shift seniors’ definition of God’s will from something that happens to them to something that happens in them.

• Guide #3: The One About Faithfulness vs. Perfection: When we think about being faithful, most Christians actually think about being perfect. These dialogs will distinguish faithfulness from perfection, and help seniors begin to develop a healthy perspective as to what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus.

• Guide #4: The One About Travel Advice: If you’re traveling somewhere new, it’s always great to get insider tips from those who have been there before. This series of dialogs is very practical in nature, offering helpful tips on relationships, life and even basic life skills to prep seniors for the next in their lives.

These guides can be utilized in your existing senior Small Groups—or be led by trusted other adults or even people who are involved in the college ministry at your church.

The guides are available to purchase with your existing credits both through XP3 Students and XP3 College accounts.

Help your seniors prepare for the next, and give them the resources and relationships to take this next big step in their lives.

XP3 College offers Conversation Guides for mentors and small group leaders to connect older adults with 18-25 year olds. XP3 College also offers a transition piece, called XP3 Next, for High School seniors and an ongoing connection piece for the first semester away. For more information, visit www.xp3college.org.

Almost four years ago, I took over as the minister to children and families at the First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale. One of my first goals, besides creating a strategy that allowed the church and the family to become partners, was to grow our volunteer base. For the first time, we began opening up weekly positions for high schoolers to begin serving, and they came out of the woodwork!

Students were discovering how to be players in “the game,” rather than spectators in “the game.” Some adults in the church questioned this decision, indicating they didn’t want their children under the care of “other children”—referring to the students. I would be lying if I said that some of the harsh criticism I received didn’t cause me to question my own decision from time to time.

Let’s fast forward four years, to today. Some of our student volunteers are going off to college, a crucial time in their lives. This has been a key time for our leadership team as we are evaluating if “student volunteering” is working. In the course of this evaluation I received a phone call. A phone call that was all of the confirmation I would ever need.

On the other end of the phone was one of our most dedicated student volunteers. She asked me a question. The question went like this “I am going to Florida State University in the fall, can you help me find a church to plug into? And I don’t mean just to attend, I want to talk to their children’s pastor so I can begin volunteering right away.”

Through serving, students are understanding how to shift their thinking from observers at church, to active participation in being the church. The phone call I received was all the confirmation I needed. That’s leveraging the influence of students.

It seems like everyone is talking about the heat in the southeast. Twitpics of iPhone weather apps reporting 105-degree heat in Atlanta abound. Well, how do we at Orange stay cool? With an Orange Creamsicle Smoothie!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup crushed ice
• 1/2 cup orange juice pulp (from ~3 oranges) or one whole peeled orange, pulled apart *
• 1 cup coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
• 1 scoop organic vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. honey (optional for a sweeter taste)

*good source of fiber

Directions

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 16 oz.

• Calories: 303
• Total Fat: 6 g
• Saturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg
• Sodium: 219 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 25 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Sugars: 13 g
• Protein: 25 g

For this and other fiberlicious recipes, visit www.fortheloveoffiber.com.

This recipe was found: http://www.fitsugar.com/Healthy-Orange-Julius-Recipe-23752212

by Jeremy Zach

Jeremy Zach works for Orange on the XP3 Students team. Previously a Youth Pastor, Jeremy is an average fixer-upper-type of youth worker. Stuff that makes him smile: his wife (Mikaela), technology, youth workers, theology, military and commercial airplanes, his DR. DRE beats and extreme hot sauce. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. This post is a repost from Jeremy’s blog, and is used with permission.

I am obsessed with Jason Bourne.  In fact, I have been known to dream about getting into the CIA.  If I am bored and nothing is on TV, I will fire up the Jason Bourne trilogy.   I have logged over 150 hours watching these Jason Bourne movies over and over again.  Because of this, I wanted to connect Jason Bourne with youth pastors to find certain commonalities both share.  So I had a blast writing this exclusive blog post:  Jason Bourne’s Basics For Youth Pastors.

The skills Jason Bourne and Youth Pastors Can Share:

1.  Cross Cultural Thinking - Jason Bourne had several passports and fully immersed himself in many cultural communities for short periods of time.  Youth pastors need to be hyper excited to immerse themselves and their students in multiple cultural communities and contexts.  Therefore, take students on mission trips to lands and cultures that are very different then your current context.  It is important to deepen awareness not only in your students but also in yourself, because complacency sets in if stuck in the same professional Christian environment for too long.  I would venture to say:  leave your current youth ministry environment 2-3 times a year to allow time to learn from other cultures (annual overseas trips are amazing, but you can also add several domestic opportunities to ensure that all of your students have a chance to serve outside of the comfort of their own community). MORE

We had a great response to our blog and infographic about Sticky Teaching, so I read a book where some of those ideas originated from called, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina. I was curious about which things would also apply to our church and ministry worlds.

It turned out there was quite a lot—and I couldn’t put it down! I’ve come up with some questions to ask yourself as you look at or even create curriculum to make sure it really matches up with what brain research says helps us learn best.

Basic Research: There are two powerful features of the Brain.

1. It can function as a database.
2. It can improvise and apply what it knows to real life.

* Any learning environment that deals with only one of these ignores half of our ability and potential. And it’s ultimately doomed to fail.

Key Questions to ask:

1. Does this curriculum emphasize a lot of facts, with more knowledge as the goal, or does it lean toward transferring of information or application?
2. What ratio are you looking for—information to application? What would happen if you just got one without the other?
3. Think about something you know a lot about it—how did you learn it? In more of a classroom setting or while doing it in the real world?

Sticky Teaching Rule #1 – Repetition is very important, because most learning doesn’t happen instantly but over time, even years!

• Repeat the same thing intentionally, but space it out over a period of time.
• Strategically cycle through key information, coming back to it over the years.

Key Questions to ask:

• What things are repeated or emphasized each week in this curriculum? Is there a page or place where I can see this at a glance?
• Is the learning focused on one main thing or thread? Can it be summed up in less than a minute?
• When people leave, if you asked them what they just learned, would they be able to tell you? What about a few hours later or even a few days?
• Knowing that people don’t come every week and that we hear things differently the second time or at different stages of life, does this curriculum ever repeat itself and some of its core content?

Sticky Teaching Rule #2 – Our brain is designed to learn in a constantly changing and interactive environment.

• Research shows that we need the opposite of what most schools, churches and workplaces provide in order to really learn and grow.
• More than 50 percent of our brain’s thinking resources focus on visual cues, and using more than one of their senses always leads to more retention.
• The things in our environment that catch and hold our attention have a better chance of being remembered.

Key Questions to ask:

• Does the curriculum help you think through how to create the best learning environment—using more than one of your senses?
• Are the presentations multimedia—not just relying on someone to talk, but also using visuals and even tangible objects to get their point across?
• Are there suggestions on how to regularly change things up to grab their attention—from creating sets or decorations, to using relevant music or videos and practical ideas for volunteers to make them more successful?

Sticky Teaching Rule #3 – If you want others to learn something, how it’s shared matters a lot.

• Plan in 10-minute modules, focusing on one core concept that you can unpack in less than one minute, then spend the next nine unpacking the main idea further.
• Our ability to learn something is related to how safe we feel, which is often directly related to our relationship with our teacher and emotions.
• The best teachers get to know each child and how they learn best, so that eventually they know what motivates them and if they really understand.

Key Questions to ask:

• Does this curriculum not only focus on one big idea, but does it unpack it and make it easy for me to use all the pieces during different times of the week?
• Are building relationships and honestly sharing key considerations of this curriculum? If we use this, how will it help our people connect and open up?
• Is there a set aside time and discussion or open ended questions each week in this curriculum for people to get to know each other better?
• Is there variety in the kinds of activities to keep kids engaged even though they are motivated to learn in different ways?

I can’t wait to hear what you think. Is this research helpful? What other questions do you ask as you look at or create curriculum?

If you’re interested, I looked at this research and asked myself these questions about our elementary curriculum, 252 Basics. You can see the related blog about this, here.

by Billy Phenix

I grew up in a traditional church, and rode standard conveyor belt into the youth group. Like many of us, my early years in the group included a revolving door of youth pastors, a lot of dodge ball, and semi-controlled chaos. Amid that chaos, my buddies and I slowly slid into the role of the arm-crossed, hard-to-engage, “this is dumb,” cut-ups that sat on the back row of any youth ministry event. In short, we were “too cool for (Sunday) school.” Disengaged and calloused, we slowly started resenting anything church-related (which is ironic, since I now pastor a church).

Enter Jim.

Jim was hired as the new youth pastor. He was young, idealistic, and, above all, passionate about connecting kids to Jesus. He was in seminary—a fact I held against him. He had an electric smile and explosive laugh. He drove a clunky red truck that didn’t start consistently and wore camouflage pants a lot. I didn’t expect much from Jim. That was until one Sunday evening when Jim slid into the back row, smiled, and whispered, “Follow me, and don’t let people see you sneak out.” Sneaking out is something we knew.

Suddenly, Jim had our attention.

Quickly, Jim led us, SWAT-team style, to the darkened upper halls of the church, through a small access door in the music pastor’s office, and into the church attic. We were confused, but totally into it. Next, he led us onto a long, dark plankway that ran the length of the sanctuary. At one point Jim looked back, smirked, and said, “don’t step off the side or you’ll fall through the ceiling and onto the pews.” (In retrospect, I think there was adequate lighting available in the attic, but Jim left them turned off to boost the thrill factor for us.)

We were wide-eyed.

A few minutes later, Jim led us up a metal ladder inside the base of the steeple. At the top, there was a small platform at the narrow peak that was barely big enough for us all to sit. Still, we gathered there, shook off the cobwebs, and took turns peering out the open steeple-top window that looked out over our community. It was awesome. Over the next half hour, we contemplated the deeper things that 15-year-olds sitting at the top of a steeple would discuss: If falling off would kill you; who could spit off the steeple the farthest; and what would happen if lightening struck us at that moment. Did I mention that it was awesome?

Finally, after a pause, Jim said, “So—how’s life for you guys?”

And, from there, it began.

That singular experience began a multi-year relationship with Jim and an eventual acceptance of Jesus as my Savior (along with many other trips to the steeple top, that is, until the church administration got wise and changed the lock).

In the couple of years I sat under Jim’s leadership, he taught hundreds of lessons about Jesus and the Bible. They shaped me, but not as much as the lesson that God taught me about Jesus THROUGH Jim.

Today, you’ll hear me say that Jim was the one that led me to Christ. His example was a primary reason that I entered the ministry. To this day, there are ministry practices that I still attach to the memory of Jim’s influence on me.

Jim’s journey to the steeple top with us is hardly formulaic for life change (and, actually, it’s not even recommended if you care about liability or job security), but that’s not my point. The point is that Jim knew that he had a message that would change lives. It was the gospel message of Jesus Christ. He also knew that the snotty kids in the back weren’t going to be moved by his seminary education, a cheeky puppet show, or a hotdog and some dodge ball. We weren’t going to come to Jim, so he came to us on the back row. HE worked to find us. That, in itself, told us that Jim cared. Jim gave us an experience and, in doing so, we gave him a platform to speak into our lives.

It was risky, edgy, and a just little dangerous—just like Jesus.

To this day, when I see a church with a big white steeple I think, “I wonder how far I could spit from there.” Then I think of Jim and how grateful I am that someone took the time to connect with a punk kid in the back row and, in doing so, changed my eternity.

Who impacted you the most when you were a kid? What did they do that was so impactful? How are you doing the same today?

Billy Phenix is the campus pastor of Buckhead Church. He was on the initial team that launched this first, off-site campus of North Point Ministries in 2001. In this role, Billy leads the staff of Buckhead Church and oversees all aspects of its operations. Previous to his role as campus pastor, he served in a variety of areas in NPM, including singles, students, and children’s ministries as well as Starting Point.

Prior to joining NPM in 2000, Billy worked in full-time student ministry and as a corporate architect for Chick-fil-A, Inc. Billy is an Atlanta native, Georgia Tech grad, and currently lives in East Cobb with his wife, Joy, and their children, Ellie and Josh.

Follow Billy on Twitter: @billyphenix