Cole Zucker

ZuVi Investments 

Joint family office focused on lower mid market private equity.

Managing Partner

Member - Santa Monica Chapter

Hey Hero Labs

Acquired by Sanctuary Ventures January 2022

Co-Founder

GREEN CREATIVE

Provides LED lighting products to North America.

Co-CEO & Co-Founder

Everbright Engineering

VP of Sales

I'm Cole, an entrepreneur with a running addiction. 

I am a Co-Managing Partner at Zuvi Investments, a joint family office dedicated to helping small businesses transition into established middle-market companies. 

Previously, I was the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of GREEN CREATIVE, a commercial-grade LED lighting company. My partner and I bootstrapped the business to over $60m in annual sales, successfully exiting to a PE fund. Our journey is chronicled in our book, “Flipping The Switch” (available now).

I was also a co-founder of Hey Hero Labs, a platform for personalized video content creation. The company was acquired by Sanctuary Ventures in 2022.

Outside of business, I'm driven by my passion for running. Having recently turned 40, I've achieved personal bests that surpass my times from 20 years ago. I'm always experimenting with new techniques and training methods to optimize performance and longevity.

Joint family office focused on low mid market private equity, angel investing, and real estate.

CEO at PRAY.COM

Steve is an American Entrepreneur, NCAA Champion, and the youngest advisor to the President of the United States to be appointed to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. 

Currently, Gatena is the Founder and CEO of PRAY.COM, the world’s #1 app for daily prayer and faith-based mental health content. 

Under his leadership, PRAY.COM has achieved unprecedented heights, becoming the highest-grossing religious app in history and recognized as Los Angeles’ best workplace. The company’s remarkable growth and influence has garnered numerous accolades, including Inc Magazine’s “Best in Business,” Fast Company’s “World Changing Ideas,” and recognition by Inc 5000 as the fastest growing faith-based media company in the US.

Gatena’s entrepreneurial journey began early. At age 22, he founded REP Interactive, which rapidly became America’s fastest-growing video marketing agency. REP Interactive earned over 100 industry awards for its work with global corporations and was recognized as one of America’s best workplaces. Building on this success, Gatena launched VideoFort, Hollywood’s largest stock footage supplier, providing critical content for blockbuster films such as “Transformers” and renowned television series including Discovery Channel’s “Planet Earth.”

In 2014, Gatena was honored at the United Nations as an “Entrepreneur of the Year.” Following this, he took the helm at Helinet in 2015, steering the global aerial surveillance and film production leader through challenging times, including the tragic loss of his mentor and business partner, Alan Purwin. This pivotal moment led Gatena to establish PRAY.COM, the digital destination for faith.

Recognized for his leadership, Steve has been awarded Los Angeles Times Executive of the Year, EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, and featured in CSQ Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Visionaries. The Healthcare Technology Report also honored him as one of the top 25 Consumer Health Tech Executives for his groundbreaking collaboration with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, bridging faith and mental health.

At just 34, Gatena was appointed by the 45th President of the United States to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, providing bipartisan guidance on critical economic and cybersecurity issues under both President Trump and President Biden.

Today, Gatena extends his influence through philanthropy, serving as a Board Member for Beyond the Brotherhood, a nonprofit committed to assisting Navy SEALs in their transition to meaningful civilian careers.

Steve Gatena

97 years old.
World War II Veteran.
And one sandwich that changed everything.

In Chandler, Arizona, there’s a man named Doug.

Doug isn’t just a customer at Arby’s... He’s THE customer.

Every single day, Doug walks in with his walker and orders the same thing:

A Swiss-cheese-filled roast beef slider.
A Coke.
No ice.

The staff doesn’t need to ask.
They already know his order.

Doug is 97 years old.

A World War II veteran.

Quiet. Kind. Loyal.

And he comes in every day because, as he put it:
“This is the only place I can get a sandwich that doesn’t hurt my stomach.”

Doug lives in a nearby retirement home.

But this Arby’s?

This is his place.

His table.
His routine.
His daily moment of normal.

One employee, Travis, finally asked Doug why he kept coming back.

Why this location?

The answer wasn’t complicated.
It was human.

The staff started treating him like family.

Opening doors the moment they saw him.

Helping him get settled.

Checking in on him.

As the manager, Christina, said:
“He’s been through a lot. He doesn’t have family.”

So they became his.

One day, the staff pooled their own money and surprised Doug with a $200 gift card.

Doug thought it was a joke.

When he realized it wasn’t, he said:
“I never know if I’ll be here tomorrow. Thank you.”

But the real gift came next.

They gave him their phone numbers.

Just in case.

They promised to bring him his favorite meal if he ever couldn’t make it in.

When Doug’s story went national, Arby’s corporate stepped in.

Their gift?
Free food for the rest of his life.

No more worrying about meals.
No more uncertainty.
Just dignity, care, and friendship.

All because a group of employees noticed one man… and decided he mattered.

Sometimes loyalty isn’t about a brand.

It’s about showing up for someone every day.

Credit: Daniel Moloney

Lil Wayne Launches America’s First Completely Free Medical Clinic for the Homeless:

‘This is the legacy I want to leave behind.’ 

There were no cameras, no ribbon-cutting ceremony, and no media spectacle. 

Just before sunrise, at 5:00 a.m., Lil Wayne quietly unlocked the doors of the Lil Wayne Soul Humanity Health Center.

No alternative text description for this image

“The NFL once fined Saints linebacker Demario Davis $7,017 for his “Man of God” headband. 

He appealed - and won - then used the moment to raise more than $60,000 for a Mississippi hospital, which was later matched to total about $120,000.

Let this remind us: 

When you stand bold in your faith, God will use you to become an even greater blessing to others than you were before!”

“An 8-year-old boy named Mateo called 911…
 When officers arrived, there was no danger.
 What they found instead was hunger.

Mateo and his little sister Sophia were home alone, with only a jug of milk and a few ketchup packets in the fridge. 

Their mom was working two jobs, trying her best to provide, but it still wasn’t enough.

That night, instead of just filing a report, a local officer and a paramedic named Rosa came back with sandwiches. 

Then they came back again. And again.

Soon, that small act grew into something bigger.
 They started “Midnight Meals,” a project delivering food, school supplies, and care packages to families every Friday night.

The community joined in.
 Teachers donated books.
 Grocery stores gave food.
 Teenagers offered their time.

Weeks later, when Rosa and the officer returned to Mateo’s home, it was no longer empty. 

It was full with food, warmth, and color… and two smiling kids who finally felt seen.

Because sometimes, one phone call… 
one act of kindness… 
can begin a movement.”

Credit: April Thompson

What you do speaks so loudly, it drowns out what you say.

Picture this for a moment.

You’re walking past your own life like a stranger.

You watch how your mornings actually start.
You notice what fills your evenings.
You see where your time goes when no one is watching.

Now imagine someone quietly taking notes.

Not on what you say you want.
Not on what you meant to do.
Only on what you actually did.

After one week, they turn to you and answer one question:

How serious is this person about the life they say they want?

That question has a way of stopping you cold.

Most of us believe we’re committed.

We talk about growth.
We speak about purpose.
We say faith comes first.

But actions tell a clearer story.

There’s often a quiet gap between intention and obedience.

It shows up in small ways.

A skipped habit here.
A delayed prayer there.
A choice for comfort instead of courage.

Nothing dramatic. Nothing obvious.

But over time, those small decisions stack up.

Days drift away from the dream.

The calendar stops matching the calling.

The reality of our weeks no longer reflects the vision for our years.

Scripture doesn’t dance around this.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James 1:22

Faith isn’t proven by what we agree with.
It’s revealed by what we practice.

God pays attention to patterns, not promises.

This isn’t about guilt.
It’s about clarity.

When you notice the gap between what you say and what you do, that’s not condemnation.

That’s an invitation.

An invitation to realign.

So today, ask yourself honestly:

• What do my habits say I value?

• What does my schedule say I trust?

• What do my daily choices say I believe?

Then close the gap with one small act of obedience.

Because the life you want isn’t built by what you say.

It’s shaped by what you repeat.

Faith becomes visible in patterns.

And God invites alignment not through pressure, but through awareness and obedience.

Today:

• Pray for clarity to see where intention and action are misaligned.

• Identify one habit that reflects what you truly value.

• Choose one small act of obedience and do it today.

What you repeat is what you become.

God is bigger than your thoughts.
And He is bigger than your feelings.

We often try to shrink God down to something we can grasp.

An idea.
A conviction.
A belief we feel confident about.

But God cannot be caught inside a concept.

And in the same way, He cannot be measured by emotion.

God is not limited to a warm feeling toward your neighbor.

He is not confined to spiritual highs, intense moments, or emotional experiences.

He is not defined by fervor, generosity, passion, or even love as we experience it.

Those moments may point to God. They may remind us of His presence. But their absence does not mean He is gone.

This is where many people quietly lose their footing.

When the feeling fades.
When prayer feels dry.
When worship doesn’t move the heart the way it once did.

We assume God has stepped back.

But Scripture tells us something deeper.

God is greater than our minds.
And He is also greater than our hearts.

Just as we must resist the temptation to shape God to fit our small ideas, we must also resist shaping Him to fit our small feelings.

God does not disappear when emotion does.

He remains faithful when sensation fades.

Faith is not sustained by feeling.
It is sustained by trust.

And trust is what allows us to keep walking when God feels quiet, distant, or unseen.

There are seasons when God comforts us through emotion.

And there are seasons when He forms us through steadiness.

Both are sacred.

If you are in a season where you don’t feel God the way you once did, do not assume He is absent.

He may be inviting you into a deeper, truer faith.

One that rests not on what you feel, but on who He is.

God is not smaller than your experience.
He is larger than it.

And that is not something to fear.
It is something to trust.

Repost ♻️ if you believe.

Are you letting your ego quietly damage your relationships?

It often starts small.

A conversation shifts from listening to proving.

From understanding to winning.

From love to being right.

Who’s correct.
Who’s smarter.
Who gets the last word.

And without noticing it, the goal stops being connection.

It becomes control.

That posture guarantees one thing:
No one leaves feeling understood.

Conversations were never meant to be battles.

They were meant to be places where truth and love meet.

Scripture reminds us, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”

That order matters.

Most of us want the same core things.

Peace.
Safety.
Dignity.
Belonging.

We just have different ways of trying to get there.

When you stop trying to win the exchange, something changes.

Not because you suddenly agree.

But because you finally see the person in front of you.

You don’t need to abandon your convictions.

Jesus never asked us to do that.

He asked us to carry truth with humility.

He washed feet.
He listened before speaking.
He spoke firmly without crushing people.

That’s the model.

Most people aren’t looking for a fight.

They’re looking to feel known.
To feel heard.
To feel valued.

When you choose curiosity over ego,
when you listen before responding,
when you care more about loving well than being right,

you reflect Christ more clearly.

Paul said it plainly, “If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am nothing.”

Truth without love wounds.
Love without truth drifts.
But when they walk together, relationships heal.

So before your next conversation, pause.

Ask yourself:

Am I trying to defend myself, or love this person?

Am I trying to win, or understand?

Choose humility.
Choose patience.
Choose love.

Do your best to understand.

It won’t just change your conversations.
It will shape your heart.

The paradox of hospitality is this:

Those with the least to defend are often the most welcoming.

True hospitality doesn’t begin with abundance.

It begins with openness.

Poverty, in its deepest sense, isn’t about lacking resources.

It’s an inner posture that lets us lower our defenses.

It’s the courage to stop guarding every corner of our lives.

As long as we feel we have something to protect, the stranger looks like a threat.

The unfamiliar feels dangerous.
The other feels like an enemy.

But the moment we loosen our grip, something changes.

When we can say, “Please enter. My home is your home. My joy is your joy. My sorrow is your sorrow. My life is your life,” we are no longer defending territory.

We are offering relationship.

And when there is nothing to defend,
there is nothing to fear.

Hospitality transforms enemies into friends because it refuses to meet fear with fear.

It meets it with generosity.

This kind of welcome doesn’t come from having it all together.

It comes from knowing we don’t need to.

When we live with open hands and open hearts, we discover a surprising truth:
we lose nothing by welcoming others.

We gain connection.
We gain understanding.
We gain a deeper sense of what it means to belong.

In a world obsessed with protecting, securing, and proving, choosing hospitality is a quiet act of courage.

It says, “I have nothing to lose, and everything to give.”

That posture doesn’t just change how others experience us.

It changes who we become.

If you live for people’s acceptance, you’ll die from their rejection.

You feel it the moment you make a hard choice.

You set a boundary.
You change a rhythm.
You say no to something you used to say yes to.

And almost immediately, something shifts.

A look.
A pause.
A comment that feels… off.

You didn’t do anything wrong.

But the question still rises:

Did I disappoint someone?

Most of us spend years trying to avoid that feeling.

We soften our words.
Delay decisions.
Over-explain.

Hope that if we say it just right, we’ll be understood.

But slowly, quietly, the life we’re living drifts from the life we were called to live.

You cannot live aligned and be universally liked.

No matter how kind you are, some people will disagree with your choices.

No matter how thoughtful you are, some will misunderstand your motives.

No matter how faithful you are, some will resist the path you walk.

Even Jesus lived this reality.

He healed.
He served.
He loved.

And many still walked away.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” John 15:18

Making peace with being disliked isn’t about provoking people.
It’s about releasing a weight you were never meant to carry.

Peace comes when you decide whose voices matter.

Not every opinion deserves equal weight.
Some people speak from love and wisdom.
Others speak from fear, wounds, or a need to control.

When you make peace with being misunderstood, something changes.

You stop editing yourself for approval.
You stop shrinking convictions to stay comfortable.
You stop measuring faithfulness by applause.

Alignment matters more than acceptance.

Doing the right thing will sometimes cost you approval.
You’ll replay conversations.
You’ll wonder if staying quiet would’ve been easier.

But peace comes from knowing you didn’t betray what God asked of you.

That kind of peace runs deeper than validation.
Deeper than being liked.

So make a quiet decision today.

Let some people misunderstand you.
Let some opinions pass without correction.
Let God do the explaining you cannot.

You were called to walk faithfully with Him.
Not to be liked by everyone.

And that is more than enough.

Today:

• Pray for courage to obey God without chasing approval.

• Identify one area where you’ve been shrinking to stay liked.

• Take one faithful step today without over-explaining.

Peace grows where obedience leads.

Before your feet hit the floor, your day is already shouting at you.

Notifications.
Headlines.
Tasks waiting.

The noise starts early.

But somewhere between the coffee brewing and the light coming through the window, there’s a moment we almost always miss.

The quiet hum of the house.
The warmth of the mug in your hands.
The simple truth that you’re here. 

Most days, we rush past it.

We tell ourselves we’ll slow down later.

When life is easier.
When the pressure lifts.
When the big goals are reached.

But later rarely comes.

The small moments are where life actually happens.

I’ve learned this the hard way.

As a husband, a father, and a leader, my mind is often fixed on what’s next.

The next decision.
The next problem to solve.
The next mountain to climb.

That focus builds things.

It moves vision forward.

But if you’re not careful, it also steals joy.

Joy doesn’t live at the finish line.

It lives in the in-between.

It shows up when the phone stays face down.

When a conversation isn’t rushed.

When you linger instead of moving on too quickly.

It looks like listening fully.

Laughing without checking the time.

Letting a simple moment register.

Scripture says, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”

Not after they’re resolved.
Not when everything makes sense.
Right now.

Gratitude sharpens awareness.

It trains the heart to notice what is good today.

God often meets us in the small and steady.

In quiet faithfulness.
In daily provision.
In moments that seem ordinary until they’re gone.

When you begin to notice them, something shifts.

Life feels fuller. Joy feels closer.

Not louder. Not grander.

Just more real.

Big dreams need small joys to sustain them.

If you never learn to delight in what God is doing now, you’ll always feel like something is missing.

So today, notice one small thing.

Let it be enough for this moment.

Because one day, you’ll look back and realize it was never small at all.

Joy isn’t waiting at the finish line.

It’s already here, if you’re willing to slow down and see it.

Today:

• Pray for awareness of God’s presence.
• Write down three small blessings from today.
• Speak one word of thanks out loud.

If you agree with this message, comment "AMEN" below 👇

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The Battle

Cole Zucker

Steve Gatena

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The Battle

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Steve Gatena

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Engagements

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