The Confirmation I Didn’t Know I Needed

Last night, something happened that felt deeply personal — and profoundly confirming.

A woman who had recently started following me on TikTok walked up to me out of nowhere at a wedding preview event and said:

“We follow you… and we love what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”

She had no idea what those words meant to me.

Anyone who has ever tried to build something from the ground up understands the grind. If the

dream is going to happen, it’s on you to wake up, show up, and keep going — even when nobody sees the effort and progress feels painfully slow.

But for me, this journey didn’t start with a business plan.

It started with a calling.

A Leap Into the Unknown

In 2010, my wife Donna and I made one of the hardest decisions of our lives.

After more than 20 years serving as student pastors, we stepped away from everything familiar. Ministry had been our world, but deep in our hearts we knew God was leading us somewhere different.

The problem?

We couldn’t clearly explain where we were going.

We didn’t have a clean elevator pitch.We didn’t have a strategic plan.All we had was a conviction:

We wanted to live like Jesus — not just preach sermons about Him.

We wanted to love people in real ways.

To strengthen families.

To help marriages last.

To bring light into dark places.

To give hope where it was fading.

Our heart was simple:

Love people well and help families stay strong.

But stepping out in faith is not for the faint of heart.

I struggled. I made mistakes. I didn’t always lead well. I had years of religion, bad choices, emotional baggage, and unhealthy patterns that God still needed to prune from my life.

And through all of it…

Donna was patient.

Grace-filled.

Steady when I wasn’t.

We were walking forward in faith — but it was blurry.

The Moment That Changed Everything

Nine months after stepping away from ministry, I officiated a wedding for Brittney, a former student who had been part of our youth group for over a decade.

Like many couples I had mentored, she asked me to officiate her big day.

But she had hired a DJ company I wasn’t connected to.

And honestly…

The DJ was terrible.

He was disengaged.

Unprepared.

Playing whatever he wanted instead of serving the couple.

After the ceremony, while everyone was talking outside, someone said:

“You should’ve hired Steven to DJ too.”

Brittney looked at me, surprised.

“You DJ?”

I laughed. I had always been musical — leading worship and playing guitar in our family band — and I had also been DJ’ing school dances, community events, and local gatherings for years.

Music had always been a huge part of my life.

But I had never considered combining those worlds.

Then she said words I’ll never forget:

“You should put those together…And you should call it Hitch & Spin.”

It felt like more than a suggestion.

It felt divine.

The Seed That Needed Time to Grow

That moment happened just nine months after stepping out in faith.

But here’s the part people don’t always see:

I wasn’t ready.

God still had work to do in me.

I needed healing.

Growth.

Humility.

Wisdom.

Refinement.

So instead of launching immediately, I carried the idea quietly. It grew in my heart over the next few years.

And when the time was right…

Hitch & Spin was born.

A wedding company built on a deeper mission:

• Love couples well

• Celebrate their story

• Strengthen families

• Be light in joyful moments

• Share faith through actions

• Create spaces filled with hope

Today, I spend some of the most meaningful days of people’s lives with them — serving, celebrating, and loving them right where they are.

Just like Jesus did.

Sixteen Years Later… Confirmation

So when that family approached me last night and said they follow my journey…

I nearly lost it.

Because in that moment, I saw something powerful:

A visible reminder that after 16 years of grinding, growing, healing, learning, and trusting God, we are finally walking in the very vision He placed in our hearts all those years ago.

I could have never predicted the path.

I never imagined that vision would unfold through:

• A wedding business

• A cancer diagnosis

• A platform to encourage people

• Stories that connect hearts

But God writes better stories than we ever could.

And This Is Only The Beginning

There’s so much more to tell.

About faith.

About family.

About resilience.

About purpose in pain.

About learning to fight differently.

There are also new dreams forming.

Through the Hitch & Spin Podcast, I get to sit down with incredible couples and relive the joy, emotion, and meaning behind their wedding days — reminding people that every love story is worth celebrating.

Donna and I also carry a dream in our hearts to one day create a venue… a haven… a place where couples and families can gather, celebrate, reconnect, and be strengthened. A space filled with joy, faith, laughter, and lasting memories.

We want to connect with more venues, build stronger partnerships, and continue growing the brand and mission God placed inside us all those years ago — to love people well and strengthen families in every season of life.

This journey is still unfolding.

And I’m learning that when you trust God with the direction, He writes a story far greater than anything you could plan yourself.

If you’d like to follow the journey, hear incredible wedding stories, and see how God weaves purpose through unexpected paths…

You can find everything here: https://linktr.ee/StevenCarroll77

Because every story matters.

And maybe… this one will encourage yours.