American author and cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Truer words were never spoken for four Marietta girlfriends, the brain trust behind local faith-based company Glory Haus, when they banded together to follow a calling and change not only their lives and the lives of those around them but an entire community in Cobb County.

“We had done some design projects together at our church and worked well together,” said Glory Haus owner and Chief Creative Officer Molly Holm. “We were talking about miracles at group, and I felt like the Lord gave me a plan. I went and asked those people [for help] and they all said, ‘Yes.’ That’s how the business started.”

An interior designer by trade, Holm had spent a decade designing Home Depot Expo Design Centers across the country before choosing to become a stay-at-home mother when she had the first of her three children. But, she said she’d never done anything on the scale of Glory Haus before and, since the company launched in 2008, has been learning as she goes with the help of family, friends and well wishers.

Guiding the learning curve is always the company’s mission statement to make art that is more meaningful than just something that hangs on the wall. “Art speaks truth to people,” Holm said. “In the early days, one of our competitors told me they were obsessing over our catalog, but it wasn’t the products, it was the scripture in it.”

Indeed, from the communal weekly lunches and bimonthly worship hours, to the youth pastor/warehouse manager who has managed to make his day job his ministry, everything about Glory Haus is carefully constructed to foster a faith-based, familial atmosphere. And, that company culture is then innately imbued in every product the team creates, including the first product they ever made (How to Love a Child) and the current best seller (The Art of Marriage).

Daring to dream big, take risks and be guided by a higher calling, Holm and her team began Glory Haus working in her dining room on one product before moving into a small office with 50 products under their collective belt. Today, Glory Haus has more than 2,000 products in its inventory and sells in more than 8,000 retail stores, including Cracker Barrel, Nordstrom, Von Maur and Bon-Ton. Their products also appear in SkyMall Magazine, and the company regularly partners with musicians, authors and, recently, even Elf on a Shelf. It’s no wonder, then, that the company currently has nearly 40,000 square feet of warehouse and office space near the Cobb Parkway corridor.

“The best things about the growth [of Glory Haus] are being able to invest in my personal community and the community at large in Marietta,” Holm said. “It was birthed out of four friends hearts to be generous but didn’t have the financial means to do that. This has given us the opportunity to do that. It’s more about a calling than a job.”

To that end, Glory Haus has numerous ministries and causes it supports, including Young Life, Leadercast, Folds of Honor Foundation, Daughters of Hope and GRACEPOINT School, which Molly and her husband, Trey, co-founded in 2011.

If you’d like to help support the good works of Glory Haus, add some meaningful art to your home or give something heartfelt as a gift this holiday season, look no further than www.gloryhaus.com.

*Originally published in the December 2014 issue of Cobb Life Magazine.