The Toilet Paper Salesman® Podcast · 2026-06-02 · 12 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
7 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Mike Markey opens with a reflective narrative about watching artist Bill create a painting that initially looked like a mess but transformed into something beautiful. He draws a parallel between the artistic process and human life purpose, arguing that just as the sketch represents God's design for our lives (referencing Psalm 139), the finished painting represents the beautiful reality we create when we live out that purpose. Markey frames life as an interactive painting process where daily actions serve as brushstrokes - positive actions painting beauty into one's own life and others', while negativity (what he calls "black paint") damages those paintings. He contends that discovering purpose requires developing a relationship with God, asking for guidance, and recognizing that purpose typically aligns with natural talents, skills, and passions. Markey addresses the spiritual void many people experience and argues that material possessions fail to fill this gap, whereas God provides the perfect fit. The episode targets listeners seeking meaning and direction, offering a faith-based framework for understanding life design and purpose discovery.
You develop a relationship with God by asking Him to reveal Himself, and then He will guide you toward purpose by pointing you toward your natural talents, skills, and the things you genuinely love doing.
The sketch represents God's design for your life laid out in advance, while the finished painting represents the beautiful reality created when you live out that purpose through daily actions and choices.
Material things like cars and watches provide only temporary satisfaction, but the permanent fulfillment comes only from a relationship with God, which perfectly fits the spiritual void people experience.
Every interaction and action either paints beauty into others' lives through kindness and positivity, or "black paint" through gossip, jealousy, and anger - and once negative paint is applied, it's difficult to remove.
Psalm 139 describes how God knitted us together in our mother's womb, knows every detail about us, and created us with a specific purpose that we're meant to discover.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
This is an entirely platitudinal religious motivational monologue with zero B2B-relevant claims. Every idea - find purpose through your talents, fill the 'hole' in your heart, ask God for guidance - is generic evangelical self-help with nothing a B2B operator could act on professionally.
every day we have the opportunity to paint a painting of our life
your life purpose is to figure out what that is
The painting-as-life metaphor has a mild anecdotal framing, but every underlying idea (the God-shaped hole, purpose aligning with natural talents, asking God to reveal himself) is deeply recycled evangelical self-help content with no contrarian or first-principles thinking.
What the painting represents is our life, and man, we're a hot mess, but when we're in the will of God, he works with us
But what really fits in that hole is God and our relationship with Him, He fits in the hole perfectly
This is a solo monologue with no guest whatsoever. The host demonstrates no relevant B2B practitioner expertise within the episode itself; the content is entirely personal religious reflection.
Welcome to the Toilet Paper Salesman Podcast. My name's Mike Markey. I'm glad you're here today.
The only specifics are personal-anecdote details (Rockland, Maine; a painter named Bill; Psalm 139) that carry no evidentiary value for B2B operators. There are no metrics, company names, dollar figures, or business outcomes of any kind.
In Psalm 139, it says we're knitted in our mother's womb with a purpose, and we have a book in heaven.
I went to this great hot dog stand and had a hot dog, and then I went to a car museum
This is a pure solo monologue - there are no questions, no guest, no follow-ups, and no opportunity for pushback or dialogue. The format itself precludes any conversational craft.
That's my podcast for today. Who says selling toilet paper isn't glamorous? Thanks a lot and have a great day.
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
Send us Fan Mail A painting can look like a disaster right before it becomes beautiful, and that’s the most honest metaphor I’ve found for purpose. On a birthday trip to Rockland, Maine, I watch an artist struggle through an ugly middle stage on a lighthouse painting. What starts as two green blobs turns into a piece I can’t stop staring at. That change sparks a bigger question: what if our lives feel unfinished because we’re judging them mid process? We take that “hot mess to masterpiece” moment and connect it to faith and Psalm 139: the idea that God knits us together with intention and that our lives have a design. I talk about the difference between a sketch and a finished painting, and why discovering God’s will is less about panic and pressure and more about relationship, trust, and daily movement. Purpose shows up in the gifts and talents you already carry, the work you’re drawn to, and the things that bring real joy instead of a quick hit of satisfaction. Then we get practical. Every day we’re painting, not only on our own canvas but on other people’s lives too. Kindness adds color. Service adds light.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
1 - > SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Toilet Paper Salesman Podcast. 2 - > My name's Mike Markey. 3 - > I'm glad you're here today. 4 - > Because today we're going to be talking about purpose.
5 - > Everybody wonders at some point in their life, why am I here? 6 - > What is this all about? 7 - > Why am I on this earth? 8 - > Is there a God?
9 - > Does he care? 10 - > Is he there? 11 - > There's so many questions that people ask about purpose. 12 - > What's the whole purpose of being on this planet for the 13 - > short period of time that we're here?
14 - > So today what I'm going to do is start with a story. 15 - > And this story takes place up in Rockland, Maine, a couple of 16 - > years ago, when I was there with my wife, who is an artist, and 17 - > she was up in Rockland, Maine, doing a painting class. 18 - > I decided to go up and do a little bit of work and then also 19 - > take a couple of days off because it was in September and 20 - > it was my birthday. 21 - > So on my birthday, I decided to go and take a sailing trip.
22 - > And so early in the morning I got up, went on a sailboat. 23 - > It was an incredible day. 24 - > It was a perfect day for sailing. 25 - > As a matter of fact, the ship captain even said, usually the 26 - > wind doesn't kick up this early.
27 - > This is a perfect morning to go sailing. 28 - > And so I had an incredible sailing trip. 29 - > And then I went to this great hot dog stand and had a hot dog, 30 - > and then I went to a car museum and just had a wonderful day. 31 - > Later in the day, I went back to the art studio and everybody was 32 - > critiquing at the end of the day.
33 - > The artists critique each other's work. 34 - > And they went out and they were painting lighthouses that day. 35 - > So they went out, sketched lighthouses, and then they did 36 - > their paintings. 37 - > So when I walked in, one of the artists that is leading the art 38 - > classes named Bill, and Bill was working on this painting, and it 39 - > just looked like two green blobs.
40 - > And I thought to myself, wow, that's a hot mess. 41 - > And so I watched him for a little bit, and he was really 42 - > looked like to me like he was having trouble with it. 43 - > And then I turned my attention back to the critiques. 44 - > And so as they went around and critiqued each other's art, 45 - > finally when that was finished, maybe 20 minutes later, I looked 46 - > back and I looked at the painting that Bill was working 47 - > on, and I was amazed at how much better it looked.
48 - > It wasn't finished, but man, you could really see it coming 49 - > together. 50 - > After that, we came back for dinner that night, and while we 51 - > were driving to dinner, I said to my wife, I said, Wow, I said, 52 - > I was watching Bill paint, and man, that painting looked like a 53 - > hot mess when he was working on it. 54 - > Her comment to me was, he always works like that. 55 - > When we went in for dinner, I walked in and I saw the painting 56 - > and it was almost complete and it was gorgeous.
57 - > I mean, it was just beautiful, and I was amazed at how 58 - > beautiful it was. 59 - > And I said to Bill, I said, Wow, Bill, I was watching you paint 60 - > that painting, and man, it looked like a hot mess. 61 - > And he chuckled and he said, Yeah, he goes, I was having 62 - > trouble with it because of the paper I used, and but it really 63 - > turned out great. 64 - > I just admired this painting and I told him how much I liked it, 65 - > and I asked, he would be willing to sell it to me.
66 - > And he said, Well, it's one of my favorite paintings, but yes, 67 - > I would be willing to sell that painting to you. 68 - > And so I purchased the painting. 69 - > Afterwards, I was thinking about the painting and how it relates 70 - > to our lives, and it really hit me. 71 - > And what hit me was is that we are God's creation, and God 72 - > created us for a purpose.
73 - > What the painting represents is our life, and man, we're a hot 74 - > mess, but when we're in the will of God, he works with us, and 75 - > even though we're a hot mess, it comes out to be an incredible 76 - > painting. 77 - > Now it turns out that there was also a sketch came with the 78 - > painting. 79 - > I was able to acquire the sketch as well, and as a matter of 80 - > fact, both paintings, the sketch and the painting are hanging in 81 - > my office. 82 - > Then I was thinking about the sketch, and then it really hit 83 - > me.
84 - > The whole thing came together. 85 - > In Psalm 139, it says we're knitted in our mother's womb 86 - > with a purpose, and we have a book in heaven. 87 - > Our life is laid out by God. 88 - > So what is our purpose?
89 - > Our purpose is to discover what God's will is for our lives. 90 - > He's created us for a purpose. 91 - > And so what the sketch represents is the sketch in the 92 - > book of our lives that God created for us. 93 - > What the painting represents is when we live out that life, it 94 - > becomes a beautiful painting.
95 - > Every day we have the opportunity to paint a painting 96 - > of our life. 97 - > One day we'll be able to get to go to heaven and be able to see 98 - > what we've actually created. 99 - > And so each day you have the opportunity to do a painting. 100 - > And so then it came to me that we're all artists.
101 - > And so every day we get an opportunity to paint not only 102 - > our own picture, but also into other lives as well. 103 - > We paint into other people's lives as well as our own. 104 - > So we're painting our own painting, and then as we're 105 - > interacting with other people, we're painting into their 106 - > paintings as well. 107 - > So it's all a kind of an interactive thing, right?
108 - > And the paint that we use are the actions that we create. 109 - > You know, it's it's us interacting with these people. 110 - > And so if we smile at someone, we make their day, we buy them a 111 - > coffee, whatever it would be, or buy them groceries. 112 - > Now all of a sudden you've painted a beautiful painting 113 - > into their life.
114 - > On the other hand, you also can use what I call black paint. 115 - > Now, most artists don't use a lot of black paint because it's 116 - > not really necessary to get the effects that they're trying to 117 - > get. 118 - > Black paint are things like gossip and um, you know, 119 - > jealousy and anger and all those negative emotions. 120 - > And when you talk to someone and you bring that into their space, 121 - > you're painting black paint into their painting.
122 - > And you know, if there's black paint on your painting, it's 123 - > hard to get it out. 124 - > And sometimes it takes a long time, depending on how much 125 - > black paint you throw onto their painting. 126 - > And so you've got people around that just do nothing but just 127 - > paint with black paint all day long, throwing negativity into 128 - > people's lives. 129 - > And then you have others who paint beautifully into other 130 - > people's lives.
131 - > So it's really your choice. 132 - > My point of this whole thing is we're here. 133 - > God's created us with a purpose. 134 - > Read Psalm 139, and you'll see what it says, which is that God 135 - > knitted us in his mother's womb.
136 - > He knows us that intimately. 137 - > He knows every hair on our head, how many we have. 138 - > And in my case, it's not a lot, but that's okay. 139 - > Uh He still knows how many I have.
140 - > He also created us with a purpose. 141 - > And so your life purpose is to figure out what that is. 142 - > And how do you do that? 143 - > How do you even start if you don't have a relationship with 144 - > God, if you don't know him, if you're not a believer, whatever 145 - > you believe, the way you start is to just ask.
146 - > God, if you're real, present yourself to me. 147 - > Show me, show me that you're real. 148 - > Help me to find my purpose. 149 - > And then he will, slowly but surely, he'll present himself to 150 - > you and he'll show you what you're supposed to do.
151 - > And it's usually centered around your gifts and talents, the 152 - > things that you like to do, the things that you love to do, 153 - > things that you've always wanted to do. 154 - > He will point you and help you to understand that those are the 155 - > things that you're created to do. 156 - > If you have a natural talent for music, for example, it probably 157 - > somewhere there's music that should be involved in your 158 - > life's purpose. 159 - > Or if you're an artist, or if you're good in math, or whatever 160 - > it happens to be, wherever your skill sets lie, what your 161 - > natural skill sets are and the things that you really love to 162 - > do, that's where your purpose is going to lie somewhere.
163 - > And so it's just this process of once you ask, Lord, if you're 164 - > here, God, if you're exist, if you're even there, please show 165 - > yourself to me. 166 - > And once he does, and once you develop a relationship with him, 167 - > then you'll be able to start discovering what his purpose is 168 - > for your life. 169 - > It's an incredible journey, and it's one full of joy and peace 170 - > and happiness. 171 - > It's not always easy.
172 - > As a matter of fact, sometimes it's hard, but it really gives 173 - > you the joy that you're looking for. 174 - > A lot of people have a hole. 175 - > They don't understand. 176 - > There's a place in their heart where there's just an emptiness, 177 - > and they try to fill it with all kinds of things.
178 - > They buy cars and they buy watches and they buy all kinds 179 - > of fancy things. 180 - > They utilize those things to try to fill the hole, and it does 181 - > for a little bit. 182 - > It works for just a little bit. 183 - > And then all of a sudden, you have another hole, and the car 184 - > doesn't fit the hole.
185 - > It doesn't work. 186 - > But what really fits in that hole is God and our relationship 187 - > with Him, He fits in the hole perfectly. 188 - > Jesus died for our sins so that we can be reconciled to God so 189 - > that we can have a relationship with Him. 190 - > That's the key to this whole thing is a relationship.
191 - > And then God will mentor you and help you step by step to get to 192 - > the place where you discover your purpose. 193 - > It's an incredible life. 194 - > I ask for you just to ask the question. 195 - > It's simple.
196 - > I'm not asking for you to believe. 197 - > All I'm asking for you is if you're curious about this, to 198 - > just ask the question and then let God answer you. 199 - > Because He will. 200 - > He will certainly answer.
201 - > That's my podcast for today. 202 - > Who says selling toilet paper isn't glamorous? 203 - > Thanks a lot and have a great day.
Other episodes covering the same guests and topics, from across The B2B Podcast Index.
Toilet Paper Can Be Glamorous38 / 100The Steve Lentini Interview: Authentic Selling That Wins71 / 100You Don’t Need Fancy Closes To Win Deals47 / 100The Ben Draper Interview: Rewriting the Future with an Ancient Fiber65 / 100Building Teams That Win57 / 100
