Ryan DeKoekKoek (also known as DK) grew up in Chino, California, surrounded by dairy farms, eventually found his way to Notre Dame's Dort University, and spent two formative years teaching at a missionary school in Japan before settling into what would become a 23-year career at Timothy Christian Schools in Elmhurst, Illinois. What started as a job he "just picked" has quietly become a deep calling lived from the inside out.

In this episode of Work Is Calling, Wayne and DK explore the long, unplanned road from career to calling, including a pivotal moment in Japan when God redirected DK's plans through an unexpected email. They discuss the danger of building your identity around status and ladder-climbing, what it looks like to find contentment before chasing achievement, and why John the Baptist may be the most underrated model of vocational surrender in scripture. DK also shares the small, daily habits that keep him anchored to the reason he shows up.