‘Is There Any Concept of After-Work Anymore?’: Reverend Donna Schaper Posted on February 16, 2026February 16, 2026 By Kekeletso Nkele, small.news Assistant (small.news) — On Feb. 4, 2026, Reverend Donna Schaper joined our small.talk to discuss money and loving thy neighbor with Silver Lining CEO Carissa Reiniger. Donna Schaper and Silver Lining CEO Carissa Reiniger discuss money, community, and small business resilience, exploring how late-stage capitalism affects work-life balance, the hidden costs of entrepreneurship, and ways to give small businesses a safety net to thrive. Q: Why did we become so obsessed with bigger is better, money, go big, raise millions, sell for billions? A: It’s always been there. Greed is one of the top sins of all time. But I agree with you, there’s an acceleration. I’m pretty sure it has to do with the idolatrous substitution of values that money can do. What late-stage capitalism does. Late-stage capitalism has eroded families’ and communities’ capacity to gather in sacred spaces after school and after work. Is there any concept of after-work anymore? The Haymarket Riot in Chicago in 1859 was all about it; it was a labor movement designed to say, “We will work eight hours, we will sleep eight hours, and we will play for eight hours. And when the human has 888, the human sings at night, cooks, relaxes, creates a sense of communal being, communal familial being, that allows you to have friendships that you don’t have to schedule by phone, that allows you to be.” Top Stories Why Managing People Is So Hard—and What Small Business Owners Can Do About It On Apr. 13, 2026, Mamie Kanfer Stewart, Founder and CEO of Meeteor, a company that helps organizations run better meetings and build stronger, more effective team cultures. The Small Business Advantage: Turning Failure into Growth As a health and lifestyle coach and business owner myself, I see it all the time. Clients set goals, make plans, and strive for perfection. The Issue in Latin America isn’t A Lack of Capital—It’s The Ineffective Delivery of Technical Assistance SMBs are the backbone of the economy. When I say SMBs, I mean small and medium-sized businesses. These are the corner store, the small manufacturer, the family-run service company, or the growing 10-person team trying to stabilize revenue. Q: What would you want people to think about instead of being pro or against capitalism, pro or against wealth? A: The danger of the single story. We are allowed to be complex. And I’m very sure that God created humans to make us more brown over time, to make us more intermarried and interracial and inter, inter, inter, without losing the particularity of an ancient tradition or race or species. And the creation moves towards complexity and loves doing it. Q: What are both ends of letting things be simpler, because they are simpler than we’re making them, but also holding the complexity of the moment? A: Canadian economist, Hazel Henderson, talks about something called whole cost accounting. My son Jacob is an entrepreneur, and he has trade-offs in the startup phase of this work. That involves his not being able to spend as much time with this gorgeous daughter as he wants to. And the whole cost of being an entrepreneur is the loss of friendships. It’s the loss of free time. It’s the loss of healthy bodies. So the cost of being an entrepreneur is very high. Q: Why this book? Why this topic? Why now? A: Well, two things. One is that I got rich by the accident of history. Real estate, always buying places that were right on the edge of places where white people weren’t supposed to be, selling them for double what they cost me. Being in the stock market with a pension. Along with my husband, you know, for 53 years, and still working another 10. Etc. So we got rich, and I have long wanted to do reparations, and all three of my kids are going to be able to take care of themselves, and we’ve been able to buy them houses, help them buy houses, and get them college educations. So I really wanted to work my way into how to do reparations with what’s left after we die. I needed a long think. The book gave me a lot to think about. But the second thing that happened was that we’d been going to Mexico, to a place called San Miguel de Allende, for five years now, and there are a lot of yard sales here. And a woman had laid out these two stained-glass ovals, which were very beautiful, hanging in the window. And Warren said, ” How much are they, cuánto cuesta?” And she said, ochenta pesos. which is basically four dollars each. And anyway, we basically doubled the price and gave her eight dollars each. And then she gave us the change back, she wouldn’t take the money. And so we got a bargain. And the metaphor of the book is what’s really a bargain? And we tried to go back and give her more money, but no one was ever home. Q: You went on a long think, you thought about money. What was your number one takeaway for yourself? A: That it’s easier to get peace of mind about money than we think. It’s really like turning the knob on the radio station. You’re just listening to a different channel. Q: What are you most worried about for small businesses specifically? A: The economic crisis is really an environmental crisis. And the cost of water and electricity, particularly as AI impacts water usage, will be driven down, genuinely oppressing small businesses and leaving them unable to afford the infrastructure to do their work. Q: What is the opportunity, the hope, and the excitement of this moment for small businesses? A: That they don’t have the burden of being large on their head. They can be small and beautiful and get things done. Deliver goods and services faster and with less effort. Q: If you wave a Magic Silver Wand right now and make one thing true for every small business in the world, what would you use your Silver Wand for? A: Some floor underneath them, an insurance policy. The government would invest the startup fee to help them avoid paying interest on it. Q: What do you need most in the world right now? A: A little more hope in my fellow human. But there are some humans, Minneapolis people, who have increased my hope. I need people to do the right thing and not worry about the cost. Because the cost of doing the wrong thing is so much higher than the cost of doing the right thing. Q: What’s the final message you have for us? A: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And love God most of all. Do you want to shop small? Check out our new buy.small Marketplace! Latest Stories
Why Managing People Is So Hard—and What Small Business Owners Can Do About It On Apr. 13, 2026, Mamie Kanfer Stewart, Founder and CEO of Meeteor, a company that helps organizations run better meetings and build stronger, more effective team cultures.
The Small Business Advantage: Turning Failure into Growth As a health and lifestyle coach and business owner myself, I see it all the time. Clients set goals, make plans, and strive for perfection.
The Issue in Latin America isn’t A Lack of Capital—It’s The Ineffective Delivery of Technical Assistance SMBs are the backbone of the economy. When I say SMBs, I mean small and medium-sized businesses. These are the corner store, the small manufacturer, the family-run service company, or the growing 10-person team trying to stabilize revenue.