For Brian Preisler, faith and work are inseparable. Whether he’s analyzing data trends or encouraging his team, his mission remains clear: To know Jesus Christ and make Him known.
“I was born and raised Catholic in a home that put a lot of emphasis on human virtue,” Preisler said.
“I’m eternally grateful for that. It was a place where I first had the idea instilled within me that Christ desired a relationship with me . . . and as a baptized Christian, I was called to respond to His love.”
Preisler’s faith grew deeper during his college years at St. Paul’s Catholic Student Center in Madison.
Surrounded by faithful priests, peers, and missionaries, Preisler experienced a transformation.
“It was a reordering of my life, from it being self-centered to other-centered, and ultimately, Christ-centered,” Preisler recalled.
“Those four years [of college] radically did that for me. It aligned my life orientation to be one sacrificially serving others.”
Upon graduating, Preisler served as a Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionary for several years, helping college students to encounter Christ’s presence.
He shared that he still keeps in contact with some of those students, including a recently ordained priest on the East Coast and a young man in a Catholic marriage.
A vocation of leadership
Today, Preisler lives out his primary vocation as a husband and father to six children.
“They have such a zeal for life that it’s invigorating,” he said. “Being a husband and father has absolutely been the inspiring challenge I felt drawn to.”
Alongside family life, Preisler continues to serve the Church through FOCUS, where he leads the data science, research, and innovation team.
At first glance, it may seem different than his mission work, but for Presiler, it is the perfect combination of two passions.
“It’s a wonderful blend of applying secular logical practices with a mission that I think is vital for the Church,” he said.
“That mission is to know Christ Jesus and make Him known.”
Preisler and his team analyze data to help FOCUS make decisions about training missionaries, supporting campus chaplains, and measuring the impact of new initiatives.
“I think data is often more complex than we give it credit for. We [FOCUS] are not data-driven,” Preisler said.
“I think that’s kind of a buzzword in secular companies nowadays, but instead we are data-informed because it really helps us make decisions.”
Preisler shared an example of his team studying the effect of missionaries attending mission trips alongside students and found that when staff go on trips, their own satisfaction and engagement rises, creating a win-win scenario.
The team also gathers qualitative research revealing the stories that bring numbers to life.
“We get to step in and say ‘Yes, there is room for the Holy Spirit’ and the Holy Spirit can do anything it wants, and God-willing, will create a lot of positive changes in our organization and the Church,” Preisler said.
“Then we get to use our human gifts and talents to actually measure this, and are able to say that this was a good decision or this was a poor decision.”
Faith and work
Preisler sees his work not only as a job but as an opportunity for spiritual growth.
“Work was given to Adam before the fall. It is a good and necessary thing in our lives,” he reflected. “Work allows us to give our best efforts to the task at hand and offer that effort to God . . . It provides an opportunity for the sanctification of our own souls.”
This approach also shapes how Preisler interacts with his team.
“I strive to constantly recognize their [co-workers’] dignity as sons and daughters of God,” he said. “We can often let our relationships turn utilitarian. The only time we interact with others or get into the details of their lives is because we need something from them.”
That often happens in the small moments, after a meeting, over lunch, or during casual conversations.
Preisler explained that personal conversations are powerful, especially when they turn toward deeper topics such as the purpose of loving as Christ loves.
In his seven years on FOCUS’s data team, Preisler has seen the mission bear fruit.
“Over the last two years, we’ve seen a total of nearly 70 percent student involvement growth, which is much larger than what we’ve historically been seeing,” he explained.
“The ratio of female to male involvement is nearly 50/50, which is pretty cool considering that academic life generally is 40/60 male to female.”
Preisler sees the growth as a result of the overall hunger for purpose.
“[Bishop] Fulton Sheen had a great quote around this idea. He said, ‘People are turning away from Christianity today, not because it’s too hard, but because it’s too soft.’ I think that beautifully summarizes why young people are hungry for a challenge with mission, a challenge of purpose,” Preisler explained.
Whether through a spreadsheet or a conversation, at home or at work, the mission for Preisler still remains to know and share Christ.
Through FOCUS, he is helping youth to come to know Jesus.
“I think men and women are specifically attracted to this idea of an adventure, of a journey being made for something, and whether they know it or not, they are walking towards the reality that they are made for a relationship with Christ, their identity as a son or daughter,” Preisler said. “And, they’re made for mission, to know Him and share Him.”
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