Kingdom ROI Podcast

Valerie Mohammad

What if the way you run your business could be an act of worship? Kingdom ROI, hosted by Valerie Mohammad, explores the intersection of faith, entrepreneurship, and leadership for people who refuse to leave their values at the office door. Rooted. Obedient. Impactful. That's the kind of return we're after. Pull up a seat for honest conversations about building with conviction, leading with integrity, and stewarding everything you've been given.

Episodes

  1. Sep 2

    It's His Assignment, Not My Business: Coach DJ & Whitney James on Building Clermont Basketball Academy on Faith, Family & Purpose

    Coach DJ and Whitney James have known each other since they were five years old — same church in Winter Garden, same youth group, same city they've now planted their family in. On this episode of Kingdom ROI, they sit down with Valerie to trace a story that runs from a MySpace DM and a grad-night outfit to Clermont Basketball Academy, the fast-growing, faith-rooted program Coach DJ founded on a simple conviction: this was never his business. It's God's assignment. They get honest about the things most entrepreneurs won't say out loud — the months wondering if the doors will still be open, the "mom guilt" Whitney wrestled walking back from a thriving branding business to be present with their daughters, and the discipline of "purpose conversations" that end every night and start every morning. Whitney brings the methodical mind and marketing eye; Coach DJ brings the vision and the drive God had to build in him. Together they unpack seasons and stewardship, why they'd rather leave something in their kids than to them, and the night a homeless mother behind a Target reframed what "build it big" is really for. Whether you're frozen by fear on an idea or scaling something God already ordained, this one will meet you where you are. As Coach DJ puts it: keep your eyes on Jesus, and you'll walk on water. 🏀 Follow Clermont Basketball Academy: Instagram & Facebook @clermontbasketballacademy · clermontbasketballacademy.com · Coach DJ's daily encouragement: @coachdjinspires 🎧 New to Kingdom ROI? Subscribe, like, and share with someone who needs encouragement on their entrepreneurial journey. Stay rooted in your faith, stay obedient to your calling, and never underestimate the impact God can make through a life and business surrendered to Him.

  2. Aug 18

    Built by the Miles: David Buning on Suffering, Transformation, and the Business God Made Him Wait For

    Some businesses you can explain with a spreadsheet. This one you can only explain with a testimony. This week the Kingdom Builders sit down with David Buning — native Floridian, 25 years sober, a man who was one signature away from becoming a Catholic priest before God pointed him somewhere else entirely. Today he's the founder of Mile Built, a minimalist endurance running company built on a single, uncomfortable idea: that we're transformed through suffering, not around it. David opens up about the search that took him from the church choir to Buddhism and back to Christ, the diagnosis and the 275 pounds that finally got him moving, and the day a competitor bought the very business he'd been eyeing — and how that lit the fire to build his own. We talk discipline over motivation, obedience over the "better" offer, why delay is really development, and how anyone — runner or not — can toe the line, endure the discomfort, and come back the next day. A conversation about faith, discipline, and becoming a better version of yourself one mile at a time. 🏃 Find Mile Built: www.MileBuilt.com · registration via RunSignUp 🎧 New episodes of Kingdom ROI drop Tuesdays. Like, follow, and share to help us reach more Kingdom Builders. Chapters: Intro & prayer · Boise to Florida · Sobriety & the search · The road to the priesthood · Meeting his wife · 275 lbs to running · Founding Mile Built · Transformation through suffering · Goggins & voluntary discomfort · Delay is development · Bare Bones races & how to join · What's next

  3. Jul 21

    Episode 3: The Lawyer Who Built a Salon Empire on Her Lunch Break

    For 14 years, Ashley Smith built a career as a federal attorney — and then discovered, almost by accident, that a hairstylist client was out-earning her. That one moment cracked open a decade-long "midlife crisis" she'd been sitting on since high school, when she couldn't attend cosmetology school alongside earning her regular diploma. In this episode of Kingdom ROI, Ashley — owner of Vidni Salons, a salon suite collective in Atlanta — walks us through changing clothes in her car so coworkers wouldn't know she was moonlighting in cosmetology school, surviving fraudulent chargebacks that shut down her first salon, and the landlord relationship that taught her the salon-suite business model from the inside out. She breaks down how her background as a tax attorney and contract-law teaching assistant lets her draft her own commercial leases, save thousands in legal fees, and negotiate as an equal in a male-dominated commercial real estate world. Ashley also gets candid about money and faith — her unfiltered take on churches that solicit tithes while pastors flaunt lavish lifestyles, why she gives to people on the street without judgment, and how she leans on her faith (and a day job) to get through the slow seasons every entrepreneur faces. She shares a full-circle story of being passed over for a promotion — only to get the call the same month she opened her first salon — and closes with practical advice for aspiring business owners, including how to get a free SBA business advisor.

About

What if the way you run your business could be an act of worship? Kingdom ROI, hosted by Valerie Mohammad, explores the intersection of faith, entrepreneurship, and leadership for people who refuse to leave their values at the office door. Rooted. Obedient. Impactful. That's the kind of return we're after. Pull up a seat for honest conversations about building with conviction, leading with integrity, and stewarding everything you've been given.