Welcome to the Christian Business Growth Podcast where faith meets entrepreneurship. Each episode, we uncover the strategies, stories, and spirit-led insights that help Christian business owners align their goals with God’s call. From practical tips to real-life testimonies, we explore what it takes to build a business that honours Christ, serves others, and impacts the Kingdom.

In this episode of the Christian Business Growth Podcast, host Rev. Lyle Leads sits down with Deanna Ramirez, a Fort Worth-area real-estate agent whose story of transformation shows how surrendering to Christ changes not just a person’s heart but their business.

Deanna shares how leaving corporate life led to success—and how that success nearly cost her everything until she found peace and balance through faith. She opens up about creating habits that put God first, using her calendar as a “boss,” and discovering that growth often comes through challenge.

Whether you’re a Christian entrepreneur struggling with balance, burnout, or purpose, this conversation will remind you that obedience brings blessing—and that your business can be your ministry.

“Jesus is my passion, and real estate is my platform.”

“Your calendar should be your boss—but be flexible enough to let God move your schedule.”

“If you’re comfortable, you’re probably not growing.”

“We’re called to create a Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven—and that starts with community.”

Rev. Lyle:
How did you go from a corporate career to running your own real-estate business?

Deanna Ramirez:
I worked in telecom sales for years, but eventually realized I’d hit a ceiling. I wanted more freedom—and real estate seemed to promise that. What I didn’t realize then was that owning a business doesn’t mean working less; it means stewarding more.

I started part-time, but soon it grew enough that I left my job completely. At that time, I hadn’t yet given my life to Christ. My work became my identity, and that imbalance affected my marriage and relationships.

That’s when I felt God tugging at my heart. I finally visited a church I’d been “eyeballing” for years. Volunteering there changed everything. When I surrendered my pride, I saw God move. Once I learned obedience, the blessings followed.

Deanna shares that after giving her life to Christ, her work changed dramatically.
She began praying with clients—sometimes right in the middle of buyer consultations—and saw God’s peace settle over anxious families.

“When clients sense that peace, they realize they’re not alone. If we’re grounded in the Lord, we’ll take the right steps together.”

She emphasizes that one of the joys of entrepreneurship is the freedom to openly live out your faith without fear of corporate restrictions.

When asked how she balances her business with her spiritual life, Deanna explains a simple but powerful tool: her calendar.

“You may not have a boss—but your calendar should be your boss.”

She schedules her Bible time, appointments, family time, even laundry. That discipline allows her to prioritize what matters most and stay flexible when things change.

She also shared how reading Atomic Habits helped her form daily spiritual disciplines.
Creating specific times for prayer and Scripture helped her remain consistent—but also taught her to stay adaptable.

“If I can’t do my Bible study in the morning, I can do it in the evening. God’s not limited to my schedule.”

Deanna reminds listeners that growth often comes through discomfort:

“Growth comes from challenges. If you’re comfortable, you’re not growing.”

She cites James 1:2-4, encouraging believers to “consider it joy when you face trials”, because those trials mature and strengthen faith.

In business, that means viewing setbacks—slow seasons, client frustrations, or unexpected changes—not as failures but as opportunities to trust God more deeply.

“The enemy wants us focused on the problem, not the solution. But every frustration is an invitation to seek the Lord.”

 When asked for her final wisdom, Deanna said community is essential:

“The enemy wants us distracted. When we’re in community with other believers, he struggles to keep us isolated.”

She encourages entrepreneurs to stay connected with faith-filled peers who will pray, challenge, and walk alongside them in business and in life.

Deanna’s journey reminds us that God doesn’t ask us to separate business from faith—He asks us to integrate both.
When obedience leads the way, blessings follow.

If this conversation encouraged you, share it with another Christian entrepreneur who needs a reminder that faith and business belong together.

For more episodes and resources, visit CBGPodcast.com

• 📞 Phone: 469-766-5809
• 📧 Email: deanna.ramirez@gmail.com
• 🌐 Social: Deanna Ramirez (FB) 

Rev. Lyle 
and welcome to Christian Growth Podcast. My name is Lyle. I’m here with Deanna Ramirez. She’s a real estate agent near Fort Worth. She’s kind of on the far side of Fort Worth. She’ll tell you more about that. So Deanna, tell us about your story. How did you go from being a worker into being in your own business?

Deanna Ramirez 
Yeah, so it started about nine years ago. I was working in a telecom in the telecom industry in sales and it got to the point where I just couldn’t grow anymore in that particular position that I was in. And I was looking for something with a little bit more freedom and you they

talk a lot about having freedom when you do real estate and you’re owning your own business. But I think that’s a myth because as all of us business owners know, it is like your baby, right? And so you are always working, growing, improving or whatever. So yeah, so I started part-time doing real estate. And like you mentioned, I am here in Fort Worth. However, I…

literally tell everybody this that I go where the opportunities take me. So I’m not exclusive to Fort Worth. ⁓ It really is where I can serve and help others in my business. And it doesn’t really even matter the volume or the price point, if you will, because again, it’s about serving. And so I started doing it part time.

And then it started interfering with my full-time job, which is great. And at the time, I had not yet given my life to Christ. And so it was going really well. And so I quit my telecom job. And I was married at the time. And it got to the point where

⁓ My work was being put first before everything else and it Unfortunately had my marriage in my other relationships suffer and so I got to the point where like something’s got to give right and It was more ⁓ of my pride where I was like, you know some somebody else has got to give not me right and so I I winded up just

Rev. Lyle 
Yeah.

Deanna Ramirez 
going to a church that I say I had been eyeballing, but literally I think the Lord had been after me because I’d been eyeballing it for years. And I volunteered there just to kind of check it out. I really liked it. And then I started going to see if maybe I could change the situation that I was in.

Rev. Lyle 
Wow.

Deanna Ramirez 
like how I was feeling and where I thought, you know, I was gonna be the one who could change everybody else. And, you know, of course the Lord humbled me and I was able to recognize that when you’re obedient to the Lord, the blessings upon blessings start coming through. So that was about nine years ago. So I’ve been doing real estate ⁓ full-time.

Rev. Lyle
you

Deanna Ramirez 
since then. And one of the things that I absolutely love is just one, my growth, you my maturity. And of course that not only, you know, comes with reading the Bible, but it also comes in being, you know, being in community with other believers. And of course your prayer time, right? And so those are things that I’ve incorporated

you know, throughout all these years. And it’s just, it’s nice because when you have your own business, you’re able to literally do what you want and not have to worry about getting in trouble for talking about your faith or, you know, praying over situations in front of people.

And so that’s something that, you know, in talking about growth and maturity is something that I’ve come a long way where as a matter of fact, last night I had a buyer consultation. was virtual. they’re first time home buyers and they were just talking about how

anxious they were about it. It’s a big deal for them. And I just asked them if I could pray for them. And they said, absolutely, please. And so I did. when it was all said and done, I know you can tangibly feel the Lord’s presence, right?

But when they get a sense of just the peace that comes with that, they were ready to one, move forward, but they were in a place, almost in a position of just being comforted and knowing that us together, if we’re grounded in the Lord,

we’re going to take the steps that are the right ones, right? And even at the end of the day, if it turns out that, know, buying a house is, you know, not in the cards for them, right? It’s still a sense of peace knowing that, you know, the Lord is with us through it and we’re starting off on the right track, if you will, just kind of just praying, you know, so.

That’s one of the things that I really, know, I’m just grateful for that I can actually do that and you can, right, when you own your own business. And so that’s one of the things that I, you know, I tell a lot of people is that Jesus is my passion and real estate is my platform. And I say that not just like, okay, that’s gonna be a

you know, a little catchy thing, but I really, I really do believe it. And I feel it, you know, with every ounce in my body. And then I, you know, I spoke with another real estate agent last week and, and he was sending me a client, like a referral and, and talking with him, he said that he had looked at my

social media profile. And on my social media profile, do a lot of, I do have a business page, but I’ll incorporate some business on my personal page, but for the most part, the personal page is all I use. And it does say when you just look in the about information, and this is, I did this a long time ago, so.

It does say that I am pretty much on fire for Jesus. And let me know how I can pray for you kind of thing. I forgot about, but it’s on my Facebook profile and I’m pretty sure that was like nine years ago or whatever. But he was like, I knew that this was gonna be a perfect match.

Rev. Lyle 
Thanks

Deanna Ramirez 
because of your faith. And so it’s that kind of stuff that I know, you know, I think within, you know, this year, we’re starting to see more and more people be more vocal about their faith, you know, which I absolutely love. And I think like, before I got into real estate, you know, it even though I wasn’t, I hadn’t given my life to Christ, I was a believer.

Rev. Lyle 
Thanks

Deanna Ramirez 
And I just could sense that I couldn’t really talk about my faith. And so I wouldn’t. And now that’s completely changed. And again, I give all the glory to God because that really is just on fire for the Lord and everything that I do. And yeah.

Rev. Lyle 
It’s a story. Thank you for

sharing that. Tell me, I want to go back a little bit because you talked about, you know, that struggle of balance between work and personal life and everything, and you said Jesus was part of that process. Do you find that it kind of explained if somebody is dealing with that balance of work life and they’re like, I know Jesus fits in my life, but I’m so busy I can’t fit him in my life? Kind of talk to that a little bit. How would somebody help pull Jesus more into their business life and help

get a balance in their personal life based on your experience.

Deanna Ramirez
Sure.

And so one of the things that, and this is helpful for anybody, I don’t know if you’ve ever read the book Atomic Habits, have you ever read that? Okay. And so there was a point in my real estate business and I’ve read that many times and it’s not a fact, it’s on my audible right now that I’m in the middle of, but it literally teaches you how to create habits and do it to where,

Rev. Lyle 
Yes.

Deanna Ramirez 
you know, when you’re going to do that particular habit, how you’re going to do it. And, know, so you’re setting yourself up for success so that you can create a habit out of that. And so I essentially did that with my Bible time. And and so I got to a place where, you know, it’s every morning at this particular time. And so I attribute that to that book, but I also was at a place where

if I didn’t do it in my morning time, instead of, I would kind of get a little anxious that, you know, I didn’t do it on that, at that time, okay, but tomorrow’s gonna, I’m gonna do it at this time, right? And so I would do it, but it set me up for not being flexible, and you can be, you know? So say I can’t do it, you know, this morning, I can surely do it tonight.

It does not have to be at that specific time. that was a little bit of growth that I needed to do. But I use my calendar and I tell everybody that as an entrepreneur or somebody who owns their own business, you may not have an actual physical boss, but your calendar should be your boss.

And I say that in with regard to being purposeful. You know, my calendar shows my my Bible time, but it also shows the time that I have a listing appointment or consultation where if I have other things that come up and maybe they are important, I know that I need to put that particular appointment, if you will.

around the times that I’ve already got established. And so I think that really helped me recognize how to kind of balance, you know, my schedule is to be able to be okay putting almost like if, if I get to a point because I’m very, I’m a very structured person with my schedule and I follow it and

⁓ if somebody like, you know, wants to, change it, change the schedule that we’ve, we’ve got, right. Then I may have to rearrange and might get me flustered or whatever. But the good thing about it is that you have the ability to be flexible with your schedule. And if you’re like that, like me and just curious, I’m not curious, I guess it’s not the word, but.

maybe concerned if you may not have time to like even do laundry, right? You can put that on your calendar as an actual appointment. And I’ve done that where I tell people, I’m not going to be able to do that at this time, but I’ve got this time and this time, which one would work best for you, right? And so, and when you do that and you make that intentional and a habit,

Rev. Lyle 
Thank

Deanna Ramirez
you actually can have an essential balance in your schedule, including when you go on vacation, you are gonna put that time on your calendar. So just as you do a priority of a vacation, do it as a priority of time, whether it’s, like my husband and I, we read at night.

When you want to be intentional with that, that’s what you do. You put it on your calendar. So when somebody says, hey, you know, I do have some first responders. there, when I do have to schedule appointments, it is going to have to be at times where it typically would be my family time. But again, you know, if there is like ⁓ a set thing that you have, you can modify it and just move it. Right. And

I was at a place where I didn’t really, you know, do that at first, but again, just, you know, learning and failing forward, if you will, and recognizing, okay, you can move these appointments around. So I would just encourage people to, if you’re, if you’re at a place where, you know, you’re like me so structured that, you know, you put something there and you got to abide by it, go ahead and put some almost like white noise time.

where you don’t have anything going on, put it there so that you can use it as a filler and I don’t know, look at your finances or maybe you want to meal prep so you can get your recipe together or whatever for dinner later that evening. So anyways, that’s just a little bit of how I kind of do some balancing.

Rev. Lyle 
Yeah, that’s smart. I’ve seen

people, they say meeting with CEO, well, that’s their time with God. And so they dictated in their calendar. And I think if you don’t have that balance, don’t put it, if you don’t schedule time for God, God’s going to get scheduled out of your calendar. And so I love that. See me personally, I do the opposite. I can’t do my Bible studies in the morning. I’ve got to do them in the evening. Because if I do them in the morning, my brain just doesn’t work well. It’s totally a process. ⁓

Deanna Ramirez 
That’s perfect.

I love it.

Rev. Lyle
But in the evening

time, I can slow down and just really set in the presence of God, you know? So that’s my personal. So if what somebody else is doing doesn’t work for you, work it for yourself. And remember, and I love that you said this, and I’m gonna kind of reword it a little bit, but your calendar is your guide. It’s not set in stone. So don’t let it guide you too much. Okay, so we’re gonna shift our gears a little bit to what’s a business tip that you might give somebody who may be a Christian in business or trying to figure out how to grow their business?

Deanna Ramirez 
All right. Yeah.

Deanna Ramirez 
So I think when we talk about growth, I think growth comes from the challenges that you kind of come across. And if you’re comfortable, you’re typically not grown. And I know there’s that scripture verse, I don’t know verbatim, but where you consider joy when you go through trials.

right? And you do, that’s intentional, right? Because you will come out of it more mature and steadfast, right? And, and more knowledgeable and have that discernment for the next time you come across something. So the tip that I have, and it can be in various

times of the day. It doesn’t need to be overt. It doesn’t need to be obvious on what you’re going through in your business. It can be super subtle, but it’s to be able to recognize if you’re starting to get anxious or if you’re starting to get worried, you know, whether it’s you don’t have anything in your pipeline or somebody didn’t like, you know, maybe you’re a contractor and didn’t like the

the work that you did, I would just encourage anybody listening to this to recognize that that trial is intentional, right? And we could go one of two ways. We can go towards the distraction that the enemy wants, or we can go and be obedient and take it to the Lord. And when we do that,

we really are setting ourselves up for success because if we can just go back at all the times where we were frustrated or angry about something maybe somebody said or a challenge that we had where we were able to overcome it, we can see that the Lord was, you know, was with us in that. And we know that the Father of Wives wants us to be focused on the problem and not the solution. Right. And so

⁓ just a tip is just recognizing that those instances, one, they don’t have to be overt and, it’s not like maybe once a week. can be multiple times in a day, whether it’s you’re driving to the next appointment and, somebody in front of you is going really slow.

and you were trying to be a little extra early or whatever the case may be, there’s opportunities for us to really just seek the Lord in those moments. And when we do, I mean, regardless whether it’s business or in our personal life, we should reflect a Christ character at all times, no matter what. And when we do, like I was saying, we’re just gonna…

reap the benefits that the Lord has to offer. So that’s just my one tip is we can get so stuck on the things in the here and now and the stresses and work-life balance and that kind of thing that when we do just breathe a little and seek the Lord in those particular moments, even as mundane as some of them may seem, it’s purposeful. And He hears us and He’ll see it.

Rev. Lyle 
Cool, thank you. Well, Miss Deanna, how can someone get in touch with you?

Deanna Ramirez
pleasant.

Sure, you can call me 469-766-5809. My email is also dienna.remirez at gmail.com. So that’s pretty simple as well. Yeah, and then of course you can find me on all social media platforms.

Rev. Lyle 
Good deal. And what’s one little bit of wisdom you want to leave us with?

You’ve already dropped some major wisdom bombs, so it’s great.

Deanna Ramirez
Yeah, I mean, really one of the

things that that one of the things that I think is very valuable is something like this, like you and I, right, just coming into conversations, fellow shipping, we’re brothers and sisters in Christ, and we’re called to create a kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. And so I just a little bit of wisdom is enemy wants us distracted. And when we are in community,

He struggles in that distraction and that’s what we need. So I would just encourage people to constantly be in community with other believers.

Rev. Lyle 
Great, thank you for that. great hearing a little more of your story and I look forward to meeting you. We’re gonna meet soon, next week, aren’t we?

Deanna Ramirez
Yeah, yeah,

well, I appreciate you having me on here. So thank you. All right.

Rev. Lyle 
Thank you.