Julie Berghorn: How 19 Years in a Faith-Based Peer Group Transformed Her Business and Her Life

Julie Berghorn stood over a sink in Maine at age 23, baptizing herself and inviting Christ into her heart. She was trapped in what she calls a "brutal" marriage, working to pay all the bills, raising two children—one with rare special needs—and running on fumes. She had no idea that two decades later, she'd still be standing, leading a thriving interior design firm that's renovating 100-year-old buildings and designing high-end residences across the country.

The turning point came in 2007 when Dave Lindsay introduced her to Ray Hilbert and Kingdom Factor's predecessor, Truth at Work. At the time, Julie was the only woman in a room full of Christian business leaders. She walked in lacking confidence, drowning in pressure, and "just a week full of feelings, not much thought."

What she found changed everything.

The Power of Being the Only Woman in the Room

Julie runs Cornerstone Interiors, a firm she began operating in 2008 and purchased outright in 2012. The company—now celebrating its 40th year—specializes in residential interior design, though recent projects include the Columbia Club in Indianapolis, luxury condos in New York City and Miami, and work as far away as Hanoi.

"We are people who see the unseen," Julie explains. "We like to implement things that haven't been done before, and we're good at pulling out a customer's vision and implementing something larger and better than they could ever come up with themselves."

But back in 2007, Julie couldn't see much of anything clearly. Her personal life was in chaos. Her professional confidence was fragile. She was succeeding "despite myself," she says, crediting Jesus as the only reason she stayed afloat.

Then she walked into that first Kingdom Factor meeting. Surrounded by men who could have dismissed her or competed with her, she found something unexpected: tenderness, encouragement, and truth spoken in love.

"It started to allow me to see that men in general can be tender and can be loving and can build you up and not tear you down. It was kind of a seminal moment for me."

The Hire That Changed Everything

Early in her Kingdom Factor journey, a designer named Monica Do walked into Julie's office. Monica had worked in New York City but moved back to Greenwood, Indiana, to raise her children near family. She was looking for work, and Julie's mom knew her mom.

Julie brought the situation to her group. She was uncertain, stretched thin, unsure if she could afford another hire. Every man in the room gave her the same advice: "You can't afford not to hire her."

She took the risk. Two years later, Cornerstone Interiors landed a major project in New York City. Without Monica's expertise and connections, Julie says, "I wouldn't have known how to do this."

"That was Kingdom Factor being used for God's glory—to show He can do miraculous things."

Monica Do is still with Cornerstone today, 13 years later. That single decision—made in community, grounded in faith, supported by truth-tellers—became a hinge point for the business.

When the Rubber Meets the Road

A half-day meeting every month is no small commitment for a business owner juggling client demands, vendor relationships, and project deadlines. Julie admits there were times she thought, "I can't go. There's too much happening."

But those were the meetings that mattered most.

"It was those times when I thought I can't make this meeting, and I did it anyway, that these powerful conversations would happen," she says. "That was when the rubber met the road—when I understood, oh, I need to change this, or this needs to happen right away."

Kingdom Factor meetings aren't just about solving business problems. Julie describes moments when someone else's issue resonated so deeply with her own life that the conversation became a mirror. "This wasn't just about him," she recalls thinking. "This was about my life, too."

Recently, fellow member Cynthia Pizarro noticed Julie wasn't using a feature in Microsoft 365 that could transform her workflow. Cynthia invited her to the office and spent two hours teaching her how to use it. "Cynthia's busy," Julie says. "She's got lots going on. But she's a loving human who made a humongous difference in the way I do business."

That's the Kingdom Factor difference: a community of like-minded leaders who aren't trying to sell you something or extract value—they're genuinely invested in your growth.

Freedom and Permission to Leave

Julie was married for 27 years to someone she describes as brutal. She had biblical grounds to leave but couldn't bring herself to do it. Shame, fear, and the weight of Christian expectations kept her bound.

Then she began sharing pieces of her story in her Kingdom Factor group. Slowly, carefully, the men and women around the table started binding her up, supporting her, and ultimately giving her something she desperately needed: permission.

"It was so wonderful to have fellow Christians bind me up and support me during the most difficult time of my life. Then to feel the absolute freedom and love of God afterwards through them."

After the divorce, the group stayed close. They asked about her dating life. They wanted to meet the men she was seeing. They weren't nosy—they were protective, prayerful, and invested.

Today, Julie has been married for eight years to "this absolutely perfect person for me." She credits Kingdom Factor with helping her recognize and appreciate the tender, loving man she's now with. "That would not have happened without Kingdom Factor," she says. "I wouldn't have ended up with a tender loving human because I wouldn't have appreciated it."

Truth with Righteousness

So what makes Kingdom Factor work after 19 years?

Julie doesn't hesitate: "Truth with righteousness. That's how God is, right? He will not be messed with. He's the real deal. So we have to get real with each other, and we have to get real in ourselves."

Kingdom Factor meetings aren't safe in the sense of being comfortable or easy. They're safe because they're grounded in something unshakable: the character of Christ and the commitment to speak truth in grace.

"Sometimes that's dealing with hard subjects," Julie admits. "And dealing with them in truth, but in grace."

There aren't many places where a business leader can show up and be fully real—where personal struggles and professional challenges are treated with equal seriousness, and where spiritual growth isn't separated from business growth. Kingdom Factor is one of those rare spaces.

What Would You Say to Someone on the Fence?

Julie's advice to leaders considering Kingdom Factor is rooted in the image of soil and nutrients.

"Everybody is different. Everybody lives different. You've been planted in this special circumstance, in soil. But when we add the right nutrients into that soil, something more beautiful grows."

She continues: "If you can allow Kingdom Factor into your life and into your soil, and if you embrace it, you will grow and you will get better. It's a natural production of leaning into something that's true and something that's been proven to work. You'll grow. You'll get better. Your life will be more satisfying."

Julie has been part of Kingdom Factor for 19 years—with one two-year break during which she was "so hungry and so thirsty for wisdom and knowledge" that she had to come back. She plans to keep coming as long as the group exists, even after she retires.

"I'm not retiring for a long time," she laughs. But when she does, she'll still be there.

The Invitation

Julie Berghorn's story isn't about a quick fix or a silver bullet. It's about the slow, steady transformation that happens when a leader commits to showing up, leaning in, and allowing truth and grace to do their work.

She's built a thriving business. She's walked out of a destructive marriage into a healthy one. She's learned to lead with both conviction and humility. And she credits Kingdom Factor with providing the soil, the nutrients, and the community that made it all possible.

If you're leading alone, carrying the weight of decisions no one else understands, wondering if there's a place where faith and business aren't separated but integrated—Julie's answer is clear: there is. And it's worth every minute.