Conversations with Barry and Jessica Luginbill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barry Luginbill.

Hi Barry, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Jessica and I have always had a love for coffee. We would seek out local coffee shops everywhere we went. There has always been a draw to the comfort of local coffee shops. The smell, the environment, friendly people, and eclectic vibes. We always felt that our love for coffee ended there…we never envisioned, discussed, or dreamed of opening a coffee shop. This all changed after Jess had a meeting with the former owner of Cristos. Through this conversation, we came to find that our favorite coffee shop was for sale due to the previous owners being called to move back home to Florida. Jess came home and immediately said, “We should buy Cristos!” What started as a joke quickly became far more. There are many passions that Jess and I share, coffee, friendship, community, authentic relationship, and giving back. The more we thought and prayed about this venture, the more we realized this little shop could facilitate and fulfill all those shared passions. Fast-forward to today, we can say with confidence that this venture has brought all that and so much more. We are blessed and fortunate to have a staff full of the most amazing people you will ever meet and a community that loves and supports small buisness like no other!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Given that what we knew about coffee was how to drink it, there was definitely a lot for us to learn. Fortunately, we were blessed to take on a business with the absolute best employees ever. Since taking ownership of Cristos, we hired back a long-time employee and made her our GM. Alongside her and our other 11 employees, they have taught us SO much about the various coffee drinks, how to make them, how to present them, and how to create new and exciting drinks. Ultimately, I cannot say we’ve endured struggles, rather we continue to endure blessings. We cannot say enough for the ladies that truly make Cristos what it is. Without them, this would be a much different story.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
It is important for us that people know that Cristos is not a place we take a salary from. We want to use this as a conduit to give back to people and our community. Both Jess and I have full-time careers outside of Cristos. Jess is an amazing real estate agent and has been incredibly successful in helping her clients realize the absolute best experience when buying a house. Jess is a serial entrepreneur and has done so many different things but they all have one focus, pouring into and loving people. As for me, I have spent the vast majority of my life in corporate America until early 2020 when I was forced to reevaluate my career due to COVID. looking back, it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me as I am now a part of something much bigger with a company called Me Biosciences. My day is filled with working with people on how we can unleash the greatness in humanity. In addition, I work as a senior ERP analyst for an organization in Tennessee and this allows me to fulfill my passion for business and operations.

We truly believe that because of our experience, accomplishments, and love for people, God presented this opportunity to us so we can further pour into people and community.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For us, success is defined by how we leave people, situations, and our lives. Success is knowing that we are giving more than we’re taking. Success is seeing people smile when they leave Cristos because of the love they received coming into our establishment. It’s about creating authentic community and relationships, using our gifts, experiences, and accomplishments to better those around us. In addition, we believe that success is raising our 5 children to live a life they can look back at with pride, knowing they made this world a better place. We also feel that way about our relationship with our employees. Jess and I met at church and shortly after, we both worked with youth groups within the church. After taking ownership of Cristos, we realized this was an extension of that time and we could lead and mentor our employees to be amazing people inside and outside of the workplace. We do not take any of this lightly and feel so blessed to have the opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cristoserie.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cristoscoffee
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cristoscoffee