Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kimberly Griggers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kimberly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Hello, thank you so much for having me on! Naming a business is very hard; obviously, you’re wanting something that stands out and also has meaning! I think a lot of people were expecting me to call the business Kim’s Coffee or something along those lines while I was in my brainstorming era. However, I knew from the very beginning I did not want my name used in the business name. I wanted the business name to have its own identity!

Thus, CJ’s Coffee was born! Which leads to the next question I am frequently asked “who the heck is CJ??” – I actually had this name selected about a year before I even opened the doors to the Coffee Barn. The initials represent our children; we took the first letter of the kid’s names and that’s how you get CJ’s. My husband’s children are Jeff and Callie (CJ) and my two youngest children are Caleb and Jake (CJ). Then from there, we knew we wanted a rustic farm feel so that’s when we decided on the coffee barn!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Of course! My name is Kimberly Griggers – I moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2021 with the idea of putting my Seattle Barista Training to the test and opening a latte stand. Talk about a wake up call! Have you seen the Nashville Commercial Realestate Market lately?? This Washington State girl got a reality check.

I was having a hard time making that dream a reality thanks to the limited options available in Nashville. However, later that year my husband and I stumbled onto some land further south  in Belvidere, Tennessee and purchased a farm. Through this endeavor I came across a latte stand in a bordering town (Winchester, Tennessee) in need of some TLC.

One day I happen to checkout their social media page to see why they were closed that day and found a video from te owner at the time stating they would be closing permanently. Talk about luck! I immediately reached out to my realtor-turned-friend, Candice and told her we wanted to buy it.

Candice was able to have the papers ready to sign within 48 hours. That’s when all my dreams started to come true! I still remember that feeling when she said “it’s yours”. I was jumping up and down like a small child. Not only did we receive a business that day, we received a whole community. I cannot brag enough on the Winchester Community. I have gained a whole new family.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I think a lot of the social media success comes from collaborating with other local businesses here in town – specifically my best friend, Cynthia Pierce, who owns a local boutique (About Town Apparel) right around the corner from my latte stand! We do a lot of brand collaborations, shared giveaways, etc. to tap into each others networks because our audiences go hand in hand!

My personal favorite brand collaboration with Cynthia was when we sponsored several contests over a period of time that benefited the local educators around the community; this particular contest was a great way to giveback to the community while also building an active audience online! All of the faculty, staff, friends and family would nominate a local school to receive free drinks at the Coffee Barn that week.

It’s also worth mentioning we both use the same Digital Marketing and Advertising agency! Hannah also happens to be a great friend of mine and takes a lot of stress off of my plate when it comes to managing the CJ’s Coffee Barn brand pages.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I would say a significant portion originate from two powerful sources: Google searches and word of mouth. Our new customers tell us all the time “I heard you have the best coffee so here I am!”. Shoutout to our current customers for consistently recommending us! It’s the best compliment we can receive and it inspires us to work hard everyday.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: cjscoffeebarn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CJsCoffeebarn