The Divine Room: Where Faith and Olive Oil Meet

How Does Your Divine Room Tie Into Your Mission At Olive Oil Divine?

At the heart of Olive Oil Divine lies something unexpected—a sacred space where faith and fine culinary products beautifully intersect. Greg and Shirley Mueller take us on an intimate tour of their "Divine Room," a purpose-built prayer sanctuary nestled within their specialty olive oil store in Johnson City, Tennessee.

This episode reveals how valuable retail space deliberately set aside for spiritual purposes has become central to both their business identity and community impact. The Divine Room features a handcrafted seven-foot cross made from weathered wood that once formed Greg's deck—boards against which "friends and family leaned and spilled their coffees for 20 years." Behind it stands a wall constructed from the very pallet boards that delivered their initial inventory when they opened a decade ago.

More than just an aesthetic feature, this space serves practical spiritual purposes: housing a prayer journal for visitors' concerns, offering a quiet retreat for local pastors, hosting small groups, and providing a place where people can literally nail their heaviest burdens to the cross. Their commitment to creating this sanctuary reveals a business built on values deeper than profit margins—one that honors the divine guidance they credit for their success while offering something more nourishing than even the finest olive oils.

To learn more about Olive Oil Divine visit:
https://oliveoildivine.com/
Olive Oil Divine
2517 N. Roan Street
Johnson City, TN 37601
423-707-7087

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Olive Oil Divine podcast, your go-to
source for culinary inspiration.
Join Greg and Shirley Muller,owners of Olive Oil Divine, as
they share tips, stories andinsights to make you a kitchen
hero.
From authentic extra virginolive oils to rich-aged Italian
balsamic vinegars, We've goteverything you need to elevate

(00:27):
your cooking.
Live divine.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Olive oil divine isn't just about selling oils
and vinegars.
It's about creating anexperience.
The divine room is a specialplace within the store, but how
does it connect to the heart ofthe business?
Welcome back everybody.
Skip Monty, your co-host, slashproducer, back in the studio
with Greg and Shirley MullerGreg Shirley, how are you guys
doing today.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Good morning, Skip.
It's great to be here.
We're doing wonderful.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Good morning, Skip.
It's great to be here.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Good morning, shirley .
Great to be here as well.
Great to be here.
Good morning Shirley.
Great to be here as well.
So it looks like you guys arein a pretty special place there.
That's your divine room,correct it?

Speaker 3 (01:10):
is?
This is a room that's locatedat the back of our sales floor
that is open to the public.
We call it the divine room.
It's kind of like a prayer room, a war room, if you've ever
heard that term.
This is our prayer war room,where we come in and just
meditate.
You can see the cross behind me.
This is a special room that wedesigned purposefully from the
very beginning of the planningof our business.

(01:31):
This room was actually designedand built specifically for this
reason.
It wasn't just an afterthoughtthat, hey, we have this room,
let's do this.
We wanted to give credit andglory back to God for directing
us to even start this businessand then some of the mountains
that he helped us overcome toget the door open on day one of
our business 10 years ago.

(01:52):
So this is just a way ofhonoring him in return by
sharing the love of the Lordwith our community, with our
customers.
We have pastors come in here,Our customers will walk in and
curious and it's just a veryspecial place.
Sometime, maybe on a futureepisode, we can give you a
walking tour.

(02:12):
But we're sitting at a tableand behind us is a cross that I
made.
It's made out of two-by-fours,it's about seven feet tall.
Oh wow, the pallet board slatsyou see behind it.
Those are all palette boardsthat came off of palettes that
delivered our initial product 10years ago or something to do
with starting the store.
So it's kind of special becausewe've taken items that have

(02:34):
stories and mean a lot to us andcreated this room and around us
is a hutch with full ofmementos and there's bookshelves
and olive wood, prayer trinketsand just you know things and
gifts that have been given to usby other believers over the
years of our business that havemade their way in here, and it's
just kind of become a museum ofthe history of Olive Old Divine

(02:56):
and its spirituality, and it'sa very peaceful place.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Wow.
So you built the cross and didyou build the wall?
I did.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
The wall again.
I just took the slats off ofall the pallets I saved and
brushed them off and then nailedthem up there and then the
cross is actually built from,weathered, treated, two by fours
that came off of my deck on theback of my house.
That was in place for 20 yearsso I had a lot of friends and
family who leaned up againstthose boards and spilled their

(03:30):
sodas or coffees against thoseboards.
So there's a lot of meaning inthose boards and then to build
it into a cross that we couldsymbolize our love for Jesus,
which is special to us, and thenwe.
It's just a very warm, warmplace and you can see the
lighting.
We have our overhead lights onnow for the video, but typically
this room is a little dimmerand we have the colored lights
behind the cross to accent itand it just gives a very

(03:51):
peaceful feeling in here.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Wow, wow, incredible.
So how does that tie into yourmission at Olive Oil Divine?

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Well, as Greg said, we sell great products, quality
products, but it also ties intowe want a healthy body.
We also believe what makes ourbody healthy is spiritual, what
our walk is with Christ, whatour walk is with Christ.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
Wow, well, that's an incredible thing to share.
Now, this isn't a room thatprivate groups can rent out or
use for events.
It is available.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
It's open to the public as long as our store is
open.
It's open every day.
Customers can come in and wehave a prayer journal on our
table.
If they have something heavy ontheir heart, they'll write it
down and Shirley and I pray overthat, and if it's really
something super heavy, they canput it on a piece of paper and
just nail it to the cross righthere behind me.
Shirley and I pray over thoseon a regular basis.
When it fills up, we take themdown and take them home to our

(04:50):
pit and pray over them and burnthem and give them back to the
Lord.
This room is open for pastorsand for anybody to come in.
It does serve a second purposeas kind of a meeting room.
We've had the small groups comemeet in here and if it's a
church small group we typicallywon't charge, unless it's after
hours or if they want product orfood or something.

(05:10):
But if it's just to come meetduring the day, when we're open
to pray or meet with someone, wehave a lot of pastors that will
come in here and just close thedoor and meditate for a few
minutes, or maybe pray withsomebody in here and just close
the door and meditate for a fewminutes or maybe pray with
somebody.
But it's a multipurpose room,but it is first and foremost our
divine room and our way of justhaving a little bit of peace in

(05:31):
our business.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
Wow.
So if a small group, let's saya Sunday school class, decided
that they want to do somethingoff-site meeting and it's after
hours, that is something thatyou would consider yes we would,
and right now the Divine Roomwill hold up to six people.

Speaker 4 (05:45):
There's six chairs in here.
We've had one of our friendsbring her Bible study in.
She's a small business but theydid an after hours and we did
food for them and thenafterwards they did an olive oil
tasting.
We've done that before.
During the day I'll be here atwork and someone will come in
and they just need a prayer andI'm able to pray with them.

(06:07):
I get more personal with them.
There's people that'll come inand just say may I use your
divine room, and I'll say, yes,it's open to you as well.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
And I say yes, it's open to you as well, wow, do you
guys have a sign or?

Speaker 3 (06:21):
anything out front that says there's a divine room,
or just tell folks no, we don'thave a sign, but there is a big
window that is open up to thestore and as you're browsing the
store or walking in front ofour hallway towards the back,
you can look in the door or lookin the window and see it.
The lit up cross is anattraction, Of course.
It draws people's attention.
You know, we don't reallyadvertise it.

(06:44):
So to say, we let the Lorddirect who needs to come in here
and when, and it's been veryeffective so far by doing it
that way.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, I was going to ask how does it enhance the
customer experience whensomebody comes in?
But I could imagine there'speople that are just blown away.
I mean, you have people thatare coming in strictly to look
for some olive oil and then theysay, wow, what is that?

Speaker 4 (07:07):
Matter of fact, I had that experience yesterday.
I had a group of ladies come inthat were in from Allentown and
they loved our products.
They did all kinds of tasting,making notes of, when they get
back home, what they're going toshop online for.
They came in and they just saidI love your business.

(07:28):
God gave us the inspiration, hegave us the insight, he gave us
the wisdom and knowledge.
And then I'll say you want toknow what really makes this
business special?
And they'll say yes, and I'llbring them to the divine room

(07:49):
and they're just blown away thatwe have a room for our
customers or anyone in thecommunity that just needs time
to themselves.
I love it when customers comein and they get through the
window and they see the crossand they look at me and say what
is room?
and then that's my door and Ifeel the Holy Spirit says they
want to know let's share shareand I say, well, walk over here

(08:14):
and I'll show you what the roomis for and I'll talk to you
about the room.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
I've had businessmen come in here, look at this room
and learn what it is and theysay well, you could be selling
product in here.
You're taking all thisexpensive square footage and
you're not selling anything.
And I said well, let me tellyou what I've gotten more in
return by having this room as itis than any product I could
have sold in here.
So you know, I'll put Jesus inhere any day over selling
product.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
Me too.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Amen, brother, Amen.
Well, wow.
So for some of our listenersmaybe that have not visited your
store before, what's your storeaddress so that folks can maybe
stop by?

Speaker 3 (08:49):
We're on North Round Street.
It's 2517 North Round.
We're right across the streetfrom the Waffle House and the
Popeye's Chicken.
So if you can just remember,the old people like us used to
watch Popeye and Olive Oil oncartoons that's a good way to
remember where we are.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
I didn't even think about that.
That's my daily chuckle.
I'll get.

Speaker 4 (09:10):
People will say well, where are you located?
And I'll just say are youfamiliar with Popeye's in
Johnson City?
We're right across from them.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
Olive Oil and Popeye Popeyes in Johnson City.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
We're right across from them Olive oil and Popeye.
That is so funny, oh my gosh.
Easy to remember too.
Wow, I think we'll end theepisode on that note, but easy
to remember for those listenersthat want to check it out.
It's a beautiful room, as youcan see on the video, and it's
an amazing thing.
You guys are doing with agreater purpose than just
selling olive oil, althoughthat's important and it's good.

(09:41):
But you've got a greaterpurpose and I'm thankful for
that.
Amen brother Amen.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
Thanks for tuning in to the Olive Oil Divine podcast.
Don't forget to visit us onlineat oliveoildivinecom for our
exceptional olive oils, agedbalsamic vinegars and more.
If you're local, stop by ourstore and discover how we can
make you a kitchen hero.
Until next time, live divine.