Olive Oil Divine Podcast

The Divine Experience: Exploring Premium Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars with Greg and Shirley Mueller

• Greg & Shirley Mueller • Episode 1

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Meet Greg and Shirley Mueller, owners of Olive Oil Divine

Discover the secrets behind crafting divine culinary experiences with the Olive Oil Divine Podcast! This episode promises an exploration of the world of premium olive oils and balsamic vinegars with Greg and Shirley Mueller, alongside our co-host Skip Mauney. Embark on a flavorful journey that celebrates a decade of dedication and passion for quality ingredients. From internationally acclaimed Greek oils to surprising finds in California, southern Georgia, and northern Florida, learn about the meticulous sourcing process that ensures only the finest products make it to your kitchen.

Join us as Shirley shares the delight of educating our customers about the health benefits and rich flavors of olive oil, and how these choices can transform your cooking. Get a glimpse into our lives beyond the store, including sun-soaked travels and cherished moments with our pets. It's more than just a business—it's about living and sharing the divine experience of good food and enriching life's moments. Whether you're a culinary novice or a seasoned chef, this episode is sure to spark your creativity and elevate your cooking repertoire.

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

Speaker 1:

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 and insights to make you a kitchen hero. From authentic extra virgin olive oils to rich-aged Italian balsamic vinegars, We've got everything you need to elevate your cooking. Live divine.

Speaker 2:

Welcome everyone. I'm Skip Monty, co-host and producer here in the studio with Greg and Shirley Muller. Greg. Shirley how's it going?

Speaker 3:

Great.

Speaker 2:

Hey, good morning, skip, Good morning. Hope you're having a great day.

Speaker 4:

Coffee's drunk and we're having a great day.

Speaker 2:

All right. Well, mine's still being drunk. So over the years, Greg Shirley, you guys have grown quite a remarkable business with regional and national distribution of your products. However, we might have some listeners that might not be familiar with your full journey, so let's just take it from the top. Could you share a little background about your company and what you guys do?

Speaker 4:

Sure.

Speaker 4:

Well, our company is 10 years old this year actually we're hitting that milestone and Cheryl and I started it as a love for the olive oil that we've grown up using all of our lives, and we had a special store down in Hilton Head Island that we used to visit all the time and, long story short, we decided that we wanted to get into that business. So we opened up Olive Oil Divine right here in our hometown in Johnson City, and we are purators of world-class olive oil from around the world, countries that everybody's familiar with, such as Italy and Greece and Spain. And in addition to that, naturally, balsamic vinegar is a complement to olive oils. We are purveyors of that as well, and we have about anywhere between 10 and 15 different farms and growers around the world that we source from. So we're not like the typical olive oil store that most people are accustomed to. We search for the best of the best, and that has grown to expand our line into such things as pastas and stuffed olives and all kinds of culinary treats that just complement olive oil.

Speaker 2:

So we're a one-stop shop, really for unique items that you can't find in most grocery stores. Wow, well, congratulations, by the way, on 10 years. That's definitely an accomplishment, thanks. Is there a particular country? Like you said, you source from all over over some of the best in the world. What are there? Any countries that produce the best olive oil?

Speaker 4:

well, one of our oils is actually an internationally acclaimed and award-winning oil which comes from Greece. Actually, three or four of them are. So yes, the Greece and Italy are usually high in the running. California's actually done pretty good, believe it or not. So we can't forget our own people right here on in the running. California's actually done pretty good, believe it or not. So we can't forget our own people right here in the good old US of A oh wow.

Speaker 2:

California, Actually I would guess Central California is probably a pretty good source of olives.

Speaker 4:

No, it is. We get some really fine olives from there and also, believe it or not, southern Georgia and Northern Florida is the right climate for olive trees, so there's some groves down there that are starting to produce. We're constantly monitoring those and they're still young, but when they get to our satisfaction, we'll look at introducing them as well.

Speaker 2:

Awesome. So, shirley, how's your ride been with the olive?

Speaker 3:

oil ride. Has that been an adventure? It has been an adventure, but it's a great adventure. I really enjoy teaching our customers and educating them on the quality of olive oil that we sell, but just giving them an education of why choosing a healthier oil will actually add flavor to your food. We enjoy recipes around here.

Speaker 4:

We eat pretty good here.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I bet I can't even imagine Well speaking of eating when you're not busy curating olive oil and balsamic vinegar what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

Well, we like to travel a little bit, which we do. We like heading to South and hit the beaches. We just enjoy our downtime, downtime being around the house. We are pet owners, so we enjoy our pets as well, but we also enjoy sharing God's word.

Speaker 2:

Awesome. I was going to ask first about the pets how many and what kind of pets do you have?

Speaker 3:

Well, we have cats and we have seven. Wow.

Speaker 4:

Wow seven cats. They actually have us, they own us. We're just there for their convenience I understand.

Speaker 2:

I have one cat and I am absolutely here to serve him, and my daughter was just visiting and she brought her cat with her. So I've got two so far, but I have two dogs as well but skip.

Speaker 4:

we're joyous servants, so don't let them fool you oh yeah Well, greg Shirley, you mentioned serving the Lord.

Speaker 2:

I know that that's a big part obviously behind you. It says a lot. You're very busy. But in your own words, why are you doing this? Besides just a successful business, what's your higher purpose?

Speaker 4:

Well, skip, we started this business with God first and foremost in our thoughts and we wanted to glorify Him, hence part of our name, olive Old Divine, divine being a spiritual word. So we not only wanted to make a living for ourselves, but we wanted to share the love of Christ with everybody that came into our store that was interested. Now we look at this store as somewhat of a mission in a way, because for one, we're sitting in what we call our divine room, and this is in the back of our store. It's open to the public. Anybody can come in while we're open and this is just a little safe, quiet little room that we use to pray and meditate and people can leave prayers and Cheryl and I will pray over them very often.

Speaker 4:

But this is our way of giving back to the Lord for putting us in business, and I tell you what it's come back in spades, because God has blessed us in so many ways. When we put him first and it's important to us to put him first, and not just our business but in our lives when we lock the door and go home, we don't just hang it up here. So it's a 24-7 venture for us and it's just joyous to us to be able to share it together, plus with our customers and the public at large.

Speaker 3:

Well, this is who we are and I don't want to hide that I'm a believer and I want to share it with people that come in that is having a hard day or just need that downtime. So you know, God does ask us to be his disciples and to share his word and I don't want to keep him out of any part of my life and, with this being my business, this is his business, not mine. Amen.

Speaker 2:

Well, I got to tell you your divine room is absolutely beautiful and, with this being my business, this is his business, not mine. Amen. Well, I got to tell you your divine room is absolutely beautiful. I had not seen it before, but I love it. Do you have a lot of traffic from folks coming in that use your divine room?

Speaker 4:

We have a prayer journal right here that anybody can leave a prayer in. Every one of those pages is full of prayer requests. Yes, we get a lot of traffic in here and a lot of people come in and they can't believe that us, as a small business, are taking this square footage and dedicating it to the Lord versus trying to sell product. But we wouldn't have it any other way. This room was purposefully designed from the very beginning to be this room for this reason, and God has just blessed us so tremendously by doing that and staying faithful to our original plan and sharing it. So, yes, we've shared Christ with a lot of people who have just been curious about what this room is, so it's catching on wow, that's amazing to me.

Speaker 2:

I wonder if there's any way to even know this. I'm sure there's not a lot of. If there's any way to even know this, I'm sure there's not a lot of olive oil focused businesses. You know brick and mortar kind of stores in the country or in the world, but even fewer that have a divinity room where you can go in and pray.

Speaker 4:

That's incredible. I'm not aware of any. I know there's been a few people that have come in and spoken with Shirley that were impressed with our room and they said well, we're going to go back and we're going to put this in our business, so it's catching.

Speaker 3:

During the COVID. When COVID hit, I had a chiropractor that came in and saw the Divine Room and it was an inspiration, and he did the same thing in his business. He has a prayer room for his customers as well, and you know, that's. That's all I want to do is share. And if he gives someone the idea or someone that says, you know, I want to take that leap of faith and they do it, then that's fine. That's all I've done is I planted a seed.

Speaker 2:

Well, and that's all it takes is that seed to plant as small as a mustard seed? Well, greg, shirley, I know you guys are busy. You've got a lot going on, so I appreciate the time you took today to be with us and our listeners, and we'll catch you in the next episode where we will dive into some frequently asked questions, which I'm sure there are a lot about your unique business. Oh yeah, look forward to it. Absolutely, and I hope you guys have a blessed rest of the day.

Speaker 3:

You too.

Speaker 4:

Thank you, Skip. Blessings to you, brother.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to the Olive Oil Divine podcast. Don't forget to visit us online at oliveoildivinecom for our exceptional olive oils, aged balsamic vinegars and more. If you're local, stop by our store and discover how we can make you a kitchen hero. Until next time, live divine, Live Divine.