Good News Cup- Huntsville, TX

A few weeks ago, I heard about this little stand at a pharmacy in Huntsville, TX called Good News Cup. As a coffee lover, I was immediately intrigued and wanted to know more about what this business was about. That's when I got in touch with Joshua Baker, one of the owners of Good News Cup. He kindly agreed for me to interview him and take some pictures of his lovely stand. Joshua Baker is a hard-working, kind man, whose mission is to simply give back to his community, and build a legacy for his late father. I hope you enjoy reading about his story, and how he got to where he is today.

*click images to see them bigger.

PS. He DOES have Matcha, and guess what? He orders is straight from India!!! I just needed to add that here.

Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you grew up.

I grew up in a Christian home, Non-denominational, full gospel- it was awesome. It wasn’t until high school when I said, “I want to experience this for myself.” In my family, Sunday we went to church, Monday we went to prayer group, Wednesday we went to youth group, and Friday

there was always something to do. It was a part of life, and it was fun! I never hated it or anything, but there was just something missing. I knew there had to be more than just going to church, so I said, “let’s get serious about this.” I had my ‘coming to Jesus’ moment, if you will. There was some backsliding...some fall backs. I went through a really bad break up, it led to drug use, and eventually to rehab. It was a lot to handle, but the awesome thing was that He {God} was with me the entire time. Instead of experiencing this notion of an angry God, He was just there with open arms. I felt like He said, “No big deal, we all mess up. My cross covered it, I sent my son to die.” I eventually graduated from college, so I got my master’s and went to law school- I just finished my first year of law school. Then, I moved back because my father passed away last December, and I was in San Diego at the time. Being away from my family and my mom during this time was really hard, so I transferred to Texas Southern University, but I deferred it for a year. In the meantime, I wanted to do something to build off my dad’s legacy. I am all about family and building something for them, so I asked myself “what did my dad love?” He loved coffee, and he loved talking to people. One day, my buddy from undergrad who I went to bible school with at Christ For The Nations, called me. He was already opening a Good News Cup in Dallas. He said, “Hey I had a dream that we went in to business together,” and I said, “Let me pray about this.” I prayed about it, and I said, “let’s do this, let’s give this a shot,” and now we’re here!

Are you planning to open your own physical shop soon?

Yes. So, it’s a 3-month plan. We want it close to campus, because when I came back to Huntsville I asked myself, “how do we not have a local coffee shop?” I’m currently looking at a couple of different locations. I mainly want to create a community where people can come and hang out, and just have a good time. The whole thing behind Good News Cup is: There is a lot of fighting going on right now in our country, because people have their beliefs and they’re passionate about it. I totally get it, but what happens when you drink coffee? Usually, you kind of slow down. Life slows down, you chill out, and you enjoy the coffee. That’s what we want to do. I just want to serve great coffee-as best as I can make it, talk to people, show them that we have a lot more in common than not, and share the good news at the same time.

How do you hope to reach the community through Good News Coffee Shop?

I want to welcome anyone to have a seat and drink some coffee. If you don’t want to drink coffee, that’s okay. Have a seat, do some studying, do whatever you want. We want this to be something that welcomes everyone, because that’s how you bridge gaps. Truth doesn’t come by pointing the finger at someone and saying, “this is right- this is why I’m right,” all you’re going to do is push the other person way to the other side. If we do have the truth, we would want to give it in the best way possible. I remember when I was on drugs, what drove me out of it, was love and kindness. In The Bible, it says that love and kindness brings us to repentance. My dad totally loved me and opened his home to me. It was that same love and kindness that really broke my drug problem. It gets tiring yelling at people. I’m 33 years old, I am tired of yelling and fighting. I just want to love you, and say “hey, here’s some coffee, here’s a latte, let’s just talk, let’s chill out.”

What have been some of the challenges you’ve faced starting this business?

It is not cheap- it is a lot of money. It’s hard to put all of yourself in to something. The machines cost a lot of money, and the coffee does too (I try to buy the best coffee that I can). It feels like walking out on the water. My business partner and I have a thing that we say, and it’s this: “Don’t look down.” In the Bible, when Peter was walking on water, there was a moment when he stopped looking at Jesus and realized what was happening. Peter looked down at the water and started drowning until Jesus picked him up, so that’s how it became our thing. We always say, “don’t look down,” even when it’s getting crazy and the waves are coming, just don’t look down. Leaps of faith is what makes life exciting!

Walk me through a day in your life now that you have this business.

I wake up at 6am, I go to my storage unit (which is climate controlled), and I get what I need for the day. Usually I go to the store, because I am always out of milk or almond milk. I also go to the bakery where I get the pan dulce (sweet bread). What bakery do you get it from? It’s actually an older lady at her house, it’s so awesome. I want to support local businesses, so if I can buy something from someone local, I’m totally going to do it. After the bakery, I come here to get everything ready (it takes me about 45 minutes to get everything set up), I start a pot, and wait for customers. Right now, I close at 5pm, but I want to start closing at 7pm because for the past week, I’ve been getting a rush right at 5pm.

How did you get connected with the pharmacy?

I know the manager here. I just wanted to do a pop up shop at first, and then they asked me “hey, are you going to be here every day?” and I said, “we can try!” I started off opening only Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Last Wednesday, I had my “grand opening” with a ribbon cutting and everything, it was pretty awesome! That’s when Monday-Friday started, and Saturdays I am at the Farmer’s Market on the square.

Do you think you’re growing quickly?

Yes, I think we are. I think that when I open the shop, I’m still going to keep this stand open because I have Doctors and Nurses come all the time. The word is getting out, and people are liking the coffee. At Good News, we like to think that you’re only limited by your own thinking. We are made in God’s image. He created everything just by speaking things. What is stopping us from doing the same? So, we plan to have 10 stores in 5 years- that is what we’re working for.

** If you’re in the Huntsville area, go check out his stand at McNease Drugs at this address: 103 Medical Park Lane, Huntsville, Texas

** Check out their website here: https://goodnewscup.com/

** Coffee bought from: Flat Track coffee