Co-Founder of The Well impacts students, people around world

Through casual coffee and conversation, his involvement has reached many – even those abroad in Africa and Haiti. Rob Touchstone, co-founder of The Well Coffeehouse and adjunct bible professor, knows how to think outside the box when it comes to business ideas. And now, as the newly appointed director of missional entrepreneurship in Lipscomb’s College of Business, he hopes to inspire the same thinking in others. It all started with golf balls. Touchstone grew up near a golf course where he and his friends would collect lost balls in the woods. He very soon came up with an idea: to re-sell all the missing golf balls back to the golfers. Touchstone said the golfers would find it hilarious because they were most likely buying back their own balls. With some money in his pocket, Touchstone and his friends decided to grow the ‘business’ by selling lemonade. While the golf balls continued to sell, they found that the golfers had no interest in purchasing lemonade. Toward the end of the day, Touchstone and his friends had plenty of lemonade left, so they decided to give it away for free. Touchstone said that when they did this, the golfers would reach into their pockets to pull out money. By trying to give away the lemonade for free, they ended up gaining a profit in return. Touchstone has always cherished this concept, and he’s even carried it with him through his most recent endeavor. Now, The Well gives all of its profits to missions and building wells in poverty-stricken countries. So far, the business has funded nine wells around the world. The latest development...

The Well Coffeehouse thrives in new location

Nonprofit coffee shop The Well is thriving in its new location across the street from Lipscomb. After a move from its original location on Richard Jones Rd., The Well has managed to keep most of its regulars as well as gain new customers from the neighborhood. Representative Jason Parker says, “We’ve got some new regulars. People that live in the neighborhood can just walk here to the coffee shop or if I see them on their morning jog as I’m opening the store and they come in after they’ve finished jogging. We’ve retained a lot of our regulars and also gotten new ones as well. It’s been great.” Old regulars are also pleased with the new location. Lipscomb student and longtime Well customer Spencer Bailey also enjoys that the new location kept the “comfortable” and “homey” feel of the old, but he especially enjoys the new location’s proximity to Lipscomb. “It’s right across from campus. I just walk over here. It’s my favorite part,” he says. The Well moved to the old Pizza Perfect location in May after The Well’s lease was terminated to make way for a 15-story building on Richard Jones Rd. “We were looking for locations for a few months. We really wanted to be somewhere around the Green Hills area because we had built a good following and had a lot of loyal customers. I feel like it’s a blessing from God that this place opened up,” says Parker. The business has since expanded to a second location in Brentwood in the Seven Springs...

Helpful faces around campus guide students to success

Lipscomb has more than 400 faculty members, each with an area of expertise and life experiences that shape what they bring to the classroom. While we at Lumination believe that Lipscomb’s entire faculty provides something special for our campus and its students, we’ve created a list of a few people who we believe would be especially beneficial for students to know during their time at the college. Tenielle Buchanan Mrs. Buchanan is the associate dean of students for intercultural development and the staff adviser for Kappa Iota Theta, the multicultural student organization on campus. She also serves as adjunct professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism and the LU seminar series. tenielle.buchanan@lipscomb.edu       Campus Ministry team Jason Parker, Keela Evans, Caroline Morris and Jake Burton are all a part of the Campus Ministry team, who help coordinate chapel and serve as spiritual mentors for students. If you ever have any chapel credit issues, they are the ones to contact. Jake Burton also heads ‘The Joshua Project’ – a mentoring program on campus. jake.burton@lipscomb.edu keela.evans@lipscomb.edu jason.parker@lipscomb.edu caroline.morris@lipscomb.edu Emily Harris Mrs. Harris is the director of campus recreation. At the Student Activity Center, students can get a workout in, play a game of basketball and even take a class with a trained expert. Mrs. Harris is the person to contact for any information about fitness and wellness on campus. To find out more about Mrs. Harris, read our feature story from this summer. emily.harris@lipscomb.edu       Teresa Williams Mrs. Williams is the director of student advocacy here on campus. Her job is to serve as a mediator...