Rising Stars: Meet Junita Cullum of Worthington

Today we’d like to introduce you to Junita Cullum.

Hi Junita , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Lapp It Up was born on a whim that I had one day after speaking with my aunt who informed me that she was selling her homemade candles at a weekend show. I was 21 years old and had been dreaming about owning a business for as long as I could remember. My first entrepreneurial adventures involved making and selling my homemade pies as a local auction when I was 15. Even though I only made a couple hundred dollars selling baked goods and goat cheese that summer, it gave me a vision for creating with my hands and sharing that product with others who could appreciate it.
I first learned about kombucha while working at a health food store in my home town of McConnelsville OH. Although I didn’t like it at first I kept trying it because I had heard about the health benefits and I was struggling with my gut health. Eventually it grew on me and I decided to try brewing it at home. One of my co workers mom had a kombucha starter cultures aka SCOBY. and said she’d be more than happy to share. She invited me to her home to brew that first batch. I took my new batch of kombucha home and checked it every day anxiously waiting for it to ferment and was so excited when, after 9 days it tasted surprisingly delicious! That began a journey of learning and trial and error , brewing batch after batch in my parent’s basement. The batches continued to be larger as my family and friends I shared it with grew to enjoy it as well.
So when my aunt mentioned the event she was going to be attending and vending at , I had a thought, Hey, I could turn this hobby into a business! And why not, I enjoyed it and apparently I was getting pretty good at it.
The next 4 months were filled with preparation, growing lots of kombucha cultures for the home brew kits I would be selling as well as bottles of kombucha. I spent all my meager savings on bottles, labels and marketing materials.
The event was a success, I sold out of kombucha! Then the next question was, how do I continue to find more customers who would want to drink my kombucha? I decided to join a local weekly farmers market and eventually moved into a shared commercial kitchen, Foodworks Alliance, that had recently launched in town. For the next 11 years, until December of 2025, I continued to use that shared space, beginning in a closet sized room and eventually moving into an office sized room. It was tiny, but I made it work!
Then in late October of last year, an unexpected opportunity came up. Another kombucha company in town was selling and we made them an offer to purchase their equipment and take on the lease. The timing was perfect, as winter brings a slow down in business for us and would allow us time to move our brewery from Zanesville to Worthington.
We’ve been enjoying the extra space, more and better equipment that allows me to manufacture kombucha with a bit less manual labor while being able to focus on growth that wasn’t possible from our old space.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
5.5 years ago I met and married my husband, Nick, who lived in Columbus. I was from 1.5 hours away in southeast Ohio and my brewery was in zanesville about a 30 minute drive from where I grew up. After I moved to Columbus that drive turned to an hour and 15 minute drive which quickly gets old! But I continued to make the drive because the rent was so affordable in the shared space.

2 years after we married we found out I was pregnant. With twins! I really didn’t know what challenges having 2 babies at once came with but I was ready for it! We were so excited to meet them. As my pregnancy progressed, being on my feet became more and more challenging. By the time I was 35 weeks pregnant, my husband and younger brother who helped me on production days were doing most of the work of brewing, flavoring and kegging as well as bottling. I would sit on a rolling chair and give them directions. lol. During the summer months, it took 2 people all day on our once a week production schedule, and I was no longer able to help much. Thankfully Nick’s full time job had a slow down in work temporarily and he was able to come help us pull through the last couple months of my pregnancy and after the birth.
After the twins were born, (at 42.5 weeks!!) I took a 6 week maternity leave and then went back to work. I took the girls to work with me and my mom was so gracious and took them back to her house during the day while I worked and then brought them back at the end of the day. She continued to do this for me until we moved our brewery 1.5 hours away from her!
One of the biggest challenges I had after their birth was an unexpected lack of passion for Lapp It Up. Previously I had so much passion for it and my husband had caught the vision and we both wanted to make it a full time family business. What I didn’t realize is that my hormones had completely changed with the arrival of my beautiful babies and all I wanted to do was stay home and take care of them! I didn’t even share some of those deepest feelings with anyone, not even my husband, at that time because I didn’t understand why I was feeling a lack of enthusiasm over what was previously so fun for me. It had been a shared vision for us for several years and I didn’t want him to lose hope. Thankfully, it was a temporary feeling and after a few months, my passion and vision returned. The support from our family really helped us get through that time too!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I worked at a health food store from the age of 17-21. That’s where I first learned about kombucha. After I started Lapp It Up when I turned 21, I left my job to focus on growing the business. I went to back to work part time a while later working as an in home caregiver for a few years. Eventually I took on kitchen management at Foodworks Alliance where my brewery was located. Now I’m a full time mom and business owner!

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I have had so much support along the way and really couldn’t have made it to where we are today without the assistance of Foodworks Alliance in business support and providing a home for Lapp It Up for 10+ years. They are awesome!
My family has been a huge help as well. From helping me put together 100 homebrew kits for my first event, to several siblings helping me with production and farmers markets over the years. And of course my mom has been amazing with helping out with watching the twins so I could stay in business!
My husband Nick has been my biggest fan and support in recent years. We were really only able to make the move and business purchase of our new space in Worthington because of his many years working a full time job elsewhere. We’ve been debt free from the beginning and continue to be so!

And of course our many wonderful customers who continue to buy kombucha from us are the only reason we’re able to do so! Whether it’s a cup at a farmers market or supporting one of our wholesale partners and buying bottles at a local shop, every sale matters and makes an impact!

Lastly and most of all, it’s truly all only been possible due to the guidance and provision of my Creator and loving Heavenly Father. He’s given me this dream and continues to make it possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Lappitupkombucha.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/lappitupkombucha
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/lappitupkombucha