Morning Mingle at Common Grounds: Meet Kristine Barthelette

The charming front of Common Grounds Café & Lounge, located in Wilbraham, Mass.

At April’s Morning Mingle, the coffee’s on and so is the networking. Brought to you by POP!more, we present this installment of our bimonthly early bird events at Common Grounds Café & Lounge in Wilbraham, Mass. We spoke with Kristine Barthelette, owner of the café, to review what exciting things she’s brewing for the event.

Barthelette purchased Common Grounds in October of 2023. Her resumé totes many other positions in leadership, including director of operations at Proscan Solutions, customer service and cash applications manager at CSI and a series of managerial roles with Catuogno Court Report and Sten-tel Transcription, Inc.

Kristine Barthelette, owner of Common Grounds.

Her favorite drink on the menu is the “Brae Brae,” which is named for her daughter. Barthelette updates this special monthly, as well as an abundance of exciting seasonal drinks. Some highlights from their Valentine’s Day menu included Raspberry Romance, Love You So Matcha, Chocolate Covered Strawberry, the sprinkled and sweet Cupcake Affair and Cookies & Kisses topped with a cocoa drizzle and crushes Oreos. This is just a sampling of the creative menu curated by the hardworking team at Common Grounds.

The café is an idyllic setting for social gatherings, too. They balance a busy schedule of community Coffee Hours, Girl Scout cookie pop-ups, book signings with local authors, small business pop-ups and more. They also have a mobile coffee cart from which they serve their specialty drinks at events across Western Mass.

Kristine poses in between two of her employees at Common Grounds as they show off some of the fresh pressed juices in their inventory.

This is the second Morning Mingle that Common Grounds has hosted for Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and we are returning due to high demand. The café is spacious and boasts two stories, loads of seating—think comfy loveseats, tables for group work or independent study and more. They even have a collection of games and a library for the public to peruse, with books and activities for guests of all ages.

Try their handcrafted caffeinated beverages, have a laugh and learn something new with the motivational Jill Monson of POP!more and expand your professional network with us at Common Grounds Café & Lounge, Tuesday, April 7, from 8:45-10am.