KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — CJ Nickens is a retired U.S. Army veteran and owner of The Mint in Downtown Killeen.
He may be a Central Texas neighbor now, but his story begins in Baltimore, Maryland.
”Baltimore had its challenges,” Nickens said.
"I grew up during the peak of the crack epidemic, education was very poor in the area, crime was rampant.”
Growing up he found a love for community service and at 17, he decided he wanted a better life and enlisted in the Army.
”I did MP and for the last 15 years, I did all sorts of intel analysis,” Nickens said.
“I worked in the M.I. field and specialized in counter terrorism and counter narcotics.”
He retired from the Army in 2021 and now owns The Mint — it’s a name inspired by his passion to serve.
”One, we grow fresh mint in the back yard for Mojitos, but mint also is a place that prints money,” Nickens said.
“So to help with certain levels of economic development through mentorship, through private investment and, mint also grows wildly.”
He uses his business to do more than serve a cold drink and hot meal.
”We try to help mentor people, other businesses, things of that nature from lessons learned to how to think more innovatively,” Nickens said.
He says he is proud of being located in Downtown Killeen, so he can be an agent of change for the community.
”It’s actually been cleaned up but it’s a matter of fighting that information war and combatting years of conditioning of, downtown is a bad place,” Nickens said.
He is also opening The Mint for anyone in the community trying to help their neighbors in need, because for him, serving also means helping others who are doing the same thing.
