Bitty & Beau's Coffee

Amy and her husband, Ben, are the proud parents of four children – their two youngest having Down syndrome, and their oldest autism. As an advocate for the value, acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities, Amy has worked collaboratively with the Special Olympics and Best Buddies. Amy’s vision for changing the 80% national unemployment rate for people with disabilities led her to her most fulfilling business venture yet – founding Bitty & Beau’s Coffee. The shops are run by over 120 people with disabilities and have been featured on the Today Show, CNN, Good Morning America, BBC, Harry Show, Southern Living & People Magazine. Amy is the 2019 recipient of the International World Civitan Award, 2019 Salesforce Service Equality Award, 2018 William C. Friday Award, the Trillium Transformation of Lives Award, The National Inclusion Project Champion Award, ADAPT Leadership Award and was named 2017 CNN Hero of the Year.

1 in 5 Americans has a disability and 80% of these individuals are unemployed. While this may seem like a classic unemployment problem, I believe it’s a result of a larger, more insidious social and cultural problem that has created an unemployment problem. The power of Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is not just its ability to create jobs for people with disabilities, but to create a place where customers see the inherent value in the lives of people with disabilities. Our employees are not broken. What is broken is the lens through which we view people with disabilities. Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is a new lens – one that’s changing the way people see other people.

With 1 in 5 Americans having a disability and 80% of them unemployed, we originally opened our shops to make a dent in our community’s unemployment rate for people with disabilities. Today, we’ve found ourselves spearheading a global movement that promotes the value, acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities. Bitty & Beau's Coffee is more than just a place to grab a cup of coffee – it’s an experience – a safe place to challenge your own thoughts on how you view this population of people. Bitty & Beau's Coffee creates a culture where diversity is not just appreciated, it's celebrated.

Bitty & Beau's Coffee is a chain of coffee shops run by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We employ 120 people with disabilities that all earn above minimum wage. We currently have locations in Wilmington, NC, Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, and Annapolis, MD, with expansion plans in the works. When Bitty & Beau’s Coffee first opened its doors, our mission was to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but that mission quickly evolved into something far greater - a human rights movement - disguised as a coffee shop. We believe that in order to accept and include people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, you must first see their value as humans. Bitty & Beau’s Coffee creates a place for typically developing people to do just that.  

If Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is about anything, it’s about hope. We’re bringing hope to more than 200 million people worldwide that are living with an intellectual or developmental disability and also to their families. We believe it’s time to recognize these individuals as valuable, capable and worthy. It’s time we stop marginalizing their abilities and embrace the fact that their differences are an integral part of the fabric of our society. It’s time that these 6.5 million people are allowed the same opportunities every other citizen is afforded through education, medical care, social acceptance and employment.

The idea to open a coffee shop hit me like a lightning bolt one day while I was taking a shower. I remember cutting off the water and running into the living room where my husband was reading the paper. I blurted out “coffee shop” and two days later I was signing a lease. The original shop was a labor of love for our family as we painted, hung lights, assembled furniture and chalked the menu on the wall. We took a crash course in coffee and spent sleepless nights scouring the internet for everything from equipment to ingredients. We hosted an informational meeting to share our vision with potential employees and begin the hiring process. Most of our applicants had never had a job before. We initially hired 19 capable, hard working, grateful employees. Everyone had an intellectual or developmental disability - Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy. We figured out what their skill set was and we found a way to plug them in. Whether they were working at the register, making drinks, greeting people or keeping things neat and in order, our team was doing something greater than serving coffee – they were changing people’s perceptions.

When I was pregnant with our fourth child, my mom said something to me I’ll never forget. She said, “I hope this child you’re expecting has Down syndrome.” It’s hard for most people to believe anyone would hope for a child with Down syndrome, especially in a world that struggles to see the intrinsic value in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. But for our family, who had already welcomed a son with Down syndrome 4 years earlier, we had a unique perspective and an understanding that a diagnosis does not define a human being. Just as my mother hoped for us, our 4th child was born with Down syndrome, too. As the parents of children with disabilities, you can’t help but become an advocate. Over the course of the past 16 years, our family has invested our lives in the hopes of making the world a better place for people with disabilities so that our children and others with disabilities are valued, accepted and included in all aspects of society.

Raising 3 children with disabilities in a world that isn’t built for them, fuels my fire. Whether testifying before Senate, delivering speeches at the White House or opening new coffee shops, I'm laser focused on creating a better world for my children and others with disabilities. 

When our son, Beau, was born almost 16 years ago – we knew very little about Down syndrome, a condition that manifests in an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. This extra genetic material has brought a host of blessings to our family, but it has also brought many challenges. As the parents of 2 children with Down syndrome and 1 child with autism, we spend the majority of our days supporting, advocating and protecting our children who often find themselves lost in a world that misunderstands, marginalizes and discriminates against them. We live with this reality 24/7, but I have grown to feel comfortable swimming upstream - it not only gives my life purpose, it gives it meaning. 

Imagine having a baby with Down syndrome and never hearing the word “Congratulations!”?  This sad reality happened to me when our son was born and still happens today. It's also the catalyst that drives families from all over the world to visit Bitty & Beau’s Coffee - for a glimpse of what’s possible for their child's future. A few weeks after we opened our doors, I  watched a couple sit at the bar and converse with one of our employees, Elizabeth, who has Down syndrome. In between serving cups of coffee, Elizabeth would lean over the counter and give the couple hugs. When the couple got up to leave, I overheard the woman tell Elizabeth that she was going to have a baby soon and that their daughter also had Down syndrome. With her most enthusiastic voice, Elizabeth threw her hands in the air and cheered, “Congratulations!” A few weeks later I found myself confronted by a family who was also expecting a child with Down syndrome and considering terminating the pregnancy due to fear of the unknown. I asked them if anyone had told them "Congratulations?" Some of my greatest leadership skills have been learned through watching my employees.

Currently serving 120 people with disabilities

Projecting to serve an additional 100 people with disabilities in 2021

Projecting to serve 800+ people with disabilities in 5 years

We'd like to open an additional 50 shops in the next 5 years. We'd also like to expand glabally.

No current partners.

Selling products and services.