How 2 BFFs-Turned-Coffee Mavens Are Bridging Communities Through Hospitality
Photo Caption: Sip & Sonder coffee house owners Shanita Nicholas and Amanda-Jane Thomas.
Skift Take
To see two Black female coffeehouse owners and roasters in the U.S. is a rare thing, but a shared purpose brought Shanita Nicholas and Amanda-Jane Thomas together to launch Sip & Sonder to support Black entrepreneurs from bean to cup, and through a common experience. Their latest journey: supplying hotels.
Born in Germany into a military family, Shanita Nicholas is no stranger to travel. After returning to the U.S. at age six, she continued to travel while studying in different places. But little did she know that a journey that started overseas would lead her to law school and business school in New York, where she met business partner and second-generation Caribbean American and Brooklynite bestie, Amanda-Jane Thomas.
After practicing at the same law firm, the two friends moved to the warmer climate of Los Angeles and eventually settled in Inglewood, just outside of Los Angeles, where they launched Sip & Sonder coffee house in 2017. From opening a coffee shop to directly sourcing and roasting beans from around the world, Nicholas and Thomas have now made their first foray into supplying one of the travel industry’s key sectors: hospitality.
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