WORLD CITIZENSHIP AWARD
Brewing Purpose
BY SCARLET THOMPSON
AMY WRIGHT WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA UNITED STATES
Amy Wright started drinking coffee when she became a parent, adding just a bit of cream and sugar to her morning pick-me-up. Nowadays, her cup of joe comes with much more – the satisfaction it’s changing lives and perceptions. The Wilmington, North Carolina, mother of four is the proud founder of Bitty and Beau’s, a coffee shop chain employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The company is named after her two younger children, who both live with Down syndrome. “From the time Beau was born, we’ve been advocating and trying to figure out ways to bring people into our world, and to show them the value of our children,” says Wright. “We would do things like hosting walks and blogging, but we couldn’t quite get where we wanted to be with getting people to care about what we cared about so much.” Then, in fall 2015, the answer came to Wright out of the blue, of all things, in the shower. She decided she would open a coffee shop. “My husband thought I was crazy because we had no experience in retail, the restaurant business or even coffee. But I just really felt called to do it,” said Wright. The musical theatre major wasted no time. That afternoon she found a spot for the shop and signed a lease. In less than three 8
CIVITAN MAGAZINE
months, the shop – which could only seat 12 people - was open for business. “Our biggest challenge was that we did not anticipate how we would be embraced,” says Wright. “Literally we would have a line out the door and around the building almost every day.” Over the next few months, the shop would move to donated space, where the number of employees doubled to 40, and there was plenty of room to accommodate the crowds that were coming for its custom blends, frappes and sweet treats. While accommodations for some employees had to be made, many of them came about organically as part of Wright’s business strategy. She approached the shop’s processes from a standpoint of what would be done for her own child, who could one day work there. Playing cards, for example, are used at the checkout. That way cashiers have better visual supports to track people’s orders instead of names. The shop also uses automated machines to steam milk and other ingredients so employees don’t have to worry about those details and can spend more time talking to customers. It’s an approach that capitalizes on employees’ abilities, while positively changing their lives. “Most of our employees have never had a job before and certainly have never been paid competitive wages,” says Wright.
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