about us
our story
While practicing law at the same law firm, Amanda-Jane Thomas and Shanita Nicholas became friends. Eventually, the two women also became business partners, their dreams and passions converging into the creation of Sip & Sonder.
Established in 2017 in Inglewood, CA, Sip & Sonder is a global Black women-owned coffee brand with a portfolio of coffeehouses, a coffee roastery, and digital content spaces.
'Sonder' is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. Our coffeehouses are entrepreneurial and creative hubs where creatives, entrepreneurs, freelancers, curators, and everyone in between can simply exist, grab a cup of coffee, connect, create, and put sonder into action.
As a manufacturer, Sip & Sonder intentionally curates specialty coffee products that originate from communities of color around the world with processes that are sustainable, traceable, and intentional.
Through original content and programming and keeping our thumb on the cultural zeitgeist, Sip & Sonder is redefining the global coffee experience and leading the next wave of coffee. By centering Black diasporic experiences and telling the stories of stakeholders at origin, we invite the world to
Come for the coffee, stay for the culture!
For the Community. For the Culture.
“Shanita’s goal was to provide the startup community access to business and networks while drinking coffee,” Amanda shares with ESSENCE. “For me, there weren’t many coffee shops growing up in Brooklyn in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and my interactions with the ones that I did visit were almost as an outsider, never feeling truly at home, sipping coffee, taking in the smells and sights, lost in my own thoughts. It was clear to both of us that, for myriad reasons, our community needed a space like Sip & Sonder: it was a response to the great amount of talent and creativity in the community, lack of outlets for expansive expression, and hurried gentrification that ultimately led to disgruntlement and displacement. Upon moving to Los Angeles, we found that Inglewood and the surrounding area was where Black culture was thriving, unadulterated. That was also around the time it was announced that a new NFL stadium housing the Rams and Chargers would be built in the middle of the city, reminiscent of similar buildouts in other cities across the country, including Brooklyn. We immediately knew that Inglewood would be Sip & Sonder’s flagship home.”
— Essence Magazine, July 2018
“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even illness becomes wellness.”
— MALCOLM X
meet the team
amanda-jane thomas
C0-FOUNDER
As an attorney, Amanda-Jane has represented a variety of clients across the entertainment, cannabis, and financial services industries in intellectual property and complex commercial litigation and corporate matters. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
“For creation to happen we need to connect with each other and have the necessary tools and resources within our reach. Allies are great and necessary, but the black community is so dynamic and has so much to offer, why not start building from within?”
shanita nicholas
C0-FOUNDER
Shanita’s law practice has focused on general corporate start-up and venture capital financing work. She holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science and a J.D./M.B.A. from Columbia Law and Business Schools. She became a Certified Q Grader for Arabica Coffee summer 2023.
“Coffee shops have always been a place to get news, exchange ideas, listen, tell stories, and to meet new and old friends...these aspects of connecting, storytelling and getting business done are hugely important to building community and culture and are uniquely found in coffee shops, which are not typically found in black communities.”
“Black culture has always been trendsetting ... it is important that we continue to use our own voices so we're owning the narrative of our culture and lifting us up. Be loud, be proud!” — ASHLEY N.
“When it comes to things like health, happiness and wealth, everyone is on their own journey ... I believe this is the most important piece in these conversations: sharing realistic paths to health and prosperity.” — SACHA S.
“... Our stories were being told by people who don't look like us. Actors, writers and filmmakers of color were fighting for inclusion in mainstream media, but now I feel we are more adept and creating and catering to our own markets.” — ANISSA F.
JOIN OUR TEAM
At Sip & Sonder, we’re always looking for talented individuals to join our team.