Tell us a little about your business. – Rose Cat Coffee Co. is Lincoln, Nebraska’s first and only full-service coffee shop dedicated to providing meaningful employment for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) while creating a community that champions inclusivity and broadens the belief in the boundless potential of all people. We serve specialty coffee and non-coffee beverages, fresh baked goods, hearty breakfast items and light lunch offerings.

How did you get started in the business? – Rose Cat began as a dream when I was working as a para in the I/DD classroom in Minnesota. I’ve always been drawn to people that others tend to overlook because I know what it’s like to feel unseen. When working day-in and day-out with these incredible kids, I noticed I was happier and more joyful. That job also highlighted the glaring reality that after they age out of public school (typically at age 21), they struggle with finding employment and integrating fully into their own communities as adults. So really, the dream started there. What if I could create a space where individuals with I/DD had jobs they loved, and where the community had a space to truly get to know these awesome humans and build relationships with them?

What has been your most important achievement professionally? – In the realm of Rose Cat Coffee Co., winning the Young Lincoln Professionals Award for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence is pretty high up on the list. “Winning” the award isn’t why, though. It was the heart, passion and reaction of an entire room full of incredible leaders and professionals in our city that leapt to their feet and clapped and cheered when my employees took the stage. That room understood what Rose Cat is all about, and the looks on each employee’s face that stood on that stage radiated. They knew that they belonged.

Tell us a little about your family. – I’ve been married to my incredible husband for 17 or 18 years?? We’ve both lost track, which seems to work for us. We have three incredible daughters. They are incredibly strong-willed, smart, energetic, opinionated and full of all kinds of attitude. Owning a business is hard. I knew nothing before I started, and it has been a family affair since day one. The girls are with me in the shop often. They have seen the struggle, grit, disappointments and incredible beauty that has come from this adventure. I hope watching me stumble through chasing my dreams will encourage them to chase their own.

Who inspires you? – My husband! He is my polar opposite in many ways. He is calm, collected and levelheaded. He thinks things all the way through BEFORE he does them and rarely has his feathers ruffled. I, on the other hand, am more of a hot mess, fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal. My husband keeps me grounded, is always dependable, will make any crazy project idea of mine come to life and is my biggest supporter, even if he has to bring me back down to Earth now and then.

If you could choose only one descriptive word to be remembered as, what would it be? – Only one word is hard to think of. I think I would say “love.” Not mine, though. My goal is always that people see the love of Jesus through me and that in some small way, I can be his hands and feet and help those who feel unseen by the world know they are loved and seen.

What local nonprofit organization(s) are you passionate about or involved with, and are there any special reasons why? – There are a number of amazing organizations in Lincoln that do incredible things and/or support individuals with disabilities that I’ve had the honor to collaborate with. Down Syndrome Association for Families, Mosaic, ARC and Linked2Literacy are a few.

If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – The easiest way is by email at brenda@rosecatcoffee.com.