We're often asked, "What's your favorite coffee?"
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Who We Are
- ROOTED IN CARE
- BUILT ON PURPOSE
- DRIVEN BY PEOPLE
Patricia Coonan – CEO & Co-founder
Woman Owned
Big Shoulders Coffee is a woman-owned hospitality company. At our foundation, we work to create a hospitality experience for both our employees and our guests.
Our core tenant is service to each other. If we cannot care for each other, we certainly won’t be successful in caring for our guests and others.
We emphasize care in:
- The way we act
- The way we react
- the way we look (body language
- The way we sound and how we say it
- The way we think
Divergent Thinking In Supply Chain
It is a mistake to look at supply chain diversity as just some sort of a social justice program and another box to check or a pat on the back.
During the darkest days of COVID everyone encountered supply chain problems. It taught us that developing relationships with like-minded, often scrappy and creative businesses (sometimes in our own backyard) makes us smarter and more competitive in measurable ways that we can share with our customers.
It’s not always about price or cost. More often than not, it’s about pride in craftsmanship, and speed on turnaround. Diverse suppliers can offer differentiated solutions that help our brand and your bottom line.
Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is
In a world where everyone is shouting into a megaphone, we choose to go another course. We support all sorts of initiatives, but we've chosen to remain modest and humble in carefully considering how we communicate this: We do so quietly because it's in our DNA.
The incredible organizations we support
The Night Ministry
The Night Ministry is a Chicago-based organization whose mission is to provide human connection, housing support, and health care to those who are unhoused or experiencing poverty. We support them financially and provide coffee donations for brewing on cold Chicago nights.
The Black Creativity Program at MSI
We help Black Creativity reach their goals to inspire and motivate children to consider the fields of science, technology, engineering and medicine. This program celebrates these achievements of young African Americans.
Taste of Hope
For the last six years, we have participated in the Taste of Hope. This is the annual American Cancer Society fundraiser. Cancer will affect all of us at some point. It has taken people that we loved way too soon. The fight against and research for a cure has been one of our long-time commitments at Big Shoulders. We do it to remember Amy, our sister.
Farmers Project
Over the years we have supported Farmers Project. Their mission of doing things with integrity and grace strikes us, well, as just awesome. Most recently we contributed in their cause to buy proper clothing for harvesters during the wet, muddy season in Costa Rica.
Working Bikes
Working Bikes is another organization that we admire and support. Working Bikes strengthens local and global communities by giving donated bicycles new life and redistributing globally them as tools for self-determination.
MOD Collective
Parents who struggle to afford diapers often feel a deep sense of shame, sorrow, and guilt, despite nearly half of all U.S. families being in the same boat. MOD strives to change this with their Diaper Dollars program which provides diaper options firmly in parents' hands and removes stigma.
Sustainability As A Guide
We believe in leaving things better than we found them. That means caring for our planet, but most of all, it means helping people grow. We know we’re on the right track, but we're far from done.
Before COVID, our North Star was sustainability. We invested in eco-friendly materials and partnered with vendors who shared our vision. Then, the conversation was hijacked—survival became the new sustainability.
Now, we are rebuilding with more intention than ever. While how we work has changed, our mission to make a positive impact hasn't wavered.
Our Commitment to a Better Roast
This is why we roast exclusively on Loring Smart Roasters, the most energy-efficient on the planet.
They allow us to produce low-smoke roasts without an energy-sucking afterburner, drastically cutting our emissions and environmental footprint.
Their brilliant design recirculates hot air instead of sending it up the stack, using far less fuel to achieve a precise roast. It’s technology so clean it meets some of the world's strictest air quality standards.
The result is an incredibly consistent, sweet, and balanced coffee that has earned us significant recognition.
Belonging
A diverse team is just the start. The real work is building a culture where everyone truly belongs.
The questions we ask are: Do people feel safe to be themselves? Can they contribute fully and grow here?
Work is often messy and draining. But since it takes so much of our lives, it must offer more than a paycheck—it must offer dignity. We believe no one should have to do soul-crushing work or play politics just to succeed.
Instead, we aim for a shared purpose and pride in what we build together, knowing we’ll fall short some days. What matters is moving forward with honest engagement, humility, and openness.
In the end, it’s clear, caring, courageous communication that unlocks understanding. When that happens, we all feel it. It fills us up.
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