Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mia Humphreys. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mia, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Special Needz Coffee was established with the mission to provide inclusive employment to individuals with special needs and/or mental illnesses. It is a sister company to Behavioral Autism Therapies (BAT), which has been providing behavioral therapy services to inidividuals with autism in Southern California for over 11 years. As the individuals they are servicing reach adulthood, they found limited opportunities for meaningful employment. The/Executive Director, Larry Humphreys, came up with the concept of a mobile coffee shop that primarily have special needs employees. It is very meaningful because most of these individuals have graduated BAT’s Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) program and are now employed at Special Needz Coffee. This provided them with meaningful employment that they enjoy, as well as continue to work on the socialization/communication skills that they learned through BAT’s ABA program.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Special Needz Coffee (SNC) is a mobile coffee shop located in Ontario, CA that employs individuals with special needs/mental illnesses. Special Needz Coffee is unique because the management team is trained in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and are able to monitor any maladaptive behaviors that may be exhibited during work hours. Aside from this unique structure, Special Needz Coffee also takes pride in serving exquisite coffee from Guatemala, with many trendy specialty drinks on the menu. The drink names are named after disorders outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which was designed to empower the SNC employees, raise awareness and promote inclusivity/acceptance. Since SNC was establised right before the pandemic, the team used that time as a great opportunity for training, as it was able to operate as an outdoor mobile shop. Since then, SNC has been able to establish amazing partnerships with organizations in the community including various school districts/religious organizations, Amazon, Los Angeles County Office of Education, HollyRod Foundation, Special Needs Network, United Airlines, and Special Olympics of Southern California.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

The owners of Special Needz Coffee are Larry Humphreys (CEO/Executive Director) and Mia Humphreys (Administrative Director), who are married and are also the owners of Behavioral Autism Therapies.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

We had the amazing opportunity to replace a large coffee conglomerate as the main coffee provider for the Southern California Special Olympics Summer Games this past June 8th/9th. This was a huge marketing opportunity to be able to partner with the Special Olympics, who share the same goal of empowering individuals with disabilities. We took a risk becuase of the short timeline we had to prepare for it, but we were happy to have been able to pull this off. We are now planning future collaborations for their Fall games.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.specialneedzcoffee.com
• Instagram: @specialneedzcoffee
• Facebook: @specialneedzcoffee
• Twitter: @specialneedzcoffee
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/special-needz-coffee-ontario-3
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@specialneedzcoffee