She Brews More Than Coffee: A Business Built on Second Chances
By Sheena Chiang (03/22/26) — Tulsa, OK
Running a business is hard.
Running it with heart is even harder.
She Brews Coffee Roasters is a Tulsa coffee roastery, but more than that, it’s a transition program for formerly incarcerated women. She Brews was started by Rhonda Bear out of an antique hall in Claremore, a city Northeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She began by selling Folgers out of a “crappy Mr. Coffee brewer”, but now, her coffee shops are serving some of the best cappuccinos I’ve ever tried.
She Brews came to life because of Rhonda’s personal story: after losing custody of her children and being incarcerated herself, Rhonda wanted to turn her life around. In doing so, she founded a small empire to help those like herself. She Brews has helped over 500 women transition from prison, reconcile with family, and regain a sense of self. Every single woman who has gone through the She Brews Transition Program has heard the gospel from and spoken to Rhonda personally.
Of course, it takes more than one woman to run an empire. I had the honor of talking to Daniel Miller, the director of operations, who took me through many of the details that help She Brews run smoothly.
The program is split into two. The first is the retail side, which includes coffee houses at three locations that serve coffee, beans, merchandise, and baked goods. This is the delicious for-profit side that I get to enjoy.
All the profit from this arm is funneled directly to the second branch of the organization, which is the transition program itself. Every penny goes directly towards a comprehensive preparation program for the women who choose to join She Brews. They are placed into jobs as part of training. The majority are hired to act as baristas, roasters, and staff.
This two-pronged program is partially why running She Brews is so operationally complex, and as Daniel confessed, just “really tough”. Unlike a traditional business, Daniel can't simply hire for fit or let someone go when things get hard. He has to make the most of the skillsets of each woman who joins, wherever they are in their journey of healing, regardless of whether they are still working through their trauma and afflictions. This business requires patience, adaptability, and heart.
Besides their main business objective, She Brews is a community organization in so many other ways. The core of the program is sustained by the support of Tulsa’s every corner:
Donors: Only around 50 to 60% of the transition program’s costs are covered by the coffee houses—the rest comes from entities that donate anywhere from $5 to $10,000.
Corporate Partners: Churches buy beans wholesale to brew for their Sunday services.
Coffee experts: Some of the best, most experienced roasters and baristas from cafes all over Tulsa have mentored She Brews staff.
Witnessing this community effort is so encouraging and heartwarming. These coffee experts are willing to share their trade secrets to improve the lives of women in need.
Such collective support illustrates how deeply She Brews is tied to Oklahoma and its community. Given that Oklahoma has one of the highest rates of female incarceration in the country, it’s profoundly meaningful for the Tulsa community to join in helping reverse trends of poverty and cycles of violence (Still She Rises, 2019).
She Brews is made even more special because the core of the business extends throughout all its practices. When sourcing beans, Daniel Miller outlined two principles they try their best to adhere to: 1) Sourcing from women-owned farms, since “their stories connect to our stories”; and 2) Buying organic and fair-trade from farmers that don’t use exploitative practices or damage the environment. Coffee beans are the second commodity behind cocoa and extremely sensitive to market fluctuations, but by choosing small farms with fair practices, She Brews supports a sustainable supply chain, furthering its mission of social impact. Their merchandise is in collaboration with Known Supply, an ethical and sustainable clothing brand, too!
Ultimately, running a business is hard, but “For Rhonda, the true impact of She Brews isn’t measured in business success, but in transformed lives” (Johnson)—and that’s a metric that can’t be quantified.
If you would like to support their cause and drink excellent coffee, check them out at https://shebrews.org/.
Sources:
Johnson, S. (n.d.). From prison to purpose: How Rhonda Bear is changing lives one cup at a time.
City Lifestyle. https://citylifestyle.com/articles/from-prison-to-purpose-3
Still She Rises, Tulsa. (2019). The issue. https://stillsherises.org/the-issue
