At this Las Vegas-born roaster, there’s more than exceptional coffee brewing. There is an entire community of coffee lovers invested in supporting important causes and making an impact together.
CEO Juanny Romero first conceived the Mothership Coffee brand in 2008 under the Sunrise Coffee family. At the time, she knew one thing for certain: She wanted to combine her love of café hangouts with her love of being around people. Coffee, as a universal love language, became the vessel for accomplishing this.
Now, in 2026, Juanny has an even greater understanding of just how vital connection is. “We live in a very digital world,” she says. “There’s definitely an epidemic of loneliness.” Coffee may seem like an unlikely cure on the surface, but for Juanny and her team, it makes sense. Though the coffee is certainly good enough to be a two-time Best of Vegas winner and is part of why people keep coming back, it’s not the full story. “I always tell my team, ‘We could sell water and people would still show up because what we sell is priceless’.”
What Mothership Coffee sells is a specialty not found on the menu: a sense of belonging.
“Everything we do is based around that,” Juanny says. “That’s our value differentiator. That’s what we train on, that’s our values, our mission statement for the company.” Success for the Mothership Coffee brand is not measured merely by numbers. Instead, success about putting purpose into action. “How do we create communities? How do we scale the unscalable?” Juanny asks. Ultimately it’s about “defining culture in a time where culture is very fractured.”
From the beginning, Juanny believed that Mothership Coffee could flourish as an ethically run brand that made a difference, from the sourcing of its coffee to the entire process of roasting and brewing a quality cup that can be savored long after the last sip. Their menu is a constant commitment to that with its signature Sip With Purpose series designed to turn a good cup of coffee into something greater.
One drink, one purpose, each month—Sip With Purpose is an opportunity to directly support a Southern Nevada nonprofit making real change in the community. A portion of each purchase of the month’s original in-house crafted drink is donated to the Sip With Purpose partner who benefits from the funding. Since 2023, Mothership Coffee has funded more than 30 local nonprofits, including Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation, which is dedicated to teaching visually impaired babies how to perform basic tasks.
“It’s the things we take for granted,” Juanny says, “that illustrate the need to raise awareness and give back to the nonprofits that have had a long history here in town making some kind of profound impact in their communities.”
Juanny may have started the Mothership Coffee brand with one coffee shop, but her drive for female empowerment and community involvement has helped grow the brand to six locations and counting, with the company doubling in size in the last six years. For her, its success is rooted in her desire to help others achieve their own. “In recent years, there have been more women and minorities opening businesses and getting licensed in our country,” she shares. “I think that’s what I want to bring in focus, is the message that anyone can open a business. We can open a business that has values, which is meaningful to ourselves and to others, and we can create communities that want to support these businesses.”
That message has inspired Juanny to create change at the state level, where she serves as commissioner for the Nevada Commission on Minority Affairs. For her, it’s everyday people who are the unsung heroes of society and who motivate her own work to advocate for them.
“There’s something inherently beautiful for the person starting a business, for their self-confidence to grow and for their sense of belonging in the world to matter.”
. . . anyone can open a business. We can open a business that has values, which is meaningful to ourselves and to others, and we can create communities that want to support these businesses.
I always tell my team, ‘We could sell water and people would still show up because what we sell is priceless.'