5 Extraordinary Entrepreneurs
For National Entrepreneurs Day, November 19th, we're celebrating 5 extraordinary entrepreneurs who have overcome all obstacles and started their own businesses.
The entrepreneurs here have made thriving businesses even with the challenges that their disabilities present. These are the stories of just some of the entrepreneurs who have cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injury, William's syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.
These extraordinary entrepreneurs are here to advocate and show the world that disabilities are a diagnosis, not a life sentence. These people have opened and run successful businesses all while employing other differently-abled people and giving generously to charities. These are the entrepreneurs who set the standard for the way all businesses should be operated.
WillPower Ties
WillPower Ties launched November 1, 2019 after a conversation between his family and his friend and pedicatrician, Dr. Ben Spitalnick. Will Howell was diagnosed at birth with Cerebral Palsy, but that hasn’t stopped his determination. According to his family, Will has powered through with his “muscular faith and radiant joy.”
As Will neared the end of his high school days, Dr. Ben told Will’s family that “Will needs more than a job, he needs a purpose.” In 2017, Will’s dad saw a video produced by The Mighty about John’s Crazy Socks, a sock company started by entrepreneur John Cronin, who has Down syndrome. John’s Crazy Socks became the spark that inspired Howell’s WillPower Ties. “We started off looking at this process completely backward,” Will’s mom, Melanie, told The Mighty. “We started with the mindset: what business can Carey open which would allow Will to participate? It was as if a new world opened up to us when we switched our mindset to what business can Will open for himself?”
When asked, Will decided he wanted to sell ties–“Ties make me happy. They make me feel proud and grown-up.” And WillPower Ties was born. As the company expands, Will would like to employ other people with disabilities, just as John Cronin from John’s Crazy Socks does. He also wants to raise money for the mobility nonprofit AMBUCS, with the goal of buying them 12 adaptive bikes per year.
Brittany’s Baskets of Hope
Entrepreneur Brittany Schiavone is determined to help give kids with Down syndrome and their families the opportunities Brittany and her family were given when she was born.
“I made my entrance into the world on Sunday, March 19, 1989,” said Brittany. “My mom and dad already had their hands full with my brother who was almost three. After a typical pregnancy and delivery, my parents were stunned to learn the news…I was born with Down syndrome.”
When Brittany was born, a social worker at the hospital gave her parents information about the Association for Children with Down Syndrome, now known as ACDS, which specializes in education for people with down syndrome. Brittany and her mother started attending classes when Brittany was 6 weeks old. At 9 months, she was the first in her class to walk.
Since then, Brittany has won prestigious dance competitions, walked the high school catwalk, attended high school proms, acted in multiple musicals, and been a part of the Special Olympics in swimming, gymnastics, and horseback riding.
Brittany currently holds two part-time jobs, as well as running Britanny’s Baskets of Hope. The baskets she sends out are filled with information, support, guidance, and hope for families who have newly welcomed a baby with Down syndrome into their lives. Since delivering the first Basket of Hope in October 2016, they have now sent over 1,000 baskets of hope to families all over the nation.
Cam’s Coffee Creations
Camden, a.k.a. Cam, Myers was just 9 years old when he opened a pop-up coffee shop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as well as an online store. At birth, Cam suffered from a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Due to this, things like tying his shoes or grasping a pencil are difficult for Cam. With this and the social challenges he has faced, Cam started to really lose quite a bit of confidence in himself.
What then started as a hobby, became a mission. Cam wanted to empower others who have intellectual and developmental disabilities to feel good about themselves and accomplished. As the business grows, he wants to employ as many people with special needs as he can, while also donating to homeless shelters and programs. “I like helping people. I like working. I like making money and I like donating money. I like donating money to people who don't have houses or food."
John’s Crazy Socks
John’s Crazy Socks is a business that we’ve been cheering on for a while now. John has such a wild imagination when it comes to his designs, that they’re always fun to wear. He also makes sure that they’re top quality, so you can wear them for much longer than your average sock.
“John’s affinity for crazy socks paired with his love of making people smile made our mission clear: we want to spread happiness.”
John Lee Cronin started his sock empire with his dad, Mark Cronin, in 2016. At the time, John was coming to his last year of high school and trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. At the same time, his dad had been experimenting with online businesses.
After some consideration, John told his dad that he’d like to go into business with him. Making a job he liked rather than looking for a job that he might like just made more sense to John. So, that’s what they did.
In their first of business, John's Crazy Socks made an astounding $1.7 million in revenue. The next year, they made $5.5 million. So, it’s easy to see that the socks are very popular. As well as their main stock of socks, they offer a Sock of the Month club as well as socks designed for certain charities and awareness events. They take a portion of their awareness and charity sock sales and donate it to the cause those socks represent. They also donate 5 percent of their earnings to the Special Olympics. To date, the business has donated over $300,000 for the National Down Syndrome Society, the Autism Society of America, the Williams Syndrome Association and more.
In 2019, John became the first person with Down syndrome to win the Entrepreneur Of The Year New York Award. He and his father, Mark, have also testified in front of congress in order to rally for greater employment rights for people with disabilities.
"Employers complain that they cannot find enough good workers, yet nearly 80 percent of the disabled are unemployed. We have this vast untapped pool of labor – a great national resource – that is ready, able and willing to work," Mark Cronin said as he addressed Congress. "We want people to see the benefits of hiring workers of all abilities. We hire people of differing abilities not out of altruism, but because it is good business."
John’s Crazy Socks come in tons of different colors, and have all been made with the help of a staff who have a whole range of abilities.
Jenny Lynn Unrein
Artist and entrepreneur Jenny Lynn Unrein has a very successful business selling her artwork all over the world. She’s 26 years old, has William’s syndrome, and is extraordinarily ambitious. Based in Topeka, Kansas. Jenny runs her super successful business, JennyLU Designs, with her stepmother, Wendi Unrein.
As a kid, Jenny would make a variety of cards for her art teacher stepmom, Wendi. Wendi saw her talent right away. “The thing I noticed about her artwork right away was that her stuff was very empathetic,” Wendi Unrein told The Mighty. “There were hearts and colors and the words ‘I love you’ written all over. There was this passion in it.”
The pair do not run this business in order to generate a profit for themselves. They donate almost all of their proceeds to cancer research.
About Stephen’s Place
Stephen’s Place is an independent apartment community for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, located in Vancouver, WA (7 minutes from Portland, OR).
If you have a loved one with developmental or intellectual disabilities, who is looking for a community to live in, please contact us for more information.
Stephen’s Place is a private-pay apartment community due to our state-of-the-art amenities and programs. We are a nonprofit and do not profit from our community. We are private pay because we spend more than some housing communities to ensure that our residents are comfortable and can safely live their lives with independence and dignity.