We want to hear about your employment or entrepreneurial success story! NDSS is featuring stories from across the country from the perspective of employees and entrepreneurs with Down syndrome. Please complete the form below and submit a picture of a self-advocate in action!
I’m no stranger to making change, advocating, and leading. I made history in 2018 when I became the first town crier with Down syndrome in Canada.
During the first year of the pandemic, I became president of the Mount Saint Vincent University Student Union. I am now a Director for five organizations focused on disabilities.
On February 11, 2023, I launched my business, Planet*21, a pop-up theater and event planning business that puts social change and Down syndrome at the heart of its business. My business model includes hiring volunteers with Down syndrome and giving them work experience in my events. We even won the 2024 CANADIAN CHOICE AWARD for Entertainment & Event Planning in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
We offer customized event planning for celebrations and offer live theater, movies, and stage productions. I also offer interview services, similar to the View, and public speaking services that focus on Down syndrome, advocacy, and awareness.
With the support of my peers, TEAM Work Cooperative, Nova Scotia Works, and the Halifax Nova Scotia Down Syndrome Society, I feel unstoppable.
I see this as an opportunity to provide real-life work skills and create awareness for the potential in the Down syndrome community.
Jordan has worked at AMC theater for 3 years. She started in high school when all her other friends were starting part-time jobs as well. She helps to clean the theaters, stocks the beverage supplies and picks up the atrium areas. Movies are the best part of her job as she gets to see all of them for free! The staff says that Jordan is a hard worker and it is a pleasure to have her as an employee!
Hi! My name is Kayla Campos, and I am the CEO of K Bee Candles. Please check my website – kbeecandles.com.
My wonderful life began on January 1991. I have Down Syndrome, and the first three years of my life were very difficult. I spent lots of time in the hospital due to Bronchitis and ear infections. I enjoyed school, even though I suffered bullying because of my different abilities. I’m proud of who I’m and enjoy when I surprise people when they hear me speak in Spanish and English.
My parents and I are very thankful to the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida for the Entrepreneur Academy, where I learned valuable guidance on how to start my own business. Adam, Janet, and all the leaders of the Academy have encouraged each of the CEO‘s and our sidekicks (our parents) on how to keep our business growing. I make the candles in my home kitchen. My candles are made in small batches using 100% organic beeswax pellets. I enjoy making the candles because they are hypo-allergenic, great for people with Asthma and allergies. Beeswax candles are the perfect choice for those of us who want a clean burning candle in our home. I’m looking forward to make my business grow!
Raquel Caramello is 16 years old, a model, speaker, business owner, and budding philanthropist and community advocate. She is the visionary and creator of her jewelry line – www.RaquelBeautiful.com As the CEO and the designer and curator of her jewelry, Raquel chooses jewelry that will inspire others. “I want others to be inspired and feel positive and beautiful when they wear my jewelry.” It’s not just a business for her. The vision of the brand was inspired by bullying that Raquel endured when she was battling leukemia.
“When I lost my hair, some mean kids called me ugly and hideous because I was bald. I felt bad, and I don’t want anyone to feel bad about themselves. Everyone is beautiful and unique.” Each piece of her jewelry comes with a handwritten note from Raquel that says “You are beautiful.” She has shared the message with over 10,000 people, sold close to $10,000 in jewelry, and donated over $7,000 to new Moms that have had a baby with Down syndrome, children with Cancer and their parents, or nurses and heroes in our community. All sharing the inspirational message of beauty, ability, and gratitude. If that wasn’t enough, Raquel raises money for local and national Down syndrome groups like the National Down Syndrome Society. She also supports Special Olympics, Best Buddies, Morning Star School, and Make-a-Wish. Together she has raised close to $8,000 for causes that mean a lot to her.
Raquel is a shining example that a diagnosis does not define her and despite challenges in life, there is beauty that you can find all over
I work at Swirlz and I get to do everything! I can use the cash register and I love it. I am 35 and have worked other places but I only got to wash dishes and sweep. I have taught myself to be motivated with filling cups, napkins and toppings. I feel very important at Swirlz. I have been at the job for 2 years. I love to meet new customers and they learn my name and we become friends. I also love being part of the Swirlz team of employees.
My job makes me feel proud. You can see pictures of me on Facebook: Swirlz, Smoothies & Frozen Yogurt My advice for other individuals with Down syndrome is to learn to count money, especially coins and don’t give up. Believe in yourself and keep dreaming big. Think about what is the next right thing to do and do it before your boss asks
My name is Tucker Collins and I am a photographer. I love taking pictures: selfies, surprise portraits, crazy views, I love it all. When I was about 10, I picked up my Mom’s camera and started to shoot. I wanted my family to see what I saw. My Mom saw the pictures and knew we had found a way to show my ABILITY to the world. It’s my way of showing everyone how I view the world because people don’t always understand what I am saying
We started Tucker Collins Photography about 3 years ago. I have a website and do some local events such as school holiday fairs and the MDSC Congress to sell notecards and large format canvases.
There is an old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. I say that if a picture is worth a thousand words, let me share my novel with you! I see something in my view, and go for it. We don’t typically edit the photos before we print.
I dream of a future in visual arts with both still and moving pictures, and hope to attend the New York Film Academy after high school. My brother is a film maker and I want to help him tell stories. I want to live in New York City.
Hello, my name is Zachary Cooper and I am 30 years old. I live in Mooresville, North Carolina with my family. I graduated from Mooresville High School with an Occupational Course of Study diploma. I have been participating in Special Olympics at the local and state levels since I was 8 years old.
For 5 years, I worked at a local pizzeria. When I worked at Johnny Brusco’s at the Lake, I made boxes, cleaned the menus, and filled the containers of the ranch and blue cheese dressing. This job was a lot of fun and my co-workers were very helpful.
I volunteer at a local driving range and a mini-golf course. While there I clean the windows, bathrooms, and sweep the floors.
Twice a week my worker Dawn and I go to the public library. I love to learn about the history of the United States and the weather.
When I was younger I always wanted to go to work with my dad, David. He and my mom, Lisa thought it would be a great idea for our family to open a business together. They wanted our business to be able to hire other individuals with disabilities. My parents wanted me to decide what kind of business we would open. After thinking, I decided we should open a doughnut and coffee shop.
Our business is called Down For Doughnuts and it opened on March 21, World Down Syndrome Day! My favorites things to do at the shop are making doughnuts in the kitchen with my dad and doing interviews. I like talking about doughnuts and Down syndrome
My name is Stephanie and I am proud to be the owner of 4 Leaf Coffee selling Dreamers Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and gifts to help bring awareness to the fact that people with disabilities can work, lead normal lives, and achieve their dreams. I am a college student learning about business and now I have the great opportunity to share my dream with others and allow people to enjoy the great taste of our products!
My name is John Cronin. I have Down syndrome. Last November, I started a new business with my Dad. It is called John’s Crazy Socks and we sell socks online. I love having my own business and I love working with my Dad. I want to share my story so that people can learn about John’s Crazy Socks and other people can see what someone with Down syndrome can do.
I love hearing my Dad tell the story of when I was born and he held me in his arms and cried because he was so happy. I don’t remember any of this, but I was sick when I was born. I had two operations. Doctors fixed my intestine when I was only two days old. And before I was three months old, I had heart surgery because I had a hole in my heart. A lot of people with Down syndrome are born with heart problems, but good doctors can repair those hearts. My Mom and Dad have pictures when I was just a tiny, tiny baby, but now I am big, strong and healthy.
I have my own business now, but I spent a lot of time in school learning so I could start my business. I went to pre-school at ACDS. I remember riding the bus to school and have pictures from when I was playing in that school. They helped me get started. After pre-school, I went to the Huntington Schools. I have had many really good teachers there who helped me a lot. They were very special to me. When I was a little kid, I had an aide who would help me in school. I liked my aides, but I wanted to show them that I would do things on my own so then I didn’t need an aide. I also took the big bus to school like everyone else so I didn’t need to ride on the little bus.
My favorite subject is math, but I like all my classes. I studied life skills with Dr. Murphy-Jessen, though I also got to take chorus, photography and fashion. Ms. Klee has been my speech teacher and she is always helping me. I keep working on my speech because in my business I meet with so many people and speak to big groups. During the last three years, I spent half my day at Huntington High School and half my day at Wilson Tech. This year, I am studying retailing at Wilson Tech. Two days a week, I go into the community and work at stores. I work at Bob’s and Marshalls. And we run the snack shop at Wilson Tech.
I have two big brothers and they played a lot of sports and even played football in college. I wanted to be like them so I play a lot of sports in the Special Olympics. I love the Special Olympics. I play soccer, basketball, floor hockey, track, bowling and snowshoe. I go to practices and we train for the big games and matches. I love going to the State Games. I take the bus with the team and stay in a hotel with the team. I can do that because I am independent and can do things on my own. I have a lot of great coaches in Special Olympics like Coach Mike and Coach Murray in soccer, and Coach Joe and my brothers and Dad who help coach. My favorite coach is Linda Roth who is my snowshoe coach. She is a tough woman, but lots of fun and she gets us to run hard. We train on the beach in the summer when there is no snow and get in shape for our races in the winter.
My brothers Patrick and Jamie have always helped me and my Dad and Mom love me and teach me all the time. They help me do things on my own. I like to be independent and show people what I can do. I have my own room and I take care of that. I bring my laundry to the laundromat. I can make my own food. When we go out, I order my own food and I pay for things. I can walk into town on my own because my parents trust me and I like to do things like everybody else.
I had my first job in a law office for my parents. I would help with the shredding and go to the Post Office. I first went to the Post Office with my Dad and he showed me what to do. Then I went by myself. Two years ago, my parents gave me a contract. I had my responsibilities and I did them every day. I did the shredding and went to the Post Office and cleaned up outside and took care of the recycling. I also did errands like bring checks to people and pick up things at the store. I loved having a job and earning money to pay for things on my own. Last summer, I got a job working in the kitchen at Camp Alvernia. I went to Camp Alvernia when I was a little kid and was happy to go back and work there. I helped put drinks in the refrigerator and get food ready to cook and I cleaned up after the lunches.
Because I turned 21, this is my last year in school. I loved going to school and seeing my teachers and my friends, but I want to be a grown up. I was thinking of a lot of different things after leaving school, but I wanted to go into business with my Dad. Last November, we were talking about my socks because I always liked to wear fun socks. I said we should sell socks and he agreed. That’s how we can up with the idea of John’s Crazy Socks. We wanted to do something fast so we could see if the store would work. I helped pick out socks and my Dad built the website and helped organize the company. We made a Facebook page and I made videos for Facebook. We discussed all the plans and worked hard to make our business a success. We opened our store on Friday, December 9, 2016. And wow, people loved what we did. We sold so many socks that we ran out of socks that weekend. We sent our socks all around the country, though I made home deliveries in the town where I live, Huntington, NY. I loved making the home deliveries and meeting customers and seeing them smile.
Because I love the Special Olympics so much, we decided to give to the Special Olympics. So we give 5 percent of everything we make to the Special Olympics. Since I have Down syndrome, I wanted to do a Down syndrome sock. My Dad and I designed this sock and we give money from it to my old school, ACDS, and to the National Down Syndrome Society. I have a lot of friends with autism, so I wanted to do an autism sock too. So now we have an Autism Awareness Sock and we give money to charity from that sock.
My Dad says I am the face of the business. My face is on the logo. I make videos about our sock store. I meet with the sock makers and help pick out socks. I meet with customers and speak to community groups. I like to give my business card to people and tell them to buy my socks.
Every day I work in my business. I help get the socks to put in orders. I write thank you cards that we put into every package. I help put together the cards and candy that we put in our packages. I bring our packages to the Post Office every day. My Dad jokes that I look like Santa Claus carrying a bag of goodies. And I make local deliveries.
We are growing our business. We have hired people to work with us and some of my classmates from school who have autism work with me now. I keep picking out new socks and we have more socks to sell in our store. We hope to have the world’s largest sock store someday. I also hope to be on the Ellen Show to talk about my business.
I hope you enjoyed reading my story. I get to do a lot and I love running my own business. I could not do it on my own. I got help from my family and my teachers, but I am able to work in my business and show that people with Down Syndrome can work and do many things
My name is Sean Davis. I am 22 years old and work as a classroom aide at The Rise School of Houston. I work in the 2-year-old classroom and love my job. I get to set up the classroom before the kids arrive, I clean dishes after lunch, clean mats after naps and do a lot of laundry. I really enjoy reading books to the kids and playing outside with them.
I also work at Howdy’s Homemade Ice Cream – Katy once/week, serving ice cream and making customers smile. I love talking with the customers and adding lots of toppings to their ice cream order. I also help clean the shop and set up and take down chairs and tables. It is a lot of responsibility.
Outside of work, I enjoy watching Houston sports teams (Houston Texans, Houston Rockets and the Houston Astros)! I also play SOTX Basketball. I’m really fast and great at defense. I like watching movies and listening to music. I volunteer at my church community service warehouse and at different events put on by Summerhouse Houston (community-based day services). I attend summer camp for a week in the summers and I also volunteer to serve at summer camp for 2 weeks in the summer. Camp is the best place in the world. I enjoy traveling with my family and hanging out with my friends.
Our daughter, Stephanie, is 42 years old. She has been employed by Old Navy for twenty years. Stephanie has always wanted to work in the clothing industry. She loves going to work and helping customers. Her boss says she lights up the store!
Hi, my name is Ashley DeRamus and I am a person with Down syndrome.
My imagination and drive to succeed know no limits. So, having Down syndrome has never stopped me from following any of my dreams.
Now, at the age of 34, I am an award winning athlete, a national advocate for individuals with Down syndrome and other disabilities, a public speaker, a fashion designer and the leader of a charitable foundation for people with Down syndrome.
As an athlete, I have earned 43 medals for swimming in the Special Olympics competitions. I am also a sailor, having logged 5 days on the HMS Bounty tall ship showing the world that having Down syndrome does not stop me from achieving my dreams. However, my dreams keep on growing.
As a national advocate and public speaker, one of my most cherished aspirations is to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at public forums in all 50 states to raise national awareness of the abilities of people with Down syndrome and to encourage people with Down syndrome to be informed voters. I have already led the Pledge in 30 states, at locations such as the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Grand Canyon. With 20 more states to go, I have had other opportunities to spread awareness of the varying abilities of people with Down syndrome using other platforms. I was interviewed at the United Nations speakers corner, which allowed me to show people from around the world how I, Ashley DeRamus, a person with Down syndrome can follow my dreams.
It was an honor when I was named one of the “6 Entrepreneurs with Down syndrome Who Are Inspiring the World” by Disney’s Babble. On top of being an international voice for people with Down syndrome and other disabilities, I had a music video debut with Grammy and Dove Award-winning Christian and gospel singer Jason Crabb for his new single, “Love is Stronger.” I starred in the video depicting families touched by Down syndrome. The video was a success and in September 2013 went on to be featured by USA Today.
As a young woman with Down syndrome, I was always struggling to find clothes that were both fashionable and fit me well. My mom and I did not understand why a woman with Down syndrome, like myself, should have to choose between being fashionable or finding clothes that fit me well. My mom and I launched Ashley by Design, a line of fashion-forward clothing especially designed to fit young ladies with Down syndrome who always want to look their best! My mom and I are the designers of the clothing line and believe that Down syndrome should never be an obstacle to wearing the latest styles that fit great. So, Ashley by Design is not only on trend, it is cut to perfectly fit the proportions of girls and ladies with Down syndrome. Even better is that young ladies that wear Ashley by Design can feel confident that they are a fashionable philanthropist, as proceeds from the sales of the clothing supports the Ashley DeRamus Foundation.
The Ashley DeRamus Foundation was launched by my mom and me in 2012. The Foundation’s mission is to educate the public about Down syndrome. Among the many things, the foundation does to help educate the public about Down syndrome is our focus in early intervention at the Bell Center in Birmingham, Alabama. At Birmingham, Alabama’s Bell Center for Early Intervention we provide funding for early intervention, and I also volunteer at the Bell Center!
At the Bell Center, I work with babies with Down syndrome and children with other special needs. My hope is to be a role model, so when the parents of the babies and children meet me, they see that with a little imagination and drive to succeed, nothing can stop their children from following their dreams