After Facing Rejection For Having Down Syndrome, She Started Her Own Cookie Company And Now She’s On A Mission To Provide Opportunities To Other People Who Have Disabilites
A determined young woman named Collette Divito was born in 1990 with Down syndrome.
Growing up in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Divito found a strong passion for baking. Once she finished high school, she attended Clemson University, where she completed a three-year program in LIFE in two years.
Upon graduation, Divito moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to pursue her dreams. Unfortunately, she was rejected from multiple jobs.
Instead of letting this hold her back, she decided to pursue her passion and open up a small business, Collettey’s Cookies.
Known for her most amazing homemade cinnamon chocolate chip cookie, Collette went to local grocery stores asking if they would sell her famous “The Amazing Cookie.” Eventually, she found a shop that would soon become one of her many clients.
“I’ve started my business because I didn’t have any other choice,” Collette explained in a Facebook post.
“I tried hard and for a very long time to find a ‘normal’ job. Nobody would hire me and I knew that it was because I’m differently-abled. It hurt. It really hurt…”
“But from the bitterness of rejection, I found the strength to rise and make the best decision of my life. Collettey’s Cookies was born and with it a new tool for me to empower people like me and offer them a chance to better their life.”
Facebook; pictured above is Collette with some of her cookies
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In 2016, Collette and her company were featured on CBS TV in Boston, which brought many orders in for her business!
Soon after that, Divito was featured on “CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, Inside Edition, BBC, CBS Evening News, ABC World News, People Magazine, and many other print and television media outlets around the world.”
According to her website, she has sold over 400,000 cookies and now employs 15 people, including several folks with disabilities.
Collette’s mission is to create jobs for those who have disabilities. She travels the country to spread awareness and eventually hopes to work with Congress in Washington D.C. to “adopt policies that would abolish the 14c Exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and provide tax incentives to employers that hire workers with a disability.”
Her mission also states that every cookie order you purchase helps bring her one step closer to hiring another individual with disabilities and getting to Washing D.C., where she can hopefully make a difference!
For more information on Collette’s story and how she is “changing the world one cookie at a time,” make sure to check out her website!
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