Collette Divitto is a 26-year-old Boston-based entrepreneur who recently launched Collettey's, a cookie business, from her very own apartment. She also happens to have Down syndrome.
"She's never accepted her disability," her mother, Rosemary Alfredo told CBS News. When Divitto honed her passion for baking years ago and, eventually, developed a foolproof "amazing" cookie recipe, Alfredo knew that her daughter was onto something. "We kept telling her, 'This is a really good cookie. You could sell this!'" she said.
The encouragement came at the right time — Divitto had been searching for a job to no avail. "It's very upsetting to me," she told CBS. "It's very hard to find a paying job for people like me who have special needs." It's true — about 76% of people with disabilities are unemployed.
So she took matters into her own baking-savvy hands. She launched a website, stocked up on ingredients, and familiarized herself with the elements of running a business. With the help of the Institute of Community Inclusion, she obtained funding to get started. And just like that — like her perfect cookies — Divitto's business took rise.
Today, Divitto fields online delivery orders and has begun the process of obtaining an investor and getting her cookies into major food stores. And her dreams are becoming a reality — as of December 1, she has received orders for more than 25,000 cookies. With the help of local Boston grocery store Golden Goose Market, Collette and the shop's employees baked over 500 cookies this weekend. "I haven't slept at all," she laughed to CBS. "I am really amazed at the support for my company and my cookies."
Collette is ready for the next few weeks' hard work (she's had to buy ingredients in bulk to keep up with orders), because she knows that it will bring her closer to her mission — to hire individuals with disabilities: "That's my dream. It would be a great feeling to hire them." Her family is behind this behind this specific goal completely. "It's so much more than her cookies. It's about getting jobs for everyone who deserves jobs," said her sister, Blake Divitto.
For Collette, it's about sharing her success with people like her — people with disabilities that have everything to offer. But there's one thing she absolutely won't share, and that's her recipe.
"It's a secret," she said.
[h/t CBS News]
