Girl with Down syndrome open Cookie business, Orders fly up!
Sweet success! Boston woman with Down syndrome who struggled to find a paying job launches her own cookie company - and is quickly inundated with THOUSANDS of orders
Collette Divitto, 26, decided to take matters into her own hands after finding it difficult to obtain work, founding the Collettey’s Cookies business
After receiving local attention for her story, the business is booming, with over 25,000 orders from across the country
A young woman with Down syndrome who found herself struggling to land a full-time job, has told how she took matters into her own hands by starting her own business - which now sees her working around the clock.
Collette Divitto, 26, a Boston native, is realizing her dreams after her cookie company Collettey’s Cookies suddenly took off, thanks to her story connecting with thousands of people across the country.
From humble beginnings as a fledgling company started in her own kitchen, Collette is now hoping to grow the business enough to begin hiring other workers with disabilities.
Spurred on and helped by friends and family, Collette started the company after having perfected her own recipes. She purchased a website herself and learned how to invoice her customers. Soon enough, people were putting in orders online.
But things really picked up after a profile CBS did of her last month. Now, Collette has been inundated with more than 25,000 cookie orders all across the country.
'I haven’t slept at all,' she told the station. 'I am really amazed at the support for my company and my cookies.'
The story uploaded to the CBS Facebook page has been viewed more than eight million times since being shared just over a week ago.
Thanks to the help of Collette's first client, Golden Goose Market, she is now enjoying the use of industrial equipment - and a few helping hands - to deal with her newfound success.
Her signature recipe of chocolate chip cookies dipped in cinnamon are now being baked by the hundreds every day, packaged and shipped across the country, as well as overseas.
Other local businesses in the Boston area have been inquiring about stocking her treats and there have even been investors sniffing around - meaning that Collette is going to be one busy woman for the foreseeable future.
