Summer – when it's cooperating – is great for taking in festivals, food trucks and ice cream. So, no better time for Anna Geary – sitting in for Ray – to talk to Sarah Casey, the 21-year-old behind Sarah's Delicious Imperfectionz.
Running a business is a big deal for most people, especially 21-year-olds and especially, especially 21-year-olds like Sarah who have Down syndrome.
Sarah’s parents Tommy and Annette told Anna how they want to show how having Down syndrome doesn’t have to hold you back. Annette described how Sarah approaches life:
"She’s a wonderful young girl, full of ability, loves fun and she’s a real hard worker and she’s a great taskmaster."
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Tommy filled Anna in on the business – Sarah's Delicious Imperfectionz – and how it came about. As with all parents of children with additional needs, Tommy and Annette knew they were headed for what Tommy called the "cliff edge" when Sarah would finish up in secondary school because she’d be on her own and so they needed to work out what she would do as an adult with Down syndrome:
"We started looking at what she liked doing, what she had a passion for, and we started to think, well, how can we give her some autonomy and some kind of sense of significance and contribution herself."
Sarah had always been interested in baking, so Tommy and Annette got a professional confectioner in to teach her how to hone her skills and they got a hold of a van and set up in their local farmers’ market in Castletroy doing muffins and scones and the like. But Sarah wasn’t content with just making and selling muffins and scones – she wanted to broaden her range:
"Then, she got the opportunity at a Christmas function in St John’s Castle to do candy floss and popcorn and that opened up a whole new world of events. And then she started making her homemade ice cream."
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The ice cream has been tested out at the National Ploughing Championships and at various festivals and has been going down so well that the Caseys are now looking at getting it into some retail outlets. Branded pots are the next step.
The skillset required to successfully run a business is something that not everybody has – additional needs or not – and Annette told Anna what she thinks Sarah brings to the table in terms of her input, enthusiasm and dedication to the job:
"Her attention to detail was just immense. Her ability to clean up afterwards, her ability to stay to task, no matter how long it would take. When her dad and herself are making ice cream, if it takes three, four hours, she will stick with it. I have to admire her ability to stick with the task."
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Sounds like we could all get ahead by taking a page from Sarah’s book. But Sarah’s professional attributes aren’t the only things that her parents noticed improving since the business started. Her social skills, Tommy noted, have been gradually getting better as well:
"You know, when she first started out, she kind of whispered to customers about what she does, now she projects her voice. You know, especially when children come back and say, 'Thank you, Sarah,’ you know, she swells up with pride. And last year, Network Limerick shortlisted her for Emerging Businesswoman of the Year."
Which, no doubt, made her parents swell up with pride. Not bad for a 21-year-old woman running her own business.
You can hear Anna’s full chat with Sarah, Annette and Tommy by clicking above. And you can find Sarah’s Delicious Imperfectionz on Instagram.
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