Starting your own business and juggling the demands of motherhood takes a lot of strength and commitment. Although it may be an uphill battle, being a mom can be a great asset to growth as an entrepreneur and in building successful, mission-driven brands.
How far will a mother go for her son? There are no limits for Tiffany Hamilton. Her inspiration for starting a new business is her son, Isaiah. As a mother of a boy with high-functioning autism, she understands the high hills there are to climb. She has moved across entire states to ensure the best education for her son, and spent countless hours working to improve his autism-related developmental challenges – all while working full-time for many years as a single mother. Despite everything she’s done to help Isaiah survive and thrive, she knows the sad reality that 80% of autistic individuals are unemployed. And she’ll do everything in her power to help secure her son’s future. Her inspirational apparel brand, Victor Wear, meets this challenge of empowering people with disabilities, inspiring triumph over obstacles and amplifying the stories of the “victors” who rise above their obstacles and succeed.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
1. Why is it important for families to be able to celebrate the everyday victories when they have children with special needs?
Parenting any child is bittersweet. There’s endless joy and endless worry! But when it comes to children with special needs, there’s also a ton of unpredictability that can be straight up exhausting. As you know, my son, Isaiah, has high-functioning autism. And we’ve done a ton of therapies to work on the sensory, social and communication challenges caused by his disability. Although he’s flourishing now, it took us years to get to this point. It seemed like each developmental stage highlighted a new issue. So when he was under 5,he had lots of sensory challenges that made him act hyper or tantrum which just looked like bad behavior. I didn’t know if he was gonna have a meltdown at school or therapy. It felt like walking on eggshells many days. So, if we got through a day without him acting hyperactive or if he joined kids playing on the playground instead of just interacting with me, that felt like an amazing victory - because we could build on that. I could learn from what was and wasn’t working. And that was a day that I could sleep easy with hope in my heart we could get through whatever developmental challenges we’d face next.
The one thing I would do is really praise Isaiah a ton for small victories like sharing with other kids, or starting a conversation appropriately - because he learned through that continuous reinforcement. So, celebrating those victories really means everything - for your sanity and strength as a parent and for your child’s own learning and development. Small victories add up to really big ones. They are stepping stones. And one small victory at a time brings you closer to your goals. That’s why our brand, Victor Wear, celebrates the idea of victors - people who overcome obstacles through grit, determination and resilience. That has been my autism journey with Isaiah. And I hope that our apparel inspires people to be victorious and take time to celebrate their victories in life.
2. Why is work security such a challenge for people with developmental disabilities?
Honestly, I’m not sure if that’s the right way to frame it. I think people with developmental disabilities are capable of being highly productive and doing truly remarkable things in the working world. But the challenge is that employers don’t seem to get that - especially in the case of autism. A staggering number of people on the spectrum are either unemployed or underemployed. The latest statistic I've seen is 85%, which is just unacceptable.
I think as humans we are naturally wired to gravitate to people who are like us - who look like us, have abilities and interests similar to us, etc. So,the challenge we all have to deal with as humans is embracing the full range of humanity - abilities, colors, sexualities, backgrounds and creating a work environment where people with disabilities can have the supports and accommodations they need to be successful. And it’s critical for employers to truly welcome and appreciate neurodiversity, physical diversity and so on.
Now I know autism is a complex disability that presents in many different ways, from intellectual genius to nonverbal and really everything in between. So, there are different levels of support that these folks need in the working world. While some may need little or no support, many others benefit from job coaches that can help them learn the ropes in a way that they can understand. For example, my son is quite literal and struggles with abstract thinning. But omg…when you show vs. tell him how to do something or add visual supports to the mix, you see a 180 in his ability to grasp information. Anway, job coaches who can provide this kind of support can be expensive. And there are other structural challenges to hiring people with disabilities, like the fact that disabled employees may have to work a limited number of hours to continue to qualify for government funding supports. So, hiring people with developmental disabilities can be hard and complicated - and it really requires a commitment and investment from employers to make it work. Sadly, I think a lot of companies would rather talk the “diversity” talk than walk the walk. And that’s one of the reasons there’s high unemployment in the developmental disability community.
3. How does Victor Wear support the disability community?
Right now, our primary means of supporting the disability community is via our partnership with the Special Olympics. We are absolutely thrilled to be an official partner of Special Olympics VA. It is really a dream come true because my son is a Special Olympics athlete and it is just an amazing organization. I love everything they do to promote inclusion, empowerment and really joy for the disability community. 10% of every Victor Wear product sold will go to Special Olympics VA via a year-end donation. And our ultimate goal is to grow our brand to become a major employer of people with disabilities. Now, we are just starting out today. But that is our end game.
And in the meantime, we are looking for smaller opportunities to economically empower the disability community. For example, in the near future, we will be holding T-shirt and slogan contests. We will give the winner of the contests the profit from the T-shirts sold. Additionally, we will looking to the disability community for staffing at events - events that my autistic son will play a big role in planning. So, as Victor Wear is really a social enterprise and our mission will always be around empowering underserved communities, which includes the disability community.
4. What have you learned about celebrating differences and empowerment based on your experience as a mom?
I have seen my child shunned by other kids and parents of neurotypical kids. And I have seen people fully embrace and love my child just as he is. So, I feel like what I have seen has made my heart more empathetic and open than ever before. And it has taught me how important it is to treat people the way you want to be treated. I think that is the best thing you can do to celebrate differences. But at the same time, I can't change people, I can't change the world. So, I teach my son how to survive and thrive in this world - just as he is. I have tried to instill self-love and acceptance in Isaiah. Isaiah used to think autism was a bad thing and struggled with accepting his diagnosis because he didn’t want to be “different.” I had to teach not to let himself be defined by autism. In addition to being autistic, Isaiah is good-hearted, kind, smart, talented, hilarious! Autism is one aspect of who he is - and it’s not a bad aspect. It’s a characteristic that gives him great strengths and great weaknesses, and he just had to deal with it. We all have challenges but we can’t allow ourselves to be defined by them. You have to love all parts of yourself and not allow people to change or define who you are. That’s my definition of empowerment.
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