Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Moore.
Jackie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Our daughter Jordyn has autism. My husband (her dad) and I feared for the future… what happens when she ages out of school. There are very few opportunities for adults with autism, so we set out to create an opportunity for her. Jordyn’s Summer Shirt Project started in June of 2018. We designed a shirt with the idea of asking our family and friends to purchase it so she could learn job skills over the summer of 2018. We wanted to teach her to roll the shirt, add a wristband and sign a thank you card to go in each package. We also wanted to share the message for people to Be Kind to Everyone. I came up with the idea and posted it on my Facebook page, asking people to preorder a shirt. Within minutes of posting, I could tell it was going to be popular but I could never have guessed how popular. It’s been two years and Jordyn has sold over 50,000 Be Kind to Everyone shirts. We have turned our basement into her shirt shop. In the two years, she has made incredible strides towards doing tasks independently. She can roll shirts, package tumblers, package ink pens and more. We’ve worked hard to create modifications that help her work independently.
For example, we have a post-board in which we photocopied pictures of ink pens and taped them on the board. That way, Jordyn matches ink pens to the poster board and knows when she matches the last one (15 total) she knows to put them in the bag and start over. When we started the project, we thought we were preparing for when she ages out of school at the age of 22 (she was 17 when we started) but the shirt project has been a lifesaver over the past two months since schools have been closed. She is at home around the clock, which feels like a glimpse into the future. Thankfully, she has so much to do in her shirt shop. It fills her day with meaning and purpose. The shirt project has done more than just simply teach her job skills. It’s given her confidence and so much happiness. She has very limited language, which means having a conversation with her can be difficult but suddenly, everyone has something to talk to her about. Strangers recognize her in the community and stop to tell her how proud they are of her and how much they love her shirts. People are talking about what she CAN do now, instead of what she can’t. It’s been life-changing to her on so many levels. She has sold shirts in all 50 states and she’s been featured on Fox 5 Atlanta, 11 Alive, 94.9 the Bull and Forsyth County News.
Has it been a smooth road?
Jordyn’s autism has presented so many challenges for not only her but our entire family. The constant worry about what is going to happen when she ages out of school? What will her life look like? How will we be able to financially support her forever? Those are a few of the fears we have, along with thousands of other special needs parents. We wanted more for Jordyn’s life when she ages out of school than to simply watch YouTube all day. Yet before the shirt project, she struggled to do any (literally any) task independently. How could we ever expect a business to hire her? If they did, she would need someone with her constantly to help… how would we pay for that forever? We just finally decided instead of using so much time focusing on what wasn’t available, we would focus on creating an opportunity for her.
The shirt project has been the best thing we could have ever done for her but as you can probably imagine, it’s a lot of work for my husband (Ben) and I. Jordyn has a little brother, Hudson. We work really hard to make sure he feels a part of the shirt project, too, because we don’t want him to be resentful of the time and attention Jordyn gets. Early in the project, we named our original shirt, “the Jordyn.” We decided to create a more boyish version and called it “the Hudson.” We thought that would help all of our followers get to know Hudson. It would help him feel included, etc. It was probably one of the best things we could have done. Hudson loves being a part of the shirt project and is one of Jordyn’s biggest fans… but it takes work on our part to keep that balance so that he loves it too.
We’d love to hear more about Jordyn’s Summer Shirt Project.
Our business definitely focuses on spreading kindness through shirts. All of our shirts have a simple yet powerful message, “Be Kind to Everyone.” We also use our business to do so much more than simply sell shirts and tumblers. We know we’ve been given a gift for Jordyn, so we try really hard to use our voice to advocate for others. We have over 65,000 followers on Facebook and we share our story daily in hopes of helping others. We speak at schools to educate kids about kindness, accepting others and autism. I am definitely most proud of Jordyn’s accomplishments. She has significant struggles, yet she is becoming known across the United States for inspiring kindness. She works so hard and smiles most of the time.
To see how much she loves her shirt shop makes all the hard work worth it. When we started with our idea, we were hoping we could sell 40 shirts… to see that only two years later we’ve sold over 50,000 is almost unbelievable. We were even able to get the trademark to the words “Be Kind to Everyone.” When we started the shirt project, we wanted people to get their shirt in the mail and love it. So picked high quality, super soft and comfortable shirt to print our design on. One of my favorite things is getting messages from customers after they received their shirts talking about how comfortable it is. So many people tell us it quickly becomes their favorite shirt.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
We are originally from Missouri. We moved to Atlanta when Jordyn was five because there were so few resources for individuals with autism in Missouri at that time. It was scary to move, leaving behind our family and everything we had ever known but we felt like we needed to. We now LOVE Atlanta. We love the people, the weather and opportunities it gives Jordyn. Of course, I think what I like least is probably what most people would say… the traffic! But everything else is amazing and we are so thankful for the number of people from Atlanta and suburbs that have bought our shirts in support of Jordyn and spreading kindness.
Pricing:
- Our short sleeve shirts are $20. They are super soft and comfortable.
- Long sleeve shirts are $30 and are also super soft and comfy.
- Shipping is free on all our items.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bekindtoeveryone.com
- Email: info@bekindtoeveryone.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/summershirtproject
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/summershirtproject
Image Credit:
Southern Three Photography
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