Today, we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Chadwick.
Hi Brittany, we’re so excited to have you on the platform. Before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I fell in love with baking in 2020, right before the pandemic hit. My parent’s house had just burned down, and with that, all of the photos, old handmade Christmas decorations, and the history of the life they had made were lost in an instant. It was a difficult time. It was around this time that my father expressed his desire for some banana bread, his favorite.
I decided I would learn how to make it for him. When I made it and gave it to him, he was filled with joy, and he was like, “This is the best banana bread I’ve ever had.” After seeing how much joy it brought him, I realized that baking was more than just a loaf of bread. It was about making a difference. Through baking, you can change someone’s day for the better, and that was the moment baking became a passion of mine. I started to learn more about baking and trying new recipes, and soon, I wanted to turn this passion into something more. I already knew baking is more than just about a cake; it is about what that cake can do.
A few years passed, and I met with the new owners. Matthew Kahn and his wife. We found that we had a similar passion for baking and cooking and a desire to help our community. We were also inspired by their son, who has Autism. He was 15 at the time, and they were starting to look at his future and what it was going to look like. They found that there weren’t a lot of opportunities for special needs adults, and there was a huge unemployment rate. Somewhere between 50% to 75% of special needs adults are unemployed. Those statistics also increased when we looked at adults with Autism. It was then we decided to open a nonprofit bakery dedicated to hiring adults with autism and other disabilities. We wanted to do our part to make a difference in the community we loved with the passions we fell in love with.
From there, it was all about taking this idea and making it a reality. It took a lot of research, brainstorming, and meetings. When we found the building, we were ecstatic! It took a year and a half to get the building and permits needed. We started to share our plans for Puzzle Piece Pastries and found so many people couldn’t wait for us to open. One of the biggest social media posts on our Facebook page was our now-hiring post. We had so many shares, allowing us to find 20 employees faster than we ever thought would happen. We really would not have been able to open in August of last year without the support of our followers.
The first day of training was one I won’t forget. Everyone was so grateful for the opportunity, but they were, of course, nervous. We had been training while still being closed so that we could give everyone some time to feel comfortable and get to know each other. By the end of the training, we saw true friendships developing, and some people were starting to break out of their shells. One of the best parts about our bakery is seeing the growth that happens. When one team member successfully goes from learning a new skill to doing that skill without any assistance, it is breathtaking. You can see the excitement and just how proud they are. Moments like giving them their first paycheck or their first customer compliment are small moments that I cherish.
After opening, we really started working on our menu. Though we are called Puzzle Piece Pastries, we make more than just pastries. We also serve breakfast, lunch, and ice cream. We wanted a large menu because, with each new item we added, we could teach a new life skill. The hope is we can teach and train our team members so they get the job experience needed to be employed in any food industry they like the most. On resumes and during interviews, you need that work experience to really assist you in landing a job. If we can help some team members find jobs and careers in the food industry, the more people we can help.
We also started our birthday program. We donate a cake and birthday cards to members of our community who have a disability. Again, we were inspired by those in our lives with disabilities. Having a disability can be expensive, and it can also be difficult to make friends. We shared some sad stories from our team members and customers alike about how they couldn’t afford a party or people were unable to come to their party. We wanted to help make sure people have an amazing birthday! We collect birthday messages on our website from our followers on social media and turn those messages into cards. They are given to the birthday person when they collect their birthday cake. It truly helps them feel celebrated, and everyone deserves it.
We are currently hoping to one day be able to extend our hours. We are only open five days a week and would love to be open seven days a week. We know that if we are able to do that, we can hire more people, starting with those who volunteer and moving to those on our waiting list. It will take time and a lot of fundraising, but we hope to make this goal a reality. As of now, we will continue to focus on baking a difference on the days we can.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our biggest challenge right now is being so new to the community and, of course, the overall costs of running a bakery. We enjoy having low prices so that those struggling can afford to visit us, but most of the funding we saved in order to open went to the building repairs and hiring of our staff. We were able to pay for our monument sign just now, but that took 5 months to accomplish. When we opened, we really didn’t have the money in the budget to advertise. We used the free services of word of mouth and social media to spread the word about us.
We would like to find more corporate sponsors and monthly donors to really help cover for the days we are open but not breaking even. Or if we could find ways to get more customers in the door, that would help. We are just starting to look more into marketing options, but some can be very costly. We also hope to eventually ship products for those who follow us in different cities and states. We are very new and have missed out on some fundraising opportunities in the past because we didn’t know about them. We hope to learn more the longer we are here.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Puzzle Piece Pastries, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit bakery dedicated to providing jobs and job training to adults with Autism and other disabilities. We are here to help lower the high unemployment rate that people with autism and other disabilities face.
We created a bakery because baking is a passion of ours. We also believe being a bakery allows us to help find an area or a skill an employee can thrive in. Baking and decorating is very repetitive which can help with the learning process. All your senses get involved so when you are over whelmed or don’t like the texture of a certain dough you can focus on scooping ice cream, making frosting, cleaning, or something else you feel more comfortable with.
We make a variety of pastries like croissants, Danishes, cookies, cupcakes, and brownies! We are known for our glazed croissants and our frosted brownies. We don’t stop there. We have breakfast items like our All Inclusive Breakfast, which comes with farm-fresh eggs, grits, sausage, bacon, and a bread choice. We also serve lunch with a variety of soups, salads, and sandwiches. Our best seller is our chicken salad sandwich. We also have ice cream which allows us to make milkshakes, sundaes, and just delicious scoops of ice cream.
Our team is made up of 20 individuals who have autism or another disability. They work very hard making pastries and food they are proud of. They make the bakery what it is. The bakery is bright, colorful, friendly, and welcoming to everyone who visits. We allow for school field trips and other nonprofit visits. We understand if a customer is overwhelmed and needs to be loud or needs the music turned off completely. We do our best to accommodate all our customers in any way we can. We are proud of our team and all the work they put into the bakery each and every day.
Our name was given to us by the young autistic man who inspired this bakery’s creation. Our employees make, decorate, and even create some of their own recipes as we change the flavors we sell every couple of months. They are asked before we post about them or take pictures. We never disclose their disabilities without permission or show any difficult or embarrassing moments, just their achievements. We truly care about the individuals we work with and throw them their own birthday parties. We provide accommodations like noise-canceling headphones, change of assignments when overwhelmed, more breaks as needed, and if they come to work but need to leave, they can without the worry that they just lost their job.
They can bring an aid, parent, or family member with them when they work as a volunteer as long as they need. We are making great strides in our community by being a part of fun traditions, hosting school nights, and field trips. We share what we can on social media to inspire and give hope to others around the world. Together we can really make a difference.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Taking risks is necessary. If we stuck to the status quo, we wouldn’t be here. Some companies have difficulties hiring individuals with disabilities because they are stereotypically seen as a risk. They won’t fit in with their other employees. They won’t socialize, they will take too much time to train, or they will waste too many resources or too much energy.
Or they will cost us too much money. There are so many reasons to say no, which is why the unemployment rate is so high for those with disabilities. We are trying to break down those harmful stereotypes. We are saying yes and adapting as we go. We are going the extra mile to make a safe workspace for people with disabilities and, at the same time, show positive results by having beautiful and delicious food items. We want the bakery to succeed, so we will see more hiring in every area. Yes, there have been mistakes. Some pastries were lost during the training process because they were burnt or made incorrectly.
However, anyone, regardless of ability, could have made the same mistake. Communication is vital. If they are telling you they aren’t comfortable, find out where they would have the most success. If they are more of a visual learner, use pictures or videos. There are so many accommodations you can make, and they are much simpler than people first realize. Risks are how we change for the better, and being afraid to take them does more harm than good.
Pricing:
- Corporate Sponsor Tiers: DIAMOND – $10,000+
- RUBY – $5,000+
- AQUAMARINE $2,500+
- TOURMALINE $1000+
- EMERALD $500+ (We could also provide a menu if that’s more what you want)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.puzzlepiecepastries.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puzzlepiece_pastries/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Puzzlepiecepastries
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNNalrDTYIEndlc4Hbg0GrA
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@puzzlepiecepastries
Image Credits
Whitney Hendrix
