In honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month, QuickBooks is spotlighting entrepreneurs who play a vital role in creating inclusive and meaningful work for all.
Name: Mary Ann Nolan
Location: Wilmington, DE
Business: Waggies by Maggie and Friends
Waggies is a dog treat company whose mission is to employ persons with intellectual disabilities. At Waggies, they learn and become skilled in the baking, packaging, and marketing of healthy dog treats.
Employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities are bleak. The needed accommodations and support are not easily available. A friend and I decided to launch a dog treat business with the hopes that our daughters would have a sustainable and happy work environment. We started in a church kitchen with three bakers, a mixer, a recipe, and a desire to sell dog treats while providing meaningful employment for a population so often overlooked in the job market.
Waggies is unique because our work force is a blend of paid workers and community volunteers. Waggies is a business that relies on sales and community engagement to keep us profitable. We are a “product with a purpose” business and we use that tag line to describe ourselves.
Waggies supports our employees by engaging them in all levels of the business. We adapt equipment and make accommodations to meet individual challenges. Each baker is a productive and valued employee. We give our bakers ample time to learn and perfect a skill. Their progress has been steady and, in many ways, remarkable.
We are regularly rewarded with support from others who believe in our mission. The real reward comes with seeing the progress our bakers have made over the years. Our bakers love their jobs and have become experts in all the areas of baking and packaging.
We quickly found ourselves working 24-hour days!
We knew nothing about using social media. We engaged two volunteers who have been great with giving Waggies a presence on Facebook and Instagram. It is a work in progress, and we continue to learn more every day.
Exhausted at the end of the day but very fulfilled.
The pandemic and the resulting inflation have proved to be major challenges for Waggies. During the pandemic, we had to reduce hours for most of our bakers and reorganize the kitchen to meet social distancing requirements. We are slowly returning to pre-pandemic schedules. The rising cost of labor continues to challenge us along with the increase in the cost of ingredients.
My proudest moments come when I am in the kitchen and I see our bakers totally engaged and working as a team under the kitchen manager’s direction.
We are working with other groups who share our mission of employment and plan to share our model and experience.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting their own business?
Hire an accountant and a bookkeeper! And follow the rules.
When you’re having a tough day, who or what inspires you to keep going?
The bakers, of course. Their hard work, their consistent good nature, and their overall calm validates why we come to work.
What’s your “power song” and why?”
“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” by Monty Python.
Visit waggies.org to support Waggies by Maggie and Friends, or find them on Instagram @waggiesde.
Call Sales: 1-877-683-3280
