Collette Divitto has been baking heavenly delights in her family’s kitchen since she was fifteen years old. Her passion for pastries pushed her to follow her dreams of being a baker. “I always baked after school and on the weekends,” said Collette. “I loved baking for my family for holidays.”
When Collette turned 22 she began to apply for baker jobs in the Boston area but was getting rejected over and over. Sweet Collette would even bring a sample batch of her cookies to the interviews. Collette began to believe the reason she wasn’t getting hired was because she has Down syndrome.
“Many people who interviewed me for jobs said I was really nice but not a good fit for them,” said Divitto. “It was really hurtful and I felt rejected a lot,” she expressed.
That’s when she decided that she wouldn’t let a few rejections get in the way of her passion and with the help of her loving mother, she created her own cookie company called Collettey’s.
Her first order came from Boston’s Golden Goose Market. She was soon fulfilling orders of 100 cookies a week for Golden Goose Market and her tenacity got her noticed by CBS News. The news coverage helped Collettey’s grow and reach an astounding 10,000 orders!
Since Collettey’s is experiencing such success, Divitto is looking to hire some helping hands. Collette has a heart for other’s with disabilities and hopes to offer job opportunities to people with and without disabilities to work with her.
“My biggest success so far is how big my company is growing, which means I can start hiring people with and without disabilities,” Divitto said.
Right now Colletey’s is a family affair with Collette working alongside her mother and sisters.
“I never raised her looking at her as if she had limitations,” Rosemary Alfredo, Collette’s mother told ABC News. “I just said, ‘We all have them. We all have things we’re good at, and we all have things we’re not good at.’ You can call them disabilities. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. We don’t focus on that.”
Collette’s story is an inspiration to us all to never give up on pursuing our dreams no matter what our obstacle is!
“Never give up. Don’t let people make you sad or feel rejected. Stay motivated and follow your dreams.” – Collette Divitto
Share her beautiful story today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH3fUk_T59g
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