Jenna Grabow and her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Anna Lundmark, are changing the employment landscape for people with autism!
27-year-old Grabow graduated from the Paul Mitchell Beauty School in Sherman Oaks last year. She's a talented artist with one of the most vivacious personalities you'll ever come across - she also happens to be on the autism spectrum.
After graduation, Grabow struggled to find work. She told Heroes Host Heather Jordan, "It just felt so difficult and unfair. It was very frustrating."
Lundmark said, "Jenna came to live with us. So I was really taking care of her trying to help see if we could find some work. But after six months, there were no opportunities that would work for her."
So the duo teamed up to create their own company, "Beauty by Jenna," with a mission to create American-made products while employing skilled and talented people who are also differently abled.
Starting with a wide range of lip tints and blams, they already have customers in 46 states.
According to Lundmark, "80% of all autistic adults are unemployed," so, "We want to be able to hire 100 disabled adults in packaging and customer service [anything] that really suits each person."
By the way, Grabow will include a personalized piece of art with any purchase of a lip set.
She says people seem to love the art, and she feels that being able to put a smile on someone's face while helping disabled people see that they can do anything is a true honor.
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