Down syndrome and business scents
Emma Sykes was just a toddler when she learned about perseverance. Her mother took her to enrol at 10 different preschools. They all turned her away.
‘‘We had one particular school who were fine with Emma enrolling until they found out she had Down syndrome,’’ her dad recalls.
‘‘Within five minutes they said ‘oh actually, we made a big mistake, we actually don’t have any placements available’.’’
As a teenager, Emma lost her mum, Carolyn, to cancer. Father Tony has brought up Emma and her younger sister Nicki, who also has Down syndrome.
On leaving school, she applied for jobs at many different companies – few even replied.
Now 22, Emma remains optimistic despite her challenges.
‘‘She understands everything you say,’’ her father explains, ‘‘but her condition makes her responses really slow, if you get one that is, which is rare.’’
After graduating last year from Sommerville Special School in Panmure, east Auckland, Emma set about looking for work.
Her father relays her story; she nestles into his chest as he speaks proudly of her determination.
‘‘I get it. I understand how difficult it would be for an employer to take someone on,’’ he says. ‘‘What I didn’t like was they didn’t come back to us and say no.’’
So, this year, she took on a challenge that would daunt many: with her dad’s help, she’s setting up her own business manufacturing soybased candles.
The idea for the venture came after a group trip to an Ed Sheeran concert. It wasn’t the lights waved in the air, but a conversation with other parents – and the realisation that if others wouldn’t employ their kids, they could start their own companies.
Emma started out using candlemaking kits, before contacting Jennifer Del Bel, owner of candlemaking company Illumina.
Del Bel describes Emma as ‘‘very meticulous with her work and you can see she enjoys it’’.
‘‘We introduce new tasks each time Emma comes to Mission Bay to help her assemble the wicks, prepare the candles for pouring, mix the fragrance with wax, trim the wicks, and apply the fragrance stickers.’’
Emma’s business is named Downlights – a nod to her unique genetic makeup.
‘‘Normally the word down is not particularly happy. I know I wanted to have the word down in it,’’ Tony says. ‘‘But light is a happy word.’’
In less than a week, they’ve sold more than 70 candles. If the enterprise continues to grow, they might be able to employ other people with Down syndrome.
Emma’s mum Carolyn took on everything with a positive attitude, Tony says – now he and Emma are doing the same.
‘‘You can walk around feeling sorry for yourself because supposedly bad things have happened to you, but bad things happen to everybody.’’