Candle makers spark push for diversity
When Emma Sykes left school, employers were unwilling to take a chance on her. So she started her own business. Kylie Klein-Nixon reports.
When you light a Downlights candle, you’re not just brightening the room, you’re shining a light for an inclusive workplace.
The company, Downlights NZ, which specialises in hand-made, scented soybased candles, was started last year by Tony Sykes and his daughter Emma, who has Down syndrome and struggled to find work after leaving school.
Though she applied everywhere she could, employers proved unwilling to take a chance on her; many didn’t even bother to send back a rejection letter. That lack of response was ‘‘so disappointing’’ that the father-daughter duo decided they ‘‘would have to start something themselves’’. The Downlights spark was lit.
‘‘I was sure there had to be hundreds, thousands, of people in the same situation as we were, around the country,’’ says Sykes.
‘‘We had always enjoyed having fragrant candles, that was something that Emma seemed to have an interest in. I felt that was something nice that we could do together.’’
An introduction to professional candle maker Jennifer Del Bel turned that spark into a flame. Del Bel came on board as managing director and eventually merged her business, Illumina candles, with Downlights NZ, giving the company access to markets and retail outlets she had been building relationships with for years.
Shout-outs from Hollywood actor George Takei, who shared Emma’s story with his 10 million Facebook followers, and Disney’s huge parenting blog, Babble, added to the buzz.
A year later, Downlights NZ has grown from cottage industry to international seller, sending items as far afield as Australia and the United States. It is also an A¯ kina-accredited social enterprise that’s leading the way in workplace diversity and opportunity for young disabled people.
‘‘From my perspective, it’s a story about a company that started out helping one family and has grown to become an international symbol of inclusivity and hope,’’ says Del Bel.
‘‘It’s gone way beyond what we ever anticipated. The company exemplifies a social enterprise, because not only do we employ disabled people, but we give back to the community, too.’’
Sykes’ younger daughter Nicki, who also has Down syndrome, joined the team next. She was followed by a team from the Meaningful Opportunities X’ing Into Employment or Moxie Initiative, a project that aims to empower young, disabled people to get into the workplace. Sykes says having meaningful work to go to has had a profound effect on all of them. ‘‘I can see what’s happened with my girls, their skills, their independence, the way that they’re blossoming from where they were a couple of years ago.
‘‘Emma’s a very shy and retiring sort of person, but she now loves going out to markets and meeting people, actually liaising with the public. It’s quite a high-pressure sort of thing for someone who’s not done it before.
‘‘I’ve seen the same with the Moxie crew, those guys have just gone from strength to strength. It’s really cool.’’
Approaching each person in the way that best suits them to draw out their skills, and ‘‘actually giving them a chance’’, has been key. ‘‘Emma is really shy so if someone is standing there, watching her do stuff, she just shuts down. I find it’s more successful to show her how to do a task and once I see she can do it, walk away and leave her to it.
‘‘Her confidence is the biggest thing that’s changed as far as I’m concerned. Until we started doing this work, she and Nicki would very much depend on being with me the whole time. They wanted me by their side. Now, I can walk away and leave them to tasks.’’
That confidence is spilling out of the workspace into the rest of their lives, too.
A couple of months ago Emma went into the city to meet her sister for lunch on her own. She ‘‘jumped on the ferry, waved goodbye and took off. That’s just incredible for her.’’
Visibility is the ‘‘whole point of the business now’’, says Sykes. The aim is to continue to expand
The two sisters are really close to each other, but they are so different. Tony Sykes, with his daughters Emma, middle, and Nicki
so more people with a disability can have a ‘‘workplace where they’re valued, a workplace where they can feel really safe and not feel judged or different’’.
‘‘I’m hoping it changes people’s perception of Down syndrome in a way, too.’’
The most common comment he’s heard in the past 20 years is ‘‘oh yeah, people with Down syndrome are so lovely’’.
‘‘They label them all as being clones, which is
the biggest misperception ever. Having two in the same family, I know they’re not clones.
‘‘The two sisters are really close to each other, but they are so different in character. Nicki’s gregarious and out there, Emma’s more shy and retiring. They’ve got the whole range of feelings and aspirations and so do others with all sorts of disabilities, just like anyone.’’
Seeing them as ‘‘a Downs person’’, rather than as individuals is limiting, says Sykes.
‘‘That’s part of what we’re all doing here, too, educating by example and hopefully this business can show other businesses, too.
‘‘I sort of understand how the rest of the public will have low expectations, but what I’d love for them to do is have their arms open a little bit more, their minds open a little bit more and maybe expect a little bit more, and they’ll find there are so many people out there who are disabled who are incredibly capable if they’re given a chance.’’