# bossmom
mom's corner | #bossmom
As a mom, you quite literally do it all! Between working and making sure your kiddo gets to school with a matching pair of shoes, it proves to be the toughest job anyone could do. Our Giggle moms have shared with us what makes them a #BossMom, and we are all for it!
Jennifer Dempsey Photos courtesy of Jennifer Dempsey and 1000 Words Gallery
Founder & CEO of PiesAbilities
Where do you work, what role do you play and what inspires you every day? I'm the Founder and CEO of PiesAbilities, a small batch pie bakery with a mission to hire adults with disabilities. We don't have a brick and mortar location (yet) but we deliver our delicious pies all over Gainesville. We are clients of "Working Food," an awesome food business incubator here in Gainesville. I play nearly all the roles at PiesAbilities. I'm the head baker, CFO, Marketing Director and primary decision maker. Being an entrepreneur can feel overwhelming at times, but when I stay focused on our mission, creating meaningful employment for individuals with disabilities, I'm inspired to keep working toward that goal!
Joscelyn has made an incredible recovery in the last eight years and is healthy and happy. She is also one of the millions of Americans who live with a disability.
Tell us about your kiddos! I'm the proud mother of five. My oldest son Marc is 28 and works in Systems Administration. At home, I have an 18-year-old son named Clayton who attends Santa Fe College and a 17-yearold son named Jackson who is a junior at Buchholz High School. My youngest daughter Joscelyn was the inspiration for PiesAbilities. Joss was born with a condition called Hemimegalencephaly. The left side of her brain didn't form properly, causing her to have life-threatening seizures as a baby. At 13 months old, we made the difficult decision to allow doctors to perform a hemispherectomy and surgically remove the entire malformed left half of her brain.
Like any parent, I want my daughter to develop her strengths and talents and to use those skills to support herself in the career of her choosing as she grows older, but the odds are not in her favor. Individuals with disabilities make up almost one-fifth of our population, but are unemployed at a rate that is twice that of people without disabilities. I started PiesAbilities so she would always have a place to work. I'm also a bereaved mom. We lost our 14-year-old son Nicholas in 2011. I'm inspired every day to live a life that would make him proud.
GIGGLEMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL/MAY 2020
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