A young entrepreneur from Shandon has won a national award recognizing his artisanal soap business.
Trevor Dealy won the Newcomer Award at the Entrepreneurs Dedicated to Diverse and Inclusive Excellence Awards Ceremony in Georgia on April 27.
“I make soaps and I like making them. It’s fun," Dealy said.
His story goes far beyond just a bar of soap. He’s a fighter.
Trevor has autism and several other disabilities, including acute neurodivergence and other medical conditions.
“Statistically, only 19% of people with disabilities ever have any type of employment let alone meaningful employment that actually helps them gain skills to move forward and that they enjoy doing," said Tia Dealy, Trevor's mother.
With the help of his family, Trev’s Tradeswas born.
“We didn't have an idea really of what we were doing and we applied for a program called Synergies Works. Trevor was accepted into that program and we were able to go through their cohort and they gave you the basic fundamentals of business and it's designed for people with disabilities," Tia explained.
That program gave them the foundation to turn Trevor’s soap-making hobby into a business, never expecting what it would lead to next.
Trevor received his first national award, hosted by Synergies Work, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs with disabilities.
“To see him up on stage, to see him just shine just brought tears to my eyes. It's about advocacy and sharing that people with disabilities can and do have a meaningful role in this world and have lots of ability to share with everyone," Tia added.
Trevor told KSBY his favorite part of the business isn’t making soaps but being able to share them with other people.
Trevor currently sells his soaps online but hopes very soon to start selling them at local farmer’s markets.
In the future, Trevor hopes to hire other people with disabilities to join his business.
