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I'm Alexander Freeman and this has been Remaking Normal, Episode 9.
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Entrepreneurship, Business and Disability.
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The story of Colette DeVito of Coletti's Cookies.
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When we talk about entrepreneurship and business, we often frame it as innovation, ambition, or financial success.
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But for many people, entrepreneurship is born out of something much more personal.
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It comes from being excluded, from being told no too many times, from realizing that the system wasn't built with you in mind, and deciding to build something of your own anyway.
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That's what today's story is about.
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This is the story of Colette de Vito and Coletti's Cookies, a business that didn't just create a product, but created opportunity.
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Colette was born in 1990 with Down syndrome and grew up in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
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From an early age, she developed a deep love for baking, especially cookies.
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Baking was something that gave her confidence, structure, and joy, and it became one of the places where she felt most capable and focused.
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While in high school, Colette took baking classes and continued to develop her skills.
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During this time, she created the recipe that would later become her signature cinnamon chocolate chip cookie.
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The cookie she now calls the Amazing Cookie.
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This origin story is central to how Colette describes the beginnings of her business.
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After high school, Colette attended Clemson University in South Carolina, where she was enrolled in the Life Program, a postsecondary program designed to support students with intellectual disabilities in developing independence, employment skills, and confidence.
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Colette completed the three year program in just two years, a detail she publicly shares as part of her journey.
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After completing the life program, Colette moved to Boston with a clear goal.
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She wanted a job.
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She wanted to work, earn a paycheck, and live independently.
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Colette explains that she interviewed for many jobs.
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Employers often told her she had a great personality and strong skills, but she was repeatedly told she was not a good fit.
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This moment became the turning point in her story.
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Rather than accepting exclusion, Colette decided to create her own opportunity, not only for herself, but for others who face the same barriers.
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Load full transcript
Colette returned to what she loved most, baking.
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She began making her signature cookies and sharing them with others.
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She then approached a local grocery store and asked if they would sell her cookies.
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They said yes.
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And that single yes became the foundation of Coletti's cookies.
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After a local Boston television story aired in 2016, Coletti's Cookies received an overwhelming response.
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Orders poured in, and the business quickly expanded beyond local sales, shipping cookies nationwide.
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Coletti's Cookies exists to create meaningful paid employment for people with disabilities.
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She frequently references the high unemployment rate among people with disabilities who want to work, emphasizing that lack of opportunity not lack of ability is the real issue.
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Her company intentionally hires people with disabilities and focuses on skills, consistency, and contribution.
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This is not a side initiative.
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It is the core mission of the business.
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Colette's story has been featured by major media outlets including CNN, CBS Evening News, People Magazine, BBC, ABC, and others, all reinforcing the same message Colette presents herself.
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People with disabilities are capable, driven, and deserving of opportunity.
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In addition to running her business, Colette is also a public speaker and advocate, traveling nationally to speak about employment equity, entrepreneurship, and inclusion.
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She has also launched Colette's Leadership, a nonprofit organization that provides empowerment and leadership programming aligned with her mission.
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What makes Colette's story powerful isn't just that she built a business.
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It's why she built it.
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She didn't ask for special treatment, she asked for opportunity.
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And when it wasn't offered, she created it.
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If this story resonated with you, here's how you can support Colette directly.
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Follow at Coletti's Cookies on Instagram for behind the scenes updates, bakery moments, and messages straight from the community she's building.
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Coletti's Cookies stands as proof that inclusion is not charity, it is justice, and it is smart business.
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If you've been inspired by these conversations, make sure to subscribe to Remaking Normal wherever you listen to podcasts and to the Outcast Productions LLC YouTube channel for films and more.
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Follow me on Instagram at real Alexander Freeman.
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You can also visit my own normalmovie.com to learn more about my documentary My Own Normal and explore Outcast-Productions.com and consider working together on a film.
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Thank you for listening, for feeling, and for being part of this journey.
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Together, we're remaking normal.