What began in 2020 as a creative outlet to help empower opportunities for individuals with exceptionalities through a hat company called GTFO, quickly became something far more personal. The idea was simple: create adventure-inspired hats with hidden quotes sewn inside, & donate 50% of the profits to help families of individuals with exceptionalities. I thought it would be a fun way to blend purpose & entrepreneurship. But something shifted.
As those hats made their way into 17 states, the messages I started receiving weren’t about the hats. They were from families. From parents who saw a glimmer of hope & felt someone finally “got it”, & from people who wanted to do more than wear a hat to support, they wanted to live it.
That’s when something inside me shifted. I kept coming back to one truth I hold dear to my heart: challenges are the great equalizer. Every human grows if they can move through the challenge and get to the otherside, so why are we shielding exceptional individuals from choosing this path?
I started digging into some shocking statistics. An 82% unemployment rate, an 86% dependent living rate, & I couldn't stop diving deeper. Why? Why don’t we see these individuals in our communities? Why aren’t they showing up in the places we value, like at work, on trails, in after school programs, in life? & more importantly, what is currently being done to address this & what can we do to make an impact?
It became clear that financial support wasn’t enough. These individuals don’t just need resources, they need a system that believes in them. A culture that creates opportunities for challenge, growth, & independence. They need experiences that don’t just include or accommodate them, but empower and integrate them.
That year, I realized the mission was bigger than a message in a hat. It was about rewriting the way the world sees potential in others & in ourselves. So I made a decision to stop talking about opportunities and inclusion & to start demonstrating it. I called on close friends & mentots from all different backgrounds & asked: “Are you in?” Will you help me run one program just so we can show the world what kind of programs we should be investing in and the kind of programs these exceptional individuals are capable of not only experiencing, but conquering! I wasn't asking them to just support an idea, but to build something that would shift our cultures' perception of individuals with exceptionalities for generations to come.
The funny part is, that’s when Adventure For All truly began, and I wasn’t even aware of it myself. I was still afraid that I wasn’t enough to lead this mission, but maybe I could be enough to demonstrate, just this once...
