Today we’d like to introduce you to PJ Morrissey.
Hi PJ, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Emily was born on June 23rd, 1998, and was soon diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy due to complications during her birth. Doctors told my parents that she would never walk on her own, speak, or be fully independent. Due to her special needs, Emily started multiple forms of therapy. During her Occupational Therapy sessions, her therapist worked on improving her fine motor skills by having her string large beads onto pipe cleaners. Emily has continued this exercise through therapy her entire life, soon graduating to stringing smaller beads onto elastic string. Not only that, but Emily can walk on her own and is able to carry conversations, despite what doctors originally said.
Emily was a part of an 8 year program at our high school where the first 4 years focused on academic education, and the last 4 on job skills and placement. The job placement was not Emily’s favorite. Her teachers would place her in local stores where she would perform jobs such as cleaning and other janitorial duties. She disliked these jobs so much that she would come home and vocalize her discontent to us.
As Emily neared graduation from high school, my family and I were concerned about what she was going to do for a job after high school. Everyone wants to have a purpose, and we wanted to ensure that Emily would have one as well. At the same time, Emily had been making bracelets for us and our close family and friends. Everyone who received a bracelet from Emily gushed about how much they loved it and how much it meant to them. Hearing how much people enjoyed her bracelets, it would bring Emily pure joy and a smile to her face. One day, my family and I had a light-bulb idea to start a bracelet business that would harness Emily’s passion and love for making bracelets and spreading happiness through them.
On October 1st, 2018, we launched Emily’s Bracelets. We will be celebrating 6 years in business this October.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The past year-and-a-half or so has not been easy for our family or Emily’s Bracelets. On October 7th, 2022, we lost our paternal Grandfather after he fell down a flight of stairs.
Then on May 14th, 2023 (Mother’s Day), at approximately 1 AM, there was an explosion in the garage of our home that caused extensive damage, and displaced us for a year. I was the only one awake at the time of the explosion. I ran down the stairs and into the laundry room to find all sides of the door glowing orange, and a wall of heat hit me in the face. I pulled the door closed and told my parents to get Emily, get the dogs, and get out of the house. Emily’s room is right off the garage and she had actually managed to somehow sleep through the explosion. Luckily, all 4 of us and all 3 dogs made it out of the house unharmed.
All of the inventory that Emily had built up and all of our business supplies were lost to smoke damage. Every single bead, every single string, every single business card, etc. We had to cease operations all together. The fire has been the most difficult thing that our family has ever gone through, and the journey is still not over. However, my family was able to move back into our house as of May 11th, 2024, almost a year to the date of the fire.
In addition to these challenges, on August 1st, 2023, we lost our maternal Grandfather after a long fight with interstitial lung disease. By this time, we had managed to build a small inventory after the fire and had started doing small bracelet “drops.” We were about to release our second drop of bracelets when our Grandfather unfortunately passed away.
On January 22 of this year, our family also had to say goodbye to one of our family’s dogs, Jasper, who we had since I was 6 years old and Emily was 10. This was extremely difficult for all of us, and still gets Emily choked up from time to time.
Despite these challenges, Emily, the rest of our family, and Emily’s Bracelets has continued to persevere. Emily’s life and Emily’s Bracelets have been built on overcoming adversity, and we didn’t let these challenges stop us.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Emily’s Bracelets is a family affair. I, PJ, am in charge of the web side of things. I manage our Social Media and Emily’s Website, emilysbracelets.com. My mom, Kristin, is in charge of filling orders based on the inventory Emily builds, and also is in charge of quality assurance. My dad, Dan, is in charge of shipping the orders, as well as accounting, and customer service. Emily, is our Chief Bracelet maker. Together, we are all co-founders of Emily’s Bracelets.
Emily’s Bracelets is very community focused. 50 cents from every single bracelet sold is donated to the Special Olympics as a thank you for all that they have done for Emily and all of their athletes. To date, Emily has made over 27,000 bracelets and has donated over $15,000 to charity. We have sold bracelets in all 50 states and Emily has even been featured in Forbes Women.
Emily’s goal with her bracelets is to spread smiles and happiness all over the world. The unfortunate reality is that 78% of adults with disabilities are unemployed (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) and our goal is to put as much of a dent in that number as possible while promoting inclusion. As Emily’s Bracelets continues to grow, we hope to employ more individuals with disabilities in the future.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
We hope to grow Emily’s Bracelets to become a nationally recognized brand. Doing so would allow us to expand our operations and employ even more adults with disabilities, giving them a purpose just like Emily. This would also allow us to donate even more to charity, giving back to the community more than we already do.
Pricing:
- Classic Collection – $7
- Glass Bracelet Collection – $10
- Wooden Bracelet Collection – $10
- First Responder Collection – $8-$10
- Custom Bracelets – $10
Contact Info:
- Website: emilysbracelets.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilys.bracelets/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilymsbracelets/
- Twitter: https://x.com/emilys_bracelet
