A local candle-making business is shining a light on the capabilities of employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Zaneta Bristow is the owner of Charm & Wick Candle Co. Her business aims to help more adults on the spectrum find full time employment through their business, while raising awareness for businesses about hiring people with autism.
Located at 34 Ainslie St., residents come by to say hello, chat with staff and purchase hand-poured, soy wax candles, wax melts and products from other local businesses.
"I think it's all awareness, I think it's all about making it normalized and it's about making our employees feel like they belong to the community, like they're a part of something," said Bristow, who currently has four part-time staff who are part of the spectrum and two volunteers.
According to Autism Speaks Canada, employment rates are 14.3 per cent for people with autism compared to 45 per cent of all people who have a disability.
At Charm & Wick, all employees have a specific role and set schedules. Instead of doing job interviews, Bristow said each employee went through a paid "test day" to see if they would like working for the company. She explains she got rid of interviews as this can be a barrier for some people with autism.
“We started with no interview because for all of our employees that’s the hardest part, the most social part. Even for me, that’s the hard part," said Bristow. “They can see if they like it, if they’re a good fit, and we’ve never had a situation where anyone wasn’t a good fit.”
Bristow started Charm & Wick in December 2020 in her basement with her husband before moving to the current storefront in November 2021. She said the business was inspired by her son who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three.
“When my son was diagnosed with autism, we got so much support. He was in therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and then the older he got, the less we got and the support kind of slowly disappeared,” said Bristow, “I was watching a documentary online about adults with autism and they had no support and had no job, so we were thinking about what we could do to help adults (on the spectrum) and candles are very easy for us, because there are a lot of repetitive tasks and were easy to start, so that’s how we started.”
Since starting the business, Bristow has had many parents reach out to her about their own experiences with their children who have autism. She also notes staff have become more confident while working for the company.
“I feel like with everyone sharing their stories and experiences, I feel we've created a little community,” she said. “When you surround yourself with people who are going through the same experiences, it makes you feel less alone.”
With the community behind Charm & Wick, Bristow hopes to expand and open another store so they can hire more people. She also hopes to continue to be an example for other businesses.
“I would love to spread awareness for bigger companies because it’s okay to hire people that are on the spectrum,” said Bristow. “If they would skip the interview and let them have just a day of work and see how they are, they would see that they are incredible."
