Dave’s Shop… a reminder that dreams do come true and with a little help and support, people with different abilities can achieve them too!
Dave Schmidt only launched his shop last week but this incredible South African’s business selling colour and joy is booming, thanks to his positive attitude, and dedication to his job.
Dave was born with Down Syndrome. He is 30 years old and lives with his folks in Durban.
He started cutting confetti 2 years ago for Derryn Schmidt, his sister-in-law’s wedding, but loved it so much that his family have since helped him launch his very own online store.
“After two years‚ he had a massive stockpile of confetti. Once his pile of boxes grew taller than him‚ we decided it was time to expand our target market beyond the wedding industry – hence our decision to create a company for him‚” Derryn explains.
He cuts mountains of confetti to sell to anyone getting married, having a party, gender reveals, baby showers or any celebration whatsoever.
Derryn said Dave’s job suits his lifestyle. “One of the reasons why making confetti works for Dave’s lifestyle is because he loves to watch wrestling and soap operas. This he can do with his earphones in‚ while cutting confetti. And he does it all day long.”
He only officially launched last week, and within days had sold over 500 handfuls of confetti! He’s been interviewed by Times Live, gone live in studio on East Coast Radio, and was interviewed by Nicole da Silva on 5fm too. The response to his business has been insane, the public love his sense of humour, positive attitude and dedication to his job.
And Dave’s whole family have become part of the business too.
“His mom and dad have an office for him at home and they keep an eye on his stock. They are in effect production managers. His sister‚ Robyn‚ is his financial manager and helps keep track of online orders. His brother‚ Mark‚ is his trusted advisor and financial backer and I am basically his social media manager,” Derryn shared.
Dave spoke to Times Live and told them that he hopes to raise enough money via his online store to visit his sister in Cape Town‚ but he is more focused on just sharing his confetti with South Africa.
“Dave just loves to make confetti. When we tell him how many people have purchased or how many followers he has on social media‚ he just says ‘Wow‚ that’s cool’… it could be 10 or it could be 10‚000.
“Having a job‚ having his own business and going to Cape Town are what is important to him‚ not the money or the followers‚” Derryn said.
She was surprised at the response to Dave’s Shop on social media.
“I knew that our friends would be very supportive‚ but it’s been great to see how many strangers have reached out to us. It’s given us a great appreciation for the human spirit and we‚ the family‚ are all overjoyed and feeling so proud of our Dave.”
Dave’s family want to spread the word about his company as far as possible but more so they want to share his story… that dreams do come true, and that with a little help and support, people with different abilities can achieve them too!
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