We recently connected with Jolene MacDonald and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jolene, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I owned another design agency previously for close to 15 years, and I’ve been a graphic designer for over 25. When my youngest daughter was born with Dwarfism, I started heavily advocating for her. I was beginning to notice just how inaccessible my own industry really could be, finding myself getting frustrated with clients at my old job who didn’t seem to take my concerns about this issue seriously. I liked my job, and I liked the industry, but the projects I was working on didn’t feel like they had any real purpose. They weren’t creating a positive impact on the world, they weren’t changing lives for the better. My heart has always been into social good, and I needed something that would allow for that.

My life also became pretty overwhelming at this point. With three kids, one with a lot of medical needs, two with all sorts of struggles of their own, and I started experiencing chronic pain, fatigue, memory issues at the same time. I really wasn’t doing well. I was struggling. Call it a mental breakdown or just the universe screaming at me, but something needed to change.

I needed employment, but it had to be more flexible than my business was at the time. I tried working for other people, but it just wasn’t for me. It was near impossible to be an employee with my desire to be an entrepreneur at the same time. While I was doing disability advocacy, I met other parents dealing with the same work issues, which led to meeting others with disabilities. We could work, but it needed to be flexible, and typical employers either wouldn’t or couldn’t accommodate us. I couldn’t schedule for chronic pain, and there was no predicting a bad day. Families who have so many medical appointments can only take so many days off.

The lightbulb just suddenly went off in my head one day. What if I could do what I love, creating accessible design and marketing, and provide those flexible jobs for people impacted by disability. So, I did it! I combined my previous work experience with my passion for accessibility and activism, and in late 2017 Accessibrand was borne.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a long time entrepreneur of 20 plus years, a graphic designer/illustrator for 25 years, a mom of 3 and an avid volunteer. My passion is to make the world a better and fair place. I have been an artist/designer all my life and when I finally found design, I knew it was the right field for me.

When I was young I always worked with disability or volunteered but never did I think my life would turn 360 degrees back into having a child with a disability and experiencing it personally. I am so proud of taking the chances I have with my businesses and pivoting in life to find my passions. My greatest achievement is my family and Accessibrand. We are the ONLY agency in Canada dedicated to digital accessibility and staffed by a team of people with lived experience. What started as us doing all the work has evolved into us teaching, training and testing for others – allowing competitors to learn is key for society to change. People need to understand that if you lead with empathy, success will follow and we all need to change as we will all experience disability in our lives – you just don’t know when or how.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think there are many things that have contributed to my resilience. There’s been times I have been so ill from my disability that I just wanted to give up but didn’t. I have 3 kids and at times they have had high needs and my own disability, plus close family deaths. I have pushed through each of these things.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2022 we had a dramatic negative shift in clients with a huge drop in revenue. We cut back, I didn’t pay myself, and borrowed and begged for money from banks and private opportunities and in 2023 we are back in black with a profit. I could have given up. But we found ways scale down and pivot – I believe in what I am doing and many others do too. There is a need for what we are doing and we believe no one else is able to educate like we can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://accessibrand.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accessibrandtt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/accessibrand
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolene-macdonald-6b0b103/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/accessibrand
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@accessibrand

Image Credits
All images are copyright of Accessibrand Inc.