We recently connected with Caroline Turner and have shared our conversation below.

Caroline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

In April 2022, I was working as a social worker in the Developmental Behavioral Pediatric Clinic (DBP) in Austin, Texas. I was hosting yet another failed support group attempt because only two parents had shown up. Towards the end of our brief, “group” one of the parents said to me, “I only attended this group in the hopes to find another family nearby who also has a child with autism.” I nodded and felt frustrated that I could not offer a solution. I had heard this request repeatedly for years. I always thought a matching system would be easy and crucial for families and autistic adults to connect. As I jumped off the call, I thought, “You know what, I’ll just do it.” And so, Quirky Buds was born.

I am not a tech person and I have had few moments in my life where I thought I understood computers. However, on this particular evening, I logged on and within an hour had built a website, a form, and sent the link to some friends and colleagues for feedback. Quickly I heard back and with the excitement and support of these people, Quirky Buds was official live and had our first sign up just a few short weeks later.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

In 2010, I was in my last year of college at Marquette University and trying to figure out what was next. I was about to complete my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and knew that there was little I could with this degree in the “psychology” world. A professor at the time, asked if I wanted to join her lab studying children with autism. At the time, I knew so little about autism but thought, “sure why not.” This quick decision of what I thought was going to be a resume builder actually impacted my entire career.

From that moment, I began realizing how much I wanted to work with individuals on the spectrum and also individuals who were neurodivergent. The brain is so intricate and full of differences that I could believe the different strengths and creativity that was being tapped into. I felt honored to start to learn more about this population but also from them.

Quirky Buds is a private friendship matching program that connects families with neurodiverse needs, such as autism, dsylexia, or ADHD. After a family or neurodiverse adult signs up and answers a few simple questions, Quirky Buds reviews the submissions and matches “buds”’ based on interests and age. Every Tuesday, “buds” are emailed who have a new match.

Currently, there are only a few solutions to help this population find friends. Our world is becoming increasingly isolating for all people, but especially for neurodiverse individuals. Quirky Buds is a unique solution because it is free and open to all ages and diagnoses.

Quirky Buds’ mission is to create an accepting world for all through the power of friendship.

Recently, we also launched Quirky Buds for Caregivers! This is another feature of our sight that allows parents and caregivers a way to connect with other parents or caregivers focused on the same supports. It is another way to find community when sometimes a diagnosis makes you feel more isolated.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

My best source of clients has been connecting with other groups that are focused on friendship, supporting individuals who are neurodiverse, or just groups that want to connect. It has been so wonderful to collaborate with many great groups across the country focused on supporting a diverse network of individuals and focused on building community,

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When I first launched Quirky Buds, I was pretty adamant that I did not want it to be a nonprofit. I had worked for nonprofits and know that it can be difficult to maintain. However, as I got more into the work, keeping the platform free became my number one priority.

Quirky Buds is in the process of becoming a 501c3 in order to continue to build a community at no cost to individuals who want to find friends.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.quirkybuds.com
• Instagram: @quirkybuds
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quirkybuds
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/@QuirkyBuds