We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel and Tiffany Holmes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel and Tiffany below.

Daniel and Tiffany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

From the moment we met, we discovered that we shared a similar goal: discovering other people’s passions and helping them find the tools they need to succeed. Originally with our love of event planning and charitable work, we wanted to open different food service establishments (cafes, bakeries, etc.) and donate proceeds to various charities. As we started researching organizations, we realized there was a large issue when it came to employment for people with disabilities. So, we thought, what if instead of just donating money, we worked to help solve the bigger issue? From that moment on, we decided to use the things we love to help others find what they love.

We are using our love of training and development to create job opportunities and vocational training. We are excited to connect with people to raise awareness of this issue and we feel very lucky to use the things we love for the greater good.

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

Aber (ˈæbə) Definition: an estuary, or the mouth of a river where different bodies of water come together Water represents new life and new opportunities– a fresh start. When different types of water from different places come together, they create a much larger beautiful body of water. We want people to be able to come together in the same way.

Abermor is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that will create sustainable work opportunities in food service/food retail for people with mental and physical challenges here in Central Florida. Our team will focus on inequality in the disabled community by providing employment, training, and leadership advancement opportunities. By doing this we want to develop a more equal and inclusive community that will help the millions of disabled Americans become more independent. We want to focus on a person’s abilities and not their limitations.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We are a fairly new organization, so our social media presence is building. We started our nonprofit in 2020, at a time where fundraising and events were at a stand-still. So the only way we could really have an impact was through an online presence. We really struggled because we had to find new ways to debunk myths behind disabilities without having the ability to host in-person events.

To help support this goal, we started a virtual series called “The Mor You Know”. This series asks the difficult questions that everyone wants to know, but is too afraid to ask. It features guest speakers in the disabled community who talk about their experiences. Accommodation efforts may be required in a workplace, but in the end, the effort is worth the payoff of gaining a truly valuable employee. Through this web series, we have learned so much AND it has helped us really connect to people virtually. The videos have gained us new followers on social media while simultaneously spreading our message of inclusion.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Covid-19 has definitely had an impact on us and on Abermor. We had talked about creating this nonprofit for a long time, so when we got engaged we really hit the ground running. The plan was to have a very small wedding in September 2020, and the rest of our wedding budget would go towards a large fundraising event to start our new life and our new organization together. Due to Covid-19, we of course had to change the plan. We were fortunate to have the wedding we wanted, but we were sad that we had to postpone our fundraiser indefinitely. The impacts of Covid are still around us– from facing higher rental costs for venues to finding safe ways to operate, we have really had to shift our plans and mindset.

However, being the optimists we are, we think in the end it will help us create an even better events in the future. So many of our customers and employees could have health concerns, and we want to put their safety first. This may mean that our process and growth take longer, but it is worth it in the end. So, we have shifted our focus to smaller markets, conventions, and online events to help us network within the community until we can build up to larger events and even permanent locations.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.abermor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abermorgroup
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abermorgroup
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRTBKDP6T6ylzzv8cbI4rEg/featured