Gabi, appreciate you joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers.
For 3 years we were raising money to open a coffee shop to employ people with special abilities. During the pandemic, God said to move all our coffee supplies into The Loading Dock co warehouse space. So, I said to God ” you do know there is a pandemic going on and everyone is working from home and you want me to go where?!? I have learned over the years to do what He tells me so we packed everything up and moved into Dock 1053. As I was standing in my cage at the Dock I said “Now what”? And as I am looking out of my cage I see people working at the shared tables and they are packaging, assembling and labeling items. I thought ok I can get people with special abilities to do that, and we did! We started another non profit in addition to Gabi’s Grounds, called Gabi’s Pals! We have 43 employees with special abilities and have a variety of clients needing help in the fullfillment arena!
Gabi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We are Mary and Gabi Angelini Co Founders of Gabi’s! I was crushed when I realized that NO ONE would hire my daughter, despite her love of service, hard work and bubbly personality. This discrimination is incredibly common for adults with special abilities. In Wake County there are 68,000 people living with a disability, only 18% of adults with a disability are employed.
That’s why Gabi and I are focused on employing as many people as possible. We currently have over 40 employees at our 2 nonprofit companies. Gabi’s PALS (Packaging, Assembling, Labeling, Shipping) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals with special abilities. Our operations are focused on providing meaningful employment and workplace training for these individuals so that they can become self-reliant and self-supporting.
We would love to help your company with any fulfillment needs at your warehouse or at The Loading Dock in Raleigh, NC! Gabi’s GROUNDS sells coffee/tea and merchandise on our website or at our warehouse at The Loading Dock 1053 E. Whitaker Mill Rd in Raleigh. We also do pop up events with hot or iced coffees! Check out our website at https://www.gabisgrounds.com Please contact me at [email protected]
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Lots and lots of hard work. Working our pop up shops for the past 5 years, going constantly to networking events and Gabi speaking around the county at conferences telling her story.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Being transparent, honesty goes a long way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gabisgrounds.com
- Instagram: @gabisraleigh
- Facebook: Gabi’s Powered by special abilites
- Linkedin: Gabi’s powered by special abilites
- Twitter: gabisgrounds
- Youtube: gabisgrounds
Image Credits
Hanna Neitzke