Local business run by woman with special needs succeeds

Starting your own business can be a daunting task. It takes planning, preparation and a lot of elbow grease. For Maxine Simeone, it also takes a lot of sparkles.

Maxine makes her own colorful, blinged-out headbands. She spends most nights with a glue gun in hand, carefully placing rhinestones, feathers, fabric flowers and anything sparkly she can find on each piece of headwear.

Maxine is also an Ambassador for a local nonprofit called Help Us Gather, or HUG. HUG advocates for inclusion and connects individuals with disabilities to social events and activities. Maxine has Down syndrome, and she joined HUG to make new friends and connect with other people with special needs in the community.

Before Maxine became an Ambassador last fall, making headbands was just a hobby. However, the HUG team saw Maxine’s potential and asked her to make headbands to sell at the Help Us Gather Celebrity Event in November.

Maxine’s headbands were a huge hit, so she decided to start her own “Sparkles by Maxine” Facebook page to begin selling her headbands year-round. Maxine loves being an entrepreneur and she never shies away from the spotlight, whether she’s posing for a camera or telling someone new about her quickly growing small business.

“I like HUG best for making friends. It has helped me grow, personally and my business. It has opened my heart,” said Maxine.

Maxine was honored with HUG’s Miss Fearless 2019 award at the Beyond Incredible event on April 6th. For more information, visit helpusgather.org/Incredible.