Kylie is baking and making her way to the top in catering role

Today, Kylie is a motivated and bubbly individual who takes pride in what she does at Classroom Catering. She has been receiving support from WISE Employment for almost three years and is really pleased with the service.

Kylie, who lives with an intellectual disability, wasn’t always this high-spirited. She explained that there was a time when she lacked confidence and the thought of being around people frightened her.

“I didn’t like to be around people, I’m actually a very shy person. I’ve had my fair share of down days and the team at WISE Employment were always there to pick me up. I did some classes through WISE and slowly built up my confidence,” said Kylie.

Thanks to WISE Employment and Kylie’s determination, she has now been working at Classroom Catering for nine months. Kylie describes the catering company as a very encouraging and respectful place to work. She explained that the people she works with are kind, caring and generous and, because of this, she has seen a huge change in herself.

Kylie also highlighted her relationship with WISE Business Manager, Renea: “Renea was fantastic! I had a few issues finding someone I trusted and when Renea stepped in I knew I could confide in her. WISE actually found me another catering job before this one, but I didn’t enjoy it and when I told Renea, she set me up with Classroom Catering the very next day!” said Kylie.

This is Kylie’s first job and she has been described as a ‘hardworking and valuable member of the team’ by Wendy, the Managing Director of Classroom Catering. Kylie explained that the role has given her a sense of independence and she actually looks forward to going to work.

Kylie is very supportive of what WISE does, however she believes that we still have a long way to go in educating and encouraging employers to hire people that have a disability. In the past, Kylie found businesses wanted to hire younger people that didn’t have a disability.

Kylie hopes that WISE Employment will continue to help people like herself for another 25 plus years.

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