Ep.61 Stirring Change: Katie Jenkins Champions Jobs for Adults with Disabilities

1/ Meet Katie Jenkins: a Baton Rouge native who went from juggling 4 college jobs to running a thriving therapy center for kids with autism AND launching a coffee shop that employs adults with disabilities. Her superpower? Believing in people before they believe in themselves.2/ Katie Jenkins didn’t grow up dreaming of being a business owner, but her dad saw her relentless go-getter spirit early on (and yes, he STILL works post-retirement—entrepreneur genes run deep!).3/ To pay for college, she waited tables at a country club. Her dad’s advice? “Make every connection you can, smile, and have all these people remember you—they're the influential people in the community.” This is how networking is REALLY done.4/ One table at a time—literally—she fell in love with special needs work after nannying for a child with cerebral palsy and then meeting a family at the club who got her into applied behavior analysis. It wasn’t the plan, but it became her passion.5/ She spent 10 years working in the field, eventually running a clinic. Then, COVID hit. The business model imploded. Katie Jenkins worked herself into panic attacks trying to keep up while raising two toddlers.6/ At her lowest, her husband said: “If you're going to have panic attacks, have them for your own business.” The spark. The leap. And then… an unexpected call: space was available if she wanted to open her own clinic. A literal prayer answered.7/ She opened Grace Therapy Center in 2021. Within months, it BLEW UP. Waitlist for 5 years straight. The hustle was scrappy—they ran the clinic out of a church worship space, transforming it every weekend like a pop-up for 45 kids!8/ Fast forward: Now Grace has THREE locations and 140 employees (up from 60 just a couple years ago). Her secret? Hiring passionate college students and maintaining a 1:1 therapist-to-kid ratio. If you believe you can do better, you WILL.9/ Not stopping there—her passion project: opening Stir, a coffee shop employing adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “If we can staff with 80% disabled adults, ANY business can do 5-10%.” BIG vision, bigger impact.10/ Next to STIR, she launched the Strides nonprofit—helping find meaningful, safe employment for adults with disabilities. She wants to end the post-COVID isolation for so many who are at home and just need that ONE opportunity.11/ Her leadership style? Empowering. “Katie Jenkins: I look for the best in people and I’m crazy enough to say, ‘This is what you can do,’ before you even believe it. Then I pull it out of you.”12/ What drives her? “Our community deserves it. People love to complain about Baton Rouge. But you can DO something and make it better.” Less talk, more impact.13/ Her advice to her younger self and every dreamer out there: “Buckle up. You have no control. But trust your gut—you’re making a bigger difference than you know.”14/ If you’re in Baton Rouge, go grab your Friday morning coffee at Stir—you might leave with more than just caffeine; you’ll leave INSPIRED.#Inclusion #Leadership #Entrepreneurship