Marcus Moore is the founder of Moore Crunch, a pretzel business that sells products in several prominent stores and landmarks around Maryland, including Camden Yards, the National Aquarium, Fishpaws, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also has autism.
Moore founded the business a little less than two years ago and has already expanded significantly, investing in a commercial kitchen, adding new flavors, and venturing into new stores. Throughout the month of April, which was Autism Acceptance Month, Moore did his own “Crunch Crew Tour,” stopping by the places that sell his products to meet new people.
In fact, the opportunity to meet people and expand his skills was one of the main reasons he started the business in the first place.
Moore told told WBAL-TV11, “It also helped me get to interact with more people with greatness, learning social skills and it’s been very good at helping my social anxiety. It has been improving ever since.”
Though the business venture has helped Moore overcome his own challenges, he also wants the business to inspire others, showing people what’s possible for those with autism and inspiring anyone with differences to go after their dreams.
He said, “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. There’s always a way.”
Moore is just one of many small businesses run by people on the autism spectrum. Though there are varying degrees of challenges and differences for everyone, these differences don’t preclude people from entrepreneurship. And in some cases, their differences may even be strengths in the business world.
Even for those without autism, Moore’s story can provide inspiration for embracing differences and getting excited about overcoming challenges. And for the many adults and young people on the autism spectrum, he serves as an example of what is possible and how much you can accomplish.
Image: moorecrunch.com
