Mallory Pigage is a 26-year-old woman with an apartment in downtown Whitehorse, a large network of friends and her own business. A true Yukon success story, Mallory is determined to focus on her capabilities rather than her limitations, and has made a name for herself within the community despite challenges.
After graduating from high school, Mallory advocated on her own behalf for the right to attend the Workplace Readiness Program at the Yukon College to help her hone her skills. She became the first person with an intellectual disability to be enrolled in the program. After living in residence at the college for four months, she knew independent living was right for her, and worked toward building and maintaining a life that supported her goal.
She connected with the Yukon Association for Community Living and was able to secure a job at Bear’s Paws Quilts through their Ready, Willing and Able Employment Support program. In a video testimonial on the Community Living website, Mallory tells the camera, “My favourite thing about my job is being included in the community.”
Although working at the local quilting store was rewarding, it wasn’t the challenge that Mallory was looking for; she had bigger dreams. She set her sights on starting a business of her own. In Mallory’s own words, “I like to be in charge. I also like meeting new people.”
With this in mind, Mallory did her research to find out what her community needed. At first she approached businesses with the idea of a courier service: perhaps she could help them with mail outs, recycling, distributing fliers or running other errands? But the consensus was clear: what businesses needed help with most was postering. Seeing an opportunity to fill a need, she launched Mallory’s Postering Service.
She now works up to six hours a day, three days a week providing a valuable service to over 30 clients. She has even attained the status of being an Approved Vendor with the Yukon Government, allowing any branch to contact her to advertise their programs, and freeing up their staff to work on other tasks.
This work is not only rewarding for her, but it is also helping her to learn new skills from customer service to mastering her own bookkeeping system. Being her own boss allows Mallory the freedom to set her own hours and work around her needs, setting a pace that works well for her.
Offering businesses an à la carte menu of possible locations and packages, Mallory distributes hundreds of posters every week all over town. She focuses on responsible postering – never covering over someone else’s poster, and ensuring that her clients’ posters are taken down after their events are over.
In nine months her business has become so successful that she is even contemplating hiring a second staff member to help meet demand.
“I have been growing my business,” Mallory says. “The challenging part remains being outdoors in all kinds of weather.”
Like any other challenge however, Mallory doesn’t let the hot summer days or the weeks of -30ºC stop her. She is committed to getting the word out about her clients events, and making sure their posters are displayed in prominent venues across Whitehorse.
One thing’s for certain, with a drive to succeed and a passion for meeting new people, Mallory would be happy to help you with your postering needs. So if you have an event coming up and your staff or volunteers need to be focusing their time working out other logistics besides where to hang your posters, give Mallory Pigage a call. She can be reached through the Yukon Association for Community Living at 667-4606.
You can also find Mallory’s Postering Service on Facebook, or check out her services at www.MallorysPostering.WordPress.com.
If you are interested in learning more about the supports offered through the Yukon Association for Community Living and the national Ready, Willing and Able program, please contact Executive Director Colette Acheson at 667-4606 or by email at [email protected].
