At first glance, Disco Differences could be mistaken for just another cool vintage clothing spot, but behind the racks of secondhand fashion is a bigger purpose. Founded by Emily Wall and Megan Snow, two longtime friends and professionals in education and speech pathology, the shop doubles as a work-based learning site designed to create meaningful opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Southpoint Access caught up with the co-founders to learn more about the inspiration behind their mission, how they engage with the Durham community, and what keeps them grounded – and growing – in South Durham.
Southpoint Access: What inspired you to start your business, and how did you end up at Boxyard RTP?
Emily and Megan: We started our business as a way to promote greater inclusion within our community. Specifically, within both of our fields we see the inequity of integration and meaningful opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Additionally, we both love fashion, thrifting, and using our wardrobes as a method of self-expression, and so Disco Differences was originally born as a way to support individuals with IDD to develop different job skills through selling secondhand and vintage clothes. Shortly after we started our business, we applied for Popbox; a rotating grant-awarded brick and mortar within Boxyard. And now we’re here!
Southpoint Access: What makes your product, service, or experience unique to the Triangle – or even just to Boxyard?
Emily and Megan: We recognize that selling vintage and secondhand clothing is not a new idea. However, the clothes we source and sell are simply the avenue to support humans developing transferable job skills. At Disco Differences, we offer work-based learning (WBL) opportunities – an evidence-based predictor of post-school employment success for individuals with IDD.
We use a system of least-to-most prompts and an errorless learning model, which means once a skill is taught, individuals are encouraged to try it independently. We provide support starting with the least intrusive prompts, increasing only as needed. Through errorless learning, we offer real-time modeling and support to help individuals succeed and learn from mistakes without frustration.
Our WBL model includes training in various employment-related skills such as organization, tagging, stocking inventory, customer service, and checkout operations.
Additionally, we like to think we create incidental learning opportunities for our community to see that when given the opportunity, all people, including those with disabilities can engage in meaningful opportunities.
Southpoint Access: How do you engage with the local community, and what does being part of South Durham mean to your business?
Emily and Megan: We partner with the Durham Public Schools system to offer work-based learning for high school-aged young adults with disabilities as a part of their transition planning process. Co-founder Emily was a former public school teacher and found it incredibly difficult to find community businesses willing to partner with her students to develop job skills while her students were still in high school, so when we knew we were going to have a store in Boxyard it was our mission to partner with the local school system to ensure our business was benefiting the community in some way.
South Durham is special to us because we’ve built roots here. We were raised in different parts of the country and have found a space within Durham where we have created meaningful friendships and community, and are fully accepted for who we are and what we bring to the table. It’s so special to us and something we want to promote for everybody that we meet here.
Southpoint Access: What’s something people might not know about your business, your team, or your process – but should?
Emily and Megan: We’re best friends. People say not to go into business with your friends, but in so many ways it’s only made us closer. We’ve learned parts of each other professionally that we never got to experience within our friendship. Additionally, we both have full-time jobs outside of this business. Megan has her masters degree in speech pathology and is a full-time licensed speech pathologist and Emily has her doctorate in special education and is a full-time inclusive postsecondary education program employment coordinator. We love what we’ve built through Disco Differences, but this in a sense was built as a hobby with a big mission behind it, and it serendipitously turned into something so big, in addition to our full-time careers and friendship.
Southpoint Access: What are your current goals or upcoming plans. Anything exciting on the horizon?
Emily and Megan: We’re so grateful that we’ve had this opportunity to grow and impact our community, but what we think is beautiful about what we’ve created is how open to change we are. We recognize that like with all people and things, growth is inevitable and we embrace that. If that means we grow more deeply rooted in our business, wonderful; if it means that we celebrate the impact we have and use this experience as a learning opportunity to better show up in our careers and with our community members, that’s wonderful too. We’re just here for the ride and to continue advocating for individuals with IDD in the meaningful ways that we can. For now, that looks like a vintage shop called Disco Differences operated by two best friends with big dreams, but nobody can be sure what the future holds.
Boxyard RTP is at 900 Park Offices Dr. Disco Differences is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., unless otherwise stated on Instagram.
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Author: Wes Platt
Lead storyteller. Game designer and journalist. Recovering Floridian. Email: southpointaccessnews@gmail.com.
