Doctors gave Jordan St. John only a five percent chance of survival when his mother was four months pregnant with him. Doctors told Brad and Tommie St. John that their baby had multiple health problems, including Down syndrome, but they knew their baby would leave his imprint on the world. And he has. The St. John family began Sweet Jordan’s in 2017 as a way to help Jordan and others with special abilities to have a job. He had always loved to bake and cook, but it wasn’t until his dad, Brad, suffered an illness and the two found themselves in their kitchen with hours to spend. Jordan joked that he was like famous chef Emeril Lagasse, complete with the chef ’s signature move of throwing a towel over his shoulder and saying “kick it up a notch”. During those hours, Brad and Jordan found an old family recipe for chocolate chip cookies. “Except that the recipe made enough for a restaurant,” said Jessica St. John, whose official title is public relations manager but her real title is Jordan’s little sister. With excess cookies, the family donated them to the Helping Hand radio auction, an annual event that raises thousands for Henry County charities. People bought them and told the family that they had to sell them. That started a home kitchen business and planted the idea for Sweet Jordan’s. Tommie St. John drove past the shopping center that was under construction and felt a calling that the family needed to put their store there, but Brad told her that the space was too big. Tommie knew they needed the space. The developer told the family that they needed to add ice cream to the bakery, but the family didn’t know anything about ice cream, Jessica St. John recalled. They traveled to Texas to learn the ice cream business from another business that specializes in ice cream stores that employed people with special abilities like Jordan. That ice cream shop became a franchise about a week after they visited. Sweet Jordan’s quickly exceeded the family’s expectations. They added the coffee shop next door in 2018, and they’ve recently announced expansion plans to nearby McKenzie and Dover in Tennessee. They also have a food truck that travels to events throughout the region. Earlier this summer, they set up their food truck at the Growing in Faith summer skills camp in Metropolis, Illinois. The company hopes to eventually expand into Western Kentucky if the opportunity arises. “There’s a large special abilities community in Dover, and we wouldn’t have known about it without the food truck,” Jessica St. John said. “We were able to say, ‘God’s called us to Dover to plant a location here.’ That obviously came with a lot of prayer in between.” Many of the employees are like Jordan. Sweet Jordan’s motto is Focusing on Abilities, not Disabilities. Each employee has special talents. Jessica ticks through the list of employees: Booker, the social butterfly; Robin, the hugger; Michael, the manager; and Vicki, the customer service expert. Jordan tells his sister that he’s on the schedule every day. In reality, he works two or three days a week and anytime that he can go out with the food truck. He also jokingly tells people that he’s the mayor, the commissioner, and the sheriff. Jessica St. John said the unemployment rate for people like Jordan is around 80 percent. “Yet, the employees with special abilities bring joy and light to the business,” she said. “And yeah, you might need to take extra time to help them get started, but it’s so worth it to have them as employees. They’re phenomenal.” Sweet Jordan’s requires those with special abilities to apply for jobs like regular employees and go through an interview. Sweet 84 SEPTEMBER 2022 | PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE | INTHEVUE.COM
