Making everyone feel ‘welcomed’

Crestline resident Cristina Casanova Might has created a lifestyle brand for people with special needs.

Might, an industrial designer, initially began her brand to design a functional and beautiful environment tailored to fit her son Buddy’s special needs. While Buddy is a huge impetus in Might starting her business, Welcomed Co., he is not the only motivation.

Through years of advocating for grants and public policy for Buddy, Might realized as a mother it was the lifestyle branded things she designed that made him happy. They were both functional and practical, like the fish tank in his bedroom, so he could move around with ease and enjoy his fish.

“Designs for those with different abilities only require small adjustments,” Might said. “We have to start considering being proactive and conserving their independence. Buddy showed me that he’s still loveable and capable of being a whole human. With better products, there’s still hope and it’s not the end of the world. In our society, everybody faces these challenges of growing older, needing accessible products and wanting to feel beautiful.”

“My hope is that any parent that has a child with a disability won’t have to worry if their child can fit through the front door of their best friend’s house,” she said.

In 2017, Might and her family moved to Birmingham, and she said the Mountain Brook community welcomed them with open arms.

Buddy, 13, was born with physical differences and special needs. At the time of the family’s move, his peers saw him and accepted him like others hadn’t before.

“They saw Buddy as a boy and didn’t just see his differences,” his mother said. “Southern hospitality is not just a myth; it can be very real.”

While embracing Buddy and the family, the community also saw the beautiful and appealing designs Might was creating for her son and would make requests for their children and other loved ones. As an industrial designer, Might does not scale and focuses more on improving the appeal for clients.

Unfortunately, in 2020, the Might family experienced a tragedy and lost Buddy. But the mission to fight for her son’s causes — inclusion, equal rights and representation — still remains. One way to continue forward for Might is to create beautiful, accessible products that anybody would be comfortable using that destigmatizes different abilities.

Might’s 11-year-old daughter Victoria helped her mother not only to brainstorm names for the company she would build in honor of Buddy, but also assisted with creating and building the designs if she was afraid to start alone.

Victoria said, “I can help you make the business more welcoming to all people.”

“Nobody is born being able to walk or talk. People are born with different abilities — like neurodivergent or psychiatric ones,” Might said. “We must be more welcoming of those types of individuals and their needs.”

Through Might and her daughter’s conversations they came up with the name Welcomed Co. to represent a business where beautiful, inclusive products could be accessible.

“The goal is to reframe southern hospitality and help people find products that are more accessible in their everyday lives,” Might said.

Hospitality at its core is about an individual feeling special, so Welcomed Co. wants to provide that through its products..

Currently, most shower chairs, hospital beds, commode chairs, ramps, IV poles or medicine storage have a clinical look to them. Might believes that with beautiful options, people won’t feel embarrassed and will likely comply with usage.

“You want to look good and stylish — they enable people to be seen and not to be seen simply for their challenges and differences,” Might said. “They don’t have to be stigmatized for their depression or anxiety. Just because your abilities change doesn’t mean that your sense of style, autonomy or self-worth should.”

Might’s first line of products will launch this month, and she invites the community to be a part of the products she offers. For more information, visit welcomed.co.