Young man with autism launches a chocolate business during Sydney’s latest lockdown – and it’s proving more successful than he ever thought possible
- Richard Habelrih, who has autism, began to speak about being bullied at school
- Now 25, he is a paid public speaker but in lockdown his bookings stopped
- He decided to make chocolate 'freckly faces' and now has thousands of orders
An inspiring young man with autism has started a thriving chocolate business during the Covid stay-at-home orders and discovered the recipe for overcoming lockdown blues.
Richard Habelrih, 25, is making 300-400 chocolate 'freckly faces' a day from the family's Maroubra home to meet orders pouring in from around Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Mr Habelrih found work as a public speaker opening up about the bullying he experienced at school and raising awareness about autism before the lockdown.
But in 2020 the work dried up.
Richard Habelrih, who couldn't find work with major retail chains has become an educator, public speaker and now chocolate maker. His advice to people with lockdown blues is 'do something you love'
Richard Habelrih and his sister Emily working on online orders for Richard's thriving chocolate business
'He hates not having something to do, that depresses him,' his mum Randa told Daily Mail Australia.
'So when lockdown happened and speaking engagements were cancelled he starting pacing, he was distressed. He said "I want to start a business".'
Mr Habelrih made chocolates to raise money for a disabled child to get an electric scooter in 2019 and decided to return to that.
'I would say to people stay safe, be careful, but don't stop and do nothing,' he said.
'Find something you like to do and do it.'
Richard Habelih (right) with his mother Randa (left) at one of his speaking engagements
Mr Habelrih tells his TikTok followers what is plans are for lockdown. He decided to make a distribute his own chocolate 'freckly faces' from home
Mrs Habelrih, who does marketing for Autism Mates, but has been roped into help the chocolate production, says the chocolate orders are flooding in.
'We honestly thought we'd have a few orders but we've got so many orders we are up until midnight,' Mrs Habelrih said.
'Yesterday we got a thousands orders and the phone was pinging through the night so there's probably more.'
His sister Emily, 30, a clinical psychologist is also helping make and package the chocolate.
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Mr Habelrih makes sure each 'freckly face' chocolate is packaged with a handwritten message.
The chocolate-making is the latest step in a remarkable journey for a young man who has become a role model for people with autism who feel abandoned by society.
'He was depressed when he left school, he lost his routine,' Mrs Habelrih said.
'He couldn't find employment, we tried everywhere, and the places that do hire, like Coles and Woolworths, their narrative was 'we've fulfilled our quota'.
'So our kids end up on the bottom of the heap.'
When she wrote a book about her experiences, Richard got up to speak - and he brought the house down.
'Richard has an intellectual disability, so he doesn't speak eloquently, but audiences absolutely love him. His message is authentic and he speaks about kindness and acceptance.'
She said Richard was 'badly bullied' at school, 'and it's still happening for other kids with autism'.
'We get emails from parents all the time. People are not nasty by nature, they just don't know how to interact with kids on the spectrum.
Richard Habelrih has overcome schoolyard bullying over his autism to become a public speaker in his 20s
Mr Habelrih regularly speaks to school students about autism and how to speak to kids with autism
'Richard is advocating for himself and his peers and he's spoken all over Australia now. He's paid award rates for it.
'He's not going to have a traditional 9 to 5 career, but he's forged a path for himself and he rolls with the punches.'
He has already done paid work as a teachers aide at Randwick, run a puppet show, he's written and done voice-over work for his own animated show and voiced NDIS videos.
He also finds time to post videos to his popular TikTok channel, which has 140,000 likes.
Now he can add running an online business to his impressive resume.
'Anyone who phones he tells them, 'I've got a business now'. You should see the smile on his face,' Mrs Habelrih says.
'I've got mums emailing me saying 'Richard has given us hope that we can see our child can have a decent future.
'He's about to help another 22 year old man with autism how to start his own online business.'
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