People Inc.
Crochet Passion Blooms with People Inc. Mentorship
Nov 19, 2025
Sixteen-year-old Griffin Laney doesn’t just crochet stuffed animals, he builds worlds for them too. From bears to giraffes, to even teacups and s’mores, each creation he crochets comes complete with a name and a backstory.
Chip, a character created by Laney, is a handmade crochet bear stuck inside a cookie jar. Like Chip, each animal Laney creates comes with its own story card and illustration.
Laney first discovered this passion for crocheting and world-building as a calming creative outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. What started as a hobby has turned into dozens, if not hundreds, of crocheted creations.
“It’s become a bit of an obsession,” Laney joked.
Laney wanted a way to share his crocheted animals with the world, and a personal development mentor at People Inc. helped him turn that dream into an Etsy shop. After receiving a referral to People Inc. from a care coordinator, Laney was paired with Sean Wild, a personal development mentor at People Inc, and week by week, they worked through the steps to make his dream a reality.
Laney poses with two of his crochet creations.
After weeks and months of taking photos of his products, putting up listings, figuring out shipping, packaging and shop design, “Griffin’s Crochet Shop” was brought to life. He now runs the Etsy shop on his own, without any assistance from Wild.
“I liked working with Sean,” Laney said. “We made a lot of progress pretty quickly. I liked talking about my projects with him.”
People Inc.’s Personal Development Mentoring program uses one-on-one coaching to achieve personalized goals for people with enrolled in the program. Larger goals are determined and broken down into smaller achievable actions, and people served are guided through the steps necessary to complete their goal. The idea is for each person to have gained the confidence and tools needed to move forward with the goal on their own.
With the help of a People Inc. mentor, Laney was able to create a storefront to sell his creations. He now runs it on his own.
Wild says the personal transformation for Laney was noticeable. “He was shy at first, but over time he really opened up. His confidence grew a lot. By the end, he was doing most of the steps himself, and I was just there to support. It was really cool to see,” he said.
Laney’s grandmother agrees. “Working with Sean changed him. His confidence… it’s just different now. Sean met him where he was, every time. And Griffin thrived,” Jenny Laney said.
To learn more about the Personal Development Mentor program, please visit our website: Community Based & Family Support Services - People Inc.