26/11/2025
Why I Started Ellis Collection – A Story About Finding (and Building) Community
I never set out to start a community. I just needed one.
A few years ago, my family was going through it. We're a neurodivergent household – all of us wired a little differently – and for a long time, we were just trying to survive. School was hard. Daily life was hard. And honestly? I felt completely alone.
The hardest part wasn't the day-to-day challenges. It was realising that some of the people I thought were in our corner... weren't. People I trusted. People I called friends. When things got tough, they weren't there. Some were never really there at all – they were just taking what they could.
Then we found baseball.
For a while, it felt like the answer. It was the first thing that brought our whole family together – different personalities, different needs, all in one place, all part of something. I threw myself into it. I thought we'd finally found our people.
But I was wrong.
That community turned on us too. People we trusted stabbed us in the back. My family – my kids – got hurt by people who were supposed to be on our side. And once again, I was left standing there wondering why it's so hard to just... belong somewhere safe.
That's when it hit me.
I can't be the only one.
I can't be the only parent who keeps reaching out for support and getting burned. I can't be the only one who's been let down by the very communities that were supposed to help. I can't be the only one searching for a place that actually gets it – and keeps coming up empty.
The support I needed in my darkest moments? Maybe it existed somewhere. Maybe there were people out there who could have helped. But here's the thing – when you've been hurt that many times, when you've lost all faith and trust, you can't even see it anymore. You don't know where to look. You don't believe it's real. And even if someone points you in the right direction, you're too exhausted and too scared to reach out. That's what betrayal does. It doesn't just hurt you – it cuts you off from the help that might be out there.
So I started building.
It began with an idea for a game – something that could teach kids about the cycle we all go through: Trigger, Thought, Action, Consequence. I wanted to help children understand their emotions and reactions in a way that actually made sense to them. And because baseball was such a big part of our lives, that's where the theme came from.
Funny enough, baseball is still a trigger for me sometimes. What happened there left scars. But it's also still close to my heart – because it was real, and it mattered, and the good parts were good. I've learned you can hold both things at once.
The journey hasn't been smooth. I've risen and fallen more times than I can count. There were moments I wanted to give up. But someone once said something to me that stuck: "Always take a step forward and you'll never take a step back."
So I kept stepping.
Ellis Collection grew from there.
What started as a game became something bigger – a vision for a space where families could connect, learn together, and just feel a little less alone. Not a service that talks at you. Not another waiting list. Not another community where you have to prove yourself or play politics. Just a place to belong. A place that's actually safe. A place that meets you where you are – even when you've lost faith that places like that exist.
Right now, it's an online community. A space to share, support each other, and access resources that actually help – like games that teach kids emotional skills in a way that doesn't feel like therapy.
But the dream is bigger.
I want to see Break the Cycle – the game that started all of this – spread far and wide. Into schools. Into homes. Into therapy rooms and community centres. I want it to reach everyone, regardless of background, ability, or circumstance. Every child deserves to understand their emotions. Every family deserves tools that actually help. This isn't something that should only be available to those who can afford it or know where to look – it should be for everyone.
And one day, I want to open a real community centre. A physical space where families can walk through the door and know – before anyone even says a word – that they're welcome here. That they're not alone. That nobody's going to turn on them when things get hard.
That's what Ellis Collection is about.
It's not about me having all the answers. It's about building something I wish had existed when I needed it most – and making sure other families don't have to go through what mine did.
If you're reading this and you're in that dark place right now – I see you. You're not alone. And there's a place for you here.
💛 Linda
Founder, Ellis Collection
