HUTTO – The Lyons want you to rock their socks, and maybe buy some coffee.
Mark and Sally Lyons started SammySocks Etc. in 2020 to provide a job and financial opportunities for their autistic adult son, Samuel. The company began by selling novelty socks and recently added tea and coffee to their product line.
“We started the company when Sam aged out of the 18 (and older) program at Hutto. I started working on the concept and getting ready for it a few years earlier, before I retired,” Mark Lyons said. “We decided to try selling colorful socks, mainly because they don’t expire. We’ve now started selling coffee and tea as well.”
Samuel, age 25, helps choose which socks they will offer, helps pack the orders and accompanies his father to the post office to ship the packages.
The company is an online business (www. sammysocksetc.com) and the products are kept in stock at the family home.
“Socks have taken over my house,” Sally Lyons said.
Two rooms of the home are dedicated to storing thousands of pairs of socks in labeled boxes on rows of shelves. The company stocks socks for men, women and children in whimsical designs and colors.
Popular products include dog and cat breeds, zoo animals, food designs, geometric patterns and holidaythemed socks. The company also offers compression socks that are made in America.
The products are packaged in blue – Samuel’s favorite color – with a peacock feather logo.
“The logo has a peacock feather because he doesn’t like to be touched. He’s tactile sensitive,” said Sally Lyons, a former music teacher at Hutto Elementary School. “If he is bumped by accident, he can become very stressed. We use the peacock feather to show how some people with differing abilities can only tolerate the lightest touch.”
Samuel adds a little something extra to every order, like a poem he has written about socks, or one of his favorite sayings. In addition to liking all colors of socks – especially the blue ones – Samuel likes knock-knock jokes, trains, elevators, listening to Katy Perry or the Beatles and playing video games. He also likes making commercials for his sock company, which can be seen on his YouTube channel @sammysocksetc.5377.
The Lyons hope to grow and be able to employ other differently-abled adults. Until then, they help by donating proceeds from the company to other organizations.
5% of the company’s earnings are donated to United Partners of Pflugerville.
One pair of socks is donated to Hope Alliance of Round Rock for every $25 purchased.
$1 is donated to the Autism Society of Texas for every pair of men’s and women’s Puzzle Piece crew socks ordered.
$1 is donated to Texas Parent to Parent for every pair of men’s assorted color crew socks and women’s pastel low cut socks ordered.
“As we get big enough, we can hire other people like Sammy,” Sally Lyons said. “There is a real need.”
The family is working to expand the company through marketing efforts and by increasing their offerings of high-quality products.
“We sell Fara coffee, which is a gourmet coffee roasted in Austin,” Mark Lyons said. “The tea is organic. We sell several sock brands that are made in America. And we’re working now on a line of custom, locally-made hippo socks.”
