Lauren Thierry founded Independence Day Clothing to address safety and dressing issues for the special needs population, only to have focus groups tell her everybody wants stuff that's easy to wear.

As a ballerina growing up, her wardrobe was dominated by stretchy leotards and satin costumes with secret stretch panels that keep Sugar Plum Fairies from popping out of their tutus. That served as ID's inspiration for performance wear fabrics.

A TV news anchor for over a decade, Lauren left her job at CNN to care for her autistic son, Liam. Her documentary, Autism Every Day, was described as "the shot heard 'round the world for autism" when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Shooting the film, she saw that wandering was a major issue for autism families. And the simple act of getting dressed was a grueling obstacle course of "fronts and backs," "insides and outs," zippers, buttons and tags. Independence Day/ID Clothing was started to address those challenges.

She is an American Express Passion Project winner for 2013.

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