Smile

What makes August Wiese smile? “Giving people special-needs jobs,” said the 27-year-old Noblesville resident, a Noblesville native and 2014 graduate of Noblesville High School. He was found Friday night at “Noblesville’s Got Talent,” a Noblesville Main Street event at the Lacy Arts Building greeting guests who stopped by his family’s BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery vendor booth featuring gluten-free snacks. His family’s company employs people with special needs. “I have special needs myself, technically. I’m on the autism spectrum. I have Asperger’s syndrome. It’s always been really important to me to give back to people who need jobs, people in the autism community …” He also likes seeing his family’s company grow while “giving people healthier food alternatives.” BeeFree was started by his mom, Jennifer Wiese, in 2010, after discovering five years prior that her son was allergic to gluten. He would attend birthday parties and could never eat the cake. So his mom started making gluten-free foods that August’s friends could enjoy, too. The gluten-free baking took off from there and has grown to be able to employ special-needs people to make on-the-go granola snacks. August, who graduated from Ball State University with a broadcast journalism and sports administration degree, does sales and is a team leader for his family’s company, which distributes the snacks out of a Cicero warehouse, to grocery stores across the nation, including Sam’s Club, Kroger. He has three younger brothers, Hagen, 25, Clay, 23, and Drake, 22. He enjoys watching sports and listening to music, singing music in his free time, and also enjoys doing stand-up comedy and looks forward to performing at The Brick Room Comedy Club in downtown Noblesville in the future.