From Diagnosis to Best-of-All Moments: Inside GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans with Annie Watkins

In this episode of This Ability Podcast, our host Mary Baudoin sits down with Annie Watkins, Site Manager of GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans, to talk about building a community where individuals with Down syndrome and their families are celebrated, supported, and empowered. From its founding mission to “change the way the world views Down syndrome” to its 62 locations across the U.S. and Mexico, GiGi’s Playhouse delivers free, purposeful programs for participants of all ages — from prenatal support and early childhood classes to teen leadership, adult independence programs, one-on-one tutoring, and speech therapy.

Annie shares powerful stories of “best-of-all moments,” explains how GiGi’s removes financial barriers so no family is excluded, and discusses the importance of positive messaging at the time of diagnosis. The conversation also highlights Down Syndrome Awareness Month, World Down Syndrome Day (3/21), volunteer opportunities, the 321 Champion monthly giving program, and hopes for future Louisiana locations. Whether you are a parent, advocate, volunteer, or community supporter, this episode is a reminder that awareness begins with conversation — and acceptance grows through community.

Transcript

Mary Baudoin:

Thank you all for joining us today for This Ability Podcast. I'm your host and producer, Mary Baudoin, and today we have a special guest with us from GiGi's Playhouse, Annie Watkins. Annie, thank you so much for being here today.

Annie Watkins:

All right, thank you. I'm excited to be here and share some information about GiGi's Playhouse.

Mary Baudoin:

Great. So tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and how you landed that job in New Orleans.

Annie Watkins:

Well, I was new to the Down syndrome community when I started working at GiGi's Playhouse. I'm originally from the southwest border of Texas and Mexico in a town called Eagle Pass, but I came to Loyola University here in New Orleans and immediately got into retail management. I worked for Target and New Balance, and then I had my babies. I was a stay-at-home mom for five years. Then one of my college roommates and best friend was like, "Hey, there's an opening at a nonprofit." In my volunteer time outside of GiGi's I'm active in a neighborhood nonprofit and I do a lot for them there. 

So I thought, "I'd like to try this out."GiGi's gave me a chance and I am incredibly grateful for it because I have jumped feet first into this community and I learn something new every day. I love the families. I'm inspired by the advocacy. I'm just a people person too. I love to talk and share information, and we just have volunteers coming in and out. I love it. I feel blessed to work here.  There are three main types of Down syndrome. It's Trisomy 21, and this is the most common type, and that's when a copy of the 21st chromosome is present in all the cells of the body. And then there's Translocation Down syndrome. This happens when chromosome 21 becomes attached to another chromosome. And then there's Mosaic Down syndrome where chromosome 21 is only on some of the cells. It can be difficult for those latter two because you don't get the diagnosis right away.

Down syndrome is different than a lot of other diagnosis because you can see it. You have the almond eyes and the face difference and the low muscle tone and things like that. Had parents that don't realize their babies have Down syndrome right when they have them, but then they get that negative diagnosis, that's what we want to take away. If you have a baby with Down syndrome, the first thing you're going to hear from us is, "Congratulations and welcome to the Playhouse. You're about to get the best community you can ask for.”

Mary Baudoin:

Right. That's good. I love that, that it's not downtrodden and sad.

Annie Watkins:

Yes, and so many people get that negative diagnosis, like I'm sorry is usually the first thing that comes out of... and it's like, hey, they've got this beautiful baby. We're going to give this baby all of the resources we can and just extra time to do a lot of the things that all the typical babies can do. They just take a little bit longer sometimes.

Mary Baudoin:

I love the positive messaging and I love what you guys stand for. That's awesome.

Annie Watkins:

Thank you. And I'm not an expert. I mean, I'm constantly learning Down syndrome every day. Love that families want to share too, because that's really how a community's built and how we can share resources and offer help.

Mary Baudoin:

That's so great. That's great. Now tell us what your position is there.

Annie Watkins:

I'm the site manager here. So really I oversee the entire Playhouse's operations from programs, volunteering, marketing, facilities, you name it. It would not be possible without our board, without our volunteer team. All of our programs are ran by volunteers. So right now we have grown, we are growing, which is really exciting. We were able to onboard Ali who is a part-time program operations coordinator. I mean, that just shows that the Playhouse is growing. There's a need for GiGi's Playhouse in the community, and now that we are both working together, our programs are growing, the Playhouse is growing. I mean, we have over 270 families in the greater New Orleans area that are part of the Playhouse. We have about 76 participants that come into the Playhouse every month-

Mary Baudoin:

Wow.

Annie Watkins:

... whether it be for group programming or one-on-one programming, but we're really trying to increase those numbers. And man, we are small and mighty. We're grateful for the American Legion Post 350 here in Metairie. We rent the front of their building here. We have a gym, we have tutoring rooms, a kitchen, we have a fun welcome room. So we just kind of rotate through programming, especially on the weekends for availability to give everybody the opportunity to come in. We have a really strong community in this area that supports our Playhouse.

Mary Baudoin:

That's awesome. Can you share with our audience who might not be familiar with what GiGi's Playhouse is? Can you share what the mission is of the organization and that it's not just regional? I think, if I'm not mistaken it's a national nonprofit. So can you talk to us a little bit more?

Annie Watkins:

Absolutely. I'm going to back all the way up to when GiGi's Playhouse was thought of. So Nancy Gianni is our founder and she is the GiGi's mom. So in 2003, GiGi was one year old, but when she had GiGi she realized that they gave her such a negative diagnosis in the hospital. So she made a promise to GiGi that she was going to change the way the world viewed Down syndrome and just made a place that was accepting of her and her friends. So she created the first Playhouse outside of Chicago in a town called Hoffman Estates. So that's kind of like our home location. And since then, GiGi's Playhouse has grown to 62 locations across the United States and Mexico. Our Playhouse specifically here in New Orleans was the 50th location, and we opened up in 2020 during the pandemic, but I mean, our founding members had been working on it and they needed it to happen. They weren't going to let a pandemic stop us.

Mary Baudoin:

The best things happen during adversity.

Annie Watkins:

That's absolutely right. I mean, but that's part of our history. That's how it got rolling. I feel like there was this big jump when the world opened back up and our doors are open more and more all the time now. Especially with another person on staff, we're open a lot more. We have grown building those programs where GiGi's Playhouse is a lifetime commitment. So participants don't age out. We have resources for moms and the prenatal diagnosis, I should say couples, and then we have infants which is our LMNOP class, toddlers, kids, teenagers, and then some of our biggest programs are for our adults. They've aged out a lot of the school opportunities, and so they're looking for things to do, and those are our biggest programs.

Mary Baudoin:

That's awesome. I didn't realize that GiGi's Playhouse, there were so many other locations. What makes New Orleans unique?

Annie Watkins:

The home location really develops all of the programs specifically for individuals with Down syndrome. So those are kind of our specialty programs. So if you're a participant here at GiGi's and you're traveling, you can pop into any of the GiGi's Playhouses and expect to see a lot of the same programs which I think is really cool.

Mary Baudoin :

Yes.

Annie Watkins:

And those are going to be our regular programs that every Playhouse is going to carry. Now there's a lot of options for those, so maybe we don't carry them because we're not big enough to support them yet, but they're definitely on our timeline to get into the Playhouse. Our Playhouse, it's New Orleans. We have some [inaudible 00:05:24] that comes that not necessarily all of the other Playhouses do. We have a comedy and improv club. We have a self-advocate that just started a sign language class. It's called Sign Language with Laney, and you come in-

Mary Baudoin:

Oh wow.

Annie Watkins:

Yeah. That's the thing that makes GiGi's very special. Yes, we have all of these programs that are designed, but then they give you that empowerment to create what would work for your community and your participants and their families, and that's what makes GiGi's great. First of all, all of our programs are always free. We never want any of our programs to have a cost barrier. And then the entire family is invited to come. So we invite siblings to join in. Our adults, a lot of them like to get dropped off and get that break and come hang out, but the whole family is always invited to attend.

Mary Baudoin:

That's great, and I think that something that you mentioned that I just want to touch on. So if someone is from here in Louisiana and they do go to the GiGi's Playhouse in New Orleans, but say they're traveling to California, you could provide them with maybe a few different options while they're in California for a few days or weeks to go to a GiGi's Playhouse there in that area or another state. They're on vacation, so they can still kind of plan activities or participate in what GiGi's Playhouse has to offer?

Annie Watkins:

Absolutely. So a lot of our Playhouses, if you go to gigisplayhouse.org, that's kind of our home location out of Chicago. They should have a map on there and you can see all of our locations, and they've made it really easy for families and participants. Log onto that particular Playhouse and you can register for any of those programs that you want to go to. Because I will tell you, we have a wonderful problem at this Playhouse. We're getting so many participants that we're like, "Okay." At first we had this real like, oh, come on in, there's always room for you. But now our programs are getting so big it's like, okay, hold on. I don't have enough volunteers. We recommend registering. You can pop in. You're always going to be welcome in all of the Playhouses, but be sure if you want to attend and make sure there's a spot for you to register.

During the pandemic, GiGi's Playhouse did create the Virtual Playhouse. So all of our programs that are available in the Playhouses that are signature programs of GiGi's Playhouse are available online as well. So you can register for any of those. So if you can't make it to New Orleans, you can't make it to an actual physical building, then just register. Everything is free. Get on our calendar and you can register for any of those online programs.

Mary Baudoin:

Great.

Annie Watkins:

Including tutoring.

Mary Baudoin:

Okay. Let's talk about that. Tutoring, is it for high school students or college?

Annie Watkins:

Tutoring actually starts at three years old. You don't age out of it. We have about 15 programs that we run throughout the year. Now they change seasonally. We have about three seasons. So we'll have spring, summer, and fall programs, and we have tutoring each session. But I will say there's a lot more kids during the summertime because everyone's availability opens up. And then we have a lot more adults and teenagers during the spring and fall sessions. So they can make it through a session after school and maybe not get too tired or do back to back and still do the group programming before or after school.

Mary Baudoin:

I did a little research before the interview. I was looking at the website which is full of a lot of those programs that you were talking about. There's GFIT, GiGi's Kitchen, the one-on-one literacy program, math tutoring, and then the-

Annie Watkins:

Amina Grace.

Mary Baudoin:

... Amina Grace, speech and language program. So you guys do a lot of stuff.

Annie Watkins:

For our babies, we have LMNOP which is Language Music N' Our Peeps. It's a lot of singing, sign language. I've had expecting moms come in and sit with other parents and learn about just the different experiences they've had with their babies. You've had some that have had every expected medical diagnosis that someone would stereotype, and then you have another one that's like, "Well, nothing's been wrong. You don't know what's going to happen." I know you're very familiar with Down syndrome. It's not cookie cutter. Everybody, I mean, it ranges so far and it's so great that new parents can meet together in this baby class, and it's led by a wonderful volunteer, Anne, who's been here since we opened up, and we got Laney who's a self-advocate too that supports that program. And then Lauren's another volunteer who is actually the therapist for some of them, so it's fun to see them come in and they're all talking to each other, signing to each other because they're comfortable with her coming in.

And then we have a program called Leaps & Bounds, and that's going to be our three to five year olds, and that's really learning about the same rules in preschool, how to stand in line, how to take turns. We have an arts and crafts, and we're working on bringing back snacks into that class, singing, and really just socialization. And then we have GiGi's Kitchen Kids. We also have a kid's music class over the summer. And then we have our Teen Tastic group which is our teenagers. Then we roll into our adult programs which we have Achievers which is kind of like a life skill/job skills program, building independence there. And we have Fantastic Friends which meets once a month, and it's just a great way for our adults to get together, hang out, and enjoy each other's company.

All of our programs we have planned is a program, but we also want that feeling where they can come out and hang out with their friends and offer that opportunity to just socialize and hang out. We just started Art Explosion too. We started it over the summer. We have our program leader, Renee was like, "I love art. Can I start a program here?" And I'm like, "Yes." So these small ideas, if you have anything you want to get started, bring it on.

Mary Baudoin:

Wow.

Annie Watkins:

We'll run with it and try to do the best we can. So we have an Art Explosion on Mondays where we come in and do art for a week. And then we have an Achievers class for adults. But then we do an Open Play which is really where we open up the Playhouse, let our parents and families just use the resources we have on hand. With that said, we also... karaoke is an absolute favorite. So I try to tag that on to Teen Tastic because we've already got the teens here. Some of their favorite stuff is singing. So we get that rolling around lunchtime, but everyone's invited to it and it's a really fun time. So if you ever want to pop in and sing.

Mary Baudoin:

You don't want to hear me singing. Everyone would leave. It would be bad. But I'll do it in a group, right?

Annie Watkins:

It's a really good time. That's what GiGi's is about. It's about having this safe community space for families to get together, provide the resources that they may need, but also just a place that's built for our families, for our participants, and they know it when they get dropped off. So it's really fun. We also offer the one-on-one programs which would be math and literacy tutoring. And then Amina Grace is a young girl that went to the Hoffman Estate Playhouse. She started their speech there and unfortunately she passed away. They have a foundation, the Amina Grace Foundation that supports all of our speech programs at the Playhouses. So the program is named after her, but we have our specific program here is sponsored by the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust, and they helped us really pilot it because this is the one program where we do pay licensed therapists to lead the classes.

So the tutoring is volunteers, but we have a partnership with LSU, we have a partnership with Xavier University, and then we have private SLPs also come in. We're trying to maximize that. So we're always working on building up the speech programs because even over the summer I had 21 participants registered for that, for the one-on-one.

Mary Baudoin:

You guys rely heavily on volunteers. Is there an application that they need to fill out? And also, do you guys conduct background checks?

Annie Watkins:

Yes. So we welcome all volunteers. We welcome volunteers to bring their friends, their families. Volunteering shouldn't be a job. It should be something that you're compassionate about. So we want to help you find the right job at the Playhouse too, and you can start that by going to the particular Playhouse's website, you just put slash volunteer at the end of it. Really, we all have the same site for each location. And then there's a volunteer application, and in that application you can talk about your availability, your skills, what you might be interested in, and then from there we'll reach out to you.

There are virtual orientations that you can attend. Maybe you want to volunteer on our Virtual Playhouse, or if you want to go into the Playhouse, we always welcome everyone to give you a tour because the Playhouse is going to sell itself. You come in, we've got a great culture, you're going to feel it, you want to be part of it. And once you sign up there, we go through an orientation, just giving you some information about GiGi's and who we are. And then we do require background checks for all volunteers. And then if there's a volunteer that's 13 years or younger, they will need to volunteer with an adult at the Playhouse.

Mary Baudoin

I know that when this episode airs it will be at the beginning of 2026. So let's talk about National Down Syndrome Awareness Month which is in October and also the International Awareness Day. So let's talk about events a little bit.

Annie Watkins:

It gives us a spotlight and an opportunity to really drive awareness. We do this through our gala. We typically have our gala in October. And then this October, each Saturday, because they're our biggest days for programming, we're going to have a fun little celebration. We'll have mismatched sock day, we'll have dressed down for Down syndrome, come in your pajamas, and then we're going to do blue and yellow day just to celebrate GiGi's. We are also turning five years old this October. The New Orleans location opened up in October, celebrate then too. Down Syndrome Awareness Month gives us the chance just to get people talking about Down syndrome, and if you're talking about it, that's awareness right there. We do get more volunteers in October and it just gives us a chance to celebrate how far we've come too and our participants.

And then World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st, because as you know, 321 is one of our favorite numbers, copies of the 21st chromosome. Every March 21st, we encourage everyone to wear mismatched sock for the day. One, because people are going to notice your mismatched sock. Hopefully they're fun and bright and bring you joy. We want people to ask you about them so that you can tell them about Down syndrome, and then you can tell them about GiGi's Playhouse or really anything you love about Down syndrome, your connection to it. Really starting the conversation is what's going to help drive awareness and acceptance.

Mary Baudoin

That is awesome.

Annie Watkins:

We actually had a sock fashion show which we partner with the Down Syndrome Association of Greater New Orleans, and we celebrate here, the Post lets us open up and get their hall here and we have a sock fashion show and just a dance party and everyone has a great time. So if you need something to do on March 21st, I guarantee GiGi's Playhouse is celebrating, and just come on over and join us.

Mary Baudoin:

That's great, and it's also a good time to educate people. I had the author of a book, Melissa Hart, she sent me a few copies of her new book. It's called Down Syndrome Out Loud, and it's a book that she features different people that have Down syndrome throughout the United States, and I've looked at it and it's a great book. Do you have any books that you recommend? 

Annie Watkins:

Yes. Nancy Gianni wrote this book, GenerationG, just about her experience being GiGi's mom and starting GiGi's Playhouse. And then actually GiGi is featured this year, it came out in Harry Moon series. We just got this at the Playhouse and we're excited to share it with our families.

One of the most important things about GiGi's Playhouse is really building the community to share information because a diagnosis, from what I've heard and listened to, it's completely overwhelming. We actually have a intern, I have her working on a resource book for New Orleans specifically because that is something that families are interested in. They want to know what schools are available, what doctors are available.

At the Playhouse, I mean, even the simplest things, an example would be in our Leaps & Bounds class, we had our participants who wear glasses, and couple of sessions later, I noticed everybody had the same glasses and they're like, "Well, that's what works, Annie." And I'm like, "Well, this is great. Can you give me the name of the glasses so I can share the information?" It just would be the glasses that you wear. It could be the dentist you use, but we want to get something all together to share the information so that when someone comes in, I can say, "Hey, here, here's some options for you," which sometimes you don't get a little options at all, and it could be pretty scary.

Mary Baudoin:

What does leading GiGi's Playhouse of New Orleans mean to you personally?

Annie Watkins:

Well, my relationship with GiGi's, my heart continues to grow with it. I feel incredibly blessed to be part of so many families' lives. I admire these families that come in. I admire the moms. I learn so much every day and I get challenged on things that I don't know. I also like to solve problems. So it's like, "Hey, how can we make this happen?" And we're like, "We're going to do it." I kind of really like those challenges of figuring out how to bring something unique to our Playhouse, how to get it done.

I also really like throwing events. Our gala's always in the fall, in October. And then we are actually a charity in the Crescent City Classic here in New Orleans. So if you're interested and you're a runner or a walker, please join our team and come meet us out there to do the Crescent City Classic. It's a wonderful event, and we have a tent at the post-party. You asked what's different about our Playhouse. We get to have a crawfish boil.

Mary Baudoin:

Yes.

Annie Watkins:

In Chicago, they're like, "What are you doing?" We're like, "Yes, it's a [inaudible 00:18:45] thing here in New Orleans.”

Mary Baudoin:

That's good.

Annie Watkins:

So we went through about 400 pounds of crawfish at the last event, so it was really fun.

Mary Baudoin :

That's awesome.

Annie Watkins:

And then we have a golf tournament here in New Orleans. So if you're a golfer, please join us for that too. All of our events are on the Playhouse site and you can see. If you're in town for it, please join us. And if you're visiting, maybe tag that onto your weekend.

Mary Baudoin:

Definitely. And you guys are pretty active on social media as well. You have a really good Facebook page, so I'm sure you posting about events there as well. Is there one particular moment that stands out to you as your favorite, you can really see the impact of the programs that you guys make?

Annie Watkins:

I'm just going to tag that onto why I love my job. At GiGi's Playhouse, we really look for best-of-all moments. That's kind of how we gauge where we're at, whether we're improving, things like that, and a best-of-all moment is when we're doing just a little bit better than the day before. Is it counting to 10 because you were at nine in your tutoring session before and now it's 10. I am fortunate enough that I get to hear about a lot of these best-of-all moments or see myself at the Playhouse. I mean, I think they really happen every day here, and it might be in the tiniest form to big taking first steps here at the Playhouse. There's big moments but then there's everyday wins, and that's what we're really all about is our best-of-all moments.

I mean, the most recent one that I can talk about is we have a self-advocate and his first greeter shift was with me last Saturday, and we had a big orientation with some Tulane students, and he came in and he just knocked it out of the park. He greeted everybody, made sure everybody signed in, was super helpful with any administrative tasks. He's never volunteered with us before, but he was ready, and man, it was just awesome to see. And at the end of his shift, him and his mom, they said, "Can we come back?" And it's like, yes, of course you can come back. We'd love to have you. Just those moments that GiGi provides families that their children and the participants get those opportunities to have their best-of-all moments. Our keynote speaker at the gala every year is a self-advocate and I love watching our adults bring in their speeches and practice, and we open up the hall and we give them a mic and we practice more, and it's really fun to watch their progression on their speech to prepare for the big night, and then they always do amazing.

Mary Baudoin:

If someone is listening and they want to support GiGi's Playhouse, what suggestions would you have for them?

Annie Watkins:

Well, first, you can sign up for any Playhouse's newsletter, and that's a great way to get information about what's happening every month at each location and really narrow down. You can also sign up for the virtual one. Each of us have our own newsletters, so that's one way to get information. Two, you could volunteer which we always need volunteers because we are growing. We always have opportunity there.

And then we are privately funded. So every little bit counts. Whether you want to sponsor an entire program, you want to see a new rollout of a program that we don't have here and you want the pilot to get started, it really boosts the programs that way. We have what we call a 321 Champion, and that's donating $21 or more each month just to help us keep the doors open. We are so incredibly grateful for those families and businesses that donate that $21. Just having the doors open gives us the opportunity to do what we can. Just the general operation fund, very important to keep the Playhouse open.

Mary Baudoin:

That's awesome. Is there any talk of having any other locations in Louisiana?

Annie Watkins:

Yes. Okay, let's talk about new locations. If you don't have a GiGi's Playhouse in your community, we do have a team that can support you. You can reach out to the home location in Chicago and they can help you get started. Communities usually get together, get the funding, have a location, and then from there GiGi's is going to offer you all of the programs that you can support at your location. So I know there's some interest in Lafayette, Lake Charles. I know there's places that are definitely talking about it. Ideally, it would be so awesome to have a GiGi's Playhouse in every city, but unfortunately we're the only location in Louisiana right now. We accept anyone that comes into the Playhouse. So yes, all of our programs are specifically designed for individuals with Down syndrome, but if we have an open spot and your loved one has a different diagnosis, they're absolutely welcome to join.

Mary Baudoin :

That's incredible. So if someone has autism or muscular dystrophy-

Annie Watkins:

Yes, cerebral palsy, mm-hmm.

Mary Baudoin:

Mm-hmm.

Annie Watkins::

Yep, absolutely.

Mary Baudoin:

Annie, this has been a great interview. So I wanted to ask you, do you have any thoughts that you'd like to leave with our audience today about GiGi's Playhouse?

Annie Watkins:

GiGi's Playhouse is here for you. We are going to uphold our promise to change the way the world views Down syndrome and send a global message of acceptance. So you're always welcome here. We want to show you around. If you want to volunteer, please join our team. If you want to donate, even just be a 321 Champion, we'd love to have you, and we want you to be part of this movement. So even if you can share World Down Syndrome Day or anything about GiGi's Playhouse with your school, with your friends, or just like us on social media, I've had families come in because word trickles around on social media and they've come in that way. So if you could like us or just follow us, it would be awesome.

Mary Baudoin:

Okay. Very good. We will do that. All right. Well, thank you everyone for listening today for This Ability Podcast. Annie, thank you so much for joining us today. We look forward to visiting GiGi's Playhouse soon.

Annie Watkins:

Great. I can't wait to show you around.