Two Gulf Coast Women Share Their Stories of Resilience and Renewal
Amber Olson
At some time, tragedy comes into all lives. Finding the strength to go on is important. Some people even reinvent themselves like Amber Olsen of Ocean Springs and Michelle Nichols of Kiln did.
Olsen’s story began with the birth of her daughter, Willow, who was born in 2013 with a rare genetic condition called Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency (MSD). She passed away on October 4, 2024, at the age of 11. “My journey as a parent to a medically fragile child changed me—and by extension, it changed how I approach business, leadership, and building a company,” she says.
Willow’s condition was genetic and unexpected. Both parents carried this rare gene. “Our older girls—Kylee, 22, and Jenna, 19—were unaffected,” Olsen says. “Willow was slower to progress, very small, and nonverbal. After meeting with a neurologist, genetic testing revealed the gene defect responsible for MSD.”
In the beginning, Olsen couldn’t process what the diagnosis meant. “MSD is devastating; it causes dementia in children, progressive loss of skills, and a shortened life expectancy,” she says. “Willow was only two when we learned what lay ahead. She will be forever our angel.”
Olsen connected with other MSD parents and learned more about care. “I realized there was a very small chance to develop a treatment that could help her and it might not come in time for Willow, but someone needed to fight for these kids and I could do that,” she says. “I approached that fight the same way I approach running my staffing company, Nextaff: one step at a time, solving the next problem, and building momentum even when the road ahead felt overwhelming.”
Olsen has advice for other parents: push for answers and genetic testing, ask for and accept help, and think about the bigger picture. “Toward the end of Willow’s life, I really had to consider what was best for her, not just for me. With all the medical interventions, we could have kept her alive much longer, but was that fair to her? These are gut-wrenching questions, but necessary ones,” she says.
Additionally, Olsen went through a divorce. “Anyone who’s been through it knows it changes everything. It was a loss of my partner, of the family picture I had built for 22 years. But I’m remarried now to an incredible man, and our future is bright and full of adventure,” she says.
Olsen is now a stronger person bringing a new level of empathy, determination, and purpose to all she does. Running the United MSD Foundation for seven years and raising over $2 million to fund research taught her an entirely new world of charity, fundraising, science, and drug development.
Michelle Nichols
Like many Coast residents, Michelle Nichols and her family went through the perils of surviving Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding their lives. “I was fortunate to have my entire immediate family living in the same town until Katrina hit. My parents instilled in us a strong work ethic and this is reflected in how my brothers and I live our lives.” she says.
She, her husband Issachar Nichols, and two-year-old daughter lived in Clermont Harbor during Katrina. Nichols had left her job as an Investment Sales Associate in 2003 when daughter Sydney was born and was enjoying life as a stay-at-home mom.
“My husband and I had made prudent financial decisions and paid off the mortgage on our home so we were living pretty comfortably,” she says. “Of course, all that changed when Katrina hit and we soon found ourselves homeless and without income.”
They lived on their property in a FEMA trailer until they found their current home in Kiln. This life-changing event pointed her in a different occupational direction. Someone who always cooked as a hobby, she is now the owner of the Gardenia Tea Room in Waveland.
“When I was young I used to bake cakes and sell them to my older brother,” she recalls. “I watched every show on the Food Network and fervently followed my favorite chefs. I love entertaining and always felt that if I was cooking for five, I may as well cook for 50.”
Her after-Katrina entry into catering came when she began working as a house cleaner for an artist. Arts Alive rolled around and Nichols offered to make the hors d’oeuvres. “After all, it was something I loved to do,” she recalls. That led to more catering jobs and she’s been doing it for 15 years.
After years of going to tea with her sisters-in-law and cousins, Nichols decided it was time to open a tea room. “Around the same time, my daughter wanted to open a flower shop and not much goes together better than flowers and afternoon tea. We first opened in our original location, January 12, 2023, National Hot Tea Day,” she says.
Daughter Milan joined the family 15 years ago. Nichols says both daughters help with the tea room. Sydney owns Midnight Bloom House, a flower and retail shop, in the front of the tea room.
Asked if she made the right decision about owning a business, Nichols doesn’t look back. “After we got back on our feet, the pressure to work was not as urgent,” she says. “But, having a brick-and-mortar business can be a scary feeling. Knowing that no matter what kind of month you have, rent and all the other expenses will be due can be challenging. To be the only one of its kind on the Coast is pretty cool and we love our customers, locals and visitors.
It’s an awesome experience to be able to do what you truly love and have others enjoy it as well.”
