About Our Founder

Darcy Bronersky is a very special person.  Not many people with her type of disability get a chance to live out their dreams, like Darcy has.  From the time she attended Sevilla Elementary in Phoenix, Arizona, her approach to life showed the promise every parent hopes for their child. Her award winning achievements started early.  In second grade, Darcy won an award from her school for a short story she wrote.  They memorialized it in laminate and posted it at the schools open house.  They then invited Darcy to attend and answer questions about it as parents walked by.  After the open house success the class then produced a school wide play about the story and it's simple moral. This was a real boost to her self confidence at a very young age.  Numerous certificates and plaques followed throughout her school career for perfection in attendance and deportment.  In the early days of home computers she spent hours on her Commodore 64, quickly learning computer code to make music.  In the early 1990's Internet, she designed her own web site at geocities.  As a teenager, with her grandmother’s help she mastered driving a car, got her operators license and has even driven on major expressways.  After graduating from Clawson High School, she completed career training in data entry and graduated from the South East Oakland County Vocational Education Center (SEOVEC)..She votes in all elections; her patriotism shows in her clothing selection, often seen wearing red, white, and blue flag themed clothing.  Her very first special edition Op-Yop was a red, white and blue Fourth of July theme, a picture of which adorns her line of Op-Yop Products

Darcy’s developmental disability is a form of cerebral palsy that not only limits some physical tasks, but limits social development as well.  It limits the type of job she can perform, especially if that job requires problem-solving contact with the public. Her extreme timidity around people she does not know, is an outward manifestation of her social limitation, but an exact opposite of the cheerful personality, that bubbles up once a comfort level is reached.  Then she is outgoing, talkative, and one of the nicest people to be with and know.  She has worked at TJ Maxx, Micromolding, Meijer, and now Kroger as a courtesy clerk.  Her employment came primarily through the placement services of JVS (Jewish Vocational Services) and the Michigan Department of Rehabilitation. This help is not lost on Darcy; her first thought in every situation is how can she give back for what others have done for her.

She is an avid maker of computerized greeting cards, never missing the opportunity to express the appropriate sentiment for every possible occasion.  Her chosen business name, Darcy Star Productions, started as the signature on the back of her custom cards. She is a hopeful author of children’s books, a dream yet to be realized, but a future certainty from Darcy's point of view. 

In 2010, when the opportunity to buy the Op-Yop presented itself, Darcy naturally saw the chance for her to become “ a toy mogul”.  This idea came of course, from her family’s background in the injection molding business, which she naturally assumed was just waiting to be applied to her project once acquired.  What excited her was the fact that she would have molds that could make lots and lots of toys that would make other people happy.

Since the first day assuming her title of Miss Op-Yop 2010, she has been active in reviving the old toy.  First, she chose the colors to mold, then tended the molding machine packing parts.  Later on, she gave hands-on “how to start your op-yop” demonstrations to buyers.  Her enthusiastic ”of course I can do this” attitude has helped Lady Luck shine on her efforts.  Darcy was astounded at winning the Editor’s Choice Blue Ribbon Award at the Detroit Makers Faire, then being written up in the Time Magazine Detroit Blog, and then later in the local papers.  But it did not surprise her at all to hold a successful fundraiser for the Goodfellows and have people drive 50 miles to contribute.  After all great expectations should naturally lead to great achievements.  At least that is the way Darcy expects it to happen.

In a world where top companies get that way by cultivating the best in their people, Darcy is the perfect choice for leading her company on its journey to success. 

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