Page 154 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2025

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
story by Lynn Lofton photos courtesy of Amber Olsen and Michelle Nichols
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.
Kylee, Willow and Jenna.
154 | September 2025 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
From
Hardship to Hope
Two Gulf Coast Women Share Their Stories of Resilience and Renewal
Amber Olson