Meet Our August BlockStar of the Month!
Wayland has been mowing lawns since he was 7 years old!
Name: Wayland Hunter
Age: 16
Neighborhood (city): Mankato, Minnesota
What was your first job or way you made money when you were younger?
I started mowing the lawn of my elderly neighbor when I was just 7 years old for no money at all. That winter, I finally started making money by shoveling snow for all of my neighbors. A few summers later, I decided to expand my lawn mowing business from volunteering to a money-making, multi-lawn business. I even made my own fliers and delivered them to every house in my neighborhood. Unfortunatly, I only landed 3 lawns out of the effort. I admit that I was pretty disappointed, but I followed through with the clients I received. I mowed their lawns and continued to help out my elderly neighbor until I was 14 years old.
During the summer before my first year of high school, my neighborhood friend Thomas moved away, and the Harlow family moved in. Mrs. Harlow was recovering from cancer, and Mr. Harlow was extremely busy with work. My family became friends with them right away. I offered to help them with house and yard work, and they gladly accepted. This is currently my second year working for them, and the income is enough to keep gas in my car!
What have you been doing to make some extra cash this summer?
I have work mainly for my neighbors—the Harlows—for extra cash. I mow their lawn, walk their dog, and I sometimes do house work for them.
Future dream career/job?
I would love to become a family practitioner in a small town, a dentist, or a doctor for the military.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time I enjoy practicing piano and spending time with my friends and family. My friends and I swim and have Air soft fights. I also bike 3 times a week.
Other interesting facts? Money saving goals?
I know that I need to budget my money extremely carefully. I keep some available for gas, some for insurance, and some is stashed away for tires and other miscellaneous automobile expenses.
I am working on saving a larger amount to serve as a safety net for unexpected expenses. I would also like to be able to start giving more at church.
How have your parents influenced or supported you in learning business skills?
My entire family focuses on practicing smart money management. My dad is good at managing our family’s money. He has taught me how to manage my money and how important is it to stay out of debt. My mom works hard to meet the needs of the family while staying within the budget of our household.
Do you have any advice or words or wisdom for other teens who want to be a BlockStar in their neighborhood?
In order for people to continue doing business with you, you have to earn the trust of your customer. Do what they want and more. Exceed their expectations. My neighbors have trusted me to take care of their house and yard for 3 years because I would do they wanted and more. When I am done with a job, I always ask them if there is anything else I can do.
Congrats Wayland on being the BlockStar of the Month for August!
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So you wanna be a BlockStar?
Submit your story to blockstar@rockyourblock.com for your chance score a RYB t-shirt and be featured as a future BlockStar of the Month! Emailed story should be about 150-300 words. Use the following questions to help form your story:
- What types of odd jobs or work have you done or currently do in your neighborhood and/or community?
- Do you have creative ways of managing your money?
Teen Entrepreneurs: Don’t Miss the Teen Business Summit on August 22-24
If you are thinking about starting your own business or if you are looking for motivation, mentorship, networking and support for your current entrepreneurial endeavors, you cannot miss out on this incredible FREE opportunity.
What Is the Teen Business Summit?
The Teen Business Summit is the first-ever global entrepreneurship live-streamed conference for teens conducted entirely over the Internet! It is three days packed with inspiring speaker, taking place on August 22-24, 2011.
The conference is bringing together both veteran and teen speakers from around the world to share how to “Create A Better Future” and a way to network like never before. The summit is hosted by Teen Business Forum, the leading online community for teen entrepreneurs worldwide.
Here are just some of the incredible people who will be speaking at the conference:
- Guy Kawasaki, former chief evangelist at Apple, co-founder of Alltop.com, and author of 10 books
- Yanik Silver, Internet Marketing specialist
- Matt Mickiewicz, founder of Sitepoint, 99Designs, and Flippa
- Sarah Cook, founder of Raising CEO Kids and a partner of Rock Your Block!
What’s on the Schedule?
- Day 1: Seasoned thought leaders discuss concepts like how to achieve likability to win customers, the state of the job economy and how to gain the support of parents.
- Day 2: Successful entrepreneurs tell their story about how they first started businesses when they were teens.
- Day 3: Teen entrepreneurs talk about the challenges and successes with their own businesses.
Why Should You Sign Up?
It’s FREE, and you can’t miss out on the opportunity of learning from all these great experts, entrepreneurs, mentors, and teen leaders just like you in one convenient spot. Take a look at the video and visit the site to learn more and sign up!
