The seeds of entrepreneurship are being sown across Tennessee.
Five high school seniors in the Volunteer State won $1,000 scholarships from NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation. Two seniors each won for piano teaching and lawn care businesses, while another has a beekeeping enterprise he’s attempting to pollinate into something much larger.
NFIB members McKee Foods in Collegedale and Southern Champion Tray in Chattanooga, the members of NFIB/Tennessee’s Leadership Council, and SunTrust Bank sponsored the scholarships.
Kirkland Schuler and Marah Whitaker specialize in teaching piano to children.
Schuler, who runs Kirkland Schuler’s Piano Studio for Kids in Cordova, will head cross state to the University of Tennessee.
“I teach ages four to fourteen and teach the fundamentals of piano,” said Schuler, who attends St. Benedict at Auburndale High School, has a 4.32 weighted GPA and scored 32 on the ACT.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal notes her passion for music runs deep. She is a member of the All-West Honor Choir, starred as Maria in “West Side Story,” and is a lead in the spring production of “The Wedding Singer.” Determined to pursue vocal performance as a major in college, she has auditioned for the opera programs at both the Universities of Alabama and Tennessee-Knoxville.
That passion will continue in her teaching of children, she said. “I started with three students and grew to eight. Once I adjust to college, I will find new students and teach again.”
Whitaker started teaching her younger brother Joshua, which blossomed into Miss Marah’s Music, a one-year-old business in Cleveland that currently serves 10 children.
“[My goal] is to promote growth in music education [by teaching] performance skills, providing instruction on the fundamentals of music theory, and serving as a mentor to my students.”
Whitaker plans to attend Lee University to pursue a major in public relations and minor in music.
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Andy Swafford, owner of Andy’s Beekeeping in Pikeville, sells lip balm, hand salve and honey. He’s looking to expand, talking with Tractor Supply Company about carrying his line of lip balm products.
“I [converted] my sole proprietorship to a limited liability company to meet their regulations,” said Swafford, whose impressive website (www.andysbeekeeping.com) also showcases apparel and scented lotion balm.
Grant Holden and Logan Sizemore did what some other young men do, starting modest lawn care businesses, but their efforts continue to bear fruit.
Holden, who runs Holden Brothers’ Lawn Care in Milan, says he plans to continue the business while attending nursing school, in part to show he is “able to balance both school and business … [and is] capable of running a business of my own.”
Holden will enroll close to home at UT Martin.
Sizemore, who is headed to the University of Virginia, started Green Blade Lawn Care in 2012 in Johnson City.
“[We’ve] grown to become one of my area’s top lawn care service providers,” he said, noting he serves in a variety of capacities like many other small business owners – customer relations, marketing and growth, accounting and finance, payroll, management, and operations and maintenance.
Spoken like someone who will run an enterprise, create jobs and be a part of his community for some time.
To qualify for an NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award, students must be seniors in high school who own and/or operate their own small business. They are required to write an essay describing their entrepreneurial endeavors and future goals. NFIB members around the country interview the applicants for the Young Entrepreneur Awards.
To learn more, visit www.NFIB.com/YEF.
