When I was twelve years old, I started my first lawn service, Shane’s Super Lawn Service. By the time I was a senior in high school, I had over a dozen clients and learned quite a bit about overall business, client relations and marketing. With college just around the corner, I had a major decision to make. Do I go to college or try to grow a lawn care company for the next few years? With the guidance of my entrepreneurship teacher Mrs. Eunita Winkey and our Junior Achievement program, I was able to make the right decision and do both. While in college, I was exposed to so many more like-minded people with similar passions for changing the world. By Spring 2011 and the last semester of my senior year in college, I will have co-founded a non-profit organization called “Actively Caring For People,” which aims to change the world with intentional acts of kindness, and “Social Sway Marketing,” a small social media consulting firm with the focus on creating behavior change. Our Actively Caring program has been implemented in over six schools to reduce bullying behavior and reward kindness. In the past year, I’ve traveled to Arizona to present on our movement at the National Collegiate Leadership Conference, San Diego to present my bullying research at the American Psychological Association, and New York to teach Actively Caring to students and teachers.

Mrs. Winkey always told me, “There are two types of people in the world, those who follow their passion and those that do not. Be the person to follow your passion, you will not regret it.” It was her advice and the exposure to business from JA that helped mold me into the entrepreneur and person I am today. I am not simply a student, but a student leader. It’s not about money, it’s about changing the world. My worldview is different than my peers, because of Mrs. Winkey and JA. Thanks!