their yards and landscape. We believe that being polite and gracious to customers is an important way to continue to grow our business.” Another perk of owning a lawn and landscape company is that both boys love to be outside. Ac- cording to Shelton, “Harper and I both enjoy fishing, hunt- ing and playing sports, so a paying job that keeps us outside is great! The money part is really cool, too!” “I am so impressed with these young men and their work ethic, attention to detail, entrepre- neurship, and ability to develop and maintain relationships. They are both so personable in a very humble way and are great members of the MRA student body.” -Termie Land, Head of School Shelton is excited to enter his senior year of high school with all the activities and excitement ending with commence- ment in May, but he also plans to continue his commitment to quality work with the goal of making sure his clients love their yards. He also has another goal with some brotherly love attached, “I want to leave a healthy and growing busi- ness for my brother, Harper, to take over when I go to col- lege. He will be a high school Sophomore at MRA when I enter Mississippi State University to pursue a degree in Landscape Design and Landscape Contracting. But until then, we will continue to work hard mowing and growing our ‘little yard business.’” MRA is blessed to have a talented student body with many diverse interests and activities - but make sure you add business owners to the mix! -Beth Yerger
the brothers have to perform to not only have a successful business, but also to be high achieving students. “We do continue to run our business during the school year be- cause our weather in Mississippi is warm and humid, and the grass continues to grow. We install pine straw in late fall and early winter, and then really get a lot of work in the spring to get yards ready for flowers. Having a year-round business does mean that we have to balance school and work. Over the past several years we have learned how to do that better. The teachers at MRA all know that we work after school and are supportive. But that doesn’t excuse us from schoolwork!” Both Shelton and Harper are involved students and have a number of interests. They credit the school with contributing to their success, “We are glad that we go to school at MRA. We have learned time man- agement, punctuality, problem solving, teamwork and communication, all of which we put into practice daily in our business. We have also seen how our teachers manage students and adults with different personalities. This has been important as we manage our employees and client expectations with respect and understanding.” They also credit academic classes for their knowledge of accounting and technology in running their business. Owning a business before even entering high school is not necessarily the norm. Shelton explains the best part of this path he has chosen, “My favorite thing about owning my own business is that we get to build our own reputation. I like knowing that we are responsible for our own success by doing a good job. Our customers know that we are young and we know that they are taking a chance trusting us with
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