When both my brother and I were quite younger, he always dreamed of being a professional football player and I always wanted to be a princess. As amazing as that sounds, I think we both have had our hearts set on being an entrepreneur as we matured. We have worked for someone else before, but we thought it was time to switch things up. With our father's help, my brother and I started AC Striping, LLC. A small, family business ran by two, young and passionate entrepreneurs who specialize in paint striping, seal coating, and cold patching for residential and commercial areas. The process of starting a business is more difficult and tedious than we imagined. There was paperwork on top of paperwork, several trips to the bank, necessary fees needed to be paid, and a great deal of decisions. It definitely wasn't an easy process, but we both knew it would pay off in the end. We quickly had our first job as business owners, just as we hoped. With my Father in the construction business, he helped tremendously with sharing our new business to his contacts. The amount of people who reached out and supported two, young entrepreneurs for business was inspiring. It was encouraging and it motivated us to do more. The number of jobs we had quickly doubled then tripled in just a short amount of time. The phone was ringing off the hook and emails were piling in. As glorious as this all sounds, starting and maintaining any business is hard work. We have had bumps along the way and we will continue to, that is just how businesses work, especially in a family setting, but it works.

Owning a business at our age is so rewarding and impressive. It is hands-on, it is great experience for us, and we are even making a little extra money, what can get better than that. For me, I am learning so much about how to run a business, find and maintain connections and budget our profits. For my brother, he is learning how to quote, provide the best services possible and oversee a job. Between the two of us, we have already learned more than we could at any other job.

We are proud of what we have accomplished together and are looking forward to what is to come. Starting a business was more work, time and effort than I imagined, yet it couldn't be more life-changing.