He’s only 10 years of age, but County Armagh schoolboy Taylor Russell knows if you want anything in this life you have to work for it.
And that’s exactly what he’s doing.
For the resourceful Magheralin boy has started his own ‘micro-business’ – taking advantage of the current heatwave by selling cold drinks to passing motorists from just outside his home.
His ‘just go for it’ attitude is not just entrepreneurial, it is utterly endearing.
For Taylor – who attends Kings Park Primary School in Lurgan – is always keen to be busy, working, while helping others too.
Proud mum Natania – who owns Woof & Wander NI, a doggy daycare business – is chuffed beyond words by Taylor’s attitude, with little brother, Eli, also bitten by the business bug.
Taylor needed no prompting and knew exactly what he wanted to do.
“It was his idea through and through,” Natania told Armagh I. “He has ADHD and he can struggle sometimes to find things to do. We moved to the country in December, so I could expand my business, which is dog sitting. He just took it upon himself that he wants to work.
“ It started off that he was working, helping me with the dogs and meeting the clients. Then he asked for a lawnmower. Instead of the money for himself to buy something, he asked me to buy him a lawnmower, so he could go out and help people and get to work. So I bought him a lawnmower and he’s been doing my lawn.”
That’s all fine and dandy. But it’s all about diversification, so the adaptable mini-mogul then hatched his latest plan…
“I had actually left him with a girl that works for me, and I came back and he had made a poster,” explained Natania. “He says, ‘I’m going to sell drinks too’, and he had cycled down to the shop and got the drinks, probably not making any money but he is just dying to go to work.
“He likes to be very busy and he’s just such a help. Taylor’s such a kind, thoughtful boy and even my clients say it every time they meet him. He can’t do enough for people.
“He’s been doing my lawn from December and he’s just really started to ask people this week, although he has been asking my clients every time they come to the door from December, ‘if you need a hand cutting your grass, I’ll do it’.
“He did the little poster up two days ago. He’s been standing out the front of my house, because there’s quite a lot of lorries and cars go past and he’s been holding up his wee poster for hours.”
That certainly speaks of dedication, but Natania knows that her wee man will always be on the look out for further avenues to explore.
“He’s selling cool drinks at the minute, or as he calls them sodas,” she said. “I think there’s a good chance he could end up starting to make his own, because he’s probably not making enough profit buying it out of the shop, but he has waters and colas and lemonades and things like that.
“And, to be honest, if he can think of anything else to do in the meantime, I think he will.
Taylor takes a break from cutting his Mummy’s lawn.
“He just likes to have money. He just really is very much an entrepreneur. He’s been that way from a very young age. He likes to work for himself. He likes to earn his own money. He doesn’t like to be handed anything in life. I don’t know where he got that work ethic, but that’s just the way he’s been from a very young age.”
Natania had shared pictures to promote Taylor’s cold drinks enterprise on her own business Facebook page and was immediately blown away by the response.
Everyone has given the thumbs-up to Taylor’s endeavours and have been eager to show their support.
“It’s been amazing,” she added. “Because it’s obviously my business page, there has been people from all over messaging, wanting me to set up a PayPal account for him and they don’t even want the drinks. They’re just so impressed with somebody of his age with that work ethic. It’s really, really heartwarming.
“The messages we’ve received have been lovely. I read them out to him every night and, honestly, his wee face… He just loves people saying nice things about him.
“I’m very, very proud. I could cry telling you about it. He had an awful rough year. He lost somebody very close to him, and to see him turning this around and being very positive and putting his emotions into something like this instead of bad behaviour, which is something that could have happened to him when he went through that loss, has been brilliant. It’s crazy. I’m a very, very proud Mummy.”
Taylor’s attitude is inspiring to say the least. When many feel they deserve to be handed everything on a plate, at 10 years of age he already knows that the prize is so much more rewarding when it’s won through hard work and perseverance.
That, this ambitious young boy has seen first hand, as he has watched Natania build her own business up from scratch.
“His dream for so long has been to be a builder and to build Mummy a house,” said Natania. “He knows we haven’t always had it easy money-wise, and he has seen us struggling financially through his earlier years. My business is just finally starting to kick off where we’re comfortable, at least. We’re definitely not millionaires, but we’re comfortable.
“So I think he has it in his head that he wants to build Mummy a house and look after me in the future.
“That’s just the type of little boy he is. It’s never for himself, it’s for other people. He’ll never pass anyone that’s struggling on the street. He will stop and give them £5, £10 if we ever pass anyone that’s struggling. He’s just such a thoughtful boy.
“He has a younger brother, Eli, and it’s just the three of us now. Eli is eight and he is taking shifts to help him whenever Taylor needs to go and restock at the shop. I think he wants to be more of a part of it, so it’s going to be really, really good for them to learn to work together a little bit over the summer.
“ I think I’ve always ingrained that into the boys. They’ve always had to do their chores. Normally there’s only myself, so they understand that their life just might not be quite as easy as other people, so they have had it instilled that Mummy needs the help and Mummy can’t do it all on her own.
“I think that’s stood by them, where they understand you have to work in this life but you can make it as fun as possible if you want to. It doesn’t always have to be a chore.”
What can we say? Hats off to Taylor and keep up the good work – you’re certainly destined to go far young man!
Anyone passing near Magheralin who would like to buy a cold drink and support Taylor, you’ll find him ‘trading’ at 43 Steps Road.
