Damian B.

Damian’s Roses
North Charleston, South Carolina

“I like money, but I do not want to get it the wrong way and end up like some of the other kids in my neighborhood.”

When Damian was eight years old, his cousin showed him how to make roses out of palmetto fronds to keep him off the streets. After some practice, it took only a minute for him to make one rose, and he began selling them in Charleston’s historic district. In 2007, the teenager’s business took a quantum leap forward when he took the NFTE course at Charleston’s Recreation Department. Damian learned how to promote his business, and his roses have become so popular he now gets phone orders from as far away as New York.