Harry Jefferson, 17 – Business Plan
STEP UP Dance
White Plains, New York

"My grandfather said, “Harry chan, the most pain a man can feel is regret, so remember to always follow your heart."

Harry Jefferson’s business plan results from his love for dance, and his decision to follow his grandfather’s advice. STEP UP Dance provides individualized and group dance instruction, including hip hop, pop ‘n lock, step dance and reggae. Harry participated in the NFTE program at the City of White Plains Youth Bureau in 2006.

Harry loves dance, but his parents felt it was an unstable profession and urged him to pursue something else, especially since they couldn’t afford formal lessons for him. Harry was also concerned about being a man in what seemed to be a mostly female profession.

Then his Japanese grandfather died. In his grieving, Harry recalled what his grandfather had said, including, “Sometimes the road you fear the most is the road you must take.” Harry decided to pursue dance. Subsequently he won a scholarship at the City Center Dance School, was elected president of his school’s dance team, was hired as a dance instructor for the White Plains Youth Bureau, and commissioned to choreograph and perform with an Alvin Ailey dancer.

He remembers most a performance at the Blythedale Children’s Hospital. “While performing I could see the beaming children and the tears on the faces of the staff members,” he says. “I was ecstatic, because I was able to do what I love, and make others happy in the process.”

Harry plans to implement his business when he graduates from high school, and to attend Babson College.