Karl Baehr Entrepreneurs Scholarship

Since I was young, I have been intrigued with business, starting with the typical lemonade stand at age six. My mother helped me understand how to calculate net profit and I used my early math skills to know how much money I was earning from each cup I sold. I was always looking for a way to make extra money and at age twelve, I would walk the neighborhood with my wagon full of buckets, and simple supplies and wash cars for $10. When I got my driver’s license at age sixteen, I took my previous business and car-washing experience and started my own mobile auto detailing business. I started the business using my old Honda Civic and had the trunk tied down with rope as I tried to fit a power washer, vacuum and carpet shampooer in it. I performed an excellent detail service at a much lower price than my competitors and began to build a client case. After six months, I bought an old truck, custom built a trailer rig by myself, and soon business was booming. No longer was I washing cars with buckets and simple supplies as I began to learn the true art of car detailing and perfected my techniques. I absolutely love owning and running my own business. I feel that entrepreneurship is in my blood as my father was a businessman who started from very humble beginnings and owned a couple of small businesses. Unfortunately, he was murdered when I was eleven years old and he didn’t have the opportunity to teach me about life and business. His untimely and tragic death, and later a realization that while he was a business owner, he did not have the knowledge or education to handle his finances, impacted me in such a way that I knew I wanted my life story to be different. I wanted to not only make money, but know how to invest it and I realized the key to my future success was education. I attended a rigorous magnet school program for middle and high school at an inner-city school, graduated summa cum laude and knew that I would pursue a business degree. I am currently entering my senior year at Texas Christian University, where I am pursuing a dual degree in Entrepreneurship and Finance with a Real Estate emphasis. TCU has recently been ranked as the number one undergraduate business program in Texas and I am honored to be able to attend this school. I have been involved in the Leaders for Life program at TCU in which I was mentored by an upperclassman for the first two years and now I have taken the role of a mentor to help guide freshman and sophomore business students. My dream of being an entrepreneur began with that lemonade stand, grew into being the owner of an auto detailing business, and will continue to grow now that I am completing my college education. I intend to expand my auto detailing business to include in-shop services for more extensive work, and I also intend to work in commercial real estate. I have big dreams but I know that through my strong work ethic and determination, I will be successful. Despite the tragedy in my life at a young age, I refused to be another sad statistic of a minority from a single-parent home, a homicide survivor, who attended an inner-city school. Two men may have taken my father from me but they will not steal my future.