Ryan Hickman, a 7-year-old boy has owned his own company. He even started his business since he was 3.5 years old. The business he built was not just to make money alone but also can help save the earth because it is associated with waste recycling.
The boy who lives in Orange County, California is the son of Damion Hickman and Andrea Hickman. Both parents are very supportive of business run by his child. According to them, recycling is a fair deal because it can help the environment and Ryan can earn extra money.
The company run by Ryan cites his name also in it, namely “Ryan’s Recycling”. This very young boy was inspired to make the business after visiting a recycling center in California, rePlanet. At that time Ryan was 3.5 years old and thanks to that visit he could find his life mission.
While in rePlanet, Ryan is very excited when sifting through various items and he likes to put bottles into the machine. Damion, his father, said that Ryan looked very happy when he managed to collect two to three buckets.
The day after his visit to rePlanet, Ryan told his father while in San Juan Capistrano pointing to the road that he would make his own business by picking up all the cans and bottles from everyone in the neighborhood.
Ryan told his parents that he would hand out empty plastic bags to all his neighbors for their willingness to give them recyclables. As a result, not only his neighbors, but their friends, family, and colleagues also collect the cans and bottles they have for Ryan.
Little Ryan dedicates some of his time of the week to sorting and washing the bottles and tins he collects. The bottles and tins that have been sorted will be brought to the recycling plant every few weeks.
Currently, Ryan, a CEO, manager, and worker at his own company has had 50 customers and thousands of bottles and cans in his recycling credit. If asked what makes him think to start his business, Ryan cannot remember clearly the reason because he was very small at the time. Ryan simply says eagerly that the bottles can flow into the ocean and cause sickness or even dead animals.
For several years running his business, Ryan’s family estimated the number of recycled goods as many as 300,000 cans and bottles. From that result, Ryan can earn as much as $ 11,000 US dollars for his savings into university. Even so, Ryan has had his own plans that he will use the money he gets to buy his own garbage truck.
If you are interested in contributing to this Ryan-built business, there are several ways that you can do. For those of you living in Orange County, you can schedule an online pick-up. Another way is to buy a T-shirt made by Ryan’s Recycling for $ 13 US dollars, of which all proceeds will be donated to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California.
The marine animal breeding center is one of Ryan’s favorites. Therefore, donations are flown there. Ryan also became the young ambassador of the venue. So far the donated funds have already reached $ 3,700 US dollars, used to buy medicine and food for the animals that are there.
After four years in this business, Ryan’s neighbors became accustomed to his arrival knocking on the door to pick up recyclables items. Otherwise, you can ask him to pick up or put bags of recycled goods on the doorsteps of the Ryan family.
Ryan is known to be happy to help others. One of his favorite activities was to help his school cleaners, Mr. Jose, to separate the waste. Although Ryan’s parents want their children to play with friends like little kids in general, they realize that Ryan finds his fun while recycling. Ryan manages to recruit five friends to help Mr. Jose.
Ryan’s existence proves that there is no “too young” word to start a business and not “too early” to contribute to safeguarding the earth from the threat of pollution that can destroy the planet. While there are intention and persistence, the easier is to create positive change. Although fairly young, what Ryan Hickman does can be an inspiration to everyone of all ages.