Teen turns hard work into his own business

Handykid Jerome Smalls, 15, had to fight for everything he has, he said, but as a result, he's learned a valuable lesson about life.

The West Ashley High School freshman's business doing odd jobs for friends, family and neighbors earned him a spot as YEScarolina's 2011 student of the year.

The accolade came with an all-expense-paid trip to New York where he presented his business to thousands of entrepreneurs through the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and got a chance to meet basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.

"(The trip) really bettered my self-esteem and my confidence. It taught me the value of knowing how to express yourself and communicate with other people, and, also, it taught me that being an entrepreneur you make your own money and don't have to rely on other people," Jerome said. "Once you're an entrepreneur, you're always an entrepreneur. I don't ever expect myself to look for a job, I expect myself to make a job."

Jerome has hopes of one day starting a nonprofit to help young kids by teaching them business and handy skills that they'll always have to fall back on.

"I was motivated by a lot of important people in my life. I love being inspired by other people, so I think it would be a great thing for me to inspire other people as well," Jerome said.

The two people Jerome said have inspired him the most are his grandparents, who provided him with guidance when his own parents could not.

"My mom was in and out of jail, and sometimes we would live in the hotel or whatnot because she didn't know where else to go. My grandma had to support me, and my grandfather was more of a father figure for me," Jerome said. "At first, it (my history) wasn't something that I really wanted to talk about because I thought it was embarrassing. But then I thought, 'why be ashamed of where you come from?' "

Jerome said living with his grandfather, who owns a construction company, gave him the opportunity to learn the skills needed to run his business.

"Jerome had been staying with his grandmother and I since he was about 2 years old. I used to take him to work with me, and as he got older, I would teach him different trades that I knew and that my father taught me," said Charles Steward, Jerome's grandfather.

"I wanted to let him see the business side of things as well, but I never thought he would run with it like he did. Jerome's a very intelligent young man. When he finds something he likes, he just grabs a hold of it and runs with it."

Though Jerome said he's had difficult times as a child, he believes he's benefited from the lessons those times taught him, such as the value of work.

"A lot of people have stuff handed to them. I basically had nothing handed to me and had to fight for what I wanted, and now I have it," Jerome said.

Reach Christina Elmore at 937-5908.