“My dad taught me that hard work is the only way to get something.
Nobody’s going to hand it to you.”R.J. Duarte, 19
Founder, GreenWorx LandscapingLAST YEAR, R.J. Duarte was accepted to Colorado State University. He didn’t go.
“College wasn’t for me,” he says. That’s because at the time, his landscaping business
was pulling in six figures in annual revenue. “I figured I should stick with this.”
Duarte began cutting grass in Golden, Colo., at age 8. Thanks to his tireless work
ethic, his income tripled every year, and in middle school, he partnered with a friend to
hit more lawns. In high school, they named the company GreenWorx. When the friend
left the business for college, Duarte took the reins, and he spotted a chance for growth.
Duarte dropped GreenWorx’s small clients and rebranded as a premium landscaping-
and-maintenance company. “It’s higher margins for more risk,” he says. “That comes
with headaches, but without headaches, there’s no reward.”
His instincts were right. GreenWorx now operates with four trucks and a peak-season
crew of 12 to 15 people—mostly high school students. “People always ask me, ‘How’s
college going, R.J.?’” he says. “That’s the way society is: They want to hear about your
degree, not your company.”
But he knows he made the right decision. This year, GreenWorx has revenues creeping
toward $750,000. “We’re hardworking, blue-collar people,” Duarte says of himself and
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GREENWORX L ANDSCAPING (DUARTE); PHOTOGRAPH BY VIET LE PHOTOGRAPHY (PALA)his staff. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
September 2019 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / 33“My big-picture goal is to be a social
entrepreneur.”Kenan Pala, 15
Founder, Kids4CommunityKENAN PALA has always wanted to help.
Growing up in San Diego, he would
eagerly donate his time to soup kitchens
and beach cleanups—but was surprised
to find himself shut out of a number of
causes he wanted to support. “There are a
lot of nonprofits doing great things in San
Diego, but many don’t allow kids under
the age of 18 to volunteer,” says Pala.
So in 2017, determined to make sure
that any kid who wanted to volunteer
could volunteer, he founded the nonprofit
organization Kids4Community. “All our
events are open to anybody of any age,”
says Pala. “If you have the passion, you
can come.”
Through corporate donations, grants,
and charitable events, Pala has raised
$1 million to benefit local homelessness
causes, while also engaging kids to help
out with 5K runs, dinner services, and
backpack drives. And when Pala eventu-
ally enrolls in college, he hopes to enlist
the help of one more youngster—his
10-year-old brother, Arden.
“I would like to hand off the organi-
zation to my brother, who is also very
passionate about volunteering,” he says.
“When I graduate high school, he’ll be a
little older than I was when I started.”