By Nathaniel Yates
NKyTribune Intern
Brad Whittle hopes to paint his way into a successful business, and he hopes to do so while a freshman in college.
Whittle is studying marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Cincinnati; when he is not at school, he is running his own branch of Student Painters — and learning entrepreneurship with hands on (and paint brush in hand) experience.
Student Painters is a 30-year-old national organization that helps young entrepreneurs get real business experience through a “branch manager” program in which the students run a house-painting service. The students paint the exterior of houses as well as other outdoor structures (decks, barns, sheds, etc.).
Whittle said he was excited when he was offered the opportunity to apply for the entrepreneurship opportunity.
“I have always been curious about what it would be like to run my own business. One day in December I received an email from our (vice president) Josh Drushel about an entrepreneurship opportunity,” Whittle said. “I attended one of the informational sessions, and I was very interested about working this internship. I later was interviewed twice and was hired as a branch manager.”
The branch manager program is run through the Young Entrepreneurs Across America program that helps students develop skills they will need to become successful entrepreneurs. Students learn management and marketing skills, how to recruit and interview people for the job, as well as how to budget and set goals.
“As a branch manager, I hire my own employees and make my own work schedule. My average day is still as a college student, however, as I am one of the few managers who live within/near their area, I am able to work some week days,” Whittle said.
The branch that Whittle is managing is mainly focused in Burlington, Hebron and Walton areas.
Whittle lived in Burlington for 15 years. He is a graduate of St. Henry District High School where he was a leader of Catholics In Action He is a singer and musician who loves baseball. He now lives in Union.
Actually painting of the houses will not take place until the summer, but Whittle has been marketing and looking for business during the winter months. The weekends are when Whittle completes most of his work.
“On weekends, I spend the mornings putting fliers on people’s doors. Around 9 a.m. I begin estimates on people’s houses throughout the day until roughly 5 p.m. I then drop fliers again until I feel I have done a good job.”
Although he makes his own schedule, Whittle has set his sights high for his branch of the business. He hopes to reach production goal of $110,000, a goal he said that “has only been hit a few times in the history of the company.”
“I like to really put the hard hours in in order to get the results that I want,” Whittle said.
Whittle has hired several people to work for him since he started. Whittle has three marketing representatives until the end of the school year and has hired 4 painters for the summer, all of whom are college students from the University of Kentucky, Western Kentucky University and UC.
“Currently I have my marketers work weekends, and my painting crew will work Monday through Thursday for 10 hours a day (total of 40 hours a week),” Whittle said. “With my large production goal, I may be hiring another crew later.”
The program provides students with a mentor to help them along the way. The mentors are people who have been through the internship program before.
“I am simply my own boss with my mentor, Andrew Rauen, helping me along the way to success,” Whittle said.
Whittle commutes to school from his home in Union. Because of his experience with Student Painters he added an entrepreneurship major to his marketing major and added a minor in finance.
“I am really enjoying the job so far,” Whittle said.
For more information on see Student Painters website.
For information on the branch that Whittle runs, or to request an estimate, see his website.
Nathaniel Yates is a journalism student at the University of Kentucky and an intern for the NKyTribune, also getting on-the-job experience.