For the past year, my two best friends and I have been scrubbing, rinsing, and waxing cars at the local car wash, putting in long hours for minimum wage. We’ve seen everything—mud-caked trucks, coffee-stained seats, and customers who barely glanced at us as they drove off. But while most of our coworkers just went through the motions, we actually cared about the details. We took pride in making every car look its best, even when we weren’t getting paid nearly enough for the effort we put in. The more we worked, the more we realized something: we weren’t just employees. We were learning a skill, and we knew we could do it better if we were the ones in charge.

Now, at 16 and 17, we’re ready to take that leap. We don’t have a fancy shop or expensive equipment—just a few supplies, a passion for what we do, and a dream to build something of our own. We want to offer the kind of deep-clean, showroom shine that the car wash never could, treating every car like it’s our own. It’s a risk, and we know not everyone takes teenagers seriously, but we’re ready to prove ourselves. We’re not just another car wash—we’re future business owners, and we’re ready to make a name for ourselves.