The number of teen employees has gone up by 19.4 percent, and Senior Emmanneul Gostomelsky has helped this number rise. Gostomelsky is not just an employee. He is the creator of a business called Teen Trust. Teen Trust is a business that focuses on assisting young people in finding employment and giving back to society.
After being turned down for a job at Publix when he was a sophomore, Gostomelsky was inspired to start a business with the hope of finding better-paying opportunities for himself and other teens.
“I didn’t get the job to make 10/11 (dollars) an hour,” Gostomelsky said. “I came up with the idea that I could probably make more doing something I actually enjoy doing. The goal was really getting people paid, at least 15 or 20 an hour.
In 10th grade, he started working various jobs to save up for the company.
“I did other things before trading crypto,” Gostomelsky said. “I had one dropshipping sight in 10th grade. I made some money from there which I used to invest [in Teen Trust].
With the funds to start, Gostomelsky started a website to advertise his business. The website Teentrustofficial.com shows what jobs are available for teens and when they are available to sign up. This makes it easier and invites teens to come out and work for the Winter Park Community. Jobs that Teen Trust helps provide include car detailing, power washing, yard work, and dog walking.
“I put three to four hundred dollars just for website fees,” Gostomelsky said. “So some days I’ll go around, then I’ll give out flyers to houses… . I’ll get up to three customers in a day.”
Besides promoting his business to the Winter Park community, Teen Trust’s business is centered around hiring teens in school. Gostomelsky shares his experiences hiring fellow teenagers.
“It wasn’t necessarily easier like people just knew about it, but no one really went out of their way to be like, oh yeah, let me work for you,” Gostomelsky said.
Junior Max Knudsen’s favorite job was landscaping as it gave him a chance to work with friends for a long time. Teen Trust has taught him valuable lessons and helped him during his high school life.
“[Teen Trust] is benefitting me because it shows how to run a small business and create a market for what you want to do,” Knudsen said. “Gostomelsky is an excellent CEO, he treats his employees well while creating a friendly social and business environment.”
“As a boss, he’s treating me pretty well,” Knudsen said. “He’s fair with everything and he manages to help me out… He provides a good leadership role and he just shows you how to work together with other people.”
One of the advantages of starting a business as a teenager is that you can have a very flexible schedule. This allows him to balance his business with his studies. If the two become intertwined, he will always prioritize his clients.
“Sometimes, if I’m being honest, I don’t balance it,” Gostomelsky said. “One thing I hate doing is canceling with people or even rescheduling it because I have to go study for something. There have definitely been times when I just do my homework late… But I would say it’s a good balance most of the time.
Even though Gostomelsky is a senior and is going to college, he does not plan on ending the business. He has a vision that his business will continue without his presence.
“One of my goals was to turn this into something big enough to where it can be transferred down without me having to supervise people as much,” Gostomelsky said. “’I’m going to FSU, so I’ll be in Tallahassee doing this, but I also want to keep this in Orlando because I already have clients and customers here.”
As Teen Trust is growing, Gostomelsky does not just help his own community but also helps others in need. Teen Trust donates 15% of their profit to various charities that make a better impact on our world. Gostomelsky would love to see more young entrepreneurs.
“Anything that you have your mind set on, just do it because there are a lot of instances,” Gostomlesky said. “For me, where I’ve had an idea and it seems great, I always second guess myself. One thing leads to another and it doesn’t end up happening. I realized that the more I do stuff and the more times I fail, the more times I’ll succeed at some point.”