MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. (Queen City News) – When we think of career paths for teenagers, fast food and retail often come to mind — after all, that’s where many of us got our start in high school.
But a Mount Holly entrepreneur wants to offer more than a paycheck.
“Hopefully it gives them some good ideas about what they want to do in the future,” owner Catherine Patrick said. Katherine Patrick State Farm.
She believes teenagers are never too young to learn job skills and explore the idea of having their own business one day.
Patrick has hired three sales assistants who are all Gen Zers, giving them the opportunity to learn on the job and dream a little.
Morgan Smith, Andrew Cook and Addison Royal quickly made a name for themselves as comedians.
“We’re Minions now, aren’t we?” Cook, a recent graduate of East Gaston High School, said of the nickname inspired by the famous cartoon character.
“The minions, what do the minions want to do?” Patrick explained. “So I guess it stuck, ha ha ha.”
She pays her interns $15 an hour, and each “minion” is assigned a sales representative.
“It gives you a real experience of what the real world is like,” Royal says.
“They teach them how to make follow-up calls and help with mailings,” Patrick said.
She hopes this will give them a leg up on the road to entrepreneurship just like hers.
“The fact that she’s so young and has accomplished so much in life is so inspiring,” Addison told Queen City News.
When Patrick graduated from Florida State University, he thought his future would be in the medical field.
But she fell in love with insurance: When Patrick opened her store in 2022, at 23, she was the youngest State Farm agent in the country.
“I was really excited!” she says. “I’ve been working really hard for the last two and a half years, barely sleeping, and my goal is to one day be number one in the company.”
“Obviously, if I end up working in the insurance industry, my ultimate goal would be to open an agency like Katherine did,” Cook said.
The idea is to give employees more responsibility than other employers think they can handle, so they can succeed in whatever they pursue.
“Sometimes high school students are thought to be incapable of doing mature work,” Addison said.
Patrick encourages more businesses to hire high school students because they have a lot to offer.
“These kids are headed somewhere in life, they’re going to do something at some point, and we catch them before they get there,” Patrick said.
Maybe in the future their names will appear on company signs just like hers.
Chances are, they’ll go on to do big things, so now is the time to joke with them about being a Minion.
“It’s a lot better than a typical high school job,” Morgan said.
“It’s a great opportunity for me and the other Minions to work here,” Cook concluded.
