Young entrepreneur helps at-risk youth
Even though his business is a little less than two years old, Orane Watson is using the resources that he has to impact at-risk youth in his community.
As the owner of A-Z Brand’Em, Watson said that he has always had a passion for helping others, because at his previous high school, he was in leadership positions and was often called on to mentor and encourage younger boys.
“I went to Jamaica College (JC), and I was always in the role of leadership. I was also the head boy of JC. I was always in a role of leadership, and being around young men primarily, the ethos of always being an example is something that grew on me,” he said. Watson, who resides in Greater Portmore, St Catherine, strongly believes that ‘it takes cash to care’, and so with the little that he is able to do, he tries to help the young men in the community. “I provide a source of income for some of these young men, who often leave school without subjects and they are on the corner digging out their hand middle. If I can find something good for them to do, then that is what I will do,” he said. Watson said that he uses the time he has to mentor the boys and teach them life skills because he is still doing a 9-to-5 job. He said that he is unable to reach as many persons as he wants to, but he is trying to grow his platform so that he can help more persons. “It better to teach a man how to fish than to give him one, so with my business I make wristbands, bumper stickers, lanyards and silicon buttons, etc. Sometimes I get orders, and it is large. I pay the young men to help out. I give them buttons to sell as well, and they would get a pay out of that,” he said.
Even though things are not smooth sailing for him where the mentorship is concerned, he said that he is willing to keep trying to help out young people who are at risk of going in the wrong direction. He believes that if they have something to do, they will find less time to do wrong things.