It's A Dog's World

 It's A Dog World

          Hello there, Man’s Best Friend currently speaking, but you can call me Oscar. I have short, dark chocolate colored fur and big, brown eyes that I am not above using; the puppy dog look works every time. Anyway, I like bouncy balls, squirrels, and having a good tail waggle with my friends, but above all, I like Kansas City. It’s home.

             Kansas City is like a fresh bone to chew on or getting a treat every single day. It’s the perfect place for dogs like me that just want to have fun. The parks around here are huge and have so many things to do that I often don’t know what to do first! There is bright green grass, tens of hundreds of types of trees to sniff out, and I may have thrown an acorn at a squirrel, but I’ll never admit it.
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         The best part, and I’m going to whisper this because classy dogs such as myself don’t like to admit it, is the number of different places to pee on. I mean, come on! Have you ever taken a moment to look at how many statues there are around this city? So far, I’ve only gotten around to about half, but I’ve already gotten up close and personal with Indians, birdies (the kind used in Badminton; the real ones won’t let me get close), a guy fishing, a couple of angels, and a horse named Fred. After a bit of a rocky introduction- if you get what I mean- we’ve become fast friends.
         
          Another plus side to the Show Me State is that it knows how to show me the food! The eats around here are fantastic. Most of the shopping areas are open and outside allowing me free reign, and stores often have doggie water bowls and treats out for when I get hungry. If you want the good stuff, though, you just have to hang around a barbecue restaurant. There are tons of them around, and the scraps are amazing! Trust me; you haven’t lived until a pulled pork sandwich with spicy barbecue sauce has landed in front of you.

     ​   I am a well-rounded dog, though. Don’t think for a moment that my entire life consists of food and peeing on unsuspecting statues… okay, so most of it does. But I’m also a traveler! That’s right; I enter new states on a daily basis. How many other dogs can say that? The state line between Missouri and Kansas is often so close that it divides two sides of a street and being the daredevil I am, I sometimes stand with two paws in each. I know, how crazy is that? I may have to get myself a passport one of these days. Watch out world because this dog is about to take over!

        ​For when I’m feeling fancy, though, there’s still a lot to do. Our entertainment will blow your socks off… er, leash off? My personal favorite is going downtown to listen to jazz music, but if anyone can get me into the symphony or ballet, let me know! I tried standing on a couple of my friends shoulders with an overcoat on, but we had a bit of an issue with the check in. No matter, it’s incredible, and I do a mean jazz dance every once and a while. The best part about downtown is the deep contrast it provides. I can spend my days running through parks and rolling hills and then head to the Power and Light district for social hour. It’s a complete change of scenery, and the best part is, I can pick which one I want depending on my mood. The one constant, though, is the moon. The skies here in Kansas City are dark and clear, and the stars and moon are easy to pick out. I’d consider myself a bit of a stargazer, but the moon will always be my favorite. Come on, what dog do you know that doesn’t want to bark at the moon every once and a while? (If they say they don’t, they’re lying. Promise.)

      ​Kansas City is lots of things for both the humans and dogs such as me. It is food, architecture, opportunity, and entertainment, but above all, it is home. There is no other

place that I’d rather be in this doggy dog world, and I can only hope that you get to experience it one day.

This is Oscar, signing off. Woof.

P.S. If you have any pesky squirrels you need to get rid of, call me.

This Blog Was Written by Park Hill South High School Student Lauren Fricke.

Thanks for the help Lauren and you're an amazing writer!

Proudly High School Entrepreneurs

  Proudly High School Entrepreneurs

  We always knew that we wanted to do something that wasn't ubiquitous with everyone else's path. We had both known that we were never going to follow the crowd. We couldn't follow everyone else if we wanted to! 

          

We have learned that to be an entrepreneur
 you have to be innovative, be willing to learn,build
 a solid team, and lead with integrity and understanding

          Following wasn't who we were or what we believed in. Jacob and I believed in something more. Looking back, the ONLY thing we truly wanted was to become entrepreneurs. Even more than that, we wanted to become young entrepreneurs! In the beginning, we made the mistake of letting our youthful stereotype hold us back. Society had taught us that high school students weren't supposed to start successful businesses. 
          
          Sadly we listened to that stereotype for a long time. For several years we believed we were too young to be entrepreneurs.....But eventually that waiting became painful. It didn't seem right. Waiting wasn't who we were. So we stopped waiting. We stopped letting excuses hold us back and we took action. We established Rawls Treats LLC in December of 2015, proudly becoming high school entrepreneurs. 

​

Just try saying It...."High School Entrepreneurs

          Looking back, starting a high school student ran business sounds  humorous. Just try saying it..."Successful High School Entrepreneurs." It sounds amazing....and unheard of! How in the world would a business be successful if it was ran by high school students. It would never work!..........right? 
          
          After all everyone knows high school students can't actually start a real business. They're to young. They aren't mature enough. They don't have enough experience to deal with real life scenarios. How would they know what a Limited Liability Corporation is. What about getting a Tax Identification Code, and all business' have to have websites now! How are they going to get a Domain for their website? Do they know what a domain is? What about startup money? After all "It takes money to make money." What about equity, contracts, checking accounts, saving accounts, debit cards, credit cards, credit card scanners, calculating margins, creating proficient business plans, phases of business, retail licenses, the numerous types of taxes, search engine optimization, profit sharing, networking, blogging, baking equipment, online sales, transferring the money from those online sales, out-of-state sales, advertising costs, growing the business, networking, shipping, logistics, talking to retailers, selling their healthy treats, accounting, manufacturing, social media, knowing their demographics? 
          

          HOW IN THE WORLD ARE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO DO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE THINGS? 

                                                                                                                                                            

We Will Learn and Overcome

          To answer that question simply, we learn. We have and will continue to educate ourselves for the purpose of overcoming. We will continue to logically conquer every single obstacle that presents itself. We have molded ourselves, and our minds, to believe in the ideal of success. We simply believe that we will create what ever we want to create. We will work as hard as we need to work and push as hard as we need to push to succeed. We believe that the first step when it comes to creating an idea is to believe in it yourself. 

We will strive to gain knowledge and over
come all obstacles that are presented to us.

          
          How can we expect anyone else to believe in our idea if we don't? I promise you that Jacob and I fiercely believe in Rawls Treats. Whether it be optimizing our website to appear higher on google or mathematically calculating several categories for our demographics, we will do it. We will educate ourselves, logically problem solve, and succeed through unwavering dedication. Now let me ask a question....

          Why NOT High School Entrepreneurs... 

          Everyone says high school students shouldn't be able to start a business......but WHY NOT? High School is a PHENOMENAL place to network and meet uniquely amazing people. High School is an untouched ocean of talent waiting for a worthwhile task to dedicate their talents to.

          At our high school alone, Jacob and I know hundreds of gifted and talented people! We have students that take incredibly bliss photos that will change your emotional perception with out a single word being spoken. We have students that will re-mold the way you perceive your beliefs of life within a single desolate black and white piece of paper! We have students at our school that will make you a happier person by simply walking into a room and starting a conversation with you. We have students that are motivated by the singular purpose of providing happiness to those around them. They literally find happiness by just being a good person and helping in anyway they possibly can! Where else can you find all of these untapped talents in a single place? 

So again, I ask why NOT high school entrepreneurs? 

          Jacob and I are honored to be surrounded by these articulate and brilliant minds on a daily bases. We truly believe that you become who and what you surround yourself with. Being surrounded by these amazing minds has been an incredibly beneficial impact on our lives. Looking back, Rawls Treats sounded like a funny, unrealistic ideal. 

          The way it has turned out was never our original intent. That being said, Rawls Treats has turned out so much better than our original intent. We started Rawls Treats to have our personal entrepreneurship standout, but our real success has come through bringing our community together.