A Summer Job: Bay 12-Year Old Invests in Old-Time Values

It’s summer. Most kids are sleeping in these days.

Not 12-year old Mason Dabrowski of Bay Village.

He’s cashing in on one of summer’s greatest opportunities – a summer job!

Red Hat Outdoor Services his baby, and you just might see Mason tooling around Bay Village on his electric bike with all his lawn care equipment in tow.

It’s the first year for his entrepreneurial brainchild. The business is a result of his off-season meditations on creating a summer job for himself.

“Ever since I was little, I had thought about ways I could make a little money. Rake yards, that kind of stuff. I just thought I could start doing this for an entire summer,” he says.

So, with the help of his dad, Rob, Red Hat Outdoor Services was born.

Rob, in fact, serves as an inspiration for his son. Rob is also an independent businessman, owner-operator of Stump Pro LLC, a stump grinding and removal service.

“I always watched him in his business and I said, ‘Man, I want to do that too!’,” says Mason.

“I sometimes went to work with him and helped him maintain his machines and stuff.”

“Yes, I let him grind some stumps over the years, but at an appropriate setting,” said Rob. “It’s remote control so he’s nowhere near the machine.”

But stump grinding is a far cry from landscaping, and landscaping is what appeals to Mason. “I’ve never done landscaping,” says Rob. “When he got the equipment, it was new to both of us.

“But he taught himself – how to use the edger, the line trimmer. It’s not in my wheelhouse. All I’ve ever done is the stump grind.

“The landscaping is his baby, it’s his reputation. He takes care of it.”

“But he helped me get all my equipment,” adds Mason. Red Hat Outdoor Services uses all high quality, professional Stihl products.

“And every time he gets paid, he puts money into his ‘business debt,’ as we call it, and I’m the bank,” reports Rob.

The business end of Mason’s enterprise is handled through the use of a Green Light Card, a debit card for kids that empowers parents to teach money management and the power of saving to their children.

“I can monitor what he does and help him set up goals,” says Rob. Mason’s earnings fill three separate categories – Loan payback, savings, and spending money.

“Every dollar he makes, a percentage has to go into savings. It’s non-negotiable. You can see every purchase he makes. If he needs gas he can take himself to the gas station and he has his own card. And this way, kids learn how to use a card. Learning how to use a card and pay apps is essential and something you don’t normally learn in school.”

So, under their agreement, Mason picked out all of his equipment and is paying back his dad.

Mason uses Stihl because he sees his dad use Stihl in his business and decided to go with commercial grade equipment.

Where did the name Red Hat come from? “We were just thinking of ideas and we liked red. Then someone said red hat and we liked Red Hat Services,” says Mason.

Once in business this spring, Mason started pulling his rig around town with a mountain bike. But it soon got too heavy. So Rob pitched in with an electric bike. The ebike elevated Mason’s ability to get around and carry all the equipment a top of the line landscaper would need.

“It’s just like a full time landscaper would use,’ says Rob. “And the quality, he knows that anyone can look at our yard and they can see he doesn’t cut corners. He does things the way they’re supposed to be done and that’s how he does it. His response from his customers has been great.”

“Never cut corners, do the best you can, and make the customers happy” says Mason of his business philosophy.

His trailer is of commercial grade, made by Wike of Canada. “There was nothing really we could buy and put together because there is a weight issue,” says Rob.” We realized quickly that the weight of the equipment, the weight of everything that has to go on his bike, it just can’t be done. So we decided to go that way,” he says of the 200 pounds of gear Mason carries on his trailer.

“I think it’s important for people to know he will do just as good a job as a professional landscaper,” says Rob. “The customer’s satisfaction comes first. Of course, he wants to make money. But first and foremost, before he gets paid, he wants to make sure everybody’s happy.”

Mason starts the day early. “I like to stay to a certain schedule,” he says. “I like to wake up early in the morning at around 7 o’clock and get all my work done in the morning. I like to have the rest of the day to do what I want to do.”

How did he do the week it was so hot? “It was tough!” he exclaims. But Mason gutted it out with plenty of water.

“We really appreciate people who are willing to give him a chance,” says Rob. “He’s not just a neighbor kid coming over to cut the lawn. Once people utilize him, they realize that this is really a professional service with a mower, line trimmer, edger and blower.”

“Plus, I do the entire of Bay Village,” says Mason. The family lives near the Rocky River line, but once he got the ebike he realized he could go anywhere in Bay.

“It gives him a way to make an income and it also sustains him as an individual,” says Rob. “There’s been nights that Mason has been tired from a day’s work and working on something else and maybe getting a little frustrated or overwhelmed at that moment. I like to remind him that after a long day’s work it’s natural to feel tired and definitely not a good time to be making any decisions or trying to do anything critical. The next morning you will have a better grip on everything.”

How does Mason get his jobs? ”First they will shoot me a text,” he says. “Then I will set up an appointment, take a look at the yard. I usually like to stick to yards that are on the smaller to medium size. Nothing like Lake Road. And I just price it accordingly with allowances for one-time major tune-ups like major edging.”

As a family, the Dabrowskis enjoy boating and being near the water. It’s a great way to cool down after a week of work.

As for the future, Mason will enjoy the benefits of self-employment for many years to some.

“I’ll probably be doing this until I get out of high school,” he says.

Want to learn more? Call Red Hat Outdoor Services at (440) 590-3992.