Kansas teen’s startup funds sister’s special education needs

PLAINVILLE, Kan. — In May, Taylor Ayers was searching for a job, but since he was only 13 years old at the time, no one would hire him.

That’s when a dog-watching opportunity sparked his big idea.

“I realized how much of a needed thing it was, pet sitting, in Plainville,” Taylor said.

The young Kansas teen decided to fix that.

“My first client started spreading the word around, and then eventually I came up with Ayers Buddies Pet Sitting. And now I have a page and everything, and it just took off from there,” the entrepreneur said.

Through Ayers Buddies, Taylor will takes care families’ pets while they’re away, letting pets stay in the comfort of their homes.

But he’s not pocketing the money all for himself.

“I realized I didn’t need a lot of the money and so I thought, what can I put this toward?” he recalled.

His younger sister Trissan came to mind.

“She’s mostly nonverbal, and she has epilepsy. She has a heart disorder, chromosome 8P,” he said. “She is such a trooper that she made it through all that, and I just love her so much.”

So he decided to donate to Plainville Elementary School’s special education program. In under a year, he’s given more than $1,600.

“Donating is just so good because, you know, it lets my sister and people like my sister have a better year,” he said.

In 2022, Taylor hopes to raise even more money to donate. Taylor plans to keep the business going until he graduates, then he will pass it on to someone else.