Good Boy Roy's 15 Year Old Entrepeneur

To wrap up Interview Week, I have a very special guest. His name is Zack and he's a 15 year old T-shirt Entrepeneur.

Zack comes up with and draws all his t-shirt designs and if that's not enough, Zack does all this while suffering from OCD and ADD, as well as Tourettes and Tics.

Check out this remarkable young man.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am 15, I will be in 10th grade this year, school is really hard for me because I get upset so easy and frustrated. I am funny, handsome and love my family and dog and I am outgoing.

What made you decide to start your own T-shirt business?

It was kind of a whim my mom had when I showed her some of my new drawings. She sent one to a friend who makes t-shirts and surprised me with one of my characters (Roy) on a shirt. We thought it was cute,some other people did too, so then we thought I would draw a whole gang of people to put on shirts. Good Boy Roy is kind of my alter ego. Ever since I was a baby I had trouble with my emotions and get upset real easy, and frustrated, but I would always say "I really am a good boy" after my "episodes". I give all my characters names, the first guy was Roy, so mom said let's call him Good Boy Roy, we started talking about drawing him doing different mischevious things but saying "I really am a good boy" like me.

Do you draw all the designs for the shirts?

Yes, I draw them all.

How do you come up with new ideas for the shirts?

I think of them in my head, the characters just come into my mind.

What have you learned running your own business?

Well, mom really does most of it now, I do all the drawings and decide how to color them and the t-shirt colors. Mom does all the computer work because computers make me really upset and frustrated. We do the festivals and carnivals together. I like meeting people and telling them about my designs, people are usually surprised when I tell them I drew them all. The festivals are long days, and hard work but usually fun.

What's the hardest part of running the business?

The festivals when it is so hot outside, the heat makes me really tired. Also I have so many drawings and new characters and want them all on shirts but we cant do it all now. I really want GBR to be big and have a Good Boy Roy store one day.

What is the best part of the business? Worse part?

The best part is seeing my characters on shirts in color. I had never seen them in color before, just in pencil, it's like they come to life in color on the shirts. And I like wearing them and seeing other people wear them. It's also nice for people to say that I am talented and they like my stuff. The worse part is wanting to do so much and not being able to all at once.

Can you describe what it feels like to see one of your shirts on a stranger?

It's so cool, awesome. It makes me so proud.

What advice do you have for other teens that may want to start their own business?

I would say go for it, if you want to do something you should try. Mom always says you have to try, doesn't hurt to try and we should never wonder what if? and we should always have goals and dreams to look forward to.

Where can we purchase on of Good Boy Roy shirts?

We just got our new website up, it's at: http://www.goodboyroy.com/

What sizes are available? Colours?

Gosh, we have lots of designs, most designs come in youth and adult sizes and some different colors.

Anything else you'd like to add?

This has been fun, having me and mom do this business together is fun, it's cool to see people wearing my shirts.

Be sure to stop by Good Boy Roy and order up one of these awesome tee's. From now until the end of August get a 10% discount by using the coupon code "summersale" on any order.

More About Zack (Zman)

About the boy behind Good Boy Roy (we call him Zman): He is 15 and has always loved to draw. He raced BMX bikes at one time and played baseball most of his life.

Zack has always been funny,silly and loves to do impersonations.He is like most kids but has some challenges that he has struggled with growing up, like OCD and ADD, then a strep infection which is believed to have caused him to develope Tourettes and Tics. (It's called PANDAS) This can all make things pretty chaotic. Zack's drawing usually helped him calm down, was comforting to him and is something he has always been proud of.

He is a huge sports fan, his dad is from Georgia so he is a HUGE DAWG fan!!! He has one sister, Kelsie, and 4 dogs.

Click here to check out Zack on WYFF 4 Interview with Good Boy Roy.