What Are You Good At?

A teenager in Connecticut has come to be in high demand as an interior decorator and is regarded as something of a “rising star,” according to a profile in the Times’s Home and Garden section. What are your talents and skills? What products or services might you be able to provide, either free of charge, or for a fee?

The article “Sam Allen, Teenage Decorator” by Steven Kurutz looks at the 19-year-old’s career and how he
got his start:

Mr. Allen landed his first real client two years ago, when his father, Lloyd, who runs a farmstand in Westport, overheard a customer saying she wanted to turn a nanny suite into a playroom for her daughters.

“I go over, meet the woman, she tells me her wants and needs, and I tell her my vision,” Mr. Allen recalled. “I was hired on the spot.”

He turned the nanny’s drab kitchenette into a candy station with a hot-pink mini-fridge, he said, and added bunk beds and a zebra-stripe rug.

By charging less than other designers (his initial rate was $20 an hour, though he now charges $100) and posting photos of his work on Facebook, Mr. Allen secured more jobs. In the beginning, most of them involved
decorating children’s rooms.

Students: Tell us what you are good at. How and when did you first realize you had this aptitude or knack? How do you use your skills and talents? How have your peers and adults reacted to your abilities?
Are you passionate about the things you are good at? Can you put your skills in service of others, either on a volunteer basis or to build a business, as Mr. Allen has?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.