The Morrison family believes learning the value of entrepreneurship should start at a young age. 16-year-old Gabby Morrison is set to earn $100,000 a year opening a second location of their family business.
Morrison’s first job as an employee at the family soul food joint started when she was five — when her parents, Shawn and Kiana Morrison, opened Nana Morrisons’s Soul Food in Charlotte. Most of her peers were playing outside or watching cartoons at the time. However, Gaabby earned wages doing daily employee tasks like taking guest orders, cleaning restaurant tables, and restocking napkins, silverware and condiments. At six, Shawn and Kiana helped Gabby file her first tax return. By age 10, Gabby helped with interviewing, hiring, creating employee schedules, payroll, bookkeeping and inventory orders, Afro Tech reported.
The experience taught Gabby how to balance school work and being a part-time employee, which later prepared her to fully run their second Nana Gabby’s location at 17 years old.
Gabby is sure she has what it takes to complete college and manage Nana. Still, with business booming, she has decided to opt out of continuing her higher education to run the restaurant’s second location.
“I don’t have the desire to go and put the effort in to do it,” she said, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Gabby’s parents support their daughter’s decision due to her tireless hard work and dedication to her school work and the store. While working part-time, Gabby consistently made the honor roll at Marvin Ridge High School and will graduate early in December.
“I was like, OK, this is the next step in my career,” she said. “I can do this now, or put my career on hold that I know is always gonna be here, and take another path, and it might not work out. So it’s like, just stick to what you know and continue on with the restaurant business, and I can grow in it,” she added.
Kiana says her daughter has no qualms about rolling her sleeves up and getting to work. He proudly boasted that Gabby always was at location sites whenever she would check in on her.
“She’s always up there at the new restaurant,” Kiana says. “After school, I’ll call and ask, Where are you? She’ll say, I’m at the new location. She’s always up there. Checking on things, making sure everything is right. She’s handled everything from the Pepsi contracts to all the food vendors; it’s been her. On her lunch break, she’s calling everybody.”
“It’s pretty exciting … me just thinking about it. Some guys’ 16-year-olds are out chasing guys and our daughter. Our 16-year-old daughter is gonna be running a multimillion-dollar business,” her father Shawn said.
Check out any of the Two locations: 2908 Oak Lake Blvd Suite #106, Charlotte, NC 28208.
The new location will open May 1 at 3824 Corning Place, Suite A, Charlotte, NC 28216.