Baling hay and detassling corn for about $4.50/hr. I think I was about 12. The bales of hay were heavier than I was, so I had to use leverage to stack them an

Baling hay and detassling corn for about $4.50/hr. I think I was about 12. The bales of hay were heavier than I was, so I had to use leverage to stack them and always ended up completely covered in debris. The cornfield job was easy...but it was really hot, so most of my peers quit. That's the first time I realized that different people could have dramatically different work ethics. Some people spent more time and effort figuring out how to cheat and goof off than it would've taken to just do the job properly. I worked before that, chopping wood and the like, but just "to earn my keep" and not for payment. Around 15, I started giving lessons at the YMCA (swim lessons, horseback riding lessons, guitar lessons, and martial arts lessons) and cutting grass for elderly neighbors. Cutting grass I averaged $5-7 an hour, and giving lessons I averaged between $15-20 an hour, which taught me the benefits of 'specialized' knowledge and skills. The first time I had any idea about a business model was in middle school. Most middle school kids couldn't go into our high school without getting into trouble, but I could because I was the editor of the newspaper and yearbook. Economic moat ;-) I used my "special hall privileges" to buy candy from the high school, which had a concession/vending stand, and resell them to the middle school kids, who had no junk food outlet of their own. I usually marked things up between 25-100%.