- November 10, 2024
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When Andrew Bixby was 14 years old, he asked his parents for a weed whacker and an edger for his birthday.
He was in the lawn care industry already, after all. Bixby, of Ormond Beach, officially launched his own business, Bixby's Lawn Care, LLC, four years ago. Now, 18, he's a couple weeks away from graduating from Seabreeze High School — and he knows exactly what he'll be doing post-graduation.
"This is my future," Andrew said. "So I might just keep on pushing."
Andrew is a go-getter, said his dad, Daniel Bixby.
When Andrew was a kid, he used to go with his dad to cut his grandparent's yard. One day when he was around 10 years old, Andrew decided to give it a try.
"I'd take him over after that and he'd cut their whole yard," Daniel Bixby said.
He did that every summer for a couple years.
"My grandpa came downstairs one day and he was like, 'Why don't you try to go across the street and get the neighbor's yard?'" Andrew recalled. "I said OK. Well, that didn't really go too well, so I thought, I'm going to go into the neighborhood across the street from me. I'm going to go door to door and try and pick up some yards and it worked."
He and friend started mowing 13 yards regularly. Andrew was 12 years old at the time. Two years later, he opened his business with his dad.
Now, in is fourth year of business, he has 40 accounts and offers lawn care maintenance throughout Volusia County.
Andrew is ambitious, said his mother, Tracie Bixby.
"I'm very proud of him," she said. "He's very respectful to people. Anybody who knows him always tells us what a wonderful young man he is and ... he works very hard."
Andrew is also creative, she added. When he first started, he used to pile his lawn care equipment on top of his mower to pull it to the jobs. He realized he needed a new solution, so he hooked a wagon to his bike using PVC pipe to carry the equipment from job to job.
He recently purchased his own trailer.
What motivates him? His family, friends and people who tell him to keep going — to "be a wolf" as a family friend often says.
"He tells me every time he sees me, 'Go be a wolf, buddy,'" Andrew said.
When he's not working, Andrew enjoys fishing and going out on the water with his friends every Sunday.
On May 24, Andrew and the rest of his Seabreeze Class of 2024 will walk across the stage at the Ocean Center. It feels amazing to finally graduate, he said.
"A lot of people were like, 'Oh, just live your high school life. You need to stop working all the time,'" Andrew said. "And honestly, I'm glad that I stuck to it and that I didn't listen to any of those people."
