11-Year-Old Falls Church resident Finn Keating was inspired twice in the span of one month and, like many people his age, actually acted on both sources of inspiration. The first thing that inspired him was opening of the skatepark in the renovated West End Park in late August, right before school started.
He started skating as a result of seeing skaters at the new park, which led him to his second source of inspiration. “I was inspired because I started skating and I noticed that there was this local skate wax company that some kids were talking about,” Keating said. “And I got inspired by that because I mean it was just cool to see a wax company, so I decided to make my own wax company.”
So, he started Poser Boy wax company in September, and though he’s since discontinued the company (more on that later), the decision to start a company, make a product – he went and got paraffin wax from a Michael’s store, melted it and molded it into biscuit-shape bars – brand the company/product and sell the product are typical behavior for Keating. He’s a serial entrepreneur.
“I’ve always wanted to have a business and I’ve tried before and it was cool to me to see people thinking the same thing I’m thinking and that I have the capability of doing that myself,” Keating said.
He’s tried starting a prop lightsaber business, a leatherworking business, jewelry companies, blacksmithing companies, he said, rattling off all of the businesses he’s started or tried to start.
“I always find it cool to see videos on businesses making things and I’ve always had an interest in making things and I know that I’m able to make some things that other people might not be able to make…and make money from something I’ve made myself,” Keating said.
And his mother, Nicole Keating, has been there for all of his attempts at starting a business. “It’s rough, because he’s like this perpetually, if it’s not wax it’s something else. He’s constantly making something and it’s a non-stop string of messes,” she said.
“So it’s always how it has been. We’re very used to having to clean up. He was blacksmithing for a while, so this is a step in the right direction. It’s less fire.”
Just as his mother said he does, Finn Keating is on to the next one. After discovering that his friend, another Falls Church resident, Pato Whitaker, was the founder and owner of the very Slippy Wax that inspired him to make Poser Boy, Finn discontinued plans to sell Poser Boy.
Actually, Whitaker was the one who suggested that Finn name his wax company Poser Boy and gave him tips for how to make the wax, before coming clean after about a week and telling him that he was the person who started Slippy Wax.
“I thought it a joke,” Whitaker said. “I thought ‘Is he actually doing this?’ and then I decided to tell him the truth.”
Now, Finn is onto creating graphics and stickers for skate companies and skaters under the name F.C. Graphix. He created the logo for Poser Boy and has been drawing for years, so this just might be the business that takes off.
“I thought, if my friend owns a wax company and I don’t want to compete with him because I don’t want that to pull us apart,” Keating said.
“And I knew that his was more better and I wasn’t jealous or anything. I was just amazed. So I said ‘Hey I’m just going to do graphic art,’ because I’ve always been good at drawing.”
