Even during the day, the spot looked like the dead of night. The Five O’clock commute was underway – except for the intersection at Ashland Place and Fulton Street, where inside someone at the bar was drinking up his day’s wages from a shot glass.

I was glad I came to these negotiations with my mother, because at 17 years old I probably would have disappeared into this den of iniquity called the “Ashland Place” neighborhood bar, never to be heard from again.

Who was I to judge this venue; however, the location was perfect. It was a nice sprint from our high school, and even on a spring evening, if you decided to go straight home after the Brooklyn Tech Spring Fashion-Talent show, you still had to pass the nightclub first on your way to the train station.

Even the most obedient teenager would be tempted to stop in to dance to one song. At least that was what I was counting on – after I got the $5 admission fee (with ticket stub or $7 without), I didn’t care what they did with their time.

So I hatched my plan with the bar owner: “Half of the door/All of the Bar,” I offered. I wasn’t 18 yet. I couldn’t purchase liquor, let alone sell it as part of the rental contract. I could only purchase the space. Most of us who were going to attend weren’t 18 either. With that in mind, I used my age as a strategy, knowing that powerful negotiation skills are key to successful ventures. I turned my weakness into a strength and offered half the door to reduce upfront costs and mitigate risk if the plan didn’t work out.

All that was left after I secured my contract for the location was to get approval to advertise the After-Party on school property. Taking initiative like this is how I learned and grew as an entrepreneur.

Hip Hop was in its early stages, and we had our own alumni MC, Stevie Dee, and his DJ, who was crazy on the “wheels of steel”. I knew because I hired them; correction: my parents hired them for my Sweet 16 party. I negotiated a price with him to do the gig, and he brought the speakers, turntables, and his microphone.

It was on and popping.

In addition to getting ready for the fashion-talent show, I spent weeks promoting the After-Party. I plastered posters everywhere, even one for the fashion-talent show, showing how promotion can build excitement and engagement.

From years of observing, I knew students were so hyped after the fashion-talent show that they needed somewhere to spend the energy they’d built up after sitting in those hard seats in the auditorium.

I was right!

My after-party at the nightclub – read: neighborhood dive was a smashing success. I had to turn people away at the door, and I made more than a thousand dollars that night. My business venture proved so successful that, in college, I majored in Marketing.

I hadn’t even stepped one foot inside the hallowed halls of the university, and already The Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion was part of my vocabulary. I never forgot that I could use my skills, timing, positioning, and insight to earn a living. That is, if corporate life didn’t work out.