Will Estes (Track & Field (Outdoor), Louisiana Tech University) grew up in Ruston. HelloNation asks student athletes one question about the place that raised them and records the answer on camera. This is Will Estes’s, in full.
The question
Name three small business owners in your community who have had a meaningful impact on others or inspired you personally. Who are they, and why do they stand out as a pillar of your community?
The answer, as recorded
Transcript. What follows is a transcript of the video above, in Will Estes’s own words. It has not been rewritten, and no part of it was drafted for them.
Small businesses are a pillar in my community. They are the staple of Ruston. These small business owners, they rely on consumers. Therefore, they are kind to consumers. They are nice to every single person they see. Every soul that walks in that door, they treat them with the utmost respect and kindness. You're not going to get that from these big box retailers you see around here, like Walmart, like Super One. They're not going to treat you with the same respect that some places like a small time business might, with the owner's last name on the front, with the owner's last name on the title, like Mike's Pizza, like Johnny's Pizza House. These are small businesses. These are places where they rely on consumers. They rely on our support in order to survive. They get undercut by these big name retailers coming in, taking over. It's not right because these people here in our community are what uplift our community. Any community service event, they're the ones sponsoring. You don't see Walmart as a sponsor at the Dixie Baseball, but you see these small names building up a brand. Those are the ones here that we are relying on. Small businesses such as Johnny's Pizza, such as Mike's Pizza, such as Fox's Pizza House. These people are uplifting our community. They're helping make it better. We need to support them. We need to uplift them. I think they stand out as a pillar in our community. I really appreciate everything they've done for me. One time I went in there with no wallet and they gave me my meal completely for free because that's the type of service they'll deliver you. Thank you.
Recorded by HelloNation as part of its athlete voices program and published by Hello Newswire, HelloNation’s good news newswire. The words are the speaker’s own.
Reported by Hello Newswire.