Whether he is sitting behind a soundboard, shooting pictures with a camera or designing a website, sStophomore Colton Minter is pursuing his passions as a young business owner.

Minter runs Texarkana Media Solutions and caters to many customers in and out of the ArkLaTex area. As of now, Minter offers services including graphic design, marketing materials, still photography, videography, website design, DJ services and electronic repair.

“My favorite thing to do is marketing materials,” Minter said. “It’s awesome to be able to create something on a computer digitally and then have it printed. You can actually feel what you designed on the computer and the quality you put into the products.”

Always keeping the future in mind, Minter has enjoyed business endeavors since he was young.

“My first business that I owned was making bracelets,” Minter said. “I’d sell them at ballparks or at school and those were my earliest forms of entrepreneurship. I never thought that I would be in the media business.”

Minter has been recognized by companies that lay outside of the Texarkana city limits and even Texas. Minter recalls the company’s biggest project so far is working with the Native American Advancement Foundation.

“The fact that [the charity] was in Arizona and called me here in the small town of Texarkana to completely revamp and redesign their website altogether was very rewarding for my experience, and the customer was very happy with it,” Minter said.

Minter was instantly inspired when he witnessed the behind-the-scenes work at a familiar place– his church. He then went on to explore how he could help out.

“I went to Heritage [church] and saw all of the production and lighting and sound equipment. It was just amazing,” Minter said. “I joined the production team and started learning everything I could.”

Minter strives to create only the best products for his customers by constantly learning how to better his skills.

“I used to research every night. I would spend hours and hours researching, and eventually I realized I have a talent that people need. I can provide them with something that they can’t create themselves,” Minter said.

Along with his business, Minter is a member of the Tiger Vision crew and strives to keep good grades in school. He has a busy schedule but finds time to balance it all by using every drop of class time he has to complete his work.

“I don’t waste any time,” Minter said. “That’s something that you have to be able to do. If you can’t time manage, you can’t do anything.”

After high school, Minter intends to continue running his business and bask in the creative freedom it grants him.

“I originally started my business so that I would have a financially safe future and a stable job that I could go to and not have a boss telling me what to do,” Minter said.

Although Minter does enjoy the financial benefits that Texarkana Media Solutions provides for him, it is much more than just a way for Minter to make a profit.

“If I can do something that’s fun for me, I would love to be able to do that– to help people and make money at the same time,” Minter said.