Michigan teen, 18, buys restaurant and becomes its only employee. He cooks, serves, does all taxes. But 1 major obstacle stood in his way

Research from UC Berkeley shows that about 17% of U.S. restaurants close within their first year, and nearly half shut down within five years, often due to tight margins and financial strain (2).

Most owners rely on a full staff to stay afloat, while Larson lives life on the edge of his blade.

A different kind of challenge

Running Rare Earth Goods Café hasn’t been easy. Local building codes make expansion prohibitively expensive, leaving Larson without a stovetop or full-sized oven. Instead, he works with a small electric griddle, a four-slice toaster and a countertop convection oven, meaning only a handful of meals can be made at a time. On busy days, customers wait 30 to 45 minutes.

“It’s a lot of work,” Larson told the Detroit Free Press. “But I love it.”

The challenges Larson faces don’t stop when the kitchen closes. He was born and raised in a faded former mining town in Michigan’s northern Upper Peninsula, the middle of three boys, growing up with a soon-to-be single mother navigating financial strain and ongoing health issues.

Larson’s mother, Angela Olin, told the Detroit Free Press she noticed early on that something set him apart from his brothers. After a series of medical appointments, Larson was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at eight years old.

“Being diagnosed with Tourette’s at a very young age, I was always just a little different than some people,” he said. “I was noisier or a little bit more, I don't know, just louder than other people. I was like, shouting in class. And when I got excited about something, my first word would be like, yelling at you. Sometimes, it would scare people.”

According to the Tourette Association of America, people with Tourette’s often experience involuntary motor and vocal tics that can intensify under stress, fatigue or high-pressure environments, the same conditions common in fast-paced jobs like food service. Individuals with Tourette’s face barriers to employment, including stigma, workplace misunderstandings and difficulty finding roles that accommodate fluctuating symptoms (3).

For Larson, that friction showed up early. He cycled through behavioral specialists, occupational therapists and tutors, searching for something that might help him regulate his energy. Nothing worked quite the same way cooking did.

Overcoming adversity

Larson had been thinking about opening a restaurant since he was six years old. He wasn’t just daydreaming about menus, either. Growing up with a gluten-free mother and a lactose-intolerant brother meant he learned early how to plan meals around dietary restrictions.

That kind of early clarity is rare, as most people don’t become entrepreneurs until years in the workforce and a fair amount of trial and error. According to Forbes, about 6% of small-business owners start before age 35 (4). For Larson, that reality arrived long before adulthood, while most of his peers were still deciding what came next.

At 17, Larson landed an internship through a local social services program that places young people with special needs into entry-level jobs. That’s when he was first introduced to Rare Earth Goods & Café. Pam Perkins, the café’s original owner, had actually met Larson years earlier and never forgot him.

“He really, really wanted to cook, but I put him on dishes. He did all the dishes. He's like, ‘What can I do next? What can I do next? What can I do next?’ He’s a young entrepreneur, for sure. Driven. He wants everything perfect. I'm like, ‘You ever want a job, you come see me.’”

Within months, Larson worked his way up to head chef. So when Perkins decided it was time to retire, Larson made an offer to buy the café, despite having only a few thousand dollars in savings. The two worked out a deal, and just like that, the restaurant he once scrubbed dishes in became his.

Building a loyal customer base

Beyond running the café, Larson also bought the old house next door through a land contract, making him not just a small-business owner but a homeowner while still in his teens. After overcoming more obstacles than most people his age ever face, he’s also taken on catering work to grow the business even further.

That work ethic hasn’t gone unnoticed. His customers aren’t just regulars; they’re loyal.

“We want to see him succeed,” said Sue Johnson, 73. “It’s a nice little place. The food's good. He’s very accommodating to your meal. He’ll do anything any way you want it. And he’s a local. You like to support your locals.”

A study by Vital Communities found that independent, locally owned businesses reinvest far more money back into their communities than national chains. Surveying small retailers and restaurants across parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, researchers found that local retailers kept about 55% of their revenue in the local economy, while local restaurants kept nearly 68%.