Local Teen Raps in the Face of Adversity

A 16-year-old Dallas middle school student is not letting adversity get in the way of his success.

Ryan Anderson is going to New York City in October to battle it out against the 30 brightest young entrepreneurs in the nation.

Anderson won the local competition through the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurs. By the age of 15, Anderson had already created his own company, Boot Strap Muzik.

Anderson raps, sings and acts. He said his life has made a complete 180 since he moved to Dallas after Hurricane Katrina. He said the way he used to get attention was by being the class clown.

From Class Clown to Entrepreneur

"All the attention, it was on me. But the thing about it, it was negative attention -- like people expected negative things of me," Anderson said.

NFTE helps 2,000 disadvantaged students like Anderson in 40 different schools in Dallas. If he wins the competition in New York, Anderson will bring home $10,000.