LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Mowing the lawn is a chore for some, and a job for others. But for 11-year-old Dylan McIntosh, mowing is a lifestyle.
Dylan McIntosh is a third-generation landscaper restarting the family business.
“I started because my grandpa had this business, my dad had this business, and my uncle had this business,” Dylan said, “and they all used the name McIntosh Mowing, so I decided to use that name too for the family tradition and carry it on.”
“He’s heard us talk about that, and how much we enjoyed McIntosh Mowing back when we were kids,” said Scott McIntosh, Dylan’s dad. “What he saw was just me mowing my own lawn, but he’s like, ‘hey I think I can take this and grow it again.’”
The entrepreneurial spirit started when Dylan was only six years old. He operated a drink stand on Nicholasville Raod during football season in 2019, selling refreshments to fans walking to Kroger Field. But he appreciates the flexibility in his current line of work.
“With other jobs, if you worked at Kroger or Target, you have to be there at 8 a.m. and you work til 5,” Dylan said. “Your schedule, it can kind of change depending on wherever you wanted it.”
After mowing by himself last year, Dylan had to hire a second employee: his eight-year-old brother Austin.
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“It was getting pretty hard to mow all three lawns by myself,” Dylan said. “I usually would do them all in one day, so it’s like a lot easier with my brother helping.”
With Austin on the payroll, Dylan has turned McIntosh Mowing into a full family affair. Dylan and Austin operate the real equipment, but four-year-old Chloe and two-year-old Chase follow their older brothers around with mowing toys to offer their support.
“Chase will wake up and the first thing he’ll ask is if there’s any lawn mowing today,” Scott said.
Dylan added, “Before we start mowing, he will like tell us which mowing thing we’re going to do. Like he’ll go, ‘you do backpack, you do lawn mower, you do weed eater.’ I’m not the boss of this, it’s him.”
While Dylan currently mows three yards, he has neighbors lined up to join his clientele once he gets a little older.
In addition to mowing, Dylan told us he also plans to bring back his drink stand for football games this fall.
