18-Year-Old Uses College Funds to Buy Restaurant Where She Started Out as Dishwasher

Samantha Frye began working at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg, Ohio when she was 16 years old

An 18-year-old in Ohio has become an entrepreneur after purchasing the restaurant she started working at as a teen.

Samantha Frye began working at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg at 16 as a dishwater, according to USA Today. While moving up the ranks as a kitchen prep and line cook, she also maintained other jobs, including working with her father and at another nearby restaurant.

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After enrolling at Ohio State University during the fall semester with plans to study environmental engineering, she learned that Rosalie's owners were interested in selling the restaurant and decided to follow her instincts.

"I was thinking that maybe this was something I wanted to do," she told CBS affiliate WNEM-TV. "I had savings because I was saving for college, so I had quite a bit of money saved away. And I was like, I could possibly do this." Upon leaving her studies, Fyre paid the down payment for the restaurant and took ownership in April.

While Fyre said it was a path she never envisioned pursuing, she explained that it has now become her priority, she told ABC affiliate WEWS-TV

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"Right now, this is so new; this is my priority," she told the outlet. "Five days of the week, I'm in here. If not in here, I'm back there doing prep. The other two days, I'm in the office doing meetings with the sales reps."

The decision has been praised by members of Frye's community, including Rosalie's employee Leanna Gardner who told WEWS-TV, "I just really think she's a great example of a young lady that is following her dreams and doing what she loves."

Her parents have also shown their support for her new endeavor.

In a statement to USA Today, Fyre's mother, Brandi Beitzel, confessed that it was not a future she would have initially chosen for her daughter but now she "couldn't be more proud."

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"I was not on board with her leaving OSU and taking on such a huge responsibility at her age," she explained. "But over time, I warmed up to it and realized that it might not have been the path I envisioned her on, but it's the path she wanted to take."

Beitzel added: "I worked in the restaurant industry for 22 years, and I know there are going to (be) many obstacles and challenges ahead of her, but with her drive and ambition, the sky is the limit."

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