Henry Ptacek is a freshman at Appleton North who has his own business, called “Henry’s Buff and Shine,” where he shoes at Bergstrom Automotive, as well as at a variety of special events. To find out more information about his work, visit his website at http://henrysbuffandshine.com/, his facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Henrys-Buff-Shine-896707313675494/, or ask him in the hallways!

“So I went to my grandfather’s basement one night, and he taught me to shine shoes, and I was obsessed with it, so he gave me his book, and from that I shined all of my mom’s shoes. From there, I told her to put out a Facebook post saying that I could shine her friends shoes. And then after that, I shined at Mile of Music and got my own Facebook page, and it just grew from there.”

“I work every Thursday at Bergstrom Automotive’s and I work at their dealership, and I have a regular set up there with a chair and stuff. But then I do special events all around, and just periodically I’ll set up where I’m invited.”

“I shine shoes because I really just like the idea of wearing a bow tie and fitting into that kind of culture, like the 1920’s. I like jazz music and that whole kind of culture, and it’s really just always fascinated me. So shining shoes is a way that I can carry that out, and it’s something that I like doing, and I was fortunate enough to make a business out of it.”

—- Henry Ptacek