He’s 16—and already running his own marine services business

Elim Estava and his mother, Darnelly Estava-St Ange, slowed preparations for an upcoming trip. On a quiet, overcast day at the Rodney Bay Marina, the two joined St. Lucia Times for a conversation. 

Tall and easy-going, yet perceptive, 16-year-old Elim approaches. 

“I’m a little nervous,” he admits. Yet only two months prior, Elim stood before a packed room at the inaugural Creativity and Innovation Forum to announce the official launch of his marine vessel cleaning business, King of Clean. Encouraged by a mentor he met through the programme, Natalie John, he made the bold move. The outcome? His new Instagram business page attracted an early following.

Taking leaps of faith is something his mother encourages. Elim, a student at the Saint Lucia Sports Academy, has had to navigate personal challenges, all while exploring interests and discovering what resonates. He is also an avid cyclist, actively competing at the national level.

Seated at the marina, Elim and Darnelly share the story behind why, at just 16, he allows little to hold him back—not even the challenge of building a business at such a young age.

KN: This is a very unique business idea and not the line of work you expect a teenager to do. How did you get into this?

EE: It first started after I helped a friend clean his boat, and I loved the way it looked once it was clean because it had not been cleaned in a while. Then I spoke to my mom. I told her it was something I really want to do more, to see more boats shine. So my mom and I sat, and we came up with a name, King of Clean. From there, my passion has just been to see boats shine.

KN: What did you think when you learned he wanted to do this?

DES: When he came to me with the business idea, I was like, “Sure!” I’m my son’s biggest fan, and I think as a parent, my responsibility is to expose him to as many positive activities as possible, and this is definitely something that he can do for himself. I think the education system trains young people, especially, to be employees, and I would like Elim to chart his own path. We come from a family of sailors, so the sea is in his blood.

KN: So you’re used to being around boats and near the water, and that just morphed into something greater? 

EE: Yes, being at the marina brought joy. I just like to be in the marina, be around the boats. So a marine cleaning business came naturally. I do hull scrubs, interior and exterior cleaning, and I hope to expand as I go along. It’s been a little over a month since officially launching the business, so it hasn’t been too long, but I’m working on building it up.

DES: From the time Elim could walk, he was in the water, and I know he would love a life on the water. They say if you do what you love, you never have to work a day in your life, so he’s definitely doing what he loves, and I’m going to be there to support, guide—whatever it is. The ‘King’ name actually comes from his granddad, so “King of Clean” is really a play on his granddad’s name and the fact that he likes the boats to be extremely clean and to shine.

KN: Tell me more about why embracing entrepreneurship is important to you…

EE: I want to work for myself, to build something for myself. That’s what guides me and brought me to building my own business. Nowadays, with the youth—especially my age category and the males—they tend to get into gang violence, and there’s always something about who’s killing who. I see that the youth have a lot of talent that they just don’t use, or they don’t have the proper support.

KN: Can you share more about that? What makes you say youth lack proper support?

EE: Well, for me, some of the teachers can be a bit harsh. Some teachers just come to school to get paid. If you learn, you learn; if you don’t learn, then that’s on you. Some students may have learning disabilities—they don’t go into that, they don’t try to find out why ‘this’ student may not be learning. They might just think, “Oh, he doesn’t want to learn,” and just leave it like that.

DES: And that’s actually our experience. Elim has ADHD and dyslexia, so you can imagine if a teacher doesn’t take the time to know this—and I mean, this is not something you print on a tag and send your kid into school with. So you find teachers would say, “This child is just being difficult,” whereas no, he’s not being difficult—he’s wired, literally wired differently. He had a coach, Andy Bale, who became very close to him. We had that discussion, and it has helped. He also has some teachers at his school who have been extremely supportive but this has not always been the case.

KN: So his story is also one of overcoming odds…

DES: We’ve been through some trials and tribulations where academics are concerned, and I’ve said to him, “Elim, successful people are not just academically inclined. You can be successful in any area of your life.” So I’ve always pushed him to embrace whatever it is he’s good at. Do it! If you’re good at academics, fine; if you’re good at mechanics, wonderful. Whatever it is, just go for it—go hard. There was a phase in his early teens where he said, “Mummy, I want to be like so-and-so.” I said, “No, don’t be like other people—be like yourself. You’re an amazing person. Be yourself.” And I think now, 16 [years old] rolling into 17, he is embracing that. I’m very, very happy.

KN: Where do you hope to go with this business, Elim?

EE: For now, I’m still in school, so I can’t give it my absolute full attention right now. But when I get done with school, I would love to see this business grow, become a bigger thing, maybe introduce it to more countries, and really see my business shine.

For now, Elim sources customers through his Instagram page, KingofClean. He’s begun with sailboats, but as momentum builds and his knowledge of boat anatomy grows, he intends to expand his scope to a wider range of vessels.