By Kirk Kern
Grayson Duncan is like most 12-year-old boys. He goes to school, plays baseball, and enjoys video games. But there’s one difference—he’s an entrepreneur.
Duncan, along with his parents, owns and operates a pop-up dirty soda shop called Pirate Pop. Once or twice a month, the family heads to farmers markets and other events, sets up shop, and gets to work.
“I grew up in Utah, and Salt Lake is a big hub for dirty sodas,” said Michelle Duncan, Grayson’s mother. “We started in the summer when the boys were swimming and just mixing drinks at home. Then my son said, ‘Hey, we should do a shop.’”
Although his parents fronted the money for the elaborate pirate-themed display and handle transportation to and from events, Grayson isn’t just along for the ride. At a recent event in Henderson, he was running the show—taking orders, working the cash register, and pouring drinks.
“It’s fun,” Grayson said. “On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say it’s probably a nine. I love seeing the mixtures go in and turn into a drink.”
It’s not all fun and games, though. Grayson admits the setup and teardown after each event are “annoying.”
After every event, the family tracks sales in a spreadsheet, and Grayson gets paid.
“We’re also putting some capital back into the initial investment,” said Michelle, an entrepreneur herself who owns a landscape design company. “And he gets a little cash at the end. I told him if we keep this up, by the time he’s 40, he’ll be able to buy a car.”
Grayson said he helped create some of the flavor combinations, and the pirate theme came from him and his father, Justin, who cosplay as pirates at events.
“My husband does cosplay, and he’s a very good Jack Sparrow,” Michelle said. “He gets hired out a lot because he looks so amazing. They’ve both been doing cosplay for years.”
Dirty sodas start with traditional soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, or Sprite, then add flavored syrups like vanilla or cherry and a splash of cream, which gives the drinks their “dirty” look. Staying true to the pirate theme, Pirate Pop offers drinks with names like Creamsicle Cove, Jolly Rancher, Shipwreck, and Shark Bite.
“Once or twice a month, he’s giving up a day of his weekend to do this,” Michelle said. “It’s kind of sweet and sour. He loves serving customers and mixing drinks, but he hates the setup and breakdown. There are parts he loves and parts he doesn’t—but it’s teaching him that hard work comes with the fun.”
Grayson, a sixth-grader at Faith Lutheran, sometimes recruits friends to help staff the booth, which helps pass the time. He has also done events at his school, making him something of a campus celebrity.
“I make their drinks for free sometimes,” Grayson said. “But then sometimes I charge them.”
The Duncans bought their Skye Canyon home during the community’s first phase of construction and say they appreciate the close-knit feel of the neighborhood.
“My neighbors are great,” Michelle said. “They’re always bringing us cookies, watching each other’s dogs, and keeping an eye on packages. It’s wonderful. At our last neighborhood, we didn’t even know who our neighbors were.”