40 UNDER FORTY: Anthony Gleason II

Anthony Gleason II: 24

Owner, Gleason Landscaping;

Commercial and Residential Sales, Roger Sitterly & Son Inc.

At 16 years old, Anthony Gleason was starting his own business while most of his friends were working for others.

It took him only one week of mowing lawns for someone else, he said, before he realized that the money he charged for each of those yards could go directly to his own bank account. "And that's how it started," he explained. "I just took it to a new level, growing wherever I could. Currently the company is quite large, in my opinion, and I'm very proud of its success."

But while Gleason is an employer, he's also an employee. …