SETH GLASMAN:

To borrow a phrase, Seth doesn't mind telling you he's a "wild and crazy guy". But this former class clown (who still gets good grades, mind you) always had more to him than a red nose and squirting daisy on his lapel.

He started his first business in the fifth grade. The hustle? Drawing stick figures on other kids arms and calling them tattoos. By his own admission, he's not even close to an artist. These were simply stick figures with hair. His take: fifty cents per. Do not think for a minute that's chump change for an 11 year-old with no expenses. Suddenly, he could afford the good candy.

In the following year or two, he and a friend went to enough Bar Mitzvahs that they realized they knew the schtick at least as well as the guys running the show. So they got a little equipment and started booking themselves out (with mom and dad kindly enough hauling them to and from their gigs). He called himself an emcee, but admits he was more of "a kid running around with a microphone acting crazy".

The upshot was that he was in control, telling parents what to do, spending ridiculous sums of money on sweets, and living the life of a big shot on the junior high campus. Life ...was good. Flash forward to now. He's a pro with us (and we're happy to have him). He's still nuts on the mic, when necessary. And he's studying to be a litigator. Why? "I can talk people into anything", he boasts, adding: "I'm very persuasive, but not a good liar."

We should be thankful for small favors.