Auston Bone sees more benefit in getting a paycheck right after high school than going the college route. 

“My advice to the younger generation is do it,” he said. “You can make more money going to work after high school than going to college.” 

The 2024 Madison County High School graduate was recognized at the school’s recent “career signing day” for joining Custom Home Audio.  

“A good career to me is when you love what you do and make good enough money to not worry about what comes next or how you will pay for something, and one where you can do basically whatever you want to,” he said. “It will help me get through life easier.” 

As part of his accomplishment, Auston got a pair of quality work boots from HireSmart Cares, which aims to help youth like Auston find promising careers straight out of high school.  

The nonprofit provides scholarships, grants for job skills initiatives, coverage of travel and lodging expenses for career conventions, job preparedness training, and more, including work boots for Auston and 12 of his classmates during the recent Madison County High School and Broad River College and Career Academy signing day.  

HireSmart also provided $250 grants to five Madison County seniors who signed with the U.S. armed forces after graduation. 

Auston, 18, is the son of Davey and Michelle Bone. He has two sisters, Sarah and Paige. The recent graduate said Madison County High School instructors Josh Daniel and Zach Carithers were instrumental in helping him get “prepared for the real world.”  

When he’s not at work, Auston loves to fish and spend time with his friends, swim, go on road trips, spend time with his family, and ” help out however I can.” 

Auston said he started helping his uncle in the business during COVID, and “from there, I just grew and started to like it, so I stuck with it.” 

“Some of my responsibilities with the company is to run service calls, try to provide as much help and explanation as I can to the customer with whatever we’re doing, and try to do this neat and time efficiently as possible,” he said. “It’s been great so far. I’ve been able to go into so many unique houses, and I’m able to travel all over the country.” 

To suggest how HireSmart can help more young people like Auston find a path to success, email info@hiresmartcares.org. To read more about HireSmart Cares, visit hiresmartcares.org. To support HireSmart Cares initiatives with a monetary donation, click here.