When Zykiah Ditchett was given a car valeting kit for Christmas, he had no idea it would kickstart his dream career. The teenager was gifted the present following his OCD diagnosis at the age of 13. The discovery came after concerns were raised over his “constant” cleaning at home.
In a desperate bid to get him outside more, his mum, Jo Ditchett, purchased him the car cleaning kit and Zykiah immediately got to work. The youngster would use his kit to clean relatives’ and neighbours’ cars, charging £5 every time. But, keen for a bigger client base, he asked his mum to appeal for more customers online.
His mum Jo put a post in a local Facebook group asking anyone who wanted their car cleaning to leave their vehicle outside the family home. Just hours after the post went live, cars lined the quiet Salford street as dozens turned out to show their support.
And it didn’t take long for a local businessman to offer Zykiah a permanent base to work from, the Manchester Evening News reports. Jason from Coal and Cotton Gin Bar said he was “really impressed” by the youngster’s work and offered him a space in their car park to clean cars at the weekend.
As the word spread, Zykiah, now aged 16, quickly found himself cleaning for huge stars including Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Molly-Mae Hague, Tommy Fury and Manchester United's Scott McTominay.
The teen then decided to set up his own website, calling his company Dirt2Clean. Business continues to boom and Zykiah says customers travel from as far as Edinburgh to have their cars cleaned by him.
Last week, he finally moved from his car park and opened up his very first unit in Swinton – eventually hoping to launch units all across the country.
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But Zykiah’s journey to success hasn’t been easy, his mum Jo has revealed. A late dyslexia diagnosis meant the teen struggled at school and missed a whole year of teaching, eventually leaving education last year with no GCSEs.
Though mum Jo believes her son has been failed by the education system, she hopes Zykiah’s story will help inspire other children to follow their dreams.
“He’s not going to go to college, he’s going to work for himself,” the 47-year-old told the Manchester Evening News.
“He is where he is and he’s doing absolutely amazing. Any children out there failed or let down by education, it’s a bit of inspiration for them.
“Just because you’ve left school with nothing, don’t think that defines who you are because it doesn’t.”
Zykiah was taken out of his Salford school in year 9 when it became clear he was struggling with his studies. The teen was out of education for a year while Jo struggled to find him another school, eventually getting him a placement in Warrington.
Though he was privately tutored during that time, Jo believes the reason he left school with no qualifications was because he missed out on too much education.
“His dyslexia was never picked up,” Jo added. “What frustrates me is is when you have a school, you have high achiever and under achievers
“The high achievers get told to go higher and get extra tuition and the under achievers are left behind.”
Despite struggling at school, Zykiah has high hopes for the future of Dirt2Clean and has spent the last month renovating his new unit.
“I thought to myself, if he’s not going to college, I need to let him do what he wants to do,” Jo added.
“A client helped him find a unit and he’s literally spent the last four weeks in the old mechanics’ unit. He’s absolutely transformed it.
“He’s been there day and night painting. He’s worked so hard. We’re blown away by what this kid has done. He’s so busy he has a waiting list!”
