Nineteen-year-old Noe Rueda (right) grew up poor in Little Village, a neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. He is the oldest of four siblings raised by a single mom. As a boy, Noe watched his family struggle and decided to help.

At StoryCorps, Noe tells his high school economics teacher, Alex Fernandez (left), about launching his first business venture selling discarded cleaning products from a nearby factory.

Click here to watch “Making It,” an animation of Noe’s story.

Originally aired April 15, 2011, on NPR’s Morning Edition.