Smadar Katzman, mother of Ben Katzman (BUFU Records)

Honestly, coming to Boston for BUFU Fest was an amazing moment for me. Ben wanted to move to Boston but didn’t really want to go to Berklee. He auditioned on [his father and I’s] request. We told him he had nothing to lose! When he got in it was like, “Oh my God! This was meant to be!” He had always wanted to leave Miami and move to Boston.

Shortly after moving he said, “Look, Mom. I’m getting into the music scene, I’m meeting people here — I really do not need to go to school.” He explained to us that he could do so much more without going to college and if we really wanted to invest money then we should be investing in BUFU Records.

It honestly wasn’t until we saw [BUFU Fest] and we saw what he did. He put together this two-day event, this record company, the t-shirts, the bags. I can’t even tell you, it was like clockwork! My husband and I come from a professional background, he is in the hotel business, I’m a pastry chef; we know what it’s like to put on events. There are so many components and so many people to mobilize. Everybody came to us and had something nice to say and everybody had something to say about Ben and they were just happy to be there! For somebody at the age of 22, he proved me wrong.

This is one kid who is very focused, very energetic, who knows exactly what he wants and loves what he does. He has that line that he uses everywhere that he’s chilling mad hard. This is how he does everything, he gets it done and he has fun. I’ve been telling him lately, “Ben, when I grow up I want to be just like you.”

He’s 22 and he’s helping mobilize an entire city, I mean look at what he is doing! You’re calling me to write about him! I’m sitting here with tears in my eyes. This is what he set out to do and getting to Boston was our wish for him but everything else is coming from his own two hands. He’s infectious! I’m so proud, I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do next.