“Bunny Boy” isn’t exactly a nickname the average teenage boy would relish, but 17-year-old Christopher Lile isn’t an average teenager.

Few teens can say they run their own successful business while working on a two-year associate’s degree at Haywood Community College, but Lile is doing all that and more.

Right now, his main focus (and the origin of his amusing nickname) is Lile’s Lops Rabbitry, the rabbit breeding business he began several years ago.

A growing hobby

Since Lile was 4 years old, he’s always kept a pet rabbit, but it wasn’t until he got involved in 4-H that he discovered the world of rabbit shows. His first show two years ago got him hooked, and with the help of “rabbit mentor” and Asheville rabbit breeder Lory-Ann Rubinstein, he began to establish his own rabbitry, raising ...