We caught up with the brilliant and insightful April Manley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi April , thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

I have many hero’s in my industry, one is Gene Winfield and the other, although it may sound cliche, is my husband. I have been building cars for nearly 12 years, in the beginning I knew nothing, not even how to weld! As the years have passed I have always tried to learn skills from the greats in my industry. Gene Winfield is one of the greats, I was lucky to attend one of his 3 days classes. I learned some metal shaping and how to do “lead work”. We call it body solder work now days. This is a skill most don’t know, and I feel privileged to be able to take that art form and one, use it in my practice, and two keep a traditional style of art alive. I feel that learning these traditional techniques keeps them from being lost when these great staples of the car industry pass away.
My husband, Shannon gave me a shot, again I knew nothing about building a car. Especially a hot rod, someone’s dream car. He worked with me through my first years of building, teaching me everything he learned from school and from being in the industry. We have worked together for 12 years of my career. With him being the owner of Pot-O-Gold Kustoms he has sent me to amazing classes over the years to learn from others in this industry. Starting the shop in a two car garage with two customers, to us now having a 34,000 sq ft shop with 34 customers, plus having a family. We have six kids together. It has been an adventure juggling everything. I feel he is one of my hero’s cause I look up to his perseverance and drive to always do better.
And lastly, I’m my own hero. Art has always been in my blood and I now have a wonderful career where I build art and dreams for others. I also feel like I’m a positive role model for women looking to get into the industry.

April , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I began working for my husband, Shannon Manley at Pot -O-Gold Kustoms, 12 years ago. I had never done extensive work on a car before but he introduced me to metal fabrication. Before working with him I was a tattoo artist. I also do watercolor and acrylic paintings. So art has always been a part of me. Seeing the way I could shape metal to make parts I needed, to be able to fill seams with body solder work really fulfills the artistic aspect in me. I can see the potential in a rusted car, which helps me with our customers cause I can envision their dream. At Pot-O-Gold Kustoms we take pride in our attention to detail, and our determination to make the vehicle the best it can be. That way the customer can enjoy the experience and their dream car.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When we were in our 3,000 sq ft shop, 4 years ago, we were robbed. All of my tools were stolen and my husbands tools as well. Our welders were stolen . The shop was trashed. Our tool boxes had been cut up so the thieves could get to our tools. We lost $75,000 in tools and equipment, probably more than that. At that time we had 4 employees who we still needed to pay as well. Instead of closing the doors, my husband and I worked together and never gave up. We now have a 34,000 sq ft shop and 11 employees. Resilience and perseverance in the face of total loss is what has made us great.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe that hard work and doing the job correctly built our reputation. Being detail oriented and making sure fitment, overall appearance and quality were met during the build of the vehicle has also built our reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: potogoldkustoms@gmail.com
• Instagram: pot_o_gold_kustoms
• Youtube: Pot O Gold Kustoms

Image Credits
Pot-O-Gold Kustoms & Matthew West