Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Austin Pruett . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Austin , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

This industry is incredibly ego driven, which in a way makes sense working in such an aesthetic business. Our job is to make vehicles look great. The problem is this can be done to satisfy our egos and to the determinant of our business and really our client’s vehicles. To give an example, take what detailers call “paint correction”. This is essentially polishing a vehicle to remove scratches and swirls and to give the vehicle a mirror-like finish. Now, paint correction is a spectrum. You can polish a vehicle very lightly or be very aggressive even taking sandpaper to a vehicle’s paint. A good detailer is going to see all the tiny little imperfections in your vehicle. However, not everyone will have that discerning eye. I can not tell you how many times we have seen a vehicle that in our opinion looks terrible and the customer thinks it’s perfect. So let’s say a client only wants and is only paying for a very light polish on the vehicle. As a detailer though, we want to be extra aggressive and go above and beyond and make it look better. The problem is the client is not paying for that, so you are not being compensated for all that extra effort. So it does not make financial sense. We just talked about more than likely the client does not have the eye to see all the extra work you as a detailer put in. So it does not raise client satisfaction or happiness. Then on top of that clear coat (which is what is being removed from the vehicle in this process) is like your enamel on your teeth, once it’s gone it’s gone. So you are actually in some sense damaging your client’s vehicle. If all of these are true then you have to step back and ask yourself why am I doing this? You will find more than likely it is serving your own ego. You want to be able to say look what I did and look how good I am. Because you are probably the only one that sees the extra work in this scenario. Now I am not saying do not overdeliver for your clients and do a terrible job. But one has to have the ability to detach, step back, and check your own ego at the door.

Austin , 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?

Running a detail business is never what I imagined myself doing. I graduated with 3 master degrees at the end of 2019. I had fully anticipated going into teaching. The problem was I started looking for employment essentially right at the beginning of COVID. I was interviewing at many private schools and community colleges. However these schools, being heavily influenced by enrollment numbers, did not know what classes they were going to offer. The other issue was I did not have any teaching experience and a lot of the employers wanted to see teaching experience on a resume. So between the limited number of jobs available and my limited teaching experience, I was unable to find a job. Then as COVID progressed, the marketing company I had worked for for the past 5 years had massive layoffs and I found myself without a job. On top of that, my wife had our first child in May of 2020. I found myself with 3 pieces of paper that I had spent 5 years of my life obtaining, unable to get a job, laid off from my previous job and with a newborn baby. I had to figure out something to do. I have been very interested in car detailing ever since we purchased a new vehicle in 2018. Growing up I drove beater cars, so when I got a new vehicle even though it was rather modest, I desperately wanted to know how to maintain it. I went down a rabbit hole and read every article and watched every video I could find on detailing. So when I was unable to find a job, I had the self-taught knowledge already. Then I started looking around at the market in my area and it appeared to me there was no one company that had a real strangle hold. So in 2020 we tested the concept starting with friends and family and expanding from there. We got great feedback so I decided to go full time with the business beginning in 2021. I was on my own for all of 2021 which was very difficult mentally and physically. Then in 2022, we moved into our physical location and hired our first employees. We have big hairy audacious goals for 2023 but we are very excited to see what happens next. We specialize in paint correction and in ceramic coatings. What that basically means is we get all of the scratches out of your vehicle and then put a wax on steroids on your vehicle. We have ceramic coatings that will last on a vehicle for up to a decade. We make vehicles shiny and make sure they stay that way. The basic premise of the business is pretty simple. A vehicle is typically the 2nd most expensive purchase a person will make in their life and we help them protect that. I think what sets us apart from others is our professionalism. Detailing has an extremely low barrier to entry which can be great for starting a business. It was one of the alluring factors for myself in deciding to start the business. But it can be difficult as a consumer to know what you are getting since anyone with a pressure washer and a few chemicals can say that they run a detailing business. It was important to me to get proper training since especially, depending on the chemical you are using, you can really damage a client’s vehicle. So we are IDA (international detailing association) certified and have 100’s of 5 star reviews. Also, all of our employees wear polos that are always tucked in which is a small thing but can make a big difference in standing out from the competition. We take our work very seriously and I think that comes across in our presentation and in our results that we are able to deliver. I am incredibly proud of our employees because we absolutely would not be where we are today without them. I am also really proud of the fact that we get to make people happy. We are a luxury service so if someone is bringing their vehicle to us it is typically because they actually value their vehicle. So when you can take a vehicle and transform it to see the reaction on people’s faces is incredible. At the end of a long day if our employees are happy and our clients are happy then it was well worth it.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

We have a small team, but the team we do have I am very proud of. I think one key thing I try to keep in mind is I never want to ask my team to do something I have not or would not do. So running the detail business solo in the beginning I remember the days detailing a vehicle for 8 hours in the texas summer sun just drenched in sweat. Thankfully we have an air conditioned shop now, but I do not want to make my guys go out in detail in the field if we can help it. I know how miserable it is. If the situation does arise, say where they would have to do that, my mindset is not “glad it’s not me,” but rather “how can I best support my team through this really tough job.” The other key aspect I try to keep in mind is how I can help them reach their goals. At this moment I am not able to offer career level employment to my guys, rather it is primarily hourly work. One day I hope to be able to offer them a sustainable career and would love it if they stay and that is what they want. However the more likely scenario is that they will leave for a different job pursuing their hopes and dreams. Rather than hoping they don’t leave, I want to do my best to equip them to rise up the ladder. Because they are helping build my dream, I feel I have a responsibility to help them with theirs. So whether that is going to school online or getting a new car whatever their goal is, how can I best aid them in that pursuit. When they see that you care and that they are more than just a number on the P&L, I have found it really makes a difference in team morale.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

There are a bunch of peripheral aspects I think you could point to, but I would say the two main drivers for us were and still are reviews and video proof. Something I started doing from very early on was to film everything. One, this did serve as a liability shield. If there ever was an issue of a client claiming we left a mark on the vehicle, we had the footage to show that it was there prior to our work. More importantly though, after some editing, we were able to send the client a quick 1 minute clip of all the work that was done to their vehicle. It is not uncommon for us to put in 25 man hours on a vehicle. Therefore if we can give the client a quick snippet of all the work that went into their vehicle, it really helps their perspective. Then in turn after viewing all the labor that went into their vehicle, they are much more apt to leave a review. Once they leave a review our reputation grows and grows and the cycle repeats itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fortworthautodetail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortworthautodetail/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fortworthautodetail
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7rnqzCvdqVeFOLJq7rxZQA