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

Hi Matthew, thanks for joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

I’ll have to say my hero is going to be my grandparents. I’ve learned more lessons from them then anyone. From anything about life, work, health, etc. They have taught me how to work hard, how to not be lazy, that no problem is the end of the world. They moved to Memphis with 3 kids, very young 20’s, and with less than $80 dollars to their name. I have so much respect for them doing that. They went to work and both were entrepreneurs. They have always told me that you can do anything you put your mind to and proved it with all their success they have had. Neither of them graduated high school or had any higher education. They did not let that stop them from doing anything! My grandmother decided to open up a daycare, and my grandfather delivered meats and then bought one of the country stores he delivered to. He bought that first store, then later bought two more. Then slowly bought a couple of rental houses to rent out. He did not keep the rental houses long as he did not like keeping up with everyone’s rent. As time went on, they started investing into the stocks and were very wise about it. They have always said you need to get your money to work for you. That statement has always stayed in my mind and that is my goal!
They have taught me for my journey to never give up, be the hardest working person in the room, and be humble!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Matthew Covington and I am from Memphis, TN. I was born in June of 2000 and am twenty-two years old.

I got into this industry when I was in high school. I started out having a mobile detail job with a local business here in Memphis one summer. Then I had always wanted to tint my windows on my first vehicle. I tried several times doing it myself and it never was good enough for me to leave it! So I found another tint shop and I got to watch him tint my windows. Well a few days later, I had made my mind up that I could do what the other tinter did. So I pulled off all of his work to attempt to do it myself. It did not go well, and here I am calling the other business to tell him what I had done. I had my windows tinted again from the business, then I decided to try it again. This time they were a little better! Of course I kept trying to make them better after that attempt. Finally, I took it back to the other tint shop for the last time. I watched as close as I could without being a nuisance. It took me a little longer to convince myself to pull this third tint job off my truck, as I had spent a lot of money getting all this done. Finally I did and the results were much better. So, I kept practicing at it every single day until I felt comfortable to be paid for it! I started to do all of my buddies’ vehicles in high school. Then word of mouth started to spread as time went on!

I graduated high school in May of 2019, I gave college a shot at the University of Memphis. I did not like college and I told myself I would rather work, and grow my business. I did not go back after that first semester. I continued to work on my business and had a side job at B&B Custom Automotive in Memphis as I was still trying to attain as many clients as possible. I kept at this until October of 2020.

In October of 202o I decided I wanted to move to Charlotte, NC. My brother had moved their after he graduated from ECU. It is a fantastic city with a great booming economy. I wanted to be apart of it! I had moved, got a job at a tint and vinyl wrap shop that specialized in nice luxury cars. I worked a lot, and worked a lot of hours, and learned a great deal of information about the industry, and especially got better with my with my skills. Nevertheless, I had grown very home sick, and missed being my own boss. On a short decision I decided to move back home in July of 2021.

I moved back, and got right back to work on my business, while on the hunt of how I could grow to the next step. In October of 2021, I had found and moved into my first small shop. It included a front waiting room, an office, supply room, and a big one bay shop area. It was a massive jump and it had me more stressed and nervous than I had ever been before. Several long hours were put into making it how I wanted it, and even more for bringing customers through the door for me to serve them.

Today, I am in the same shop and am growing very well and pretty quick. I love this industry as there is always something to do in every season of the year. In the hot months, clients want film to help keep their car cooler inside! During the winter, more people want their offices and homes tinted to cut the glare from the sun setting lower, and increasing privacy!

At Game Over Car Care, we offer window tinting for your automobile, residential home, and your commercial buildings. We specialize in solar control film solution. If you have a problem with heat, sun glare, fading, etc. We have several solutions for each individual problem we are solving. What makes us a little different is that I am on every install and meet with everyone who we serve. A lot of owners will never know who their business is serving, and I like creating a small personal relationship with my clients! I want all my clients we serve and future clients that we are here to serve you and find a solution to your problem. If we cannot find a solution, I am very honest and straightforward about it. We are very proud to be solving problems for our clients as compared to a lot of other tint shops will just throw window film on and call it done.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for building my clientele is for sure word of mouth and quality work. You can have all the marketing which helps tremendously, but if you do not provide quality, professional work, then word spreads about that even faster then good word of mouth.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There are a couple of resources who have helped my knowledge to grow! The first one has got to be a podcast series from Brad Lee on Spotify. The podcast is called Dropping Bombs. He goes over several topics including entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and business growth strategies! Highly recommend and I was shown his podcast from a buddy who also owns a business. The second is a book by Grant Cardone, The 10X Rule. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs motivation to get to that extra step. It is a great book and I am re reading it at the moment actually!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gameovercarcare.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gameovercarcare/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gameovercar/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-covington-734689184

Image Credits
Images from Matthew Covington