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

Monty, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My dad has been a business owner in the automotive industry for a long time. Early on he taught me how to work on cars and restore them. This made me fall in love with anything related. Early on I wanted to open my own body and paint shop but as I did more of it I realized it wasn’t for me. I then went on to mow lawns for a summer. It wasn’t my favorite thing in the world but I made a lot of money for a young kid. During this time my dad would tell me to expand and hire friends to eventually have a business. At the time I thought that was insane and not possible. I then went on to work normal jobs for a while which taught me customer service and how businesses operate. So after I left my last “normal” job I had to figure something out. With my knowledge of cars I was pretty use to cleaning them all the time. My grandpa had an old truck and I cleaned it up for him so he could drive it. After seeing the transformation he was amazed and payed me $20. That’s when the idea for Toe’s Detail came about. During this time I was still in high school and started to focus more on business then school. As the business grew I considered dropping out and my dad made sure to keep me on track and graduate. He supported me the whole time and right from the start believed in me. As a business owner he told me it was going to be hard and what challenges I would face. Looking back on that time I truly think I wouldn’t be doing what I am today if it wasn’t for him. With any new ideas for projects or other businesses he gives me advice and feedback. He is the person I thank for getting to where I am today and I couldn’t have asked for a better parent.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Monty. A 20 year old business owner from Fernley NV. I own and operate a mobile detailing business based out of Reno NV and service all over northern Nevada. I got into the automotive field from a very young age and decided to pursue my dreams in that area. Toe’s Detail is a fully mobile detail shop. We provide customers the convince of bringing a car back to new anywhere. We know that our customers time is valuable and made it our mission that they didn’t have to be stranded without a car for hours. We have our own power and filtered water system to get the job done. Which means if you’re at work or in a meeting you can come out to a beautiful new ride. We are proud to be one of the best in the Northern Nevada area and help this community drive clean!

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Starting this business I knew that I wanted to give it my all. With doing that I vowed to never work for anyone else for the rest of my life. That worked for a while but during winter business slowed. During this time I also moved out of my parents house to Reno. With new bills and a new business it was a bad mix. The winter was extremely rough as it snowed and rained almost every week. Being in a new location I had no customer base and was a few hundred dollars in debt. After trying to make it work for as long as I could I gave up and decided I had to get another job to live. I had an interview set up for a warehouse job the next day. As I got ready and dressed for the interview I was so disappointed in myself and couldn’t believe I failed. As I was walking out the door to my car I got a call. It was a customer asking for a quote on a detail. At the end of the call I made a choice. I knew that id never forgive myself if I took that job. So I called the job and said I wouldn’t be coming in. My friends and girlfriend at the time weren’t to happy and thought I was an idiot. In the next week I booked enough jobs to pay rent and continue pursuing this dream.

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

After running Toe’s Detail for a few years solo I decided I needed help. That turned into an amazing team that helps manage and run the business. I hired my friends to help out when they could. A lot of people say not to but it’s been amazing working with them. It stops feeling like work and more like us hanging out. My other friends run other business and I love helping them out when I can. Im truly lucky to have a group like them. With that it is a little weird to be a boss to your friends but if you respect them and care about what they do for you the respect and effort is returned.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://toesdetail.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toesdetail/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toesdetail/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Toesdetail
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@toesdetail?fbclid=IwAR3FWua2map5D0Im72Ag_SEQpeIf_XJWXJmXOQCRxjNmbwy3Hzzb-h0k-Ns

Image Credits

4D Media