After school most students rush home and get ready for work at Starbucks, Target, or fast food restaurants. Unlike others, junior Andrew Kelly gets home and goes straight into his garage.
“I run an auto detailing business called, Andrew’s Auto Detailing,” Kelly said.
He runs the business on his own and is extremely passionate about it.
“Since I do it by myself, I really like that I choose my own hours and the work is really rewarding,” Kelly said.
A perk of having his own business is that he gets to work in places and times convenient to him.
“I do the detailing at my house right in my driveway or garage,” Kelly said. “I don’t do mobile detailing as it’s just not worth it for me to do.”
His passion for cars was not a recent shift but a dream that has been ongoing for years.
“As a kid I always really enjoyed washing my dad’s car with him,” Kelly said. “I think that probably sparked my enjoyment in detailing.”
His friends point out that he is a really hard worker and tries his absolute best, especially when it comes to his work.
“I’ve known the hardworking and talented individual since we were in the sixth grade,” junior Jack Kusch said.
During the pandemic, lots of people were bored, anxious, and did not know what to do with their time. Kelly had a different idea. He took all the free time he had and turned it into a business.
“I was 13 during the lockdown and I started off by just washing some of my neighbor’s cars as they would always see me doing for my parents,” Kelley said. “The work kind of just spiraled up from there.”
Kelly is knowledgeable not only about cars but also about the industry itself.
“His business is his job, commitment, and art,” junior Aiden Zablotny said. “He is very passionate and thorough with his work.”
To provide his customers with the best support he can, he offers a variety of services for them to choose from.
“I provide a full array of detailing services including exterior and interior detailing,” Kelly said.
While Kelley enjoys running this business for now, he hopes to change pace and start something new in the future.
“This is probably not my full time feature as I do enjoy detailing, but it’s just not something I see myself doing all my life,” Kelly said.
Kelley provides numerous ways to get in contact with his business to set up appointments. Using online marketing apps helps him a lot but talking to others has worked best for him in the past.
“I usually advertise through apps like Nextdoor and Facebook which is where I probably get a fourth of my customers, the rest is through word of mouth,” Kelley said. “People can reach me through my Facebook page, Andrew Auto Detailing.”
