The Detail of a Lifetime
Two weeks ago, Doug Cunningham was just a regular auto detailer.
Like many aspiring detail professionals, he set out to learn the tricks of the trade, then promptly started his own business, Absolute Shine Auto Spa. You might have seen his shiny red truck and spiffy white trailer blazing through the East End, making home visits for detail jobs great and small, from polishing expensive autos to getting rid of what he commonly refers to as “kid grime and dog hair.” He’s been in business for the past two years, and, so far, he said, things have gone pretty well.
Then Cunningham received the chance of a lifetime.
Later this month he will fly to Seattle and be part of a team that will polish and shine perhaps the most important mode of transportation in the continental United States: Air Force One.
“They’re doing a background check on me now,” Cunningham explained, highlighting the importance of the mission (the timing of which he’s not at liberty to divulge). “I even have to do a drug test,” he added, amused. “… just for this!”
Back on the (odd) job
-->Marilyn Ferraro lives alone and needs help doing things around the house.
She hired Chris Mazza to clean out the garage of her Green Tree home. Laid off from his job at U.S. Food Service two years ago, Mazza vowed he'd never again work for anyone but himself. He took decades of experience in customer service and started "As You Wish," an errand and handyman service in the South Hills.
He offers help with prescription drug and dry cleaning pickup or delivery, auto detailing, house sitting, meal delivery, lawn maintenance, house cleaning and snow removal, among other things. He'll even wait for a delivery, scheduled repair or installation.
Ferraro quickly hired him for yard work and plans to utilize his services to clean out the garage of her Green Tree home.
"Chris has caught on to a great idea here, and he's providing a very valuable service to people like me," said Ferraro, 61.
As unemployment grows, the number of people starting entrepreneurial businesses is bound to rise, said Shaun Seydor, associate director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, which is affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.
Likewise, Black Magic, the Preferred Automotive Detailing Products of SCCA, is rewarding the top six finishers in the Touring 2 class with an identical and more »
