Detailed my first celebrity today

Jngrbrdman

Jngrbrdman

New member
I feel stupid that I didn't put 1 and 1 together sooner. This guy is the one who turned me on to the S65 guy last month. I've been talking with him back and forth since early this year. He said he was moving out here in July and he needed an obsessive detailer. He moved here from Seattle, so I really don't know how he found me. My guess is that he was on Yahoo looking for Salt Lake City detailers and found me that way. Anyway, I only knew his name was Apolo and didn't know the last name. Then earlier this week he emailed me and said he was in town and would like me to come over and get his LX450 back into shape. His other emails just had his email address showing, but this one had his name. Apolo Ohno. The name rang a bell for some reason, but I didn't figure it out until I saw him. This is the Olympic gold medalist short track speed skater Apolo Ohno. The one that won Dancing with the Stars earlier this year. I actually watched him win in '02 out here. Of all the details not to bring my camera!!!! I figured it was a clean Lexus to start with and it was white to boot, so what good would taking pictures really do anybody? Sheesh!! I felt dumb that I've been emailing him back and forth for six months and I never realized it. lol Kinda funny. He is a really nice guy and he has some friends with very high end cars. I'm glad that he liked my work because after I was done he said he had done some calling around to his buddies and I should be expecting some business very soon. One of his friends has an Enzo that Apolo doesn't even think he has ever driven. So more super cars may be coming my way. :) Still, it's my first real celebrity detail, so I thought it was worthy of mention. :10:
 
Great news!!

Hope that Appollo sends all the business you can handle.

Reminder.....Start carrying your camera ....Everywhere!!!!
 
Congrats on the detail! I've never really heard much negative about him and would expect him to be a pretty neat person to meet. I'm a big sports guy and would love to talk to a few more gold medalists. It's really cool that he liked the results and that he'll be mentioning you to a bunch of his friends. It sounds like a golden opportunity that you took advantage of.
 
His fans are certianly cool enough. I guess you can never underestimate the power of the internet. I had someone from Chicago call me after finding this post while looking for news on Apolo Ohno. lol I think DC is going to be getting some traffic from a fan site for awhile. :)

Dear Apolo Ohno Fans,

While you are here you should look around and stay awhile. There is tons of information here on detailing cars that will help you keep them nice and clean! When Apolo looks for the best detailers, he comes to detailers from Detail City! Maybe not the advertising he intended to give, but it is still the truth. ;)
 
Hey, that's not a bad idea. :) I'm going to have to ask him about that the next time I see him. I'm going back to drop off some cards in another week or so. I'll hit him up and see what he thinks. What would be the best thing to use on gold, silver, and bronze medals?
 
Jngrbrdman said:
Hey, that's not a bad idea. :) I'm going to have to ask him about that the next time I see him. I'm going back to drop off some cards in another week or so. I'll hit him up and see what he thinks. What would be the best thing to use on gold, silver, and bronze medals?
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I honestly wouldn't even bring it up. Some things can't be replaced.
 
Neat! I watched him win the medals as well. As far as the emails back and forth...he probably liked that you didn't seem to realize who he was and treated him like a normal person. That's my guess, anyway. Hope you get some more business from it!
 
Just curious, did he tip well? I work with many sport figures and I've come to the conclusion that they're used to receiving just about everything for free.
 
Jngrbrdman said:
Hey, that's not a bad idea. :) What would be the best thing to use on gold, silver, and bronze medals?
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Champagne.

That's really cool. I must admit he was lost in my memory since the Olympics but loved him during the games. Sounds like a cool guy, too. Have fun jngr.
 
p_dubs said:
Just curious, did he tip well? I work with many sport figures and I've come to the conclusion that they're used to receiving just about everything for free.
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2nd that,
I detail(caution name drop coming) Tony Womacks vehicles, sometimes twice a week and am yet to see anything over the amount that I charge. I guess I can't complain because for some reason he gets all the new Mothers products, for free and lets me use them.:rockon
 
After all the business he has generated for me, it should be ME tipping HIM. I did do a freebie for him when I saw his car parked at a friend's house. I washed and waxed it for him after I did the other guy's cars. Apolo's referals have generated probably about a thousand dollars worth of business for me this summer and that isn't going to go away anytime soon, so I figure I owe him.
 
I've never expected tips when detailing and almost feel bad taking them afterwards. I don't do many details, but I price every single one to make it worth my time. I'm not overcharging, I'm just charging what I think my time and detailing knowledge are worth.
 
Same here. Nobody ever really tips me. If they tip me $20 on a detail then that just means that I undercharge them the next time. Tipping is for waitresses. I don't believe that charging $40 an hour really deserves a tip. Not expecting them makes it easier to give them extraordinary service regardless of if they tipped last time or not. ;)
 
Wow, you guys are true professionals! Out here in Scottsdale, they all expect a tip. Even the guy who hawks his services using the $1600 jar of zymol.
 
I just don't understand that. If I were going to use $1600 wax, then it would be built into the cost of the detail. The only time I would ever think a tip might be something the customer should consider is when I have clearly gone out of my way to either clear my schedule for them, worked in really awkward conditions (like in the rain last night), traveled extra far just for them, or something else that isn't normally part of the service. I once took a sick day at my regular job to go out and detail a customer's car that he was fixing to sell that week and he wanted the buyer to be impressed. He tipped be $80 for my trouble. I thought that was really considerate of him. It wasn't expected, but it is nice to know that he appreciated the effort I made to meet his needs.
 
That's really cool stuff, Anthony! He always seemed cool/down-to-earth when I saw him interviewed, etc. I was flipping channels a while back right after the Olympics that he was in and he was on the Rosie O'Donnell show. She gave him a Pontiac Vibe....glad to see he stepped up in the automobile arena...I always thought those things were SO ugly!!
 
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