Gallery • 7 Photos

Paige Horist

Junior Mason Milligan sprays clean a car using a pressure washer.

Mud and dust are sprayed off a car as the water hits the surface. The car is soaked in water and drips down the driveway leaving a trail. The water is then changed to soap and soap is sprayed in every crease and crevice of the car’s exterior. It looks like a giant spray paint project with the soap looking like it’s a new coat of paint. 

This takes about 20 minutes to do while a detail takes about four hours. After years of putting his business together, junior Mason Milligan has developed a popular car detailing company, Mitten Mobile. He began his interest in cars at the age of 12 when his dad’s friend talked to him about it. He began watching YouTube videos on cars and learned more about them.

After accidentally stumbling across a car detailing video, he looked more into it. Car detailing is the process of going through a car and restoring the car’s look. Milligan finds car detailing an interest of his and started Mitten Mobile a year and a half ago.

“Detailing is not a trade, it’s more of an art,” Milligan said. “It’s something that takes a lot of people a lot of time to learn. It’s not something you can learn overnight, it’s a process that you really have to know.”

This past summer, Milligan worked for Preferred Automotive Groups Detailing Company. He detailed cars full time there. He said that’s what taught him a lot about how to detail a car quickly and how to do it efficiently to make a good quality product. 

Customer Harry Reck says Milligan can be successful with his business because he’s very ambitious. He thinks Milligan can keep Mitten Mobile going for a long time with the work he does. 

“He does a pretty good job,” Reck said. “If I were to detail it again, I’d go back to him.”

Along with Reck, friend Noah Fairfield says Milligan can keep being successful with Mitten Mobile. 

“I would definitely say he’s dedicated,” Fairfield said. “He’s just super enthusiastic about it. I know he enjoys it.”

Milligan mentioned his business is moving quickly and by the end of the year he’s hoping to be detailing six cars a week. By the end of next year, he’s hoping he could avoid college for a few more years and work full time.

“Mitten Mobile has taught me how to be a good business owner,” Milligan said.

He said it’s also showed him how to manage assets, manage a portfolio of stocks and inventories, how to invest correctly and customer relations.

“Since I want to sell mutual funds and stocks, I think the most important skill to take away from this is selling the details and having a good customer relationship,” Milligan said.

Having good relationships with customers has led Milligan to be recommended to others. Customers will say he does a great job and tell him their car looks awesome and it’s more than they expected. 

“This one customer recently keeps bringing me more and more cars after each one,” Milligan said. “She’s just so excited to get the cars cleaned.”

Even though Milligan enjoys making profit, he says he almost enjoys seeing customers satisfied more than the price paid. 

“He’s very knowledgeable about what he’s doing and that intrigues people because he answers any questions you might have,” Reck said.

Knowing his customers want their car done, Milligan cleans it timely. He tends to listen to podcasts when working on a car because he knows how long they last having him know how long he’s taking. Keeping time can show he can do a good quality job by benefiting his customers schedule.

Milligan knows his customers have places to be so he gives a luxury service in a timely matter.

“Being able to realize I can combine my passion with something that I need to do really inspired me,” Milligan said.