Today we’d like to introduce you to Joel Hernandez.
Hi Joel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Born in Mexico City and raised in Dallas, Texas. My life was not in a good shape as I became a teenager, full of problems with a mentality of ” I know it all.” It led to situations where I had to turn myself into the police due to my poor decisions. Adult life came in, and was not prepared by any means. Got kicked out of my parent’s house for the first time and did not learn anything of it and came back home with no sign of improvement. The second time they decided to change the locks of the doors after some tantrum provoked by me. Worry was not a thing for me because I knew I could stop by a friend’s house and stay there until my options ran out. The only thing I could think of was just to stay under a roof, so I walked to Baylor Hospital in Downtown Dallas and spent the night in the waiting room in emergencies. The experience of not having an actual place to stay was not something I could imagine. It opened my eyes and made me have so much respect for people who leave on the streets. Coming back home with a different mentality turned my whole life for good. I decided for the last time to move into my own place the correct way, and that meant being on good terms with my parents and every single person I knew because I was getting ready to do a reset in my life. I avoided every person I knew for years and focused on obtaining a job I could keep. Got hired at Town East Ford after working an eternity for frozen and fresh food delivery companies. Those years in the auto dealership were the most valuable ones where I learned ways to communicate and properly control situations that could easily go out of control. During the journey, I met the window tinter who was at the dealership and became good friends.
“Do you want to learn how to tint?” He spoke. I took no time and practiced with him every day during my lunch breaks for a full year until he asked the service director at that time if I could move over to the tint department. The request was granted with no issues and began as a full-time window tinter. Months later, the news of him starting his own business was one of the awesome moments for him, and I couldn’t be happier for him after working so hard and teaching him the craft. It was nerve-wracking knowing the flow of vehicles that now I had to do on my own but was ready for the challenge. The practice took me to a different level and now I was working on all brands of vehicles as the dealership was purchasing more units.
The mentality of starting my own window tint service started when I realized this could take me even further, so I started documenting my work and posting on social media. That gave confidence to people, and started having requests for window tint jobs, so I bought a Toyota sienna and saved for a plotter, so I could perform the full job onsite. With the help of Charlie Hill (former firefighter), we would sell tint jobs no matter what the distance was; the goal was to get known. As time went on, I didn’t have the need for a full-time job because we were getting busier, and simultaneously, we were adding better material to the service. Executive Tint Design officially started in 2018 as a big need due to requests from more prestigious places that required installers that were insured and registered. Karen Luna came in when I couldn’t have enough hands to work with as the requests kept on coming in. We did not use any type platform but social media and most importantly, word of mouth, which is more valuable than anything else. The journey has not been easy; more downs than ups, and even then, we look at the downs as a positive lesson to learn and we move on. We have a stable relationship with prestigious auto shops thanks to the recommendations from customers who become friends as they get to know us. It took years, but it was all worth it. I am blessed to say now that I have a big loveable family not just in the business world but as well as in my personal life.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not at all. If there’s no struggle, there is nothing to learn from. Struggles came in all types and forms. The beginning was mainly money, always misusing it.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We work on vehicles, residences, buildings, and anything that has glass. We specialize in vehicles that are garage kept or daily driven. We are proud of the services we deliver as well as the relationships that we build along the way with our customers.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the immense diversity in our city. Being mobile the least we like is the traffic.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Executive Tint Design
- Facebook: Executive Tint Design
