02/17/2025
Hey there, Joe Rajchel here and I would like to welcome you to the Tint Academy professional install guide and checklist designed to help those interested and motivated to get started in automotive glass tinting. Tinting windows has been a passion of mine for 30+ years. In 1990 I took my 1981 Cadilac El Dorado into a local tint shop called TNT Glass Tinting for a tint Job. Before this, I tried some tinting on the vehicle that I had prior to this one which was a 1974 Cutlass Oldsmobile. I had the most frustrating time you could imagine trying to tint that car and I said to myself “NEVER AGAIN”. It was an absolute nightmare that left me with no desire to ever attempt another tint job for as long as I lived. This changed though the day that I took the old El Dorado in for tint. It was later in the day and things were relaxed at the tint shop and the owner let my friend and I watch as the work was being done.
As I watched the process a spark went off in my mind. I saw the process and some of the things that I had struggled with on my previous car suddenly made sense. I watched, and over the couple hours I was there I became convinced that I could do this tinting thing. The gears began to turn in my mind and over the next few weeks, I fantasized about how my life would change with all the money I could be making doing tint jobs. At that time I was working at a foundry in the tool room and it was a dirty hot job that I knew I did not want to do for the rest of my life. In the next couple of weeks, I came up with a plan to get some film and some tools and start practicing this craft. I started doing jobs for friends and family and at first, I wasn’t even charging any fees. I just wanted to practice anytime that I could.
I still had frustrations but things were going better than they did on that first car. I was enjoying it. I remember being at my job and thinking about tinting all day, going through the steps, and imagining how I could do things better on the next car when I had a chance to work on one. My friends knew about my passion and one day about a year later a friend pointed out to me that the local tint shop where I took my El Do for tint was running an ad in the newspaper looking for a tinter to hire for a full-time position. I got excited about this and spent days thinking about it. The problem was I didn't have any real experience and that was the thing they were looking for, unfortunately. Not only that but there was a little bit more to the story with the current job I had at that time. I mentioned earlier I was working at a foundry and I was working for my uncle who was the superintendent in the tool room there.
He was pulling strings for me to start an apprenticeship program there where in 5 years I would become a machinist. My mother was very happy about this because I was never really a good student and didn’t enjoy school, to say the least. All that said I was considering walking away from this apprenticeship opportunity and going for it with glass tinting. I was on fire and i was consumed with window tinting. I plotted and schemed until I couldn’t take it any longer. I went into the tint shop to talk to the owner. He was a cool guy and he entertained me for a bit and listened to me as I made my case about working for him.
He could see I was serious as I have always been somewhat of a natural salesman. Eventually, he made it clear that he was only looking for someone who had a couple of years of experience at least. That’s when It came out of my mouth. I made him an offer he obviously could not refuse. In desperation, I said to him “I’LL WORK FOR FREE”. He sat there stunned and speechless for a moment and finally, he replied to me “You would have to quit your job just to come here and try out with no guarantee that I’ll hire you”. And I said I know and I’ll do it!!!! He was blown away at my determination and said “ok start next week”.
Now the only problem was I had to go and talk to my mother and tell her about this and there’s another thing I forgot to mention, this was like I said maybe a year after I took the El Dorado in there for the tint job that sparked this whole chain of events and I had just got a new truck with a loan that my mother co-signed for. Looking back I should have known that my mother was not going to be happy about all this but I have always been a trailblazer and none of this was going to stop me from achieving my dreams. I sat down with my mom and my stepdad and I told them the news, they thought I was insane and by all standards I was. They tried to talk me out of it and I never was a good listener.
I was going to go through with it. The next day I went in to work and gave my 2 week notice. My uncle gave me a hard time for 2 weeks before it was my last day. He warned me that I was destroying my life. Looking back I understand the concern. In this world, we are conditioned to work hard and get a good job but a job was not something that interested me. I wanted a business of my own and I was not going to hear any reasoning to the contrary. The last day of work came and I packed up my toolbox and never looked back. I began my career as a glass tinter working for free. I didn’t take this lightly. I went in there and gave it my all. I showed up early and stayed late. I cleaned the shop and did all kinds of extras to impress Tim who owned the tint shop.
I think it was the middle of the second week and he and the shop manager pulled me aside and we had a discussion where they let me know that they wanted to hire me as a paid employee and I was officially a professional glass tinter. I tell this story solely to encourage whoever may be reading this install guide that you may have to overcome obstacles to get where you want to go but you can do it without a doubt. Just be serious, work hard, and take a few chances and success can be a part of your future. I worked hard there for a couple of years. The company was sold a few years later and I did not get along with the new owners and it was time to go out on my own and become self-employed.
There were many struggles getting jobs and finding places to do jobs but after about 3 years of working remotely, I took money from a credit card and secured my first shop where I worked my fingers to the bone building a solid name for myself around town. Within a few years, I was the go-to tint shop doing work for local car dealers, body shops and you name it. Things were going well. In 2002 I decided to share the skill that I had built up and I created a 2 disk DVD set that contained my first instructional course. I sold this on eBay and other outlets and it went well. I have been helping others to get started in automotive glass tinting ever since. Today I share on YouTube and in my Tint Academy group on Facebook and I am excited to share and help you along your journey.
Owning a business is not easy and having someone experienced available to help you and guide you in the right direction is worth a million dollars. I look forward to watching you grow and become successful. Let’s do this!!!!
Professional Install Guide available here
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This is the story of how I put it all on the line to get started in Automotive Glass Tinting and how you can do the same. This is the greatest small business...
