Today we’d like to introduce you to Pedro Regino.
Hi Pedro, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I began my full-time job as a Subsea Engineer at ExxonMobil in July 2020. I currently manage the design and manufacturing of the electrical, chemical, and hydraulic conduits which power one of ExxonMobil’s deepwater oil & gas projects in the South American country of Guyana. I received my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in May 2020. Not exactly the background you might expect for someone who wraps cars for a living. I got into car wrapping in September 2021 because I love cars, I’m very much a DIY person, and I wanted to save some money by doing it myself. While wrapping my car for the first time, I quickly discovered that I enjoyed it and was surprisingly good at it. My love for DIY as well as my engineering background, helped me pick up the skill and I became obsessed with perfecting the craft.
It wasn’t until I wrapped my car for the second time at the end of last year that I realized I can turn this passion into a business. As quickly as I fell in love with wrapping, I became obsessed with creating my business’ website, social media pages, business cards, and networking around the city to get my name out. Grinding day and night during my free time allowed me to open for business in January 2022. It all started with a knife, heat gun, and squeegee. Then, as I began getting more equipment, I started working out of my own trunk. In March, I began renting out a storage unit and workspace at my apartment complex, but I’ve quickly outgrown that space. Fortunately, I just finished moving into my professional vinyl wrap, paint protection film, and tint shop near Spring Branch (6117 Milwee Street, Suite A). I am going to continue growing my business to meet the increasing demand for my services by growing my team as well as my social media presence.
As someone who didn’t come from a business background, my biggest takeaway from this experience is that a great business is built on patience and small improvements. Oftentimes people are obsessed with building the perfect business plan or design before executing but the truth is that it’s okay to take a leap of faith and then make improvements later. I see the potential for my story to impact and inspire other people who are hesitant to start their own businesses either because they don’t know how, they’re fearful of competition, or they already have a full-time job. To everyone facing this fear – it’s okay to start slow and make continuous improvements. It makes the journey much more worthwhile and meaningful.
This exponential growth has been exciting, a great learning experience, and chaotic in all the best ways. People at my apartment complex and my job call me crazy, insane, motivated, or all of the above as I work 100+ hour weeks and pull all-nighters to finish a customer’s vehicle before going into a full-time job. For me, it’s just time passing as I do something I love. As evident from my success so far, I know that I will continue growing because this business is my passion and I know I will make it happen – it’s just a matter of time. The customers’ reactions and happiness from seeing my work on their car is something which I can’t put into words, but that euphoric feeling is what keeps me going and what I know will make me one of the biggest car wrapping businesses in Houston one day.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The journey for PR4 Car Wraps has been anything but smooth. One of the greatest challenges getting into this industry is proving yourself and getting clients to trusting their money and vehicles to you. I had to wrap my own car 2 or 3 times and showcase my work through several car meets and Instagram posts to prove my wrapping skill. Once someone took a chance on me and I delivered great results, the general public started believing in my skill and giving me more business. Another huge challenge is the fact that I still have a full-time job. Sometimes this’ll make clients think that I’m not serious about my business or that I won’t deliver good results, but I hope to change this stigma. To me, the fact that I have a full-time job and still dedicate the rest of my time to growing my business only highlights the passion that I have for wrapping and working on cars. I’ll do whatever it takes to continue growing my business, even if it means working 100+ hours / week and pulling several all-nighters.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
PR4 Car Wraps provides customers the ability to customize and protect their vehicle through color-change vinyl wraps, color-change or clear paint protection film, and window / headlight / taillight tint! What sets PR4 apart from the rest in this industry is my engineering, project management, and corporate background. At PR4, we pride ourselves for our dedication to our customers by delivering excellent customer service, clear communication, and complete transparency. At PR4 Car Wraps, a job is not finished until the customer walks out with a huge smile on their face. Although everyone makes mistakes, another thing we pride ourselves for in industry is that we take accountability for any mistakes or imperfections, no questions asked! We cannot personally be happy with our work until our customer is 100% satisfied with the job we’ve performed. We constantly seek feedback on our customer service and our results to ensure continual improvement and customer satisfaction. Although PR4 is still a small team at the moment, every person working here is kind, passionate about working on cars, driven, and most important of all, honest.
Any big plans?
While I started this business out of my apartment garage space 9 months ago in January 2022, I’m blessed to share that PR4 Car Wraps has finally opened a professional shop in September 2022. This would not have been possible without the support of friends, family, and customers who believed in us although we weren’t fully established like other shops in this industry.
Looking forward, I plan to continue growing the PR4 team to meet the growing demand for our services as well as expand our social media presence!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pr4carwrapsandmore.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pr4carwraps/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PR4CarWrapsAndMore/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBIEuBHjjBsz2awIwtyMGPg
Image Credits
The Tesla Model S wrapped in glossy green was taken by Yusuf Sham (@shamcamstudio on Instagram). The rest were taken by me.
