This month’s Business Highlight is on Valentine Detailing. Stephen Valentine is a native of Walterboro who attended Walterboro High School and then Orangeburg Tech where he received his CDL. He drove a semi-truck for 20+ years until the cost of operations made the trucking industry less profitable. He turned his side business, S & A Pressure Washing into his full-time occupation. “I started out as S & A Pressure Washing Service doing commercial, housing, and other projects. There’s a lot of work there, but it’s not repetitive work. We started washing semi-trucks when I realized there was money to be made and the work is repetitive. After about eight months in business, I had more and more people asking me to detail. I realized my passion was detailing and Valentine Detailing evolved.”
Valentine continues to attend classes and seminars to keep up with the trends in the industry. The first class he attended was the primer clinic, in Knoxville, TN. He learned the basics of auto detailing including the variety of products available. He explains, “Dr. Beasley is a family-oriented company that makes detailing products including ceramic coating. He is actually a chemist, it’s not one of those big companies out there where they don’t know your name. That’s what drew me to take his classes. I came back home and started doing what I learned in class, ceramic coating, and paint corrections. I quickly realized there was a need in this area and was booked two months out.”
Valentine has since attended other classes including the advanced paint correction clinic in Wisconsin, pro series business detailing clinic in Illinois, skintac (vinyl wrap), and body fence (Paint Protection Film) class in Georgia. Valentine has earned two very demanding certifications from the International Detail Association (IDA), certified detailer and skills validated.
He also attended networking events in Orlando and in Kentucky including one with Jamie Buchanan who has his own television show. He was invited to North Carolina where he was able to work on a 1955 YF102A interceptor that is on display at the Sullenberger Aviation Museum in Charlotte, NC.
His business is continuing to grow. He currently services cars, trucks, semi-trucks, equipment, and boats. He has plans to get certified in detailing boats and airplanes. He states, “I have two mobile rigs right now. We’re in the process of planning to build a facility on the outskirts of town. I am hoping to cater to everyone with the new building, no matter what budget they have. I don’t plan to stop growing, I will continue to add as the customers come. We want to offer services to everyone.”
Valentine is on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. You can check out his website at valentinedetailingllc.com or email him at smv21575@gmail.com.
