Free of gimmicks and hardly a faceless chain store, Tina’s Tinting in Westwood is the kind of business locals love to champion—not just because it’s homegrown, but because it’s a rock-solid business.
While it may appear flashy on the exterior, upon entering, you know instantly this isn’t an average garage. Sure, the hot pink retro interior grabs your attention, but at the heart of the business it is full of repeat customers and excellent online reviews. In fact, if you want an appointment, you’re averaging at least a three-week wait time.
Tina Lavis is the heart and founder of Tina’s Tinting. Yes, a woman created this stand-alone business that tints automotive and commercial windows and has an array of after-market automobile add-ons. “I was working data entry at King’s Daughters when my boss’s son got his cars tinted in 1992. I went to Harvey’s and decided, ‘how hard can this be to put on.’” She got started and completed
one quarter window, opting to finish the tedious job later. “Later that week, I got rear-ended.” With an insurance claim now in hand, she decided to take it to Tint America to have the job completed.
“They were so impressed with the quarter window I’d done myself that later I got a job with them.” It wasn’t all that easy. She said it took her six months of on-the-job training to begin mastering her skill.
“When Tint America went out of business from a downturn in the economy, they offered the business to me, but I had two small children at the time.” A few years later, Lavis decided she could try her hand at owning her own tint shop, and in 2011, Tina’s Tinting emerged. Two years later, she traveled to Australia to tint cars, having an association with a car club there. That five-week journey not only allowed her to see the vast countryside of the Down Under but also led to a fateful encounter with her future husband, whom she met while tinting two of his cars. “I tell people I came back with the T-shirt and the man.”
Today, Tina and her Aussie husband, Greg, live locally and work together. He does a lot of the after-market installs, like lift kits, stereos, running boards, and bed liners. It is truly a family affair as she trained her daughter Sierra to tint at age 14, and she and her husband work in the business today. Tina’s son can also tint but currently teaches English in China. Tina’s Tinting services 10 to 12 cars a day and four to six residential or commercial buildings a month. “We’ve tinted everything from planes to a 30-foot crane. The only thing we haven’t tinted is a train.“