Business administration student sees car detailing vision come to life

Florida A&M University senior, Jernir Etienne, credits what he learned in his college courses and life experiences to bring his vision to life. His vision was the car detailing business "Drippy Detailing". 
Photo Submitted by Jernir Etienne.

On track to graduate in fall 2019, business administration major Jernir Etienne said his car detailing business is a dream come true.

Florida A&M University senior Jernir Etienne credits what he learned in his college courses and life experiences to bring his vision to life. The business administration student’s vision was to make money and enjoy doing so while balancing his academic and personal life. He delivered pizza for some time, but soon realized it was not his passion.

Thanks to his professors, he discovered a special interest in the service of car detailing. The summer of 2018 is when he initially started the business that is now known as Drippy Mobile, but this wasn’t his first time working with cars.

“I started in June and it was real slow, but after about a month or two it started catching more and more people’s attention” Etienne said.

In 2017, he and his two friends Devian Bonner and Sean Wimbush maintained a car wash for about 6 months. No title, just a few friends serving the community. Their clientele increased over time and the business started to get very successful, but it also started to become overwhelming.

They eventually ended up shutting down the business due to unforeseen circumstances. After a while, Etienne found himself looking back into the detailing business. This past summer is when he discovered the ins and outs of this type of work so he started making a plan. 

Jernir Etienne, always wanted to make a living and enjoy doing his passion while doing so. Since 2017, he had been working on his business "Drippy Detailing". 

He picked up a second job and saved most of his money in order to invest in all the equipment and solutions needed for the job. By August he had a loyal group of customers and at that point the idea was starting to become reality. 

Over time, Etienne started to upgrade his equipment and transitioning to a more professional enterprise. He paid money to get business cards made and now all he needed now was something to represent his business and would actually stand out. 

Etienne recalled this is when he designed the Drippy Mobile logo. 

“October is when I felt confident enough to launch the business on social media,” Etienne said. 

By already having a good social status around campus, Etienne knew what type of crowd he wanted to attract. He started promoting on Instagram under the tag name “drippymobile”. Not too long after, he expanded out to Facebook and caught the eye of a local dealership that would help him build his brand. 

One loyal customer, Richard Raymond detailed Drippy Mobile is the only place he takes his car to. 

“He doesn’t rush through the job, he actually takes his time”, Raymond said. 

At the moment he grabbed the attention of the local dealership, Drippy Mobile was in a lane of its own. Being in connection with a dealership served a great role in the emergence of Etienne’s new self-owned service. The business started to grow more each day and started to become a “go to spot”. Word traveled fast and he now finds himself thinking about his next move.

Client and long-time friend of Etienne, Jelani Foster, expressed that he hoped the business gets more attention and customers. 

“Drippy Mobile deserves more exposure, Jernir takes pride in his job and he does it well,” Foster said. 

Etienne hopes to keep expanding in 2019 by securing a location and finding a service team to get the work the more efficiently. He believes his degree will open up a lot of doors for him when that time comes. 

Although he knows things will take time, he is willing to make the sacrifice. Etienne made it clear that this is only the beginning and with hard work and dedication, Drippy Mobile can become a full service company one day.

To learn more about Drippy Mobile, visit @ drippymobile on Instagram.