Who we are

My name is Austin Howes, the owner of Raise The Bar, and this is my story.

Throughout middle school, I spent countless minutes, hours, and days learning everything I could about starting, running, and maintaining a business. Between reading books like Think and Grow Rich, Can’t Hurt Me, and The Power of One More, and listening to podcasts like The Ed Mylett Show, How I Built This, and The Ramsey Show, I was soaking up all the knowledge possible.

The problem with spending all my time throughout middle school and high school learning about business, but not doing business, was that I developed an itch to start something of my own. Thus began my endeavor to find something I could afford and enjoy doing. I had spent previous years working at a body shop, and when we got slow, I was often asked to detail the cars. With little direction beyond, “clean up our mess from the car,” I learned as much as I could through YouTube. I found that I truly enjoyed the task and became fairly decent at it—good enough to later become the main detailer at the shop.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that no amount of knowledge replaces action. You can study all you want, but until you’re out there, getting your hands dirty—literally, in my case—you’ll never know the challenges or the rewards. That first year of balancing school, life, and detailing wasn’t just about making a few extra bucks; it was about proving to myself that I could take something small and make it grow. It’s in those small details, the ones no one else sees, where the magic happens. I learned that success doesn’t just come from reading about it, but from showing up every day, even when no one else is watching.

Using my knowledge of detailing as a base, I began to brainstorm how to make it happen. Without a shop, I opted to start mobile. After talking to my mentor, important personal figures, and spending time in prayer, I invested around $150 and started. I detailed randomly throughout the year whenever family, friends, or friends of friends reached out. It felt like a side hustle, but I kept my head down.

Raise The Bar eventually expanded into ceramic coatings and light paint correction. It was not a bad first year, but I knew I was destined for more. I continued to work, graduated high school, stepped away from my job, and took on the full-time role of “Owner of Raise The Bar Detailing.”

What does that name mean to me? It means a 16-year-old starting a business endeavor while still in high school. It means accepting that not everyone will understand the path he's on. But it also means providing an experience that no other mobile detailing company can match—raising the bar on the industry and raising it further every time we get close to it.