KC Mathieu, owner of KC’s Paint Shop and former regular on Discovery Channel’s Fast N’ Loud, grew up at a young age helping out at his Dad’s collision shop. Mathieu says, I would him always hear Dad muttering about what hard, hot and back-breaking work it was, and telling me I needed to find another career option.”
Luckily for Mathieu, he chose not to follow Dad’s advice. Instead, he worked with his Dad and other shops until renting his own building, and starting the business that he learned to specialize in since age 12 – custom automotive paint. A few years ago, call it chance or serendipity, Richard Rawlings, owner of Gas Monkey Garage, walked in and Mathieu’s destiny tooka new turn. When Richard landed a TV deal with the Discovery channel for Fast ‘N Loud, it was KC he turned to as a regular for custom paint segments.
“Of course this was a wonderful opportunity to showcase my passion. With the success of Fast ‘N Loud,” it reached a point that fans would line up and hang around the building when we were filming. If I headed out for lunch we would be mobbed. Three and half years of this it began to get old to have this kind of attention, so I decided to go back to what I love most and re-opened KC’s Paint Shop: Hot Rods and Restorations.”
The silver lining of leaving for Mathieu was the immediate success of his business as there was nearly nearly instant recognition of my name and expertise. Through social media, and with triple digit followers on Instagram, Facebook and You Tube, the shop exploded in growth. In fact, the company has gained so much business that KC’s staff has grown from one to nine employees adding support for accounting, marketing, vendor support, fabrication, bodywork and paint specialists.
“I am so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short period of time,” concluded KC. Over the course of my career, some things stand out as more important like developing close relationships with my preferred automotive suppliers like the one I have with American Powertrain. About five or six years ago, I was poking around trying to find the best options for a manual transmission to install, and American Powertrain came highly recommended. Paul Unterstein and the whole team over there are so supportive and helpful from determining the best options for my builds, to quick turnaround and immediate customer support when needed. In fact, just a few days ago, I ordered two transmissions from them for a couple of projects I have in the shop. We do a good dozen vehicle service projects and two or three ground up builds every year, and if any require a manual transmission install, I call American Powertrain every time.”
