Tinter Battles 2023 took place last weekend at the Omni Resorts in Amelia Island, Fla. At the center of the event stands founder Carlos Olazaba—a colorful personality known as “The Texas Squeegee.”

Tinter Battles founder Carlos Olazaba runs the Tinter Trivia Game Show. (Photo Courtesy of Tintertainment)

WINDOW FILM and PPF magazines caught up with Olazaba post-event to document this year’s happenings.

WF: Was this your favorite Tinter Battles yet?
Olazaba: As a performer, I got to do more things. I love performing and presenting things. One of the things I truly enjoy is putting others in a strong spotlight. I loved seeing their reactions to what it means to them and their families.

WF: You’re a former musician with a passion for performing. Does Tinter Battles scratch that itch?
Olazaba: I love putting on a show. Anytime I have that opportunity and people invest their attention and time, I take it very seriously. I not only like to ‘tintertain,’ but also to educate … It definitely scratches a performance itch—I love to do it.

Tinter Battles founder Carlos Olazaba pumps up the crowd. (Photo Courtesy of Tintertainment)

WF: Puerto Rico native Alexis Figueroa or ‘El Magic,’ owner of Magic Shade Window Tinting and Detailing in Fort Worth, Texas, performed a song called ‘Tint 4 Life’ at the show. What was it like sharing the stage with another musician?
Olazaba: When you’re the performer, you’re so connected to your audience. I could tell whether or not the audience needed me. I was up there, but it did not need me. Even though I was on stage, I wasn’t in the act. I could finally fully enjoy a performer doing their thing and soak in the process. That was one of the few times that I got to enjoy the show from the audience’s perspective. That song is so catchy.

WF: How did you create the Tinter Trivia Game Show and test the knowledge of various show-goers?
Olazaba: It’s a creative challenge. How does that look? How do you structure that? How do you perform this? Who performs? What are the questions, and what are they based on? When you start with the vision, you work backwards and fill in the puzzle pieces. Next thing you know, we had the Tinter Trivia Game Show put together … I love to study other people’s forms of art.

WF: Do you feel like Tinter Battles 2023 exceeded your expectations?
Olazaba: Absolutely. I had a vision for the flow of a show. But at the end of the day, you don’t know what that will look like until you see the finished product—especially when it’s done to the size where we were pulling it off. We weren’t doing it at a shop anymore—this was at a resort. There’s more things to coordinate.

WF: You’ve been in the industry for 19 years and accomplished a lot. What is your favorite element of the industry?
Olazaba: The people. The people that I’ve been fortunate enough to meet and work with—I feel extremely lucky and blessed.