Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a two-part series. Click here to read the first one.

The shortest distance between two points might be a straight line, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the best path. For many installers, it’s the scenic route that guided them to success. Window Film magazine is spotlighting two such tinters in honor of Black History Month: one who started in law enforcement and another who began tinting thanks to a friend’s bluff.

From Crime Solving to Tint Installing

Sean Gill has been tinting since he was 10, but never planned on it being [his] main source of income. Gill, better known in the industry as Sean Gee, runs Tint Man Gill Inc. in Sumter, South Carolina.

“I was a detective in the local police department and tinted on the side,” Gill says. “Eventually, I was getting so many tint jobs that being a detective started interfering with my tinting.”

Gill requested a transfer to a different department where the work would be less demanding.

Sean Gill started as a police detective while tinting on the side. He and his wife, Airman Jaime Gill, decided that doing tint full time would be better for the whole family.

“They told me they were working on it, but nothing happened for two years,” he says. “So, I prayed and talked to my wife about the idea of focusing on my tint business. God gave me the peace to make that decision, and I haven’t looked back since.”

Running his own business allows Gill to spend more time with his family than when he was a detective.

“I had to take a lot of overtime work to provide for [my wife and son],” he says. “Now, as long as I budget properly, I have no problem doing so.”

Gill says he makes more money from the city by tinting government vehicles than he ever did as a detective.

His move from detective to full-time tinter wasn’t as smooth as he hoped, though. The Tint Man Gill won a “Best of Sumter” award soon after his transition. Gill was honored, but soon learned that some in the area didn’t approve of the decision.

“I got a phone call from someone posing as a potential customer a few weeks later,” he says. “The man on the other end of the line gave evasive answers about what kind of work he wanted done.”

The “customer” agreed to bring his vehicle to the shop. Gill was tinting out of his garage at the time, so he gave the man his home address.

“That’s when he started cursing at me and threatening to report me to the city for operating out of my home,” Gill says. “I had already gotten a license for that.”

The planning and zoning department called him two days later anyway.

Between his time as a detective and a tinter, the Sumter community knows Sean Gill well.

“I knew the people there from my time as a detective, so I was confused and upset when they told me giving me a license had been a mistake,” Gill says. “It left me in a bind, because I had no other source of income at that point. Luckily, I knew there was a local business that was moving soon.”

Gill approached the building’s owner and asked if he could sign a lease immediately. The owner agreed, and Gill returned to planning and zoning with a new business address.

“They didn’t believe I’d found something so quickly, but when they checked it out, everything came back clean,” he says.

As for the disgruntled caller, Gill has since learned that he ran a competing tint business.

“I guess he wasn’t too happy when he saw I’d won that ‘Best of’ award,” Gill says.

Despite that incident, Gill’s police background allowed him to hit the ground running.

“I already knew most of the people in the community from when I worked at the police department,” he says. “They’d turn to me first if they wanted something tinted.”

Though Gill had a good relationship with the Sumter community, he felt a bit isolated from the tinting community. That all changed a few years ago, when he attended his first tinting event with fellow tinter and small-business owner Avery Wells.

Sure, I Can Do That…

Avery Wells started tinting without really knowing what he’s doing, but over 20 years later he’s regularly competing at the International Window Film Conference and Tint-Off™ and other industry competitions.

Wells runs Preferred Window Tinting in Valdosta, Georgia. His career began in 2000 after a friend bluffed about his tinting abilities.

“Some buddies and I were in a car club,” he says. “We grabbed a box of tint to experiment with, and, next thing you know, one of my friends is telling people at the club that I know how to tint. I actually had no clue how to tint, but I figured I’d give it a shot.”

Wells started tinting one car a day, then two. Before he knew it, he was tinting all day, every day.

“I developed a knack for it,” he says.

Wells picked up tips and techniques from other tinters throughout his career, but attending that competition with Gill opened his eyes to new possibilities, he says.

“We both started networking with the people we met there,” Wells says. “That competition and other trade shows showed me that there is a whole world of information, education and collaboration out there.”

“These past six years have been the best of my tinting career,” he adds.

That’s one reason why Preferred Window Tinting seems to have lived up to its name with nearby airmen.

“There are several tint shops between me and an Air Force base, but I guess I have a reputation for quality with the airmen,” he says. “They prefer to bring their business to me.”

Between business from the base and the locals, Wells has tinted everything from Lamborghinis to farm equipment. He says one job stands out, and it’s probably not what people would expect.

A job tinting a John Deere tractor was one of Wells’ favorites.

“Tinting a brand new John Deere tractor was awesome,” he says. “I ended up closing down my shop for a whole day to work on it. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do the job on my own, but I did. I’m proud of myself.”

Now, Wells is challenging himself with something bigger. He hopes to expand his business to a new city, like Tallahassee, Florida.

“I already have a relationship with the people in my area,” he says. “I want to start from the bottom again.”