MEET THE FOUNDER

Knights Automotive Detailing didn't start as a business plan — it started as a way to make some extra cash on the side. While in college, Donovan was working at a car wash, hands-on, cleaning vehicles day in and day out. Hour after hour, car after car, he got his reps in — learning what actually works, what doesn't, and what it takes to get a vehicle truly clean, not just clean enough. It didn't take long to realize there was a better way to do it, and that people would pay for it if someone actually took the time to do the job right.

So he started doing details on the side — a car here, a car there, squeezed in between classes and shifts. What began as a side hustle for extra spending money slowly turned into something bigger. Word got around. Regulars started asking for him by name. What started as a hustle became a craft.

Then came years of trial and error — figuring out the right products for Florida's brutal sun and humidity, learning what actually works versus what just looks good in a bottle, building a client base one car at a time, and making every mistake a growing business makes along the way. It wasn't glamorous. It was early mornings, hot afternoons, and constantly refining the work until it was something worth putting a name on.

Then COVID hit.

Like a lot of people, Donovan watched the ground shift overnight. The side hustle that had been building steadily for years suddenly had to become something more — not a someday plan, but a right-now necessity. With traditional opportunities disappearing, Donovan made the decision to go all in, pivoting what had been a college side gig into a full, dedicated business. Knights Automotive Detailing was built in that moment — out of necessity, but backed by years of hands-on experience that had already been quietly stacking up since those first cars washed in a parking lot between classes.

Eight years later, that same mentality still drives the business today: no shortcuts, no rushing through the line, no cutting corners. Every vehicle — whether it's a daily driver, a boat, an aircraft, or a piece of automotive history — gets the same standard that started it all: do it right, every time.