At the age of three, Daviant “Dae” Palmer was enamored with cars. Now 27, he is the founder of Dae’s Detail, a car cleaning business he started as a passion in Detroit. He commenced business in his driveway by cleaning the cars of his friends.
While detailing the cars, his mother, Typhan Jones, would record him working and post the video on TikTok. The videos usually showed the before-and-after of the cleaning process. Jones recalled to Detroit Free Press posting how she morphed a Cadillac into a Porsche while her son was on honeymoon.
The video went viral, generating over three million views and a massive buzz on Palmer’s phone. He was getting calls from literally everyone while on honeymoon. And according to Jones, that’s how her son’s business started.
The son-and-mother duo continued to post tips and tricks on how people can clean the interior and exterior of cars. One of the videos has recorded as many as 1.6 million views and counting, with even viewership coming from Australia and Ireland, according to Detroit Free Press.
Since translating their social media success into real-life customers, Palmer and his mother have not looked back. Last October, as their revenue grew, they were able to purchase a building to operate their car cleaning business. Jones, 45, quit her job to become the marketing manager of the business. Similarly, Palmer quit his job in order to focus on his car cleaning full-time.
Palmer’s uncle, Stevon Ferrell, was also brought on board as a partner in the business. He has been in the detailing business for 15 years. “It’s always been a dream to do something like that and it feels awesome to have people working with me — people that I know and people that I can trust,” Palmer said.
He added: “It definitely changed my life. I learned a lot about business because I had no clue. It was something that I wanted to do, I just didn’t know how to and then I was just thrown into it.”
Palmer’s services include a full interior and exterior cleaning, alongside a UV protectant inside and a wax outside. He charges based on the size of the vehicle he is cleaning.
Following the success of his car cleaning services, Palmer is hoping to expand his business beyond Detroit. “I really want to give back to this community,” Palmer said. “I really wanted to see Detroit come back to what it used to be back in the day, and I want to help that.”
