A local college student’s auto detailing business has grown from helping family and neighbors to servicing the vehicles of professional athletes across New England.
While still a junior in high school, Connor Heagney searched YouTube for car detailing videos and decided to give the business a try.
“It started off with friends and family,” said Connor Heagney. “And then I’d go on Facebook and the town group posts and say, hey, I’m a 17-year-old starting a new business. If you’d like to support me, it would mean a lot to me.”
Heagney launched Heagney Auto Detailing with just $800. What started as a side hustle required plenty of trial and error, but as his customer base grew, so did his confidence. That confidence eventually led him to reach out to former New England Patriots player Kendrick Bourne on TikTok while Bourne was promoting his clothing brand.
“I was actually his first customer,” said Heagney. “Before I made the first order, I told him, hey, I’ll buy a product of yours if I can detail your car. We made it work. I went to his house and he took like 50 business cards of mine, put them in the locker room and then word quickly got spread that I’m the new Patriots car detailer.”
Today, Heagney is a business management major at Bridgewater State University. Nearly every week, he heads to Gillette Stadium to detail players’ vehicles.
“Every Tuesday I go to the facility and we detail as many cars as possible,” said Heagney. “It’s usually about seven to eight cars a day, which is a lot. It’s a long day. It’s about 12 hours.”
The business now counts current and former professional athletes among its customers, including players from the Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics. Heagney admits there have been moments when working around professional athletes felt surreal.
“It was super intimidating, he said. “I was very nervous because you know these guys are out on the field every Sunday I’m watching them on television.”
Despite the star power, Heagney says success comes down to delivering quality work consistently.
“We do it professionally, on time, and just to the highest level possible. And the players love that. And that’s why we keep getting callbacks.”
In addition to professional athletes, Heagney’s company also provides detailing services for several local police departments. The business has been built entirely through word-of-mouth referrals and social media engagement.
“We don’t run any paid ads. We’re just pushing out organic content and a lot of these people are loving it. They’re interacting with our videos and we’re gaining hundreds of followers every single day from it.”
As demand has increased, Heagney has expanded from detailing about eight cars a week to roughly 35. The growth has allowed him to invest in a trailer equipped with its own generator and water tank.
“With our setup, we are able to just roll up to a customer’s house with our own generator and water tank.”
The mobile system allows the company to bring its services directly to customers, creating a process that works for both sides. And Heagney says he’s far from finished growing the business.
“I’d love to start another business. Maybe this is just the Kickstarter. This is just for experience until I maybe start something even bigger. But right now, this business is my heart, it’s my soul. And I’ll continue to improve it every single day.”
One of the biggest challenges, Heagney said, is finding employees. The company currently has about a half-dozen workers, all of whom complete a three-week training program designed to ensure every job meets the standards he expects.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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