Francisco was born in Leon, Nicaragua. After losing his father at age 4, and then his mother a few years later, Francisco made the decision to move to the United States with his two siblings. With the memory of his mother struggling financially, he focused on becoming financially stable for himself and his family. In 1997, he was the sole proprietor of his business, then incorporated in 2005. After receiving an associate degree in business administration, Francisco acquired the California state license for window covering contractor. That license helped him grow the business and his company now works on large commercial jobs throughout Southern California. After many struggles, Francisco finally became a U.S. citizen in 2015. He has a beautiful wife and two wonderful children. His mother’s dream for her children has come to fruition!
This is the first year that Doug Lucas is competing in the International Window Film Conference Tint-Off, telling us, “I love pushing myself to new heights and finding new ways to challenge myself. I’m looking forward to testing my skills in this competition.” Doug started tinting at the age of 15. In 2003, he had an interesting experience: a friend bet him that he couldn’t tint a Dodge Ram while blindfolded. While the bet seemed silly to Doug, he was intrigued to see how well he could perform his job without sight. When he saw the result, it made him realize how well he really knew his job! After 25 years, Doug has the same level of passion as he did on Day 1, stating, “While I take my work seriously, I also love life, and I love that my work is genuinely part of who I am.”
Hau has been in the window film industry for 21 years. He started in Clearwater, FL, after his cousin, who owned a tint shop, asked him if he wanted a part-time job. After Hau gained some installation experience, he travelled throughout Florida installing window film. After graduating college, Hau moved to Kansas, and now works at Midwest Tinting in Overland Park, KS. His favorite type of installation is architectural window film.
At age 21, Jerry was working for a local dealership cleaning cars. He used to watch the window tint installer and became quite interested in the work. One day, Jerry asked the installer whether he would teach him, and he has been installing window film ever since! When paint protection film began gaining popularity, he decided to add that to his skillset. Although still mastering his technique, Jerry has become quite an expert installing PPF. In addition to the WFCT auto division, Jerry will represent Madico in the PPF competition.
Rest began his tinting career in 1988 with Solar Window Tinting, located in Sydney, Australia. He initially wanted to learn so he could tint his own car, but then he realized that it could be his career. Rest worked for Solar Window Tinting for four years and then moved to California to open his own shop. He now works there with his daughter, Vess, another contestant in this year’s competition. Rest plays tennis in his spare time. Rest’s wife, Rosemia Tiglao, was the grand prize winner of a Ford F-150 at last year’s WFCT
Tony started tinting windows in August 1999. He started with Madico window tint, which he still uses to this day. Now that is a loyal customer! Tony says he was a troubled youth and wanted to turn his life around. He looked to what he loved, which was aftermarket accessories for cars. He was so anxious to change his life, he used to do tint jobs everywhere and anywhere. In 2003, Tony started his business, Mobile Audio & Security. Today, they are Tony’s Auto Salon, having incorporated more products than car audio and tint. Tony humbly told us, “I wouldn’t call myself a jack of all trades, but master enough to do it professionally and make money.” His company’s next step is to open a training facility for aftermarket installations, offering classes on different services for vehicles. Tony says his goal is to build a workforce in the aftermarket industry. In addition to competing in all three divisions of the WFCTs competitions, you will find Tony performing Protekt PPF demos at the Madico booth, #500.
Vess started helping her dad, Rest Tiglao, in his window tinting shop when she was 11 years old. In the beginning she was only allowed to clean the windows, but little by little she started to ease her way into window film installations. She began by tinting the small quarter windows. By the time she was 14, she was able to tint an entire car. Vess worked with her father every Saturday and during summer break. Her goal was to buy the new Jordan shoes every time they came out. Vess has had a few experiences with customers that want to buy pre-cut film, thinking that it’s easy to install because they’ve seen it done on YouTube. Most of them come back because they couldn’t do it. Her tip to those customers: you can try to save money by doing it yourself, but in the long run, you end up spending more. She recommends getting it done right the first time. Vess enjoys playing basketball and relieves stress by working out at the gym.
Learning to tint at his dad’s tinting company, SunSafe Window Tinting, Caleb spent 5 years training new installers. In 1999, Caleb started at Midwest Tinting in Overland Park, Kansas, where you can now find him. Caleb is one out of only 26 installers in the U.S. who has achieved Master Accreditation through the International Window Film Association (IWFA). Some of you may remember Caleb from his heroic competing in 2018! After breaking his jaw in a scooter accident, Caleb spent a grueling night in the hospital getting his jaw wired shut. Named as a finalist in the Automotive division, he was determined to not miss the last day of competing; he showed up, a little worse for wear, but still able to compete! According to Caleb “That was the toughest thing I have ever done.”