Day Job/Night Job
Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.
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Painter/Car Restorer Miguel Perez Produces a Podcast and Creates a Brand Many painters are content when on one particular vehicle for several they’re able to get their work done years, he said. on time while keeping the quality “My brother’s 1989 BMW Gary Wickertblew up, so I took it to school and high, but that’swith just the beginning for Miguel Perez, head painter and we worked on it there. We thought manager at Extreme Paint Shop, a that we were doing an awesome job, division of Extreme Performance in but when I look at that project now, I have to laugh. It shows how far I’ve South Florida. While running a paint crew come and how much I’ve improved and working on some of the world’s my skills and processes over the years.” most unique andwith expensive vehicles, Stacey Phillips Perez has created a large following After graduating from high of painters, metal shapers/fabrica- school, Perez took a year off to regtors and other collision repair and roup and figure out his next move. Then he enrolled at WyoTech, majoring in collision refinishing with a minor in with Stacey Phillips metal fabrication. It was a good experience where he learned more, but he also realized school is only a platform and not just a ticket to employment. “Some people graduate with Stacey Phillips from WyoTech and think they’re going to enter the industry as a tech or a painter,” Perez said. “But the reality is that they’re goMiguel Perez, head painter and manager at Extreme Paint ing to start at an entry level Shop in South Florida during the day, hosts a podcast at and it might take five to 10 with Stacey Phillips night years to get to where you automotive restoration professionals think you want to be. I tell people worldwide with podcasts, merchan- that school gives you the basics and dising and videos. builds a foundation, but it’s only the His brand is Refinisher Porn (@ beginning.” refinisherporn on Instagram) and his Refinisher Porn is a brand that with Stacey Phillips merchandising company is Refinish can relate to any refinish techniciKulture (@refinishkulture), and cur- an in the world, not only those in rently more than 100,000 followers North America. It’s also not limited have joined the network. to painting automobiles either, Perez Perez, 34, began his career in said. paint/restoration as a teenager, whe- “It can be cars, trucks, boats, re he was exposed working on planes―anything that moves and withtoVictoria Antonelli cars and boats. can be custom painted is on our list. “My dad retired from the Coast We’re a strong and very connected Guard and he started a boat restora- group because we share the same tion business called Marine Perfec- goals and dreams. I use Refinisher tion,” he said. “I was working the- Porn to showcase work that has re after school and I learned a lot. been done by some of the finest rewith Victoria Antonelli Restoring boats helped me with my finishers on the planet. They value abilities, but working on cars was the feedback and we often discuss where I wanted to be.” things like processes, paint, tools While attending Martin Coun- and equipment to do a better job ty High School in Stuart, FL, Perez and create an amazing product every took auto tech classes and worked time.”
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Perez is a busy man, as the head of the paint department at Extreme Performance, a huge operation in
as one of the top custom shops in the U.S., and if you’ve ever attended a SEMA show, you’ve seen more than a few of their game changing creations. Perez was on teams that played roles in restoring vehicles for Michael Jordan, Vanilla Ice and actor/ comic/podcaster Joe Rogan, who inspired Perez to eventually produce a series of podcasts himself. But despite all of the work this busy shop generates, Perez still finds time to When he’s not in a paint booth or doing metal work, Perez manage his popular Instagshares ideas, photos and short videos with a huge network ram account while creating he created six years ago on @RefinisherPorn mega-cool T-shirts, hoodies Palm City, FL, that employs more and other products emblazoned with than 30 people in several buildings his Refinish Kulture logo, available equaling in excess of 66,000 square at www.refinisherporn.bigcartel.com. To interact with his Instagram feet. Extreme Performance is known followers, many of whom are con-
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