Area teen is running his own business in Altoona

Published: May. 25, 2022 at 10:29 PM CDT

ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU) -One area student, who hasn’t even finished high school yet, is turning his passion into a business.

For Isaiah Prince, it’s all about the details. He’s been detailing cars in his spare time since middle school.

This year he took that hobby and made it an official business.

Tucked behind the Otter Creek Inn Bed and Breakfast in Altoona sits a 16-car-garage. Years ago it was a space to clean limos. Now it’s finding new life.

Isaiah Prince of Bloomer is the owner of Elta Detailing. He’s also a soon-to-be Altoona High School senior.

He said his interest in cleaning cars began in middle school after he went to work with his Mom.

“I actually helped them detail cars that day and kind of after that every spare minute I had I was pretty much there helping detail cars, clean them out,” Prince said. “I started doing actual details after a while.”

This year Prince decided to take the next step, turning his skill for detailing into an actual business registered with the state.

When he first started, he didn’t have a brick-and-mortar space until he met Lindsey Wilson who knows what it takes to run a business.

“I was scrolling through Facebook and an ad had come out for Elta Detailing, so I messaged Isaiah, and he actually came to my house and detailed my car,” Wilson said. “He shows up, gets out of his car as a teenager, and I was like this is awesome.”

As a young entrepreneur herself, Wilson talked with her business partner Riah Finch about helping Prince.

They decided to offer him the garage behind their business, Otter Creek Inn Bed and Breakfast, in exchange for some help around their B&B.

“He came in-- he immediately started getting this space beautified again, put back together and alive,” said Riah Finch.

With this garage, Prince has a place for customers to wait as he cleans every inch of their cars.

“I really like to take before and after pictures of the cars, so then I see the before picture, and I see the after picture,” Prince said. “It’s just really rewarding to see how it came and then the customers smile when they see how clean the car actually is.”

Prince said in the end, all the hours of work is worth it.

He already has plans to expand. He’s hoping to hire six people to work at Elta Detailing.

Next month he’s also rolling out an express version of his service that will be faster and at a lower cost than a full detailing.

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