A year of practice before he ever touched a customer’s car.
Most paintless-dent-repair careers start with a $20–30K classroom course and another $40K in tools. Most of those careers also end inside two years. Mike’s started a different way.
Classroom · then quit
- $20–30K for a one-week classroom course
- ~$40K minimum for a starter toolkit (rods, lights, tabs)
- $50–70K all-in before the first paying job
- Most fizzle out inside two seasons
Apprenticed · paid to learn
- Detailer wage covered him while he trained on the side
- Full year of free practice on customer-disassembled panels
- First solo job summer 2011 — under his mentor’s name
- Nine more years working road jobs before founding his own shop
The difference shows up in the work. There’s no panel Mike hasn’t seen before. There’s no carrier supplement workflow he hasn’t already run. And there’s no tier of dent he hasn’t already walked through with another technician’s hands before his own.
Nineteen years on tools.
- 2007
Detailer · Bennett Infiniti
Bethlehem, PA. First job in the auto industry. Two years detailing trade-ins, watching factory paint disappear under careless bodyshop respray on single dings. Decides early he doesn't want to be on that side of the work.
- 2009
Detailer · Chevy 21 Hellertown
One year. Same role, different lot. Started asking around about the technicians who could pop dings without paint — the guys who left every panel factory-finish.
- 2010
Detail manager · Dick Millham (now Koch 33)
Hecktown Road, Easton. Promoted to detail manager. The job where everything pivoted.
- Summer 2010
The Lehighton hailstorm
Massive hail event hits Lehighton. Mike's employer his mentor — the PDR specialists who got brought in for the storm — takes Mike along. After hours, on his own time, he starts taking cars apart so the techs can work them. Watches every job. Asks every question.
- 2010–2011
A year of free training
"Most people go spend $20-30K to learn what I do. Then they come back, can't afford $40K in tools, and fizzle out." Mike trains for a full year under his mentor — paid as a detailer, learning PDR on the side. Never touches a customer's car solo. Just panels, just practice, every night.
- Summer 2011
First solo job · Millham B Lot
The crew sends him out alone for the first time. The as-is lot at Millham B Lot on Union Boulevard — roughly 50 cars, the dings the dealer doesn't want to send to a body shop. Mike clears them one by one.
- 2011–2020
A decade on the road
Nine years working under his mentor as a road technician. Hail seasons, dealer recon, comp claims, fleet runs. The hands learn what the panel wants. The list of vehicles Mike has worked on grows past 1,000.
- 2020
ARC-Master · Dent Sorcery LLC
Earns the ARC-Master credential by submitted-portfolio review — one of roughly 200 technicians in the active North American network. Founds Dent Sorcery LLC the same year. COVID lockdown that spring; PDR work deemed essential. Solo since.
What ARC-Master actually means.
ARC-Master is the top tier of the PDR trade’s formal credentialing system. The credentialing body looks at your portfolio of work — detailed before/after photos — and calls around to other technicians in the network to verify the work was actually yours.
A couple thousand technicians are out there globally calling themselves PDR-capable. Roughly 200 are actually in the active ARC network. Mike earned his by submitted portfolio in 2020 — after a decade on tools, never trained in front of anyone for the cert itself.
It’s the difference between a guy who took a weekend course and a tradesman.
The hand at the rod is the hand that quotes the car.
Text Mike a photo. He answers personally. Written quote within 24–48 hours.
“If I can fix it, I make it factory. If I can’t, I’ll tell you on the spot — I’d rather lose the job than sell you a half-fix.”
- Free quote within 24–48 hours
- Walk every panel before keys back
- No paint · no filler
- Mobile or shop · 30 mi from Bethlehem