On a sunny day in Dallas’ warehouse district, Roderick Mosley pulls up to his newly acquired shop in his two-seater, convertible Mercedes. As he finishes a phone call, we joke about the current Mercury Retrograde that allegedly causes technology and systems to go haywire; then, we head inside to discuss his newest business venture.
Once inside the building, it is evident that construction is still taking place, so we settle at his desk nestled in the corner. As the owner of Park Cities Mobile Detail, Mosley has risen through the business ranks, starting with the foundation laid out by his grandmother, who often cared for him and took him on her cleaning jobs. He says it was her that instilled in him his current work ethic and drive.
Mosley pauses as he recalls the words his grandmother would say to him, “If you’re not going to do it right, what’s the point in doing it at all… you’re just wasting your time.” Mosley took her wise advice and applied it to his car detail business. His dedication to doing things right has earned him longtime clients, some of whom are the presidents, vice presidents, and CEOs of major companies.
The success, however, didn’t happen overnight for Mosley.
Mosley worked odd jobs until a close friend reunited him with Johnny Currie, a childhood friend with whom Mosley had shared many a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Currie gave Mosley a job working with his car detail company. At the time, Mosley owned a 1982 Camaro that he used to pull a huge trailer and an even bigger water tank.
“I hated it; he would rush through the detailing,” said Mosley, explaining that Currie would make an hour job into thirty minutes so he wouldn’t have to pay Mosley as much.
His Camaro’s firewall was damaged in the process, causing him to have to crawl under the car to shift the car into gear, making his trips to see clients even harder. “I would come home mad and ready to fight,” laughs Mosley.
It was then that his girlfriend at the time suggested that he get his own detailing business. Though he had never previously considered owning a business, Mosley took the suggestion seriously. He drew up a business plan that required a $2,500 investment and showed the plan to one of his clients.
The client, who owned a brokerage firm, loaned Mosley the money and, upon repayment, dismissed the interest. Mosley was shocked to be given such a break.
“[I asked him,] ‘Why did you give me the money? Y’all did not ask me for my identification card or anything’… and he said, ‘We knew you were hard-working because sometimes you would be out in 100-degree weather, and sometimes it’s freezing, and you would [still] work.’ That was in 1994, and now I have five [mobile] vans and several employees. If people honestly believe in themselves, they have a good product, and they find [themselves] a niche, it’s impossible, especially in Texas, to fail. You can do almost anything [here] and start a business,” says Mosley.
When asked if he had any hesitation or doubts about asking for funding, Mosley confidently says, “I was not raised to have any doubts. I have always believed that if I put my mind to it, I can do it, and generally, I do it.”
Mosley’s confidence is subtle, and his demeanor displays humility. While bringing up the Golden Rule — ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ — Mosley chuckles, saying, “I would say do them a little bit better because you never know, you may have low standards about yourself.”
With his soft-spoken tone, Mosley has a knack for making entrepreneurship sound easy, but he learned from some of the best in the business, including Just Brakes founder Bennett Cloud, who taught him how to expand his business.
“You would be surprised by how many people will help you if you just ask,” shares Mosley.
When asked about the pitfalls of business, Mosley suggests avoiding them by “studying where you have the best opportunity, and have your business together. If you’re servicing an area, you want to make sure you are in the area you are servicing.”
Mosley also makes it a point to stress that having a good product or service, and being dedicated to building the business are imperative. “It is not always going to be gravy,” he warns. “You are going to have to work from nine to nine. You are going to have to decide, ‘What’s most important, my everyday life or getting the business up and running?'”
Mosley took a trip to Mexico in early 2020, which he likely planned through his travel agent website, Great Price Travels (this man is truly always working). He returned intent on expanding his business further, but then, the pandemic struck. Business screeched to a halt for Mosley for three weeks at the onset of lockdowns.
He received no calls for quite some time, but when the business eventually picked back up, he was able to purchase three new business vehicles. “Just because we had COVID-19 going on doesn’t mean you stop believing in your dream,” he says optimistically.
That same optimism is what has pushed him to grow bigger and venture into the next incarnation of his business. Now that Park Cities Mobile Detail has become self-sustaining, Mosley has launched RestorFX North Dallas, becoming a franchise owner for the automotive refinishing system.
“I was intrigued by the product while attending a trade show in Las Vegas,” says Mosley. He is licensed to sell RestorFX and now works with several North Dallas dealerships helping them restore the paint on their used cars to pristine condition.
“I take the same pride in this new company as I have with Park Cities Mobile Detail…I plan bigger…you [have] got to grow, and a lot of people are not looking at new innovations. I am never going to know everything about a car because they are always coming up with something new,” he shares.
Not to worry. If he doesn’t know something, there’s always YouTube. “The information is almost always there…if you do not know something, just go there and get it,” Mosley says.
While sitting with Mosley, it is evident that his mind never stops; he’s present yet focused on what is next. When asked what things look like for him five to ten years down the road, Mosley pauses to ponder. “I’ve got to teach [the trade],” says Mosley, who explains he suffers from back pain due to his twenty-eight years in the business. “I am not going to live forever,” he laughs.
As his contagious laugh fills the room, we discuss his favorite car, the infamous Rolls-Royce, which Mosley says has “a ride so smooth that you feel like you are floating.”
He ends the conversation with his most pertinent piece of advice for business and for life: “Don’t sweat the small stuff. Of course, you have to be detailed about your business, but never make your employees feel bad about themselves at any time. Be careful how you talk to people, offer good incentives for them to do better. You would be surprised how far they will take you.”
