After Roderick Mosley left prison, he made auto detailing his life’s work. He has now published a book to assist others facing similar situations.
Mosley, the owner of Park Cities Mobile Detail, published The Art and Science of Auto Detailing: The Complete Guide to Professional Car Detailing for Beginners and Pros in July, sharing his expertise from more than 30 years in the industry. He told The Dallas Express he was in prison from 1982 to 1992, following charges of possession of a sawed-off shotgun and a separate robbery case.
“I was hoping that I could get the book, maybe, circulating through the prison system,” Mosley said. “They could look at it and be able to pick up some knowledge, and also relate to the fact that, ‘Hey man, I started where you all were.’”
Mosley’s book teaches everything from proper washing methods to paint corrections to ceramic coatings. It also explains pricing, scaling, and building a customer base. He aims to bring readers “from cleaner … to craftsman.”
Dallas Roots
Mosley grew up in West Dallas, where he lived with his grandmother.
“I actually played tennis, I played basketball, football, and track. I did everything, and I was good,” Mosley said. “We had a Boys Club that was up the street, that kept a lot of us out of trouble.”
In ninth grade, however, his family agreed it would be best for him to move in with his mother, a single mom who worked the night shift.
“When I had to move out of West Dallas to Oak Cliff, it was just really dramatic, because I did not want to go,” Mosley said. “I remember crying, so I did not want to leave.”
He was in ninth grade at the time, which was part of high school in West Dallas. But ninth grade was not part of high school in Oak Cliff, so Mosley had to go back to junior high.
“I was a pretty good athlete, and I was on the basketball team,” Mosley said. “But I was new, and people were trying to make waves.”
One of Mosley’s fellow athletes thought he might take his position, so he began messing with him.
“I finally told him, ‘Look, man, I don’t really want trouble. If you do something else, we’re going to bother,’” Mosley said. “Not two or three minutes later, that’s what happened. I ended up getting in a fight; I got kicked off the team.”
From there, things went downhill, Mosley said. He was living in government housing with his mother at the time, which he said drew in the wrong crowds. Without the basketball team, he lacked guidance.
“You had all the hustlers, they had pimps, the drug users,” Mosley explained. “It was really the gambit. I ended up getting caught up into drugs.”
From that point until age 26, Mosley said, he was “in and out of trouble.” Eventually, he decided he needed to “get out of there.”
Seeking Purpose
Mosley said he tried the Job Corps, which didn’t work out. Eventually, he and some friends heard about a program in the Navy.
In 11th grade, recruiting officers took him and his friends to the Cooke County Junior College in Gainesville, where they got their GEDs. Then, they got their “day-to-day.”
Mosley ended up stationed on a Navy ship harbored in Corpus Christi, but didn’t enjoy the experience. Still, he decided to stick with it – and he and some friends got to know the locals.
“We used to go out and party,” he said. “The women around, they liked us because most of the Navy guys dress real good. You know, just trying to do something with ourselves.”
One night, they were in a club when things took a turn for the worse.
“Next thing we know, some guys come through there and start shooting up the place,” he said. “Just because they were mad about their girls.”
Some of Mosley’s friends already had guns, but after that, he said he bought a shotgun from the pawn shop.
“I cut the shotgun, but I didn’t realize that if you cut it too short, it becomes illegal,” Mosley said.
Legal Trouble
Mosley said he and several guys were in their quarters, smoking, when a Master-at-Arms – the Navy’s equivalent of military police – smelled the smoke and came up to the room.
“Next thing you know, they were cutting locks off everything, and they found the shotgun, even though it was locked up,” Mosley said.
Mosley went to the brig, and the Navy sent him to a psychiatrist who said he “wasn’t military material.” Mosley said the Navy gave him a general discharge.
While he was in the brig, he said federal agents took him and arraigned him for the sawed-off shotgun. For that, Mosley said he was given a three-year sentence, with two and a half years suspended, so he had to serve six months.
Mosley noted that he also had another case for robbery from when he was around 25 years old, so he was sentenced again – this time to 30 years, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years.
He served 10 years in prison before being released on good behavior. Due to technicalities, Mosley said he was on parole for another 20 years.
A Turning Point
During his time in prison, Mosley’s mother died.
“She actually committed suicide while I was locked up,” he said. “She was good; she tried hard.”
The prison wouldn’t permit Mosley to attend his mother’s funeral, even though some of the guards were willing.
“I said to myself, ‘I put myself in a position for that to happen,’” Mosley said. “That’s kind of where I started to just really focus on what to do when I get out.”
Mosley said he went to school and got a degree while in prison, making the Dean’s and President’s List – “I never made a C in college.”
“I actually had been in prison, so I needed to do something different,” Mosley explained. “I just stayed on a positive kick. If I rolled up on y’all at the picnic table, and you weren’t talking positive, I kept it moving.”
Mosley said he tried to find a job, but struggled due to his criminal record – “It’s hard to find a job with an X on your back.” Eventually, he landed a job at a warehouse near I-35 and Belt Line Road.
A New Start
Mosley ran into a friend who asked how he was doing.
“I said, ‘Man, trying to keep my head above ground,’” Mosley replied.
His friend put Mosley in touch with another individual who ran a mobile car wash. That’s when he joined the car cleaning business.
After getting comfortable with the job, Mosley said that he began using his 1982 Chevy Camaro to pull the large equipment trailer with the supplies. He would often work multiple jobs per day.
The owner of the business paid by the hour, but counted each car wash as 30 minutes, according to Mosley. Still, he was grateful for the opportunity, so he kept working there.
Eventually, he said his girlfriend at the time suggested, “Why don’t you start your own?”
Mosley approached a client and pitched his own auto detailing business. He said they loved the idea and gave him a small loan with seed money. With the money, he bought a van and installed a 50-gallon water tank. Mosley said his business took off from there.
Mosley opened Park Cities Mobile Detail in April 1994 and has been president of the business ever since. According to its website, the company now has a fleet of vans, has completed 1,235 projects, and has 8,000 “satisfied clients.”
Mosley expressed his desire to get his book “into the system” to assist individuals like himself, recently incarcerated and striving to turn their lives around. He aims to teach them how to support themselves and discover a sense of purpose.