Repainted: From fear to drive

From a young age, Michelle Weis had a paintbrush in her hand.

After an unstable upbringing as the daughter of an alcoholic, the paintbrush was more than an artistic tool. It was her escape to a world that offered much more stability than what she was experiencing.

As canvases changed at the stroke of a brush piloted by Weis, little did she know how much the bristles would change the canvas of her own life.

Corporate Cage

While art was Weis' passion, fear became her primary motivation. 

"I'd been programmed since I was a kid, responsible adults don't quit their jobs, artists don't make money," Weis said. 

Begrudgingly, Weis went to work as a bank teller. After a successful start and several promotions, she found herself in a role investigating fraud and exceeding her superior's expectations. However, buyouts, layoffs and department changes eventually became the reality of her work environment. 

"It really started to feel more like a prison. I was a little artist in a beige box. I was not happy. I was not happy at all," Weis said. 

No matter how much she wanted to escape the "box," she couldn't allow herself to leave. She did face-painting on the side but had children to feed. Quitting her job would seemingly reject everything she'd been taught to tell herself about responsibility. 

"'You need to work here. You need to have a grown-up job.' I needed something to give because I couldn't walk away because that's not what good moms do," Weis said. 

In 2016, Weis' position fell victim to changes in the corporate environment when her entire department was let go. While many were upset at their dismissal, Weis said that she felt it was more of a liberation. 

"I was like, 'this is the best day of my life,'" Weis said. "I was like 'I hope I never have to do that again.' So, I went and got a big tattoo on my arm, so I'd never go back to corporate America."

Frozen Start

What initially felt like a fresh start was quickly overshadowed by debilitating discouragement and paralyzing fear. 

"There's nothing like going to the unemployment office for somebody who's always had two to three jobs," Weis said. 

Weis said she picked up several painting gigs, including a makeup artist job for a Nicholas Cage film. As she worked these jobs to pay her bills, she said that she found herself trapped in a cycle of self-disappointment.

"It was just a lot of 'I'm not good enough, I didn't you know go to college, I didn't do the right thing, I didn't do what my parents told me to do,'" Weis said. 

Making a Move

Weis eventually began working with her fiancé at a local auto body shop. The work environment was a welcome change, she said. She said she was able to do the artistic work she truly loved. One of the employees also intrigued her. 

"I saw this girl painter. I never thought of a girl painter," Weis said. "It’s so silly to me now. It’s just not understanding that women have been doing this since the ‘60s.”

According to a 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, women account for only 6.8% of all automotive body and related repairers. Now Weis was a part of that field and enjoying it. 

As she picked up a brush and painted, she increasingly took on more responsibility. She gave credit to the shop owner for giving her the opportunity to grow.

After building on her bodywork skills, she said that the business she was working for began to change and eventually, she and her fiancé had to look for a different job. 

In a moment of what Weis called "reckless optimism," she thought starting her own auto body shop would be the best option. 

“I went ‘Let's just start our own,’ Weis said.  “So naive was I.”

On her own

In August of 2019, after signing a lease, getting everything up to code and deciding on a name, “444 Auto Body and Customs” was in business and Weis was at the helm.

At first, Weis said they did everything they could to stay afloat and make a name for themselves. She joked a recent redo of the medians on the adjacent Dixie Highway kept them in business. 

“Nobody knew how to function around those … everyone was hitting each other on the quarter panel,” Weis said. 

Work was repeated repairs until a 1965 Mustang rolled up to the shop one day. That car became her first "old school" paint job. 

“That was a lot more fun for me because I got to tap back into the art part,” Weis said. “We did pretty good at first.”

She said that while she has had men who’ve supported her countless times, she can recall numerous incidents where disparaging remarks have been made towards her because she is a woman. 

“There's a lot of rejection in this business, especially as a female. I learned that the hard way,” Weis said. 

Robbed of almost everything 

Just months after opening the shop and while still building name recognition, Weis received a concerning call from a customer. The customer informed her the gate encircling the shop was open. 

Pulling into the gravel driveway, she quickly realized her day off would be the start of a daunting task: putting the pieces of the business she tirelessly built back together. 

After an uptick in crime and limited law enforcement patrol, it became clear that Weis' business was robbed on May 8, 2020.

A hole in the side of the building was a remnant of the unknown thieves who took more than $40,000 worth of tools. Shelves were empty, the building was damaged and even the electric meter was missing. 

“I remember walking in here and just being gutted. It was horrendous,” Weis said.

Tools that had been in the family for generations were gone. She had just bought better paint guns that were now in the possession of unknown larcenists.

Weis' whole life savings, which she had relentlessly invested into her shop over the past few months, seemingly vanished in a matter of hours. 

Since the business was a startup, insurance policies with more extensive coverage were not an option for Weis' business. Therefore, the business's insurance policy did not cover what was stolen. 

However, no matter what the thief stole from her shop that day, she vowed not to allow anyone to take away her drive. For Weis, there was no plan B. 

“If you take the island, you burn the boats,” Weis said. 

Rebuilding

“I looked at him [Weis' fiancé] and said, 'There is no way I am shutting these doors,'” Weis said. 

Thanks to friends, family and the community, she didn’t have to.

While Weis struggled to pay her bills and provide for her kids, local auto body shops donated supplies, GoFundMe contributions started to roll in and the nearby Southeast Christian Church offered to pay her mortgage for a month. Customers also brought in tools as business slowly returned. 

Over a year after being robbed, one of Weis' vehicles was picked to be showcased in the Elite Builder’s Circle at the Street Rod Nationals. That same truck was also chosen to be a display vehicle at the Specialty Equipment Market Association’s (SEMA) annual conference in Las Vegas which features the latest custom vehicle trends. 

Facing Fear

Weis described owning her shop as the hardest thing she has ever done in her life. Having to be the marketer, bookkeeper, painter, estimator and social media manager made the journey somewhat of a roller coaster, she said.

“One day you're like, ‘Heck yeah, we should have done this sooner,’ and then two days later you're going. ‘This is so hard, I just want a paycheck,'” Weis said. 

Weis says she still has to face her fears every day, but she doesn’t allow them to hold her back anymore. 

“Just know you’re going to fail, but you only completely fail when you stop trying,” Weis said.