Tinkering Belles with Tamara Robertson

Tinkering Belles - Keaton - Great Race Edition

• Tamara Robertson • Season 3 • Episode 35

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Do you love entrepreneurship, road rally racing, custom paint jobs and general Maker Shop Talk? 

If so, join Tamara Robertson (Mythbusters, Seekers of Science) as she revs up the fun in this all new mini-season dedicated to the Hemming's Great Race and the amazing team of Trailblazing Creators assembled by Riley's Rebuilds!

As a shout-out to Race Sponsor TechForce Foundation, this episode kicks off with a Tech Talk about Tech School before Tamara sits down with award winning painter, Trailblazer and Maker Extraordinaire Keaton ( @crazy.k.kustomz )!

Topics they cover include (but are surely not limited to):

- Tech School

- TechForce Foundation

- Vintage Fridges

- 1985 CJ7

- K-Tech Trade School

- Custom Paintings

- Entrepreneurship

- Shout Out Steel Structures of America

- Pantone's and Color Theory

- Ironhead Chopper

- Custom Phone Cases

- The Hemming's Great Race

- #CreatorRace Team

- Keaton's Advice for Custom Painters

- Riley from Riley's Rebuilds

- Skills USA

- Shout Out Eddie from AMD

- The Jessi Combs Foundation

- Shout Out Real Deal Revolution

- Being a Trailblazer 

- Custom Helmets

- SEMA Bound

- Filigree Art

- Silversmithing

.. and so much more

As we dig into Season 3's 35th episode of Tinkering Belles you're surely not going to want to miss it!

So join in on Tamara's adventure as a Maker as she works to amplify the BAMF Females Behind the Builds one interview at a time! 
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If you enjoyed the show join in on the Maker adventure with Tamara and her guests on the Tinkering Belles Instagram page.

You can follow Keaton's adventures here, here, and here: 

Website - https://www.crazykkustomz.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/crazy.k.kustomz/

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@crazykaysgarage

Music for this Episode was provided by Bill Trowell Music.  Visit BillTrowellMusic.com to hear more and to subscribe to Bill's Patreon, where he covers favorite showtunes, movie themes, classic rock and jazz, as well as requests from Patron's. 

Support the show

Tamara Robertson:

Greetings, shopmates, and welcome to Tinkering Belles, a show about DIY, design, and all things hands-on. The sky's the limit as we talk props, metalwork, cosplay, woodwork, leather, electronics, and so much more. I'm Tamara Robertson, your host, so strap on your tool belts because we're about to get into some skill sharing, y'all.

Tamara Robertson:

Today I'm going to be joined by a maker who is running a premier custom paint brand. I don't want to give away too much, but this maker turned her senior project into an award-winning business at 19. So if that doesn't make you want to stick around and hear more, then you might be at the wrong podcast.

Tamara Robertson:

But first, let's go ahead and have our tech talk of the day. So we're going to be talking all about the Hemming's Great Race and the people who invest in the next generation of skilled trades. That includes the Tech Force Foundation, who awarded our lead builder, Riley, of Riley Rebuilds, a scholarship and continues to support technicians through education, events, and hands-on training. So let's back it up. Where did technical training as we know it get its start?

Tamara Robertson:

Vocational education in the U.S. formally began in the early 1900s, as the rise of industrial jobs demanded skilled workers, especially in automotive, welding, and mechanical trades. The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was the first federal-funded law for trade schools, setting the groundwork for modern technical education. Today, technical schools offer certifications and two-year degrees in high-demand fields like auto tech, aviation, maintenance, electrical work, and diesel mechanics. Organizations like TechForce Foundation not only fund education but also build community through events, mentor networks, and career pipelines that elevate technicians as professionals, not Plan B options. With the national technical shortage projected into hundreds of thousands, groups like TechForce are on the front lines keeping our industry alive and evolving. Well, that's it for your Tech Talk. As always, you can join in on the conversation with my maker friends and me on the Tinkering Bells Instagram and X pages. Just search for Bells Tinkering, hit follow, and share your DIY adventures together with us. Have a tool you want to learn about? Let me know, and it may be featured in a future episode. Tell us what you liked, what you hated, or possibly even what we missed.

Tamara Robertson:

So now we're going to be getting into the main event, and I'm so excited to introduce you to our next maker. So drum roll, please. Presenting Keaton. Keaton, thanks for joining me. How are you?

Keaton:

Good. How are you?

Tamara Robertson:

I'm good. So I like to start the episodes by letting people know where to find you, follow you, and to give them a little hint of what they'll see when they go there

Keaton:

Okay. So my Instagram is crazy.k.kustomz. And kustomz starts with a K and ends with a Z. Kind of a tongue twister. But I do automotive custom paint on pretty much anything from... helmets, motorcycles, even vintage refrigerators. And I do anything from lowrider style, flames, metal flake, pinstriping, anything you can think of.

Tamara Robertson:

That's pretty epic. I actually, I have a retro fridge, one of the galantz, like baby blues. So we might have to talk about like a collab here at some point.

Keaton:

Yeah, right? I could put some polka dots on

Tamara Robertson:

Now that speaks to my heart. I like that. Okay, okay. So we got to meet on The Great Race, which we'll get all into in a minute. But as a superhero scientist, I'm really into people's origin stories. So while I've gotten to know you a little bit, I'd love for the audience to hear your gearhead origin story. What got you started and what keeps you in it today?

Keaton:

So actually, when I first started driving, I was really into kind of older square ball and I convinced my parents to let me buy a 1987 Chevy square body. My dad had a 85 CJ7 that He kind of built with his buddies to go wheeling, and when I was younger, I kind of helped him, but they said if I save up the money, then I can go get it, and they were pretty against it at first, but that was my very first truck, which was probably a bad idea for gas mileage-wise, but I bought that, and then I was in an automotive trade class in high school before I moved over to Idaho, so I was in Washington, and the whole COVID thing was just really bad so we actually ended up moving to Idaho sooner and I was able to get into the trade school halfway through the year here called K-Tech and it's another trade school for high schoolers juniors and seniors only and I was in the automotive painting class and the first week after break when I first showed up they were in their custom paint course and I painted this flamed out lace fender with like marbled candy all over and it was the first thing I ever held a spray gun like painting or anything and it was so much fun and I just had a blast and my teacher kind of let me start messing around with a bunch of different things and I actually painted my first motorcycle in school there and from then on I was just hooked and I just I Painted a bunch of stuff all the time. I was painting inside of school and out. And then I bought another truck. It's a 1990 first gen Dodge. And I did all the bodywork in a storage unit. And my senior year, the college teacher actually let me paint it in their big fancy booth. And so I decided to try gold leaf on it for the first time, which was also a bad idea, but it turned out pretty all right for my first time, which now I'm lot better at it and I just kept painting and I loved it and I knew that it was what I wanted to do and it was weird because I never thought that it would be something that I would be doing I've always been kind of an entrepreneur growing up I used to sew blankets and sell them to my parents friends but right out of high school I I actually had my LLC before I graduated and then right when I graduated I got this 25 by 25 barn and the guys who owned it they own a company called Steel Structures of America and it was kind of just an extra little shop they had laying around and so they rented it to me for $10 a month so that I could get started and I pretty much worked out of that for a year and then I grew out of it and now I'm in a pretty decent sized shop with a paint booth and I'm still kicking along and I just absolutely love the custom stuff and just being able to be creative and it's so much fun. What a journey that is, dude.

Tamara Robertson:

That's really, really cool that you had your LLC before you even graduated. Do you have like a favorite Pantone? Like, do you have like your colors? Like as a custom painter, I'm sure you have to use everyone else's colors, but do you have like the ones that you're like, oh yeah, those are my favorite types to use?

Keaton:

Yeah. So for a while, so I actually had a 1974 Ironhead chopper that was my first motorcycle, but I actually sold it a few months ago and, um, I painted it like these really pretty like oranges. So I did orange, red and yellow and it was kind of like a retro style paint job on it. And I just absolutely love those colors together. Um, I really like the red tones and the oranges. At first, I was really into the turquoise and like hot pink, which I still love. But I think I'm kind of leaning more towards the orange because not a lot of people do it. But I don't know. I like them all. In the end, I'm just like, it just turns out to be so pretty. And I just want to keep everything I paint.

Tamara Robertson:

I bet that is hard letting it go. Like, obviously, we were on the Great Race and Part of what ended up happening while we were there was you actually bet a Crazy K kustomz phone case, but what led to that adventure? The audience, remember, there is video for this, there are show notes, there are pictures, and Keaton is showing an incredible case right now, so you guys are definitely going to want to head over to the show notes, check out those pictures, check out those links. But yeah, what led to those?

Keaton:

So I think I actually saw someone painting like a little pocket mirror, like one of those little makeup pocket mirrors. And I was like, huh, like that's kind of cool. And I was just thinking around on Amazon one time and I saw a these sublimation phone cases and it's pretty much like a phone case except it comes with like an aluminum back and then it has like a sticky back on it and so the aluminum is like separated until you're ready to stick it to it so i can just paint the case and then stick it to the case itself and then it's done and i just i don't know it was kind of fun and i threw it out there and i sold quite a few of them and then i did a big drop And I sold about 24 of them at like 100 bucks a piece. And then I'm in the middle of another drop right now. But yeah, they're just kind of fun and easy and something that people can buy that want something custom painted, but can't really spend the money for it

Tamara Robertson:

That's pretty cool. I like it. So you're making custom paint jobs a little bit more approachable for the general audience, love that. And so we did, we got our start together on the great race. I got to meet you there and I have to ask, did you know about the great race or vintage road rallies before we got, you know, the bat signal call from Riley to join?

Keaton:

I kind of knew it was a thing, but I didn't know about the great race specifically. And then when I got added to the group chat, I did a little more research and I was like, I'm definitely doing this. Honestly, I wasn't really going much for the race. I think I was going more just to meet all of the like-minded women that we met. And I think that that was, you know, the main thing that I took from it too.

Tamara Robertson:

Amazing. So we all got to be a part of the creator race group and we each brought our own little spin to how we were sharing this vintage road rally with our audiences. Can you share with the audience here how you chose to share the adventure of the great race with people

Keaton:

so I posted some reels on my Instagram and stuff and I'm kind of working on a YouTube video right now my YouTube's definitely a lot newer but I'm gonna start posting more you know custom painting stuff and then also stuff about first gen dodges. And I'll probably post a video kind of a little recap of the great race as well

Tamara Robertson:

Nice. Yeah, I definitely have been doing obviously the podcast side, which everyone hopefully has been listening to all these incredible trailblazers that we had along on the team. But I too am like I have the one really big fail day that we had with the fair lane where it was like we couldn't get past even a quarter mile at a time. We want to like put that in into some kind of format but of course I shot it vertically so I'm like make a whole YouTube video out of vertical but it's like I have these amazing explainer moments from all the ladies about the different functional failures that we were facing so I feel like I don't want to take the audio off but I'm like oh I should have just shot horizontal you know live learn you know get lots so I Hindsight is 20-20, right? So if you could go back and share any of the lessons learned along the great race with yourself prior to the race to be able to give you a little bit of a home field advantage, what pointers would you give yourself?

Keaton:

I don't know. It was kind of fun going into it, not really knowing what you're getting into. So I don't know. I had so much fun just learning as we went with everyone because nobody really knew anything about the navigating or anything like that. But we had Audrey who learned that really quickly, so that was nice. But I think it was just awesome going in and not knowing anything about it. So I would definitely do that again. unless I was really going to compete, then I would probably do a lot more research on the navigation side.

Tamara Robertson:

I hear that. I probably would want to maybe see the car beforehand, mostly just to make sure I knew the stopping and starting distances before actually being on the race, but I liked it a lot. Is there pointers then that you would give someone that was looking into getting into custom painting for the first time?

Keaton:

I would definitely say... learn the basics first because there is a lot painting that people don't understand and you need to know the basics before you start doing anything custom because there's so much about like sanding grits like different materials that you spray with like mixing ratios like there is like I could go on and on and on about all the different things about just the basics so I'd say definitely learn the basics first. And then once you got the basics down, just wing it and just, you know, make whatever you want.

Tamara Robertson:

so I have to ask as someone that has no background at all in painting, when you say the basics, are we talking like color theory? Are we talking material prep? All? Do they need all those basics?

Keaton:

Color theory is, I mean, it really depends. If you're going into a body shop, then yes, but mainly just how to prep everything correctly because that's a huge thing. There's certain primers that aren't direct-to-metal primers, and if you put it on bare metal, it could start rusting because it doesn't have corrosion resistance. Knowing the certain grits to prep with... certain like when you're sanding your primer for your final time you want to sand and you know probably 400 to 600 before you base and especially if you're doing a metallic you're going to want to seal it beforehand like mainly all the basics on just how to paint something alone like take it from bare metal and bring it up into clear coat and once you've got that down then you can pretty much go crazy from there That's a really great explanation.

Tamara Robertson:

Thank you for educating me and letting me learn along our journey. And so I like to joke that we were, you know, assembled right by Riley from Riley's Rebuilds. And so I asked each of the racers, like, what's your Riley story? How did you first meet Riley?

Keaton:

So I actually went to SkillsUSA. So it is a... competition that is national for the trades, and I won Idaho State for automotive refinishing, and so I went down to Atlanta, Georgia, and I actually met Eddie from AMD, Automobile Direct, which was one of our sponsors, and he was really impressed with me. I got fourth in the competition, and he was hanging around the SADA booth, And I met him over there and he said he was watching me and he wanted to do a little interview. So I did a little interview with him and then he told me that I should look up Riley's Rebuilds. He's like, oh, she's another young girl who has a business. I was like, oh, that's awesome. So I followed her and I think I texted her once and we kind of just have been, you know, following each other ever since and keeping in touch. And then I got added to the Great Race group chat. And that was the first time I met her was on the Great Race. Oh, nice.

Tamara Robertson:

Awesome. I had met her one other time at SEMA, but then kind of the same thing, just following and seeing the adventures that she was on. So I definitely have just enjoyed all of the incredible trailblazing ladies that were thrown into that hodgepodge of a group, and then especially the 10 of us that ended up being the mains and getting to know each other better. That was like, it was just such a cool, like short stint of days. I wish we had longer, but also it's nice to get some sleep. We had the opportunity with the great race to follow in some pretty historic tired treads of Jesse Combs. And so we had our charity sponsor being the Jesse Combs foundation. And so I also like to ask everyone's Jesse story. Had you ever had a chance to meet her or were you a of her before the race?

Keaton:

I was aware of her. I never got to meet her. I always kind of heard about the Jesse Combs Foundation. But honestly, it really brought me closer to the meaning of everything on the Great Race. Just being there and every single stop, like all the women and young girls and everyone who just came up to us, like, And they all knew it was us because we were wearing the bandanas and it was just awesome. Everyone following along with us and I'm sure we inspired a lot of people.

Tamara Robertson:

Yeah, I have a really great photo of you with the little blonde haired girls as we crossed the final finish line. And she had her little bandana on and you had yours and it was just so cute. And you know, we talk about... how the bandana literally becomes that handshake moment that Jessie was so well known for. She was so great at connecting the proverbial dots between incredible women that were doing empowering things. And so we tell people, if you see a polka dot bandana, go over and meet that person because they probably have a story about what they're doing in their lives to empower others, to inspire others. And so one of the words that we use a lot lot in the foundation is Trailblazer, but we don't use it willy nilly. It usually takes young women that are the real deal, like, you know, Teresa from Real Deal, that was Jesse's very first nonprofit and art sister organization for the foundation. And I've been wondering, like, as I talk to each of you all, like, you all are trailblazing and your own areas and the niches that you're in. Had you ever thought of yourself as a trailblazer before this ride? And is there anything that that kind of imparted for you moving forward?

Keaton:

Yeah, definitely. I kind of, you know, just through my social media, I've gotten so many messages from just other young girls, like, either asking for advice on getting into the industry. And I know there's so many messages that I probably haven't even seen or been able to reply to. But the amount of messages that I've gotten just from young women telling me that they're inspired and they want to do something like that when they're older. And it feels really good to hear that from other young girls, especially in the world we live in now. So, yeah.

Tamara Robertson:

And is there any advice as a young business owner that you would give to young girls as they're out there trying to start their own stuff and focusing on whatever skill they may be trying to share with the world?

Keaton:

Honestly, just... If you put your mind to it, just stick to it and don't be afraid to ask people for help because nine times out of ten, there's always people that are super willing to help. I mean, every once in a while, you'll get the people who are super against you coming in because either you're coming to do the same thing as them and they don't want you undercutting prices, but just... build a circle and find people even on social media. Like I've met so many people in the custom paint world. And if I have questions about certain things, there is so many people that I know that are just willing to help me and share advice. So just don't be afraid to ask for help.

Tamara Robertson:

That's great advice And so I have to ask once you left the great race, what's, what's the next build that's on your, your work bench right now? What's the next custom piece you're working on?

Keaton:

Um, actually I don't, I'm working on two more vintage refrigerators right now. And I've got like five helmets on the chopping block. But I'm actually about to start, as for a personal thing, I'm about to start tearing apart my first Dodge that I bought, the 1990 Dodge. And I'm going to do like a full frame off restoration on it. And one of my huge goals is to try to get it down to SEMA next year, a full, like super nice paint job on it. And we're going to do a bunch of work to the motor, full custom interior, like the whole nine yards.

Tamara Robertson:

That is epic. So if you end up With that at SEMA, you have to let us know and I'll let the foundation know and the girls will all come by and see it. I'm sure that they would love to see your work there and give it whatever votes or applause it needs.

Keaton:

I'm going down this year too. We actually just booked our hotels today. So I'm going to try to talk to Teresa and see if I can be part of one of her workshops one of the days. So

Tamara Robertson:

Heck yeah. Real Deal Revolution always shows up really strong at SEMA. What they do there is always really incredible. And just getting to talk to all of the women that are walking the floor and then, you know, all the, all the guys and, you know, you get to meet so many girl dads while you're there too. So not as many young kids, obviously, because it's more of an industry event, but yeah. you'll do very, very well in that scene. It's a really cool scene and they really, love custom work. So I would I would bring lots and lots of pictures of everything you have. And then obviously, you already know you're bringing the car the next year. So hopefully, well, you know, if you need any help, there's lots of girls at the foundation that have have done that for us. And I know Riley probably also has lots of connections as well as Teresa. So that's the joy of the network of the polka dot, right? You know, I just keep reaching out and everyone will keep helping to your own advice, right? You said just ask for help so there's one question I like to ask everyone when they come on the show and that is if you could have any superpower what would it be and why

Keaton:

oh I don't know maybe to like work in super speed so I could get everything that I want to do done because I am a person of very many hobbies and I always want to try new things like I just bought um some engravers because i or some little bits for my dremel because i really want to learn like metal engraving with like the filgree art and stuff and i've been kind of taking on silversmithing as well so playing with like silver jewelry and stuff like that and like turquoise like western style pieces and painting and working on my truck i just i need more time Yeah, that little,

Tamara Robertson:

you need a time turner, maybe, you know.

Keaton:

Or maybe just, like, the, maybe a superpower of, like, never getting tired would be kind of cool, because then I could just, you know, always be on the go and not be like, oh, I want to die right now.

Tamara Robertson:

You know, I have a recommendation, maybe some pym particles because Nadia pym. She has these particles that shrinks her down. So time no longer is a thing. And she can like just go and do whatever she wants in her little lab. But I think material drawing curing times might still be a thing. I don't know. I don't know about that. Yeah.

Unknown:

Yeah.

Tamara Robertson:

Well, this has been amazing. Everyone, we hit the heaven's great race on June 21st in St. Paul, Minnesota, and we ran all the way until we hit the finish line on the 29th in Irmo, South Carolina. You can follow all of our Instagrams to live the full adventure in All Things Creator Race as we recap tackling this iconic vintage Raleigh Road Race one mile at a time. That's it for Tinkering Bells. This episode is assembled and ready for delivery.

Tamara Robertson:

Keaton, this has been so amazing. Thank you so much.

Keaton:

Awesome. Thank you.

Tamara Robertson:

I want to thank you for choosing Tinkering Bells as your user's manual for All Things Maker on a biweekly basis. If you want to continue to hear more, don't forget to rate and review the show I look forward to seeing you next week. Until then, don't forget to keep