Aditi Varman | The Chronicle
The revving of an engine may just be a sound to most people, but to some at Mason High School (MHS), it signals opportunity and creativity. From detailing to photography, students have found ways to build community and turn their passion for cars into a hustle.
Seniors Angad Singh and Amish Jha are co-founders of Detail Dynasty, a Mason car detailing business they built from scratch.
“We’ve both loved cars for as long as we can remember,” Jha said. “When I was little, I would watch car videos and try to name every model that drove by, and that feeling never really went away.”
What started as a shared interest between two friends slowly grew into a full-fledged operation across Mason and beyond. Singh said the idea stemmed from their love of cars and a practical need for extra income.
“We started off as friends who met online on a video game where we both found out we had a passion for cars,” Singh said. “We realized we needed money and we liked cars, so the [primary] solution was to clean them.”
Jha said that the shortage of affordable detailing options in the area pushed them to take the leap. Rather than waiting for someone else to fix the problem, they figured out how to do it themselves.
“We looked [car detailing] up online and found that it’s a really up-and-coming business, and there’s a scarcity in Ohio,” Jha said. “We combined our interests with our entrepreneurial drive to fill a void that existed in our hometown.”
Getting started meant careful planning and research to understand what it takes to start a business. The pair met in person to brainstorm a name and decide what supplies they needed. Jha said that from there, they committed to dividing the workload equally so that each of them could pull their weight.
“We emphasize being co-owners,” Jha said. “Online work like media and marketing is split between us, and so is the physical detailing. Everything we do is 50/50.”
Singh said starting the business came with its fair share of obstacles, especially when it came to building trust with customers. Marketing themselves as reliable and skilled was just as important as the quality of their work.
“Marketing was one of our biggest challenges,” Singh said. “It only takes a few weeks to learn how to detail, but it takes forever to successfully market yourself as a reputable company. These people are spending hundreds of dollars for perfection.”
Mason High School (MHS) senior Angad Singh rinses off a freshly detailed car as a working part in his student ran business Detail Dynasty
Building a reputation in the community took patience. Singh said their first clients came slowly, starting with friends and family before expanding through word of mouth.
“At first, it felt like we were just cleaning cars for our friends,” Singh said. “But once word started spreading, we realized people actually trusted us to do a good job.”
For both Singh and Jha, the business is about more than money; it’s about helping people feel good about something they love.
“At the end of the day, we get to help people achieve the feeling of having a new car again,” Jha said. “We’ve had clients tell us after a detail, it feels like [they’re] starting fresh. Seeing that kind of happiness makes it all worth it.”
Singh said running the business has taught them lessons that go beyond cars, things like the importance of responsibility and dedication from an entrepreneurial aspect.
“In order to succeed, you need loads of hard work,” Singh said. “When that work is something you love, it becomes rewarding. Every challenge we’ve faced has just made us want to do better.”
While Singh and Jha focused on the detailing side of Mason’s car scene, senior Dharunraj Nagarajan found his own lane—capturing it through a lens. Nagarajan co-founded Throttle Media, a student-run photography and videography project dedicated to showcasing local car culture.
“I’ve been interested in cars since I was a kid,” Nagarajan said. “Once I started driving, I got more involved, and car photography became a way to combine two passions: cars and filming.”
This summer, Nagarajan said he began attending car meets around Cincinnati with friends, and the energy at these events inspired him to start producing media that would unite car enthusiasts.
“We noticed that a lot of kids our age were making a side hustle out of photography,” Nagarajan said. “So we thought, why not bring everyone together instead of keeping these small, isolated car groups?”
Since then, Throttle Media has collaborated with major local events, including Caffeine and Fuel Cincy and No Limits Automotive. Nagarajan said he even partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to host a fundraiser, raising more than $600 for the organization.
“[Our fundraiser] was inspired by YouTuber Ryan Trahan’s charity challenge,” Nagarajan said. “We wanted to take that same idea and bring it into the car community. It was amazing seeing people come together for a good cause.”
Nagarajan said events like the fundraiser showed him that photography could do more than capture cars. He said the storytelling side of photography is what motivates him.
“It’s really about documenting people and their stories,” Nagarajan said. “Every meet introduces you to someone new, and capturing those moments helps preserve the sense of community we’ve built.”
Nagarajan said he encourages others to try photography, even if they’re starting from scratch. By helping others get started, he hopes to grow the community and inspire more students to tell their stories through photography.
“I started just using my phone,” Nagarajan said. “You don’t need anything fancy. As long as you’re passionate and willing to learn, you’ll get better with time.”
Looking ahead, Nagarajan said he hopes to continue growing Throttle Media and keep telling the stories of Ohio’s car enthusiasts.
“This is just the beginning,” he said. “There’s so much talent in this area: people building cars, shooting photos, organizing meets. We want to keep showing that off and reminding people that this is a real community.”
