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How a small shop realized a big dream: meeting Chip Foose.

Chip Foose meeting fan

You don’t have to be a fan to know that Chip Foose followers are hardcore.

And it’s no wonder – not only is Chip a master of his craft, he’s also a personality to be admired and is often described as ‘down to Earth,’ ‘real’ and ‘approachable.’

But what is he like really?

And what would you say to him if you had the chance?

Not too long ago, Jeanne and Dave Marriott of Blenheim, Ontario’s Painted by Dave, found themselves in a position to get answers to those questions, firsthand.

Jeanne Marriott, Co-Owner of Painted by Dave Creates Winning 3M™ Accuspray™ System Contest Submission

When Jeanne came across the 3M Canada contest with the grand prize of meeting Chip Foose in Calgary, she had a relatable reaction.

“I thought, ‘yeah right!’” she says with a laugh.

But her husband Dave was more optimistic. After offering to help Jeanne with her contest submission by videotaping her painting technique in the shop that same day, he also encouraged her to take a leap of faith.

“I had the whole submission ready to go online, but found myself just hovering over the ‘submit’ button,” she recounts. “That’s when Dave said, “What are you doing? You can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket. Press send!’ “

Jeanne pressed send.

A few short months later and they were on their way to Calgary to meet Chip.

What it’s Like to Meet Chip Foose – the Real Chip Foose

Chip Foose and fans

“Chip is the rockstar of our industry – an absolutely gifted artist and a guru at what he does,” says Jeanne. “So to be able to meet someone like him is like reaching for the stars, and for me in particular, it’s just the ultimate.”

“But one of my hesitations was that often, you can have a TV persona be someone different from the real person,” she says. “It was absolutely thrilling to realize that the image he portrays is real. It was kind of funny, because in talking to him, you realize that although he’s famous, it seems like that fame hasn’t hit him yet.”

“He seems like the kind of guy that you could call up and ask, ‘Wanna go for a beer?’ and he’d say ‘yes.’“

Using the Same 3M Automotive Aftermarket Products as Chip Foose Allows Painted by Dave to Relate as Peers

Chip Foose talking to contest winners

According to Jeanne, this once in a lifetime chance wouldn’t be wasted on asking Chip questions that she could easily find the answers to elsewhere.

“For us it was more about how do you do this? And how do you troubleshoot that? And what drives you when you work on a project?” she says. “Because [Painted by Dave] is a shop that uses 3M products, we use the same paint line and the same equipment as Chip, so we were able to have a conversation that was more like peer-to-peer.”

Contest Winner’s Highlight: Chip Foose and Painted by Dave Share Industry Tips and Tricks

As they conversed, Jeanne showed Chip some photos of her work.

“He asked the cameraman to stop rolling, saying that this advice on the paint job was for me personally. He broke down the steps, going through each that I had taken. Then he told me how he does it – giving me a special pointer on how to make a 3D effect. It was awesome!”

“As we were chatting about the way we work with the products, we ended up talking about the difficulties of multi-colour applications,” says Jeanne. “We shared the techniques that we use to avoid some known problems and asked Chip how he does it. Little did we know, we ended up giving him some tips and pointers that he hadn’t considered yet.”

Chip looked at the couple and said “I never thought of doing that. What’s the product you use?”

“It was a total highlight of the trip,” says Jeanne.

The Automotive Industry Reacts to Chip Foose Contest Winners

“For us, meeting Chip was exciting because we’ve always been impressed by his business philosophy and how he treats his people,” says Jeanne. “The fact that he’s always been focused on every single individual who works on that car, ensuring they are counted as part of the team and made responsible for making that car the best it can be – that’s the way we run our business too.”

“We’ve had a lot of positive response from the industry – words of congratulations for winning the contest and people wanting to know what the experience was like.”

“It’s amazing to know that small shops can get the same chance to access amazing experiences as the big shops do,” she says. “When it comes to winning the contest, the wow factor that people express, isn’t that it’s surprising to see a woman in the trade win it, but that I’m a woman who won – from a small shop.”

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