Thirty Years Passed Expiration

By TheTintDiva and Letha Miller Lasiter

Born into chaos and trauma, God showed me grace at every turn. I would go to prison twice before I began to build the life God wanted for me, inlcuding a window tint franchise. This book tells of many trials I faced and how I overcame every obstacle. If you need a faith builder, this is it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TheTintDiva
• Release date: Jan 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224958191

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Table of Contents

Thirty Years Passed Expiration

This morning was a lazy Sunday, I can never truly stop working while staying in the shop apartment. From the outside looking in, it appears that we are building our business backwards but I am truly following God’s Plan! There are days that I understand what He is doing and others, well I wonder if I’ve lost my mind!

We don’t schedule any work on God’s day but I usually end up doing laundry or catching up the shop to be ready for the following week of demanding, egotistical, rude, car enthusiasts who pay us to tint their windows, while they speak to us like the blue collar worker that they assume that we are. It doesn’t bother them when we say that we haven’t got to eat our lunch or we are late to our children’s activities. It’s easy to get burned out with this type of customer database.

Today, I got ready for this upcoming week. I made packets to display our mirror film while we go to home consultations. We no longer depend on vehicle customers. It was a step of faith but we started focusing on residential, commercial, military and municipal tinting. I got a large insurance policy and we began to re-focus. It was scary at first, but taking a break in the lobby today, I realize I am living in the days that I prayed for, waited for, hoped for, and I praise God for!

A week of work a few years ago was about 30 vehicles at under 200$ per job. Vehicles are notorious for forgetting their appointments so scheduling is tricky. A week of work now is 4-5 businesses and/or homes that want tint. We have 1 customer per day, sometimes 2. Either way, they are excited that we have arrived, we are respected from moment one, they appreciate our professionalism and we enjoy our work. It is amazing to me. It also pays more for mirror film installation. 30 vehicles would take an average of 2 hours per vehicle and I required help. Mirror film installation can be done in less time. We spend about 20 hours per week tinting. Kadence uses the remaining time to build his own company, Mullet Wraps.

Window film is another area of my life where I had found solace while being rejected in my hometown. I had no idea that it was a divine appointment and there were lessons to be learned. I praise God for allowing the hardships and for giving me strength to handle the pain, disappointment and chaos. I needed to climb each mountain to end up where we are now!

It was early 2016, I had been out of Texas penitentiary for under a year. I had tried to create a new life in my hometown, Palestine Texas. My youngest crotch rocket was living under an hour from there and I was desperate to have a relationship with my child. Juanita had other plans and I felt that it was time for me to return to Alabama. Triston, my oldest son, lives in Birmingham Alabama. Both of my children were born in Alabama. I had lived there since the mid 90s and had been quite successful so it didn't take much prayer or thought to decide to return when Texas wasn’t congruent to my sobriety nor attempts at family reunification. My 2nd husband and Kadence’s father was on a 25 year sentence in Alabama also. Leaving Texas meant visits with Kadence would be quite different. I chose to go speak to him face to face and although I was unsure how, I promised him that I would see him monthly and I packed up and left.

There would be loose ends to tie up, like closing down my art studio and passing my apartment lease off to my mother. But, there was so much peace in leaving the stress behind. The feeling of needing to perform in a certain manner was lifted. In Gadsden, I could afford to pay my bills and be close enough to see Triston. My friend Mandy was a window tinter, in an odd situation with her employment. I asked her about working with her. Simultaneously, Triston was struggling with his doctor appointments. His father, Paul, my 1st husband, had always worked as a volleyball coach or retail management, etc. These jobs tend to have them up later than they should be. So I gave him my truck to get to his doctor appointments and school on his own. Mandy was gracious enough to let me ride to the tint shop with her every day. It was an hour commute.

Mandy and I did what we could to keep my mentor focused but some days, it wasn’t enough. It took me about 7 months to learn how to install the window film and cut out a few patterns by hand. I wasn’t steady with shrinking the backglass. I didn’t even attempt to install a windshield. My mentor had made some dumb choices on my way out the door and instead of involving legal personnel, he helped me open my own shop. I don’t believe he ever thought that we would grow to be the force we are now!

I had 5 foster children, in addition to my responsibilities to Triston and Kadence when my mentor decided that he would spit on me, while we tinted a vehicle. To this day, I’m unsure if it was an accident while he was yelling or if he spat out of anger. Either way, I am no saint and I was mid installment. I was holding a heat gun on full blast, high heat, high fan! My first thought was to melt his face off, then I remembered how Alabama doesn’t honor self defense laws. Instantly, I envisioned the sweet lady on death row who protected her child from a predator. I remembered walking the halls and speaking to her through the wall cracks. I chose to throw the heat gun down and run for the door. I yelled at him that I would sue him. We later came to a gentleman’s agreement. We shook hands. Almost 8 years later, we have no problems. I can call him today!

I jumped into the car that my mentor had lent me, I hadn’t had the money to replace my truck. I began searching for employment at another tint shop, closer to my living environment. I went from shop to shop, asking for a position as a window tinter. No shops would give me a chance. There was one shop that stuck out at me. The grandfather of the foster babies I had, his bestie was the owner of the shop. I felt for certain this dude would at least let me scrub toilets and instead he said, I don’t think the guys would appreciate me hiring a female tinter to come in here. I was in awe but having been in prior situations, his disrespect was ignored. I put out my hand for him to shake it. I told him gently, I can be your employee or I can be your competition... choose wisely! He laughed, I gave a half smirk and I left with a straight face but inside I didn’t know what I was going to do!!

I remember feeling hopeless in my small apartment that night but during my prayer time I truly felt like I was supposed to use my electric bill money to buy film. I immediately started arguing with God about it because I didn’t want to go without electricity. What a laugh! God put up with all my silly excuses. I now see that I had no faith in myself nor God. So I began considering the idea of ordering window tint. I had no tinting tools but I could tint a few things. My thoughts began to wonder about the things being used in my apartment. The stove and hot water heater ran off of gas, even the dryer was gas. As I considered these things, I was reminded that I would only be missing the lights and candles would be a fun thing for the kids. I pray that God forgives me for my disbelief in His power mixed with our ability, more importantly, obedience. I ordered that box of film. I also tinted a few vehicles in my backyard, without the correct tools. I paid the electric bill on time, ordered another roll of film and had money left over to pay for a few extra things we had hoped to do.

My ex employer called for his vehicle and I needed to find a way to get around with the kids. In the meantime, I had friends that would leave Texas, come to Alabama, get me, drive back to Texas, deliver me to visit Kadence and repeat the steps until I was back home! While in Texas, my friend Faryn would let me use his house to tint and of course, my hometown would let me.

My friend Tom agreed to come pick me up and allow me to drive his truck temporarily. We had made the trip to see Kadence and were back in Gadsden. I was exhausted, not only in body, but in spirit. Visits with my baby wore me out. Juanita stared at me the entire visit. I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I could tell by the look in MY child’s eyes, that he wasn’t able to freely speak. The whole thing was a mess. However, Tom wanted to see an attraction that he had heard of, Noccalula Falls. He insisted on seeing this landmark before he drove back to Texas. I was reluctant but I obliged. After walking around, taking photos, and eating ice cream, we headed back down the mountain. I was driving, while Tom took in the sights. As we approached the putt putt area, I saw a sign that said, Robinson’s Detail & Tint. My heart jumped a little bit because I thought I had already gone to every single shop in Gadsden!

I whipped Tom’s little Kia Soul into the parking lot, walked inside the bay, and asked who was in charge. I quickly confirmed their need for