Biography

Bio for Todd Cooperider…the long version!

Todd Cooperider is a 44 year old Professional Detailer / Paint Correction Specialist / Technical Writer based out of Columbus, Ohio with prematurely graying hair and a forehead that seems to get taller every single year.

Born and raised in the small town of Marion, Ohio, Todd quickly became intrigued by how clean and shiny he could make his BMX bike (THE best looking bike owned by a 10-year old he will add), and then his parents’ vehicles and motorcycles as he became a teenager. Some say that it’s a textbook case of OCD, while others point to a line-drive baseball accident he had when he was 7…doctors are divided in their conclusions.

While creating the cleanest vehicles around was great therapy for him, it wasn’t enough to fully quench his thirst to stand out in a crowd. He decided that when he had an interest in something, he was going to make the absolute best of it. He became the team captain of his high school’s soccer team (and made the Ohio All Star Team), and was voted “Best Dressed” in his senior year book. Once high school was finished, he joined the Army National Guard to help pay for college. Here he graduated first in his class of 200 at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and was awarded Distinguished Honor Grad.

While attending The Ohio State University (where quite frankly he didn’t like going to class), he decided to get involved with his love of motorcycles by working at a local dealership part time. He found the motorcycle business to be much more exciting than class, so he quit school and entrenched himself into bikes. During this time he also met his future wife at a bar on campus (and they celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary…who says bar relationships don’t last?).

Todd then quickly moved up within the motorcycle industry, and it afforded him many luxuries and travels around the world (Japan, Brazil, England, Isle of Mann). He was still practicing and honing his skills at detailing, but at this point was mainly concentrating on developing his real life business education. He worked his way up through sales, purchasing, product development, starting a new U.S. division for a Japanese-based company, and then the final 9 years of his 22-year career was spent as a Regional Sales and Marketing Manager for the largest distributor of motorcycle parts and accessories in the business. During this time he also was involved with building magazine project bikes, and authoring a handful of magazine articles.

Over the last few years of his motorcycle career though, Todd had been getting much more involved in detailing and paint correction. He was working on cars on the weekends and at nights when he wasn’t traveling for the “day job”, and he was soaking up every bit of information and experience as he could on the latest techniques and products. His desire to produce the finest looking cars available quickly made him the go-to detailer in the state. This is about the same time he was recognized by AutoWeek Magazine as one of the Top 9 Auto Detailers in the U.S.

Not satisfied with the honor of being named one of the best, Todd decided to take things to the next level by teaming up with Detailed Image to produce a comprehensive collection of detailing tutorials, product reviews, and how-to articles. Today Todd also manages a team of professional detailer / writers and the Detailed Image Ask A Pro Blog has become the reference source of information. To date Todd has published over 150 detailing articles, and was also recently published in FORZA Magazine (February 2011 issue).

If you’re keeping count, you’ve figured out that Todd was juggling 3 careers (motorcycle, writing, and detailing) plus a family, so something had to give. In May of 2010, Todd decided to close the door on a 22 year career in the motorcycle industry (not to mention a steady paycheck and a nice 401K account!) in order to harness all of the OCD issues he had been developing over the years along with his practical business experience to create detailing services, information, and marketing unlike any that people have seen before. That’s correct…total world domination!

If you really want to get more in-depth about Todd, here are a few bits of information that you may or may not find interesting:

Todd is an audiophile with tastes so high that he openly admits to spending his 2 kids’ college funds on his home system, his car system, and his dedicated headphone rig.

Favorite band: Pink Floyd

Todd also took up ice speedskating at the age of 40 (had never been on a pair of ice skates of any kind before this), and within two years he qualified for and competed in the U.S. Nationals where he got clobbered by really fast guys that had been doing it most of their lives.

Todd has a wife of 21 years, a 17 year old daughter (a total princess), an 11 year old son (video game geek and major car nut), a Boston Terrier named Spike, and 4 cats.

Todd was also an avid sportbike trackday participant, and attended former World Champion Kevin Schwantz’ school at Road Atlanta.

Todd was featured on Autoblog.com for one of the craziest 60-hour details on a rare Ferrari F40 you’ve ever seen, has been written about in Autospies.com on multiple occasions, and serves as Technical Advisor on Appearance Care to the Ferrari Club of America – Ohio Chapter. Todd also serves on pre-production development teams for multiple detailing manufacturers.

He’s also one of the nicest guys you’ll meet (humble, too)!