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Darren & Chelen Pen

Servicing Mt. Vernon, Anacortes, Bellingham.

p: 360-319-5825

Darren and Chelen Pen, Color Glo International

The Pen’s Story

Darren Pen had worked at jobs that did not value work-life balance. When he was a cook, it meant long hours, including overtime for which he may not be compensated. He had a career working as a valve relief technician. He went on to work in planning for BP Cherry Point Refinery. Once again, long hours and the stress wasn’t the life Darren wanted for himself or his wife, Chelen. Working for the refinery was affecting his overall health and wellbeing. After seven years with Cherry Point Refinery, he was laid off, which turned out to be a blessing. During the 18 months between being laid off and finding Color Glo, Darren invested time in finding a perfect career. One that would afford him the ability to make a good living and participate in life’s other important events. He trained to be a Housing inspector, passed the test and realized that the start up was expensive. Additionally, the work would take a long time to be steady. Darren’s friend, Chad Haugen was working with Sean Keys in their Color Glo franchise. Sean was looking to expand into the area where Darren and Chelen were living in Washington. Darren did a ride a long with Chad, saw the kind of work and process involved and knew he had to learn more.

The process of building

Building a client base and learning the best organizational systems were a couple of the things that Darren worked at in the early days. He purchased a Ford Explorer, which helped getting supplies organized. He was cold calling service departments, using photos from the Key’s albums to sell his skills. Over time his attention to detail, skill and persistence paid off. He made his own book of work to show potential clients. Chelen was working cleaning homes and bookkeeping. Darren was getting busy; it became clear that having Chelen working alongside him was more productive. There were times when Darren had to ease his way into a dealership, providing higher quality repairs than his “competition, and using the Color Glo products, which time and again proved superior.

Over the years Darren and Chelen have had a couple of employees, none of whom stayed with Color Glo for various reasons. Their work is steady and keeps them comfortable. Darren told me that he just can’t fire Chelen, even when she gets a little spicy. She was laughing as he said that. The love and dedication between them is clear and refreshing. The couple mostly works in car lots, a few RV’s, fewer boats and the only retail they take on is by referral only.

Work -life balance

Darren and Chelen have a dog, they enjoy outdoor adventures including camping. Darren loves to hunt and fish, so don’t bug him in October- his biggest fish to date is a 41” pike, but mostly fishes for trout. I was told he has a wall of hunting trophies! Chelen likes to refinish antique furniture. She did go to some Antique and Craft shows, it turns out that those shows are more work than fun. She markets things she wants to sell on-line. Together they are active in their church, which is central to their life.

Color Glo has given Darren and Chelen a way to achieve a great work-life balance and earn a good income. It hasn’t always been easy, nothing is. Darren has been banned by Chelen from fixing headliners, one of which turned into a 30 hour not so successful ordeal. Then there was the time he worked on a ’69 Porsche. The dash was cracked, and the radio cover was both broken and not replaceable. There are days you are a hero!

A handy man…

Darren is a handy guy who loves taking things apart, fixing them and probably getting them back together. He does woodworking as a hobby, with those skills in place, Color Glo systems made perfect sense. Darren spent three months training with Sean Keys, learning Color Glo products and systems. He had only to figure out how to best match colors.

Sean helped him with this.

About Color Glo International

Color Glo International is the World Leader in restoration and repair of leather, vinyl, velour, cloth and hard plastics commonly found in the markets of Automotive, Aircraft, Marine, and Furniture. Formally incorporated in 1975 Color Glo began franchising in 1982. Today in hundreds of markets throughout the world. Color Glo products are proven every day to offer the correct results and best value every time they are put to the test.

We initially began our franchising in the United States and have since then expanded into Canada and 50 countries worldwide. Our focus is restoring and repairing common defects such as worn and faded interior components such as leather upholstery, headliners, burns, and broken plastic or composite molding. These problems are found in the interior of every automobile, RV, truck sports vehicle, plane, or boat in use today. See the MATERIALS WE SERVICE.