Jason Bowen didn’t grow up dreaming of running an auto upholstery shop, but anyone who meets him now can see he was built for this work. As the owner of Trim Tech Interiors and Glass in Ontario, Canada, he’s transformed a simple passion for cars into a thriving business — and a mission to uplift the entire industry.
Yet Jason’s path wasn’t a straight line. He’d always loved custom cars, but never imagined himself in upholstery.
“I really didn’t see a career in the upholstery business even though my dad had a shop,” he told The Hog Ring. What he did know was that he was good with his hands and had a talent for solving problems. With that in mind, his parents encouraged him to pursue a trade. By 15, he was already training to become an electrician.
During those years, he spent his free time installing custom stereos in friends’ cars — a fun way to make extra money, though he still expected to make his career in electrical work. He became a licensed electrician at 21.
But something had changed.
“By that time I was burnt out and really just wanted to follow my passion of working on custom cars,” he said.
He didn’t realize it then, but this was the spark that would ignite Trim Tech.
Finding His Own Way
Jason joined his father’s upholstery shop at a critical time. His father had just suffered a debilitating back injury and was spending a lot of time at doctor’s appointments. Jason felt he could help by introducing new ideas to the team, modernizing the operation and taking on more custom projects.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out how he had hoped. “We would fight and argue daily and it was a lot of stress,” he said. Eventually, he walked away, convinced the two simply couldn’t work together.
A job as a trimmer at a dealership followed, but it didn’t take long for him to realize it wasn’t his style. “I would sit and wait for them to hand out the work and that’s not me,” he said. “I’m a get-it-done type of guy… I said something had to change.”
That change arrived over dinner one evening. Jason’s father-in-law mentioned a small garage for rent. They went to see it. The next day Jason was on the phone with the bank, talking to his accountant, and asking his wife, Barb, to come up with a business name.
On December 1, 2003, Trim Tech opened its doors in a 900-square-foot garage.
“Oh and did I mention that I had never sewn a complete seat up to that point?” he laughed. Within a week he hired his first employee and the real learning began.
Jason’s education became a patchwork of curiosity, resourcefulness and grit. “It really was a combination of learning by watching others, asking questions and just doing,” he said. With little online training available, he bought Sid Chavers’ instructional videos and studied the work of industry talents like Interiors by Shannon.
Every project, every mistake, every win — each one shaped the future of Trim Tech.
Those early lessons were hard earned. But they laid the foundation for what the shop would eventually become.
Building a Shop That Actually Works
Today, Jason leads a team of six: three installers, a full-time sewer, a part-time sewer, and his brother-in-law who runs the office. Recently, his son began training too — continuing a legacy that began decades ago in his grandfather’s shop.
Jason’s wife, Barb, also plays a critical role in Trim Tech, as the business’ financial manager and Jason’s most trusted confidant.
“No one can run a successful business without a support system,” Jason said. “In my case, it’s my wife. She runs the backend accounting, but more importantly keeps me grounded. We wouldn’t be where we are today without her.”
Trim Tech was built on custom interiors, but over time Jason learned that big builds alone can make a business unstable. “It’s very time consuming and high stress,” he said. Custom work ties up time, and time ties up money.
To keep cash flowing, he expanded into quick in-and-out restorations and repairs, add-on products, and complementary services. Today, the shop charges $110 CAD per hour (about $78 USD) and the workflow is steady.
His mornings begin with a list of tasks. “We all know how that goes — getting pulled in a million directions — so I try to complete at least five of my tasks a day to feel like it was a win.”
But the biggest challenge is leadership. “It’s the ability to get my staff to make decisions and to solve problems without me,” he admitted. “Communication is my weak link.” Even now, decades in, Jason is still learning, still evolving, still pushing himself to grow.
That drive eventually led him to hire a business coach, an investment that he says changed everything.
“Most of us learned how to stitch, shape, design and build… but very few of us were taught how to run a profitable upholstery business,” he said. “That realization led me to work with a business coach, and it became one of the biggest turning points for me.”
A coach, he explained, expands your vision. “They push you to look at your numbers, your systems, your pricing, and your long-term growth. They help you shift from a technician mindset to a true business-owner mindset — and keep you accountable to your goals.”
His message to other shop owners is clear: “If you don’t have a business mentor or someone to bounce ideas off and push you — find one!”
Championing the Entire Industry
These days, Jason is as focused on elevating the industry as he is on strengthening Trim Tech. He sees tremendous opportunity ahead, but only if shops continue to learn, innovate and collaborate.
In recent years, he’s hosted two masterminds at his shop, where dozens of trimmers, shop owners and distributors gathered to network, share strategies and tackle industry-wide issues such as pricing, training, workflow, insurance and shop management.
His vision is to turn these gatherings into something much bigger — a structured system of mentorship, training, summits, certification and shared knowledge.
Jason has already taken steps to turn this vision into a reality, founding a group called National Trimmers Association (NTA). It aims to “support, educate, and connect trimmers across North America through modern training, business development, and a unified professional community.”
The NTA already has more than 650 members on Facebook and is growing fast, especially as word spreads about its value to the industry.
“Early networking with others in the business taught me that we all have something to share and teach,” he said. “Too many of us think that if we share with our competition, it will take away from our business. This is the furthest from the truth.”
He imagines regional training hubs, online courses, standardized pricing models, and a unified platform where experts can teach the next generation.
In Jason’s eyes, success isn’t a competition. It’s a community.
“When we talk to one another and share information, we all win,” Jason explained.
And that’s all he really wants — to see everyone in our industry win.
To learn more about Trim Tech Interiors and Glass, visit their website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. You can also join the National Trimmers Association.
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