Ryan and Joanna met at BYU while both attending school there.  Joanna was roommates with his cousin and she introduced us. They dated for four months, were engaged for four months and in June we will celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary! The Smith family has lived in the Flying Horse neighborhood for 7.5 years in a few different houses. Ryan grew up in Fallbrook, California and Joanna in Green River, Wyoming. They have four kids and are small business owners, they own Pro Auto Spa. When we asked Joanna to tell us about her family and local business she shared the following:

-Our oldest is Kiahna (DCC ‘17). She participated in soccer, volleyball, basketball and track. She worked with Coach Hellstrom as a Student Athletic Trainer for the football team in 2015, 2016, and 2017. She served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fortaleza, Brazil from April 2018-September 2019. She currently attends BYU (Brigham Young University) and is majoring in Portuguese. She married Kevin Clove in August 2022.

  

-Jaxon is our second child (DCC ‘20). He is 21 and is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in The Mexico, Tuxtla Gutierrez Mission. He has played basketball his entire life. He was a star player at DCC.  He has been plagued with injury during high school and couldn't really try-out his Freshman year because he broke his thumb and sat out the first part of the season. He was able to perfect his left hand shot and enjoyed an amazing half season…only to break his wrist in a later game.

Just before his junior year, Jaxon experienced another health challenge, his knees filled up with fluid. He had double knee surgery in September of his junior year, but they filled up again. He was in so much pain and couldn't even walk.  He was told by doctors his spine would eventually fuse, he wouldn't play basketball again or serve a mission. He got a handicapped parking pass and rode a motorized scooter at school. We were determined that our child would be healed.  We fasted every week and increased our worship and prayers to find guidance and direction. With a combination of weekly chiropractor visits, Chinese acupuncture, cupping, massage, and energy healing, Jaxon was able to participate in the high school basketball season, although the road was long and hard, he was never 100%. He eventually made a full recovery!  His senior year was by far our favorite. He got to play varsity with his younger brother, Ethan. They would start together and dominate the court when they were both hot! Jaxon plans to play basketball at Hartnell Junior College in Salinas, California when he returns from his mission next year. 

-Ethan is 18 and is our easy-going peacemaker (DCC ‘22). As a young child, he loved the Disney Pixar movie Cars and would watch it (and quote it) all the time. He still loves cars and works with us at our shop. He has spent summers working at our shop since he was eight years old. He started out circling hail dents on cars and has learned to disassemble cars for repair. He has been detailing for us for the last five years and doing paint corrections and ceramic coatings for the last three years. He has worked full time for us since August. He follows car YouTubers like Stradman, TJ Hunt, and DDE and even met them when he went to SEMA with us. He has played basketball since he was very young. One coach dubbed him "Quiet Assassin" because he is such a lethal shooter on the court. His sophomore year he was in the top five of the PPAC for 3 pointer percentage.  Ethan has accepted a call to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Florida, Fort Lauderdale mission. He begins his training on January 30th.  Just like our boys played basketball together, they will be on the Lord's errand together in different parts of the world. We are so proud! 

-Karina (15) is a sophomore at DCC. As she has been raised with teenagers, she is our most mature and responsible at such a young age. She played on the JV volleyball team as a libero and even got to swing up to varsity and got a little bit of playing time. She received an academic letter and got her letterman's jacket on order right away. She also plays club volleyball for Velocity 15U. She is the Sophomore Class President at DCC and didn't realize, until she won, that she’ll have to speak at her high school graduation in front of thousands of people!! I know she will do amazing! She is quite a good dancer and singer, although she has little training. She likes to hang out with friends and make TikTok videos.  She is going to miss Ethan like crazy when he leaves, and is not excited to be the only kid at home with middle aged parents! 

  

When Joanna was asked…What are your hobbies, interests and what are you most grateful for? Joanna said, “Ryan and I love to watch our kids play sports, even though three of our kids have already graduated, we still go to watch our friends' kids play.  Basketball and Volleyball are our favorite! As our kids are starting to leave the nest, our time is opening up. Ryan LOVES to learn new things!! He is always studying how to do new services better. I would like to travel more.

We are most grateful for our children!  They are our pride and joy! They are really good kids and are the best of friends."

Ryan and Joanna are the owners of a local business, Pro Auto Spa (automotive cosmetics & protection) on 909 S. Tejon St near downtown Colorado Springs. www.proautospa.com. They offer high-end detailing, ceramic coatings, window tint, paint protection film/clear bra, powder coating, paintless dent repair, hail damage repair, hydro-dipping, Cerakote and Future Chrome. They have been in business since 2013 

 

A fun fact about Ryan, he is a member of The Detail Mafia, a unique group of detailers made up of individuals around the world. In 2019 Ryan was invited, along with other members of The Detail Mafia, to detail the original Air Force One. This was a very distinguished honor for Ryan to participate in this experience and preserve a part of our nation's history. In early 2022, Pro Auto Spa’s window tinter competed in an international window tinting competition. He ended up finishing in the top six out of all of the competitors. The Pro Auto Spa team has fantastic experience!

 

When Joanna was asked how they decided on this industry, she said:

“Pro Auto Spa has evolved over time.  When Ryan was attending college at BYU in 1995, his dad told all the kids that they needed to get jobs because he wouldn't be able to support them all. He ended up applying for a mobile detailing job and was offered the position.  The business was called Mobile Wash.  Ryan bought the business when the original owner graduated from college.  Since 1995, Ryan has been working in the automotive arena specializing in paintless dent repair beginning in 1997.  Prior to Pro Auto Spa, our company was called Ding Magic.  As clients would have us work on their cars, they would often mistake us for only doing paintless dent repair.  In 2018, we decided to change our business name to Pro Auto Spa which we feel gives a better idea of the multiple services we offer.”

With all this business expertise, some sage advice Joanna and Ryan would like to offer to the residents of the neighborhood: 

“DO NOT get appearance or protection services at a dealership.  While it is enticing and convenient to wrap the cost into a loan, dealerships like to do those services in house.  Our experience is that dealerships use far inferior products to what a professional shop like ours would use.  They also can't afford to hire a professional craftsman to do the work and as a result the workmanship is inferior.  As a result, dealerships charge more than we do and the result is a fraction of the quality we achieve.  We have had dealerships use us INSTEAD of their own guys when they have very elite clients and they want the best work.  We have had clients who buy high-end cars and the dealership says they have to get some services done with them.  Our clients told them ‘that's fine as long as you have Pro Auto Spa do the work.  They are the ONLY people allowed to work on my cars.”

 

“When it comes to hail damage repair, it is important to keep in mind you have a choice of where you can have your car repaired.  You DO NOT have to go to the recommended body shop or collision repair center.  Our quality of hail repair work is second to none.  We believe it is important to know who will be working on your car.  Why would you trust someone you don't know even if they can do it for cheaper?  Similar to your body being injured or severely damaged, why would you just have anyone who says they are a doctor perform a surgery?  Over the years, we have seen it all when it comes to hail damage repair.  We have a very experienced team when it comes to repairing hail damage.  After all, this was the very reason why our family moved to Colorado.  Ryan started doing paintless dent repair in 1997 and has a very diverse background with small to large dings and dents.”  

 

If you happen to see the Smith family around the Flying Horse neighborhood, be sure to smile and wave!