Koren Erickson was just 16 years old in 2003 when he got his hands on a roll of automotive window film and a how-to-tint video on VHS. An uncertain high schooler with more questions than answers, he wasn’t just searching for a career—he was searching for stability.
From VHS to a Vision
“The automotive world has always interested me,” Koren says. “I knew I wanted to work on vehicles—I just didn’t know how. Everyone could turn wrenches, but there weren’t many window tinters.”
With no formal training, Koren taught himself the craft—learning through trial and error in driveways and garages. He started by tinting trucks for friends and family, slowly building skill and confidence.
“I did a bunch of trucks until I felt confident enough to move on to cars,” shares Koren, who juggled construction jobs and restaurant shifts while giving himself the time to learn the trade. “Nothing ever stuck like the window film industry.”
A Door Opens
By the time he turned 18 in 2005, he was ready to take things further.
“After graduating high school, I moved to Kansas City and made some new friends,” he shares. “I started looking for a shop where I could buy material, and everyone kept saying, ‘You need to go see this guy.'”
That visit changed everything.
“I showed up at his shop around 3 in the afternoon,” Koren recalls. “We talked for hours—I actually shut the place down with him. Before I left, he took my number and said he might need some help.”
Koren joined the shop and worked there until the end of 2008, when the economy plummeted.
“I reconnected with my dad, who lived in Oklahoma and ran an automotive glass repair and replacement business,” he explains. “He encouraged me to move back and start tinting out of his shop.”
Colliding Careers
Koren’s childhood experience working alongside his dad in the shop gave him a hands-on introduction to the auto glass world—insight that would prove invaluable in his window film career.
“I knew how glass worked—from installing door glass to windshields and back glass,” he says. “Understanding how glass is built and installed gave me a real edge when I started tinting full time.”
As he began developing the shop’s window film division, Koren split his time between tinting and auto glass installs—contributing to both sides of the family business. But after just four years, he had outgrown the limitations of the shared space.
“I decided to take my work home and set up shop in my oversized two-car garage,” Koren says.
Before long, he had become the only full-time window tint shop in the growing city of Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
“I was able to corner the market in my area and offer a service the community needed,” he explains.
‘Figure it Out and Do it Better Than the Next Guy’
It wasn’t until 2015—after a decade-plus of hands-on experience—that Koren finally felt rooted in his path.
“I finally felt like I had my life locked in,” he says. “I knew this could work out for me, as long as I kept putting in the work.”
Whenever doubt crept in, Koren drew strength from the memory of someone who had always believed in him.
“When I was younger, I always looked up to my cousin, Ronnie,” he shares. “He was into cars and custom mods—a true master at 12-volt car audio. He believed I could succeed at anything I set my mind to. He was the one who pushed me to find my path.”
Ronnie tragically passed away in a car accident when Koren turned 16—the same year he placed his first window film order.
“The words he left me with—’Figure it out and do it better than the next guy’—became my biggest motivation,” Koren says.
Same Craft. New Purpose.
Two decades later, Koren is still tinting cars in the same small town where it all started, now under a business dubbed NEO Solar Control.
“I hustled, handed out business cards, and never stopped telling people what I did,” says Koren, who recently placed third in Autobahn’s 2025 Automotive Window Tinting Competition. “Window tinting is an art. But I never needed a degree or certifications—I just had to do it well.”
These days, Koren’s motivation runs even deeper. He’s focused on giving his children the kind of life he never had.
“My parents were never married,” he says. “They had me when they were 17. My mom was a single parent and struggled. I’ve never had anyone to fall back on in life. I had to make it on my own. And if I didn’t, that was on me. That’s what drove me.”