The Daily
Journal
covered us.

A local journalist found SM.AutoDetailing on Nextdoor, booked a detail, and wrote about what she found. This is that piece.

Publication SM Daily Journal

Date July 21, 2025

Written by Giselle Espinoza

Featured at age 15

What happened

She found us on Nextdoor.
Then wrote about us.

Giselle Espinoza, a journalist who covers health, entrepreneurship, and Gen Z, was scrolling Nextdoor when she came across SM.AutoDetailing. She booked a service — and after seeing the work firsthand, decided the story behind the business was worth telling.

The piece ran in the SM Daily Journal's Guest Perspectives section and covered how Demian started the business at 13 with his own savings, built it from the ground up with no outside help, and turned social media from a distraction into a genuine tool.

"

Do not give up. It just gets hard for a long period of time and people think it's over... I have been through that time, I just tell myself I know it is going to get better.

— Demian · SM.AutoDetailing · Featured in the SM Daily Journal

"That's the most important thing to me actually, that it's mine."

— Demian, on self-employment

Read the full piece

Published on smdailyjournal.com

Opens in a new tab · Guest Perspectives section

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As Seen In the Press

Recognized
beyond the work.

The business caught the attention of the San Mateo Daily Journal — not for a promotion, but because the story behind it was worth telling.

SM Daily Journal

July 21, 2025

Guest Perspectives · Teen Entrepreneurship

Rethinking Social Media:
A Resource for Teen Entrepreneurship

By Giselle Espinoza

Journalist Giselle Espinoza found SM.AutoDetailing on Nextdoor, booked a detail, and then decided the story behind the business was worth telling. The piece explores how Demian started his business at 13, self-funded it from the ground up, and turned the same social media most teens scroll past into a genuine learning tool and business launchpad.

"Do not give up. It just gets hard for a long period of time and people think it's over... I have been through that time, I just tell myself I know it is going to get better."

— Demian, featured in the Daily Journal

"That's the most important thing to me actually, that it's mine."

— Demian, on self-employment

Featured at age

15

San Mateo, CA

Publication

SM Daily Journal

Print & Digital · Local News

Read Full Article