KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luara Piñón first learned she had a passion for vinyl wrapping when she helped wrap the first Kansas City Streetcar. Since then, she has been honing her skills to stand out.
Piñón has worked in her own garage, her own space, since 2022. She first started in the business in 2019 working at other shops owned by men. She said that wasn't where she could thrive.
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“It wasn't where I felt like I fit right so I decided to create my own space," said Piñón. "It's more encouraging than anything. I see it and I'm like, Heck yeah, I'm gonna go for it. Like I'm gonna dominate this industry and then be the only woman, Latina woman, and hopefully somebody can get inspiration from that. Because that's what I would wish I would have seen whenever I was starting... someone I could look up to that looks like me."
Now she owns Piñón Wraps based in the Northland. She is a one-woman band — handling marketing, scheduling, and the vinyl and detail work. Piñón said while working in a male-dominated field, her work must speak for itself.
“Because I am a woman because I am Latina. I don't want that to be like, Oh, that's the reason she's getting special treatment or that's the reason that she got this position. It's absolutely the work that I do. I'm super proud of it. And when I put it out there, I just want to make sure that it's to the tee perfect," said Piñón.
As for the job itself, she said it isn't easy. It is 80% preparation, and 20% fun. But for her, the attention to detail and the meticulous work is fun.
Piñón wants to continue to make space for other women in the industry by hopefully teaching other people her craft in a class setting. She said with the career not necessarily requiring a degree and being fairly low-maintenance to start up, others can do what she did.
