Ten years after Stacy Tucker bought Bremerton’s Chico Towing from her father, Pat Tucker, the businesswoman has moved into a new field, residential window tinting. Towing cars and tinting windows are not exactly related, but Tucker has several advantages: an established reputation, a network of clients, and business savvy.

So far those advantages have been working. Sun Select Window Tinting only opened in July, but Tucker has been busier than she anticipated. She hasn’t even started promoting the new service but orders have been coming in.

She’s been so busy, in fact, that her own house tinting effort is on hold. Her home probably could take some of the credit for the new business. Tucker was looking for tinting for herself when she learned there were not very many local solutions to her glare and furniture fading due to UV rays exposure and heat.

“I started researching… and found out there are many places around the country that enhance the home and office environment,” she said. The timing was good — with her husband involved in Chico Towing and her term as the president of the Washington Towing Truck Association soon to end, she was ready to branch out and explore something on her own.

Tucker decided to start slowly, hiring only one installer though having a second one ready to start as soon as business demands it. She even attended the tinting training so she could understand the process. Sun Select’s administrative office is located next to Chico Towing, and she uses current office staff for support work.

“I want to move slowly as we earn our reputation,” she said, “because we want to make sure we’re taking care of the customers as we go along.”

Since Tucker took over Chico Towing, the business went through a revitalization that included replacing 70 percent of the fleet, overhauling customer service including driver uniforms, and modernizing the office management and hiring process. With that kind of track record, it’s not surprising that word has traveled and she already received an inquiry for tinting from a King County business — through a Kitsap resident.

Tucker has spoken with great passion previously about her love for the towing business. Outsiders may not find towing so appealing, but for Tucker the businesses has been about people, not their cars — and about the rewards of making someone’s day by helping solve a negative situation.

One thing that translates across industries is business ethics and values, and no doubt Tucker’s business will grow if her Chico Towing-style philosophy keeps up. But at this rate, her home may never get the rest of its windows tinted. While it would be nice to have that done, she said, not finishing her home is a sign she’s still busy at Sun Select.

“We’re a little bit like the cobbler’s children who don’t have shoes,” she joked.

There is, however, an advantage in that too: She could use her home to experiment with various window and tinting choices.