Meet Kelly Harris

From model builder to global automotive detailing trainer and industry-certified expert, Kelly Harris’s life journey has led him to where he is now — Lake Country’s Global Director of Training.

Kelly’s passion for automobiles began as a young boy when he would spend countless hours constructing model cars and trucks in his childhood bedroom. As time passed, he graduated from plastic and glue to nuts and bolts by starting to build bicycles, motorcycles, and eventually automobiles. Throughout this process, Kelly experienced a remarkable self-discovery that would put him right where he belongs professionally: he was enjoying building and designing cars, trucks, motorcycles, and all types of automobiles far more than driving them. Lucky for Kelly Harris, this is the very premise of the automotive detailing industry!

As a teenager, he worked part-time at a motor vehicle store that specialized in cleaning and detailing products. He also had the opportunity to work on and off at his step-grandfather’s auto shop that specifically serviced Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles. With his newfound experience and knowledge, Kelly found himself enamored with the concept of vehicle paintwork and began to practice on items such as his BMX bike, which he stripped down and repainted himself.

Cruising through college and spending four years in an apprenticeship with Delphi Diesel Systems, which thereafter turned into a job that lasted a total of sixteen years, Kelly Harris eventually left to work at his father’s specialist body shop and mechanical garage, dedicating three years to helping him grow the business.

When Kelly grew dissatisfied with how projects were turning out, he broke off to start KDS Keltec in 2008 — an entirely self-funded automotive detailing shop that Kelly has poured his blood, sweat, and tears into to this day. KDS Keltec evolved over the years from being a sole proprietorship of Kelly Harris and a few detailers to a training facility in 2011 and KDS Keltec Ltd. in 2016. Kelly incorporated the business to accommodate the sheer size and volume of customer cars that he and his crew work on weekly, and in 2023 Lake Country Manufacturing took on the premises as our European Detailing, Training and Development facility. 

Now, Kelly Harris is the Appointed Global Brand Ambassador for Lake Country Manufacturing and LC Power Tools, along with being the Global Director of Training for Lake Country.  Kelly, Jay Broom and other members of the KDS team that have been brought on board with us have detailed nearly 3,000 automobiles between them, and now enjoy continuously training hundreds of thousands via their interactive, educational video content.